‘You won’t cry, darling daughter. You’re too sensible for that.’
But he was wrong. Jess almost cried as soon as she saw Ben standing there waiting for her with a look of such wonder and love in his eyes. She came even closer to weeping when he promised to love her till his dying days. She definitely would have cried when the celebrant announced that they were husband and wife, but Ben saved the day by kissing her with such passion that she forgot all about tears.
After that she didn’t think about crying, being swept along with all the things which had to be done—first the photos at Toowoon Bay, then more at the golf club, followed by the greeting of the guests, pre-dinner champagne on the balconies and then the official part of the reception.
She smiled her way through all the speeches. Andy was suitably funny and Ben wonderfully complimentary about his beautiful bride. She smiled during the cake-cutting and the bridal waltz. She smiled and laughed with Catherine whilst she changed into her going-away outfit, a chic white linen dress with red accessories. She and Ben planned to spend their wedding night at the Crown Plaza at Terrigal and the following day they were setting off on that long-awaited road trip around Australia; Jess’s trusty four-wheel drive was already parked at the hotel. Not only was it parked but packed with every provision they could possibly need.
It wasn’t till Jess was saying her goodbyes to her parents that tears suddenly flooded her eyes.
‘Come now, Jess,’ Joe said in a choked up voice as he hugged her. ‘You don’t want to spoil your make-up, do you?’
Jess laughed, then wiped away her tears. ‘Absolutely not,’ she said. ‘But they aren’t unhappy tears. I was just thinking what wonderful parents you and Mum are.’
‘Oh, go on with you,’ Joe said, though he seemed pleased. Ruth, however, started to look a bit weepy.
‘Jess is right,’ Ben said, stepping forward from where he’d been saying goodbye to his own mother. ‘You are both wonderful. So we got our heads together and decided to give you both a little personal something. Here…’ And he handed Joe a rather large envelope which had a well-known travel agency’s logo on the outside.
‘What on earth have you done?’ Joe said as he opened the envelope and pulled out the printed itinerary of a very extensive trip around Europe.
‘Now, we don’t want to hear any objections,’ Ben went on as a very wide-eyed Ruth looked over her husband’s shoulder and read where they would be going. Knowing that they weren’t seasoned travellers, Ben and his mother had booked guided tours as well as a long cruise down the Rhine. It would take them a good four months to do it all, the various tours taking in almost every country in Europe, finishing in Italy.
‘Your departure date is not till late April. It’s not a good idea to holiday in Europe in the dead of winter if you don’t have to,’ he added. ‘As for Murphy’s Hire Car…Jess’s brothers will look after that till you get back. They assured me it’s not a busy time of the year, anyway.’
‘But it says we’ll be travelling first class,’ Ruth said, amazed.
Ben’s mother, who’d been standing nearby, suddenly came forward, her arm linked with Lionel’s. ‘Please don’t worry about the cost,’ Ava said. ‘I have more money than I need. Besides,’ she added, smiling coyly at her partner, ‘Lionel has decided to make an honest woman out of me and he has buckets of money himself, haven’t you, darling?’
Darling Lionel just smiled.
‘Now,’ Ava raced on, ‘I’ve been to all those places in Europe and it would be a real shame for you not to go whilst you’re young enough to enjoy it. Oh, and Ruth, you and I are going clothes shopping in Sydney before you leave. I know exactly what you’ll need.’
Ruth beamed at her. ‘I’d love that, Ava.’
‘And Lionel can take Joe clothes shopping at the same time,’ Ben suggested.
‘I’d be only too happy to,’ Lionel agreed. ‘If Joe wants me to, that is.’
Joe grinned. ‘Sounds good to me. Can’t have Mother showing me up, can I?’
‘That’s all settled, then,’ Ben said, looking pleased with himself. ‘Then, when we both get back from our holidays, Joe, we’ll get right to work on that vintage car idea I told you about.’#p#分页标题#e#
‘Too right,’ Joe said, clapping Ben on the back.
‘Hey!’ Jess exclaimed, pretending to be piqued. ‘Where does that leave me?’
‘You can stay at home and clean that big house I bought you,’ Ben said.