Yuck, yuck, yuck!Her inner fifteen-year-old was making gagging noises. ‘Night,’ she called, not game to look back as she walked briskly up the driveway.
The outside security lights came on, momentarily blinding her, and she swore as she stumbled. She kept meaning to tilt that stupid spotlight up a little higher so it didn’t hit you square in the eye. Yet another job to add to the to-do list. Though if a potential burglar came along and set it off, blinding them could be handy.
Closing the door behind her, Jenny let out an audible sigh as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her handbag on the hallway table. Thank God that was over.
The TV program that had been playing suddenly muted and four pairs of expectant eyes homed in on her as she entered the room.
She frowned. ‘What are you all still doing up?’
‘What are you doing home so early?’ Brittany countered.
‘I told you he sounded boring,’ Savannah said with a sigh.
‘He was all we thought we had to work with at the time,’ Chloe reminded her sisters.
‘What on earth did you think I had in common with him?’ Jenny demanded.
‘Don’t look at me.’ Savannah put her hands up defensively. ‘I said he looked like a weirdo.’
‘He didnotlook like aweirdo,’ Beth cut in. ‘And to answer your question,’ she continued, turning her gaze onto Jenny, ‘he had an impressive career, a solid income and was financially independent.’ She held her fingers out as she ticked off the points. ‘I checked his credentials out personally. He came with glowing reviews on his website.’
‘Which would have been fantastic if I’d been going to him to get my taxes done,’ Jenny said with an unimpressed glare. ‘I hope you’ve all got that out of your systems now,’ she snapped.
‘That was just a practice run,’ Beth dismissed blithely. ‘We’ve since honed our skills and we think the next one will be a better match.’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘Come on, Mum, this will be good for you. You need to get back out there again,’ Savannah said.
‘No. I don’t. I’m quite happy with things the way they are, thank you very much.’
Brittany shook her head sadly. ‘I never thought I’d see the day my mother would turn into such a quitter.’
‘How can I be a quitter if I wasn’t even the one who started it in the first place?’
‘Semantics.’ Brittany waved away Jenny’s argument impatiently.
‘Oh, come on, Mum. I promise, this next guy seems much better. Please?’ Savannah asked, batting her eyes pathetically. ‘You can’t give up so soon.’
‘If I do this,’ she said, eyeing them sharply, ‘you have to promise that will be the end of it.’
A chorus of enthusiastic agreement filled the room.
‘And I’m taking my own damn car this time. Did it not even cross anyone’s mind that I was getting into a car with a complete stranger?’
‘He drove an Audi,’ Chloe said with a shrug.
Jenny rolled her eyes at her youngest. ‘Because I’m sure serial killers are too broke to be able to afford a luxury car.’
‘Mum’s right. Thatwasa really stupid oversight on our part,’ Savannah admitted. ‘Sorry, Mum. Although we did take his rego and Brittany got a call to say you’d arrived at the pub, so we knew you were okay.’
‘You got a phone call?’
The women swapped a quick glance before Beth said, ‘Oh, come on, Jen. As if you would have agreed to go if we gave you the option of driving there. Besides—everyone loves the old-fashioned, come to the door and collect you thing, right? How long has it been since anyone did that for you?’
Well, never to be honest. Austin had never really been into flowers and dates even in the early days. Jenny shook her head and gave an annoyed groan. It was one weekend. Surely she could do this if it meantneverhaving to go through it all again? It couldn’t get any worse than tonight’s disaster.
