Page 78 of Loving Jemima
“Your reputation?” Jem asked confused.
“I do pride myself on my matchmaking skills,” Annabelle went on. “But how am I supposed to make a match for you when you don’t tell me that I’m barking up entirely the wrong tree. When I think about all the potential partners I’ve passed over who would have been perfect for you, I could just spit. Barbie Linden would have been perfect, but she’s married off to that American woman now. Honestly, Jem, could you make my life any more difficult?”
But Jem was laughing too hard to answer.
“What?” Annabelle said, looking faintly offended.
“Nothing, nothing,” said Jem.
By the time her mother returned, Jem had promised Annabelle that she’d let her know when she was ready to start dating again, and Annabelle had gone off to see the horse for sale for herself.
“Everything alright?” her mother asked.
“Mmm,” Jem said thoughtfully.
“That big thing you were keeping hidden suddenly not seeming quite as big as it did when it needed hiding, I assume?”
Jem narrowed her eyes.
“I saw Annabelle in the barn,” her mother said. She started the car. “You do people a disservice when you presume you know how they feel about things. Something you might want to consider. Annabelle isn’t the only example.”
“Who exactly are you thinking about?”
“That gal of yours, for a start,” her mother said, turning in a tight circle to face the farm track again. “Food for thought. Lord, that horse was a fine filly.”
As her mother chattered on about the horse, Jem had plenty of time to connect the dots and draw her own conclusions about what her mother really meant.
THE RED MINI bounced along the drive and Jem let the drawing room curtain drop. “Are you expecting someone for supper?” she asked her mother, who was happily flicking through Horse and Hound.
“No,” answered her mother. “Why?”
“Because we’ve got a visitor,” said Jem just as the doorbell rang.
“So sorry,” Rosie said as soon as Jem opened the door to her. “I shouldn’t just turn up like this.”
“Nonsense,” Jem’s mother said. “You’re family, you can turn up whenever you like.”
“Thank you, it’s just for a night,” said Rosie, pulling in a small suitcase.
“A night?” Jem said, confused. “Why? What’s happened?”
“Oh, I’ve left Jasper,” Rosie said. She turned to Jem’s mother. “I know it’s a terrible imposition just appearing like this. But my parents are so far away and I just didn’t have the energy to drive all the way up there tonight. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not a jot,” Jem’s mother said.
Not that Jem was surprised. Rosie was as horse mad as her mother and the two of them had always gotten along well.
“Wait, hold on, you’ve left him?” asked Jem, looking back and forth between the two women who didn’t seem at all surprised by this turn of events.
“Oh yes,” Rosie said. “Obviously, I did.”
Jem frowned and had a terrible thought. “He didn’t, um, do anything to you, did he?”
“Lord, no,” said Rosie cheerfully. “Jasper’s all talk and no bite, you know what a bully he can be.”
“That boarding school of his wasn’t the best influence,” said Jem’s mother. “He came home with all kinds of ideas. You do have my apologies for that, though I’m sure you’re straightening him up.”
“Of course I am,” Rosie said. “There’s nothing to worry about.He’ll come to his senses, I’m sure. I can’t help but love him, you know, and he does want to please me, no matter how he blusters on the outside.”