Chapter 1 #2
“And you say that after knowing him for all of ten minutes, huh?”
“You don’t need to sound so sarcastic.”
“I’m not being sarcastic. I’m being honest. Katie, you can’t afford to go giving your phone number out to just anyone.”
“He’s not just anyone.” Katie’s frown turned upside down as she smiled and waved out the window. One guess who that was at.
Ellie shook her head. “Why are you giving your phone number out to someone when you don’t even know if he’s a Christian?”
“How do you know he’s not?”
Ellie pressed her lips together as the train moved off again. Maybe she was a little judgemental, but the words she’d heard him drop didn’t exactly give good Christian vibes.
“Anyway”—Katie flipped her hair again—”at least I’ve actually met the man. The men on EJ’s app she’s always wanting me to go on could be anyone.”
“They’re not. That’s why everyone on Dream Match is screened and needs a professional social media proof to verify that they are who they say they are. I think you’re a lot safer going on something like Dream Match and finding a suitable match that way.”
“Suitable match.” Katie huffed. “I don’t want suitable. I want butterflies, magic, all the romantic feels.”
“Katie, romance isn’t real. It’s your hormones mixing with your emotions and—”
“La, la, la!” Katie stuck her fingers in her ears and shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
Ellie’s eyebrows rose.
“Aw, don’t look at me like that, Ellie. You know I hate it when you look at me like that,” Katie whinged.
Which was exactly why Ellie did it.
“Come on, Ellie. Just because you don’t like to date doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t interested in finding love.”
Ellie gritted her teeth. “I’m not not wanting to date. It’s just that there aren’t any guys I’ve ever met that I’m interested in.”
“Well, maybe instead of staying aloof, you could actually talk to one occasionally.”
She would if she ever met someone who matched the qualities she wanted in a boyfriend.
And while Ellie hadn’t gone on Dream Match either—despite EJ urging her many times to give it a go—she was actually too busy doing her best to get her career going to wonder about adding a man to the mix.
What if one of the dozens of job applications she’d sent out finally led to a job in Sydney or Melbourne and she’d have to move?
There wasn’t any point in trying to start something.
What if she were to live overseas? Same.
Long-distance relationships never seemed to work, despite what EJ might boast about Dream Match and its algorithms, which had seen thousands of couples connect over the years.
But she wasn’t opposed to the idea, should God miraculously drop a man in front of her.
Except where were the Christian guys who appreciated art and Studio Ghibli animation, who enjoyed travel, served in church, and shared her slightly snarky sense of humour?
They certainly weren’t in Wattle Vale. And she’d never met anyone like that at uni.
So it was quite possible they didn’t exist. Or they existed for others but not for her.
Which was fine. She didn’t need a man to feel complete.
Jesus was doing a very good job at helping her find her identity in Him.
But trying to explain that to her family felt like she was talking Japanese.
Everyone seemed to think there was something wrong with her for not wanting a man.
But then, EJ and Liv seemed to agree with her that there was something a little disturbing about Katie’s desperate need for a man.
So maybe a girl couldn’t win. Perhaps it was the patriarchal systems of society that declared a woman needed a man.
Or maybe—her conscience pricked—that was more what she’d read recently in the Bible about it not being good for a person to be alone …
Ugh. See what happened when Katie got into Ellie’s head? This was the result of spending too much time with a romance-obsessed sister. The sooner she could get back into the real world, the better.
She glanced outside, the sights beyond the window stirring anticipation. They’d be home soon. Mum had said they’d meet them at the station, provided their appointment ran on time.
She checked her phone, which had been recharging with the portable battery charger since they’d landed. Saw a couple of new messages from Mum: “Welcome back! Sorry we weren’t there to collect you. ? Appointment on time, so see you soon!!! ?”
She smiled. Mum was the queen of exclamation marks and emojis.
Katie clapped her hands. “Oh, I can’t wait to be back!”
“I never would’ve guessed.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Come on. You can admit you’ll be happy to see the parentals again.”
“Of course. That goes without saying.”
“It often does with you,” Katie muttered.
Ellie shrugged, even if it was true. Talking for the sake of talking just sounded like talking with nothing to say. Why waste her breath when people weren’t really interested? Call her too pragmatic, but that was her experience, anyway.
She started shifting her bags, getting organised, while Katie remained sprawled on her seat, her feet up on the opposite seat again, despite several signs saying that feet should remain off carriage seats.
As ever, Katie didn’t seem to think such rules applied to her.
Her earlier complaints about those talking loudly in a quiet carriage—which meant less conversation and no music or speaker phone usage—seemed conveniently forgotten.
But that’s how Katie had always been. Good-hearted, except when people tried to pull her into line.
Then she turned a little feral, as if wondering how anyone dare think she wasn’t perfect.
Katie’s middle name might be Marianne—after yet another of Mum’s favourite Austen heroines—but offence could easily be the name she bore too.
Katie could be sweet, but she was also overly sensitive and liable to take umbrage at anything that didn’t fit her personal worldview.
Ellie’s lips tweaked. It was a good thing she herself never got offended. She internally rolled her eyes at herself. Talk about someone with a log hanging out of their eye.
“Come on.” She shoved her sister’s feet off the seat. “We need to get ready.”
“The train terminates at Wattle Vale, Ellie. There’s no rush.”
“I thought you were the person who couldn’t wait to get home.”
“Oh. Right.”
The next few minutes passed in retrieving bags of varying shapes and sizes from various locations, then exiting the station to see Mum and Dad waiting with the family station wagon nearby.
True to form, Katie left the bags and rushed at Mum, who scooped her into a huge hug, leaving Ellie to exchange wry smiles with Dad as he hurried to gently hug her and help with Katie’s bags.
“Bit of a long trip, huh?”
“You could say that.”
Her father was a master of understatement. He and Ellie were alike in that way. Exaggeration and emotional excess were the lot of people like Mum and Katie.
“Come on. Let’s get you two home.”
“Can’t wait.” Family. Food. A shower. Then bed and sleep. Bring it on.
Then back to the small-town life she’d always known and the grind that would begin again.
Ethan Ferris glanced at the stack of files awaiting attention.
The job of a lawyer was rarely done, especially for one who wanted to be made partner before he hit his mid-thirties, and there was no easy way to say a job was finished.
Even completed cases could often have an appeals process, so to underline work as being completely finished felt rare.
But he was almost there. Just one more file to go, then he could call it a day and knock off and head home.
His phone flashed with an alert. He ignored it.
There was no need to guess who that would be.
Lucinda Steele was nothing if not persistent.
To her, work seemed to be more of a concept than a reality.
The idea that he had to work she regarded as a mere suggestion, hence the phone calls, messages, and unexpected visits that could happen at any hour of the day.
Gordon Phillips, his boss, wasn’t pleased.