A Mother for His Twins by Lucy Clark Page B

has been good to me. It gets me through. Helps me sleep.’
    ‘Even now? All these years later?’
    ‘Yes. Work is consuming.’
    ‘But is it fulfilling?’
    Jennifer thought about that but wasn’t sure quite how to answer. Instead, she looked away and in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, forced a small smile. ‘Thank you for listening. It’s very rare I talk about him.’
    ‘Even with Sara?’
    ‘Sara knew Art so I don’t need to tell her how special he was. She already knows.’
    ‘Talking about our loved ones, reliving memories, it helps bring them to life again…even for a few moments.’
    ‘Exactly.’ Jennifer nodded enthusiastically. ‘I love it that you understand these feelings. That you’re not jealous or overreacting to the power of a ghost.’
    Jasper eyed her carefully for a second before venturing, ‘They’re not your words, Jen. Someone else has said that to you. A shrink, perhaps?’
    ‘Am I that transparent?’ She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘I sort of started to get close to a colleague back in Melbourne who was a psychiatrist. That was about four years ago and he couldn’t seem to understand that I needed my memories.’
    ‘Many people don’t. Sometimes all the textbooks in the world don’t make a scrap of difference if they haven’t experienced it.’
    ‘I’m a different person now from whom I was back then, but it doesn’t mean my past counts for nothing.’
    ‘On the contrary, your past has helped make you into the person you are today.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘The fact that you’ve loved so deeply and then lost equally as deeply is something other people don’t seem able to comprehend.’
    ‘I take it you’ve tried to speak to other women about Elisha?’
    Jasper nodded. ‘They’re naturally curious, I guess. Especially since I have children.’
    Jennifer allowed herself a small smile. ‘Most women are very nosy.’
    He agreed. ‘True, but whenever I’d start to answer their questions, to tell them about the girls or Elisha, they would feel as though it was some sort of competition, like they had to live up to the standards set by Elisha if they wanted to…to…’ He searched for the right word. ‘Secure me.’
    ‘But that’s not the case at all.’
    ‘No. I would simply be answering their questions by telling them how incredibly wonderful the woman I married was.’
    ‘Otherwise you wouldn’t have married her.’
    ‘Exactly.’
    ‘So what was she like?’ Jennifer had been curious about Elisha, as no doubt Jasper had been about Art.
    ‘Blonde. Blue eyes.’
    Jennifer’s smile increased. ‘I sort of gathered that by looking at the girls.’
    ‘She was an interior designer who loved her job, loved creating atmospheres for people to live in. I think the best way to describe her was that she was content with who she was.I envied that to a certain degree. She was happy being a home body as well, supporting me through my studies, making sure I ate properly. I’d come home from work and invariably find the furniture rearranged or to find her painting the walls.’
    ‘Did she decorate this place?’
    ‘Yes, but over the years little changes have been made.’
    ‘The girls following in their mother’s footsteps?’
    Jasper laughed. ‘I guess you could say that especially as Lola did some…shall we say interesting artwork on her walls about three weeks ago.’
    ‘Oh, no.’
    ‘Oh, yes.’
    ‘What did you do?’
    ‘I hammered up a quick frame and hung it around the drawing. She was impressed.’
    ‘I’m surprised she didn’t do it again with that sort of reaction.’
    ‘Lilly wanted to but I managed to convey my dislike of unauthorised murals and supplied them with a huge pile of paper instead.’
    ‘They both like drawing?’
    ‘Yes. Again taking after Elisha. I don’t want them to lose that because they didn’t know their mother.’
    ‘She sounds delightful. I wish I could have met her.’
    ‘Likewise with Arturo.’
    ‘Thank you. I