“Oh, Mum, we wouldn’t expect people to travel all that way.”
“We’d be very happy to travel here, if that makes things easier,” Liam said. “After all, you have far more family than I do.”
“Do you think your sister will come?”
“Georgia and Gran were both sad about not coming on this trip, but Georgia’s in the middle of her exams, and Gran thought her trip last Christmas was quite enough for one year, or so she told me.”
The conversation swirled around her, and she wondered about her family, her sisters, and who Elinor and Katie would end up with. Elinor, for all her talk about wanting a sensible man, did not seem the type to want boring. That streak of blue in her hair that Gran had taken exception to last year proclaimedher creative side. So the man would need to be creative in some way. But was a sensible creative a contradiction in terms?
Katie, on the other hand … She eyed her youngest sister. Now she definitely needed a man of sense. Someone levelheaded, wise, probably a little older than her. Katie might’ve finished her degree, but she needed a job, an avenue to her future. And with her propensity for procrastination, it seemed that future might take a very long time to arrive.
“What are you thinking about so seriously over there, EJ?” Liv asked.
She shrugged. “Just about the future. What we’ll all be doing.” She pointed to Elinor. “Whether I should see if I can find someone for Ellie and Katie in the Dream Match pool of candidates.”
Her sisters scoffed, and EJ was reminded again that sometimes the old ways were the best ways. People didn’t need Dream Match, although she needed it, for the money at least.
But even that wasn’t really true. She had enough. Eric and his crowd had shown her the more money somebody had didn’t make them any happier. She needed to trust God, her provider, and as she did that, she’d have less stress. So maybe Dream Match could simply be as it was. All this huffing and puffing working around the clock to get investors to add details to an app that already was pretty good and didn’t need it was maybe just a waste of time.
She didn’t like that girl much anymore, anyway. It was time for a change.
“EJ?” Katie asked her.
“You know, I’m actually thinking I’d rather go by Emma-Jane now.”
Mum blinked. “You would? But you’ve been EJ since third class.”
When she’d wanted to prove herself just as strong as any boy.
“Then it’s high time to go back to what you christened me as, isn’t it?”
Liv smiled, Liam nodded, and Elinor studied her with a half smile.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“I’m just wondering what Jordan is going to say when he returns to find Emma-Jane.”
She swallowed. And he’d be back on Friday.
She couldn’t wait to see him.
Chapter 22
There was nothing quite like seeing Sydney Harbour from the sky, the gentle contours of the harbour dotted with boats, while the tall buildings and grace of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House begged for photos. Of course, when one got in really late at night, thanks to delays, all he wanted to do was go home and go to bed. Which was what he’d done, then—thank goodness it was a Saturday—he’d slept in.
“How was your trip?” Mum asked, when he finally made his way for a late breakfast.
“Good.” He switched on the coffee machine, waited for it to heat. “The feedback I got from them was really positive, and Dean seems happy. So that’s great.”
His dad placed down the newspaper. “I’m afraid I still don’t really understand what you do.”
“That makes two of us.” He offered a wry grin. “As long as Dean doesn’t find out, then I’m okay.”
“Oh, come on.” Mum swatted him. “You know more about that place than he does.”
“Not quite. But yes, I’m not completely clueless.”
“Good thing EJ isn’t here to hear you say that. You know self-deprecation is not her thing.”
