She didn’t understand. ‘Sorry?’
He pulled back one of the curtains. ‘Have a look over there. What do you see?’ It was just a busy city. ‘Over there.’ He pointed to a tall building. ‘That’s where I’m going to be working. I got offered a consultant’s position on Thursday, so I withdrew my application.’
‘Oh!’ She could have thumped him. ‘You let me drive all that way thinking you were disappointed!’
‘No,’ Jed said. ‘I knew that you were disappointed—it’s awful for Penny. I really thought when I took the position at Melbourne Central that Penny was a certainty for the job. I think Mr Dean’s really got it wrong. The new guy seems great by all accounts, but it’s going to be tough on your sister.’
‘No, you don’t understand.’ She opened her mouth, but again she couldn’t say anything.
‘What?’
Jasmine shook her head. ‘Leave it.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You can.’
‘I can’t.’
Jasmine was firm. ‘She’s my sister.’
She looked over to where he’d be working. ‘I thought you were happy at Peninsula.’
‘I’ve been incredibly happy,’ Jed said. ‘I applied to a few hospitals when I first thought of moving here and it was a close-run thing. I love big city hospitals but when Mr Dean hinted at a consultancy … Anyway, Central rang me last week and asked if I’d be interested in a more senior position than the one I interviewed for last year, and given the tension at work, given a lot of things, the choice was actually easy.’
‘That’s good,’ Jasmine said, trying to mask the little edge of disappointment in her voice, that just when they were finding each other he was upping sticks, but, still, it was just an hour or so away.
‘I like to keep work and home separate,’ Jed said.
‘I know that.’
‘And I haven’t been doing a very good job of it of late.’
He started to kiss her and then pulled his head back. ‘You’re sulking.’
‘No.’ She looked up at him and she was too scared to admit it, because he meant so much more than she dared reveal. They’d agreed they were going to take things slowly and, yes, they were back on track, but maybe once he got to a big hospital, maybe when things were more difficult, when Simon was sick and he was on call and it all became too hard to have a single mum as a girlfriend who lived a good hour away, maybe then things would go wrong for them.
‘It’s been a hell of a week.’
‘And now it’s over,’ Jed said. ‘Now you can enjoy being spoiled.’ He gave her a smile. ‘Come on, tell me, how come Penny’s looking so pleased if she didn’t get the job.’
Jasmine closed her eyes. ‘Actually, come to think of it, it’s a good job that you’re going to Melbourne Central. I’m not breaking my sister’s confidence.’ She looked at him.
‘Fair enough.’
‘She’s family.’
‘I’m not arguing.’ Jed grinned. ‘I think you want to, though.’
‘I don’t.’
Jasmine didn’t. She didn’t want anything to spoil this night. ‘So …’ She forced her voice to be upbeat. ‘When do you start?’
‘Four weeks,’ Jed said. ‘It’s going to be fantastic—it’s a great hospital.’
‘Good.’
‘It’s everything I want.’
He pulled her into his arms and he was smiling. She would not ruin this night, would not nit-pick, but how come he was so happy to be leaving? How come he had been so tense all night? Though he wasn’t tense now, he was delighted with his good news, thrilled to be moving an hour away, and she swallowed down her tears.
‘I can’t wait to start,’ Jed said. ‘And tomorrow I thought I might go and look for somewhere to live.’
Some bachelor city apartment, Jasmine thought bitterly, but she kept her smile there.
‘The staff there seem really friendly,’ he added.
She thought of Hannah, who was gorgeous and flirted like crazy, and Martha, and the wild parties they often had, and he would be there and she would be home with Simon.
‘And I can’t wait …’
‘Okay.’ Her lips were taut with smiling. ‘I’m thrilled for you.’
She reached for her glass as she did not want to argue; she took a sip of champagne and swallowed down a row, but it was fizzing. Yes, she was happy for him, yes, she was thrilled, but … ‘Do you have to keep rubbing it in?’
She didn’t get why he was smiling.
‘Sorry?’
‘Do you have to keep telling me how thrilled you are to be leaving, how fantastic it is to be moving away?’
‘Come on, Jasmine.’ He grinned. ‘Don’t spoil tonight with a row.’
‘I want one!’ She did. For the first time in her life she wanted her row and stuff it if it was an expensive one. So what if she was spoiling a wonderful night? Did he have to be quite so insensitive?
‘Go for it.’
‘I will,’ Jasmine said. ‘I’m thrilled for you. I really am, but do you have to keep going on about it?’ She just said it. ‘Do you have to keep telling me how delighted you are to be going away and all the parties …’
‘I never said anything about parties.’
‘Oh, but there will be.’
And he just grinned.
‘And I’ll be home with Simon and you’ll be an hour away and, yes, I am happy for you and, no, I didn’t expect you to take Simon and me into consideration, but I can’t keep grinning like an idiot when the fact is you’re moving away.’ She started to cry. ‘And I don’t understand why you’re laughing.’
‘Because I love how you row.’
And he pulled her into him. ‘I’ve been goading you.’
‘Why?’
‘Because.’
‘Because what?’
‘I want just a smidge of obsession.’
‘Well, you’ve got it.’ And he kissed her and it was lovely. She’d said what she thought, had had a good row and no one was any the worse for it. Then he stopped kissing her and looked at her for a very long time.
‘I am pleased for you. I honestly am. I know you’ll love it there.’ And she realised then what Hannah had meant when she’d said that she’d see her around. If she was going out with Jed she’d be with him at times. ‘I’m just sad you’re leaving, that’s all.’
‘I have to,’ Jed said. ‘Because I’m not working alongside a woman who turned down my proposal.’ And he took out a box containing a ring but she didn’t even look at it properly, just looked straight back at him. ‘And if she doesn’t turn it down then I’m working in the same department as my wife and sister-in-law. That would be way too complicated and I already have trouble enough concentrating on work when you’re around. So which one is it?’
‘The complicated one,’ Jasmine said, and watched as he put a ring on her finger.
‘It won’t be complicated for long,’ he