Take a Chance by Simone Jaine Read Free Book Online Page A

Jase.”
    Just as he picked up the phone it rang in his hand. He answered it to hear a frantic Jason on the other end. Jason had persuaded a local to paddle an outrigger to somewhere he could get cell phone coverage so he could call Jess to tell her he’d arrived safely. Instead he’d first listened to a message from a police officer and several increasingly distressed messages from Jem.
    Eben calmly brought his friend up to date and explained that he and Jem were looking after the children so they were managing. He could tell his friend was torn; he wanted to drop everything to be with his wife but knew that it had taken months to get all his appointments lined up and he had a deadline. If he didn’t meet it Nouveautech wouldn’t be paid which would cause a serious cash flow problem not to mention cost the company future contracts. Eben wished he could swap places with Jase but knew he wouldn’t be able to do the job with the finesse that his friend had.
    He knew Jason well enough to know that he would be a mess without anything immediately in front of him to keep him occupied until he knew Jess would be okay. It would be kinder to keep him where he was, not just for him and the company but for the children. They would know something was incredibly wrong with their father home early and he couldn’t see any benefit to having them all distressed unnecessarily. With this in mind he pitched his thoughts accordingly.
    Jem listened to his end of the conversation and silently agreed with Eben. She knew from Jess that Jason had heavily mortgaged the house to help finance the company’s expansion and that missing the deadline would cost them further well-paid government contracts. With his return there would be no downplaying the seriousness of the situation to the children and that was without the stress of keeping the company afloat to prevent the house becoming a mortgagee sale.
    “Yeah, I’ll put her on,” Eben said.
    He handed the phone to Jem and mouthed “convince him”.
    “Hi Jase,” Jem said, her eyes immediately watering the moment she heard her brother-in-law’s voice shakily returning her greeting.
    A sharp pain in her forearm made her look down and she saw Eben pinching it. His eyes , more dark blue than grey shot her a warning look. She immediately straightened and glared at him. He released her arm and she rubbed it absently as she listened to Jason talking about her messages.
    “I’m sorry to have worried you more than you need to be . It’s just that I made them before I was able to find out anything about Jess’s condition.”
    I need to give him knowledge. Knowledge with a positive slant.
    “We phoned the hospital just before you rang. At the time she was in surgery and they’ve decided to keep her asleep when she comes out to help her rest while she heals.”
    Asleep sounds better than medically induced coma.
    “Yes, I’m sure she’ll be in recovery soon. I’m going to see her tonight and I’ll text you an update when I leave.”
    Recovery sounded a lot more positive than ICU.
    “No, don’t phone the hospital. Aside from the time needed to go through the exchange they aren’t allowed to give out anything more than basic information. We’ll be able to keep you better informed.”
    “Yes, I promise to do that.” Jem gave an unwilling laugh. “No, do not sit on that outrigger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean until you hear back from me. You’re there to work not to have nocturnal ocean jaunts. Just think, in the morning you’ll have a positive text message to read when you paddle back where you are.”
    “Okay, phone us tomorrow when you’re free. Take care, bye.”
    “Well done Jemima,” Eben murmured as he took the phone from her and put it in its cradle to recharge.
    He held her hand, instinctively knowing she would now reject a hug. She scowled at him but he knew she didn’t mean it because she didn’t pull away.
    “I think the water was choppy and he was getting sea