by Debbie Flint
Mac!
Sadie ran outside into the heat. Mac kept playing. She kept watching. Finally he patted the winning team members on the head, and handed out candy to everyone from his rucksack. And, Sadie noticed, a few coins on the quiet.
He saw her, smiled briefly, then got sucked back into a maelstrom of arms and legs. The raggle-taggle children were jumping on his back, tugging on his arms and pulling on his belt. He must have been playing for some time, given the state of his surf shorts, red face and sweating torso. It was late morning, the sun was beating down, and still the ‘man who hated children’ continued to jostle with the kids from Maui Waikoloa Children’s Home in a way that took Sadie by surprise.
There was clearly more to Mac than meets the eye. Now it was her turn to be wrong-footed about him. There she was, labelling him as a cold, self-centred, womanising, businessman – a playboy billionaire – and here he was looking every inch like someone’s favourite uncle. A hot one at that. She wished he hadn’t taken his shirt off. But the lads had no shirts on, so he’d just joined in. One of them.
Every time he tried to get away, a gang of them gripped his clothes and pulled him to the floor.
‘Did you win?’ Sadie called, above the hubbub.
‘Actually, I …’ but he was whisked away before he could finish that sentence.
Finally he threw a handful of sweets into the yard, escaped, and came over to join her.
‘Sorry about that. To answer you, no,’ he said. ‘I never win. Works better that way.’
Sadie found herself lost for words. So many questions, but where to begin. There was a pause.
‘I just—’
‘So, did you—?’
They both spoke at once.
‘Sorry, you first,’ said Mac, as he bid the kids a fond farewell and walked back inside the building, dusting himself down.
‘Everything okay?’
‘Yes. Did you enjoy the tour?’
‘No, I mean, you know.’ Sadie looked at Mac quizzically but he obviously didn’t know. Or didn’t want to say. ‘I just wondered if you found out why that Tremain guy was at the plant?’
Mac chewed his lip briefly, looking around him. A couple of people walked by.
‘Sadie, don’t take this the wrong way but I’d rather not discuss it right now. Is that okay?’
‘Oh. Sure. Probably spoke about it already with Alexis, huh.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Nothing.’ There was a silence. ‘Nice to see you out there enjoying yourself with the children.’
They walked a few paces as Mac shook his dusty shirt then put it back on and picked up his jacket from reception. There was a definite air of tension returning to his shoulders, and he forced a deep breath and then smiled.
‘Two of them remembered me. Still here though, poor kids.’ He seemed lost in thought for a second.
‘You’ve been here before?’
‘Yes. I was visiting the home a year ago when I first sampled the water. Bill Galloway was here at a fundraiser. Told me all about his dream of a new plant and worldwide distribution. Took it with a pinch of salt. Thought it tasted good but that was all. Never realised it would take-off so fast.’
‘Ahh, you knew him – and the water. Which is why you were so quick to accept the meeting.’
Mac just nodded, and pulled out a chequebook from his rucksack. He started writing.
‘And why Simon got in touch so quickly with me when I returned? He told me he’d heard on the investment grapevine, but they were already on your radar.’
The receptionist appeared and took the cheque.
‘Just an extra, Laiana. As I said, buy a new football post and fix the sprinkler system, okay?’
‘Thanks, Mr Anderson.’ She disappeared again.
‘So you donate too? What brought you to this kids’ home then, Mac? I thought you were based in LA?’
‘I’m based wherever I need to be based. Hence the “boat”.’
She grinned and looked downwards, recalling their first encounter. Ahh, the ‘boat’.
‘Don’t you mean the superyacht?’ she said.
Mac paused, then changed the subject, and Sadie was glad, before too many memories came flooding back.
‘Your first time on a tour like this?’ he asked.
‘Yes. The kids seem well looked after, don’t they? Well fed? Quite happy? Nice that the Galloways support the home so well, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, they and many others. Bill’s a good man.’
Another silence fell on them both. Sadie biting her tongue to stop herself firing a million questions at him when he clearly wasn’t ready to talk.
‘Listen,’ he said. ‘I think I’ll let you go on ahead with the others. I’ll give the rest of this trip a miss. I’ve got to go tidy up before the meeting this afternoon, but there’s something I’ve got to do first.’
Sadie put on her best pleading face, ensuring he at least told her what it was.
‘There’s a surfboard with my name on it waiting for me after my run, down at the beach.’
Sadie made a perplexed face. Add ‘enigma’ to the list of names I can call you, she thought. She opened her mouth then shut it again.
