fell back on to the sofa in shock. Her eyes were round as light bulbs. She made a noise like a tyre going flat. Jane … getting married? Anthea just couldn’t believe her little sister was going to beat her down the aisle. Even if it
was
with some kind of caveman.
‘A brother-in-law from the Outback. Oh, a dream come true,’ Rupert drawled, peering over Anthea’s shoulder at the wedding invitation. ‘Jane’s a classical musician, for God’s sake. I didn’t think she even
liked
the Great Outdoors, with all its multi-legged insects.’
‘Ah, but she does like being bitten all over by desirable men … And the best place to find them is in the Great Outdoors. Apparently.’ Anthea scrunched up the invitation and threw it in the vague direction of the waste-paper basket. ‘It’s the snooze alarm.’
‘The what?’ Rupert put down his Italian leather briefcase and unknotted his Armani tie.
‘The snooze alarm’s gone off on her biological clock.’
‘But the silly girl’s only known the man for a month. Where did she find him … a fiancé vending machine?’ Rupert asked, retrieving the crumpled invitation from the floor and placing it neatly in the bin. ‘He can only be after her money. She must have told him how much money your mum and dad left you both in their will.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’ Anthea handed him a glass of rich, golden wine. ‘My sister’s wedding vows should state, “Do you take this woman to the cleaners, from this day forth, for richer and for richer? … I now pronounce you Man and Mansion.”’
‘Looks as though this is one lucky miner who has finally struck gold,’ Rupert agreed.
‘I tell you what, if our parents hadn’t died in that boat accident, their daughter marrying a gold-digging low life would have killed them instead.’
‘I fear so, my darling. If only there were something I could do to help …’
Anthea still could not help feeling protective towards Jane. ‘We’ve got to stop them. We must leave on the first plane.’
‘For the Australian Outback?’ Rupert shuddered. ‘Yes, great place to visit – if you’re a sheep. How did Jane find this … Aussie?’ He uttered the word with distaste, as though it tasted foul and was tainting his tastebuds.
‘I told you, don’t you remember? She answered that ad in a newspaper, from the mayor of some mining town. He suggested ugly women should move there because the men were so desperate, they weren’t too fussy.’
Rupert shook his head and gave a world-weary sigh at the stupidity of mere mortals. ‘Why is it that all the other members of the animal world pair off happily, without the aid of speed dating and internet love sites? Why is it only the human of the species who needs encouragement to mate? We didn’t need any help getting together, did we, darling?’ He drew her towards him for a soft, lingering kiss.
For Anthea and Rupert it had been love at first sight. She’d adored him from the day she’d accidentally eaten Exhibit A. Truly. She’d been waiting in his office to discuss a legal case and had consumed the evidence – a piece of chocolate which had been left lying on his desk.
When Rupert discovered her crime, instead of throwing her off the case, he merely commented that any judge would go ahead and hold her in contempt of court – or just hold her. She had laughed with relief. To apologise, she’d bought him a drink that very night. Two days later, they were in bed together. ‘I’m a human rights lawyer,’ Rupert had pleaded, with mischief in his eye. ‘I’m so depressed about the state of the world, I really don’t think I can spend the night alone …’
Anthea looked up at her fiancé now as he swept one hand through his schoolboy mop of dark, floppy hair. It fell over his forehead in an endearing sweep. His smile was so bright it could act as a beacon for round-the-world yachtsmen adrift on the ocean. He flashed it at her now as he unbuttoned his shirt. He flexed his