Falling for Mr. Mysterious by Barbara Hannay

Author:Barbara Hannay
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

FOR Jude’s last night at home he invited Emily to join him at one of Brisbane’s classiest restaurants.

This didn’t surprise her as much as it would have a week ago. She and Jude had spent a great deal of time together in the past few days and she couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased that he sought her company, even though many of his friends had rung him after they’d received urgent but cryptic messages from Alex.

It appeared, however, that Jude was more comfortable spending time with a relative stranger during these pre-surgery days than with old friends. He seemed to hate having to discuss his illness with these people when they rang.

Emily wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. She guessed that Jude saw illness as a weakness, just as his father had. He would rather hide than accept people’s sympathy. So he was happy just to spend time with her, no doubt because she was already in the know and didn’t need to ask more questions.

Together, they’d spent a day on Stradbroke Island and they’d stood on Point Lookout, watching whales frolic; they’d been to a couple of movies, spent an afternoon scouring Alex’s bookshelves and reading sections of books aloud to each other, spent a rainy afternoon making an elaborately layered lasagne.

There’d been no more kissing, which Emily knew was wise, given what loomed ahead for Jude. But they’d become quite close in an amazingly short time. There was something very simpatico about their tastes. If Emily ignored the silly tugs of longing that kept getting in the way, she very much enjoyed just being Jude’s friend.

Tonight, however, she was very tense. She particularly wanted this final hospital-eve to be special. Hoping to look her best, she’d bought a very expensive dress in deep-chocolate silk.

‘Good heavens,’ Jude said when he saw her. ‘Now that is a sight for sore eyes.’

Emily almost cried. ‘How can you joke about it?’

‘I’m not joking,’ he said with a dry smile. ‘The dress is gorgeous.’

Just the same, his half-joking comment about sights for sore eyes lit a tiny light-bulb idea. All week, she’d been thinking about her grandmother’s comment. You just need to put yourself in Jude’s shoes. Emily had been trying to think of a really unique and fun surprise that he’d like.

No, I couldn’t. I couldn’t possibly.

Just the same, a daunting but intriguing idea simmered at the back of her thoughts while they took their time over their delicious three-course meal, savouring the food and never once talking about hospitals or illness. Or relationships.

It was surprising how many other topics they could find—Jude’s theories about space travel, Emily’s thoughts on the global financial crisis, his ideas for future books, her dream of an online retail business.

Throughout the meal, Jude hardly noticed the restaurant’s famous view of the city’s lights. He was too busy watching the subtle play of lamplight on Emily’s face, or watching her lips as she talked and the expressive way she used her slim, pale hands to elaborate a point.

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