Free The Reef by Di Morrissey Page B

box.
    Jennifer reached for it, then realised her left hand was still encased in the rubber glove. Laughing, they pulled off the glove and Blair opened the box and took out a sparkling sapphire surrounded by tiny glittering diamonds. He slipped it on her finger and kissed her.
    â€˜Now you can’t go back to study. You can stop worrying about those lectures.’
    Jennifer was swept up in his embrace before she could protest. Never mind, she thought, he’d have to realise that much as she loved him, and this new idea of getting married, she was not giving up her studies.
    Jennifer broke the news on the phone to Vi and Don, asking their advice on the best way to tell her mother. Neither had a concrete suggestion.
    â€˜Just don’t let her know we knew first. Maybe arrive and wave your left hand around. Is it a pretty ring?’
    â€˜Oh Vi, it is pretty.’ If you like sapphires, thought Jennifer, then scolded herself for being ungrateful. ‘It’s a circle stone. But it wasn’t the world’s most romantic proposal. I’ll be telling my grandkids about it, that’s for sure,’ she laughed.
    Privately Vi was horrified that Blair had proposed while Jennifer was scrubbing a pot at the kitchen sink. That was not the role she saw for her niece.
    Jennifer dropped by Vi and Don’s on a casual surprise visit and made a pot of tea and chatted to her mother while Vi and Don disappeared into the garden to clean out the cage that held Don’s bleeding heart pigeons. She waved her hand with the ring in front of her, held it under her chin, pretended to wave away a fly and did everything but push it under Christina’s nose.
    Jennifer gave up. ‘Mum, Blair and I want to take you out, or do something together . . . have a talk . . .’
    â€˜Who? Oh, that boy. I don’t have anything to say to him, Jennifer. Why don’t we go out for a meal, seems ages since we had a little tete-a-tete.’
    â€˜Mum, I want you to see Blair, talk to him.’ Deep breath. ‘We’re engaged.’
    Light laugh . ‘Whatever are you talking about, engaged? That’s ridiculous. At your age.’
    Silently Jennifer held up her hand, dangling the ring before her. Christina’s expression darkened, then looked tortured. ‘You can’t be serious. Jennifer, you’re so young, you don’t know what you’re doing. You can’t rush off with the first fellow who’s smitten –’
    â€˜Mum, listen to me. Blair and I have been together for over a year. We’re very committed to each other, he’s proposed and I can see a good future with him.’
    â€˜Rubbish. What would you know about staying together? You haven’t done anything in your life. Why throw it away on some man?’ She looked genuinely concerned.
    Jennifer was hurt, but she wasn’t angry with her mother. Some instinct recognised the rationale behind her mother’s objections and she saw that her mother’s protective flare was ignited.
    â€˜Mum, it’ll be all right. He’s a decent guy, he has a good job, big prospects. What don’t you like?’
    â€˜Jennifer, what do you know about him, really? His family. What are they like?’
    â€˜I’ve just met them, they seem nice. But Mum, we’ve got lots of time. We’re not rushing into anything. We haven’t even set a date.’
    Blair had made noises about getting married in six months’ time. Jennifer wanted to delay the big day, though she hadn’t told Blair that it was because of her studies. Nor had Blair told Jennifer that Jeff, the hotel manager in the Hunter, had advised him that having a wife made his chances of promotion much better. ‘They like couples, mate,’ he’d said. ‘A wife can be an asset if you’re posted away, it also takes away the temptation to eye-off guests or staff.’
    Christina had another thought. ‘And how much is all