‘Don’t worry, I’m pulling out all the stops to overcome the obstacles being thrown in our way and I will get this deal. I can’t talk about it now but leave it with me. I’ll see you at the meeting, okay?’
‘Okay. Will Alexis be going surfing with you too?’ Dammit – why did that woman still bother Sadie so much? Gut instinct? But the words were already out of her mouth.
‘No. No idea where Alexis is. Did you need something? I can ask her to call you if you—’
‘No, no it’s not that, I just—’
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Sadie, I wouldn’t usually say this to a normal business partner, but I suppose you’re not … ahh … a normal business partner. If there’s anything troubling you, you would let me know?’
Sadie looked into his eyes, a mixture of concern and troubled waters. So much she needed to say, so little she’d allow herself to admit. Anyway, now was not the time.
‘Mac, the deal’s still got legs, right? Nothing’s changed?’
‘Now who’s being paranoid? No nothing’s changed – not if I have anything to do with it. Only my determination to see this through and do what’s right. And I don’t just mean this deal. Trust me.’
Sadie searched for a clue as to what the hell was going on, but the receptionist appeared again with a receipt and so did Mac’s full-on poker face. A practised player, aloof once more. Just then his face cracked into a wide smile but his gaze wasn’t on her – it was looking behind her.
She turned around to see a little brown-faced girl, flushed from playing football, running up to Mac holding the hand of a smaller boy, who was hiding his face behind her arm.
‘Mister Anderson, Mister Anderson!’ she squealed. ‘Lee spoke! My brother – he spoke! He tried to call you when you went off with the lady. Lee, say what you said to me. Mister Anderson wants to listen.’
The little lad emerged from behind his sister’s arm and looked at the floor.
Mac left Sadie’s side and knelt down next to the boy, who could have been only about three or four.
‘What is it, Lee, what did you want me to hear?’ Mac said with a softness to his voice that caught Sadie’s breath in her throat.
He looked up at his sister ruefully and crinkled his little brow, chewing his cheek and digging the toe of his battered trainers into the floor.
‘What is it, little man?’ Mac said more confidentially, and held out his arms. The boy did the same and Mac lifted him up and wandered slightly off to the side. The little girl followed. Sadie looked on in wonder
ment.
‘Say it, Lee, say it,’ she said.
‘You …’ the youngster began, looking Mac straight in the eye and taking a piece of grass off Mac’s chin. ‘You pick me next time? Please? You pick me?’
Mac swallowed hard. Sadie saw the impact that question had had on his face.
‘I—’
‘He means the team! He wants to be on your team next time,’ Sadie said.
‘I be …’ said the little boy, ‘… I be big enough. Next time. You come back, right? You pick me?’
Mac let out a breath and laughed. ‘Yes, I pick you next time. When I come back.’
‘When you come back, Missah Anderson pick me! Missah Anderson pick me!’ The little lad beamed, showing a gappy smile. Then he held out his hand for his sister, and Mac put him on the floor, gave them the rest of the bag of candy, and said goodbye. They scampered off into the yard again with the candy, and were met by a cheering group of kids. The look on Mac’s face said it all.
‘It’s definitely not about just showing your face, is it,’ she said, tenderly.
His answer was a crinkle in the corner of his eyes. ‘See you later, Ms Turner.’
‘We’ll chat later, right?’
He paused. ‘Right.’
‘See you later, Missah Anderson.’ She smiled.
He went to kiss her on the cheek, then thought better of it as she turned awkwardly, reaching instead for his hand as if to shake it. He ending up patting her arm. They stood apart, slightly embarrassed.
‘Get your glad rags on this afternoon. The ones you kept. I guess the ones you sent back weren’t so glad.’ He looked at Sadie with a sideways glance. She made a face at him.
‘I will be paying for them myself, thank you. And the, er … phone. Will be just a loan. For now. OK? But I’ll make my rags look perfectly adequate, don’t you worry.’
‘You wow that Bill Galloway and it won’t matter what his son thinks.’
‘I will, Mac.’ A beeeeep sounded from outside.
‘Looks like the bus is leaving. Hurry.’
She rushed to the door and waved back. But he was gone.
As Sadie was lining up to get back on board the coach, the air filled with a loud thudding, and a helicopter taxi appeared in the sky overhead. The whole yard was suddenly full of windswept, cheering children, rushing to wave to the helicopter as it rose up into the sky from behind the trees, and disappeared in the direction of the beach. Mac was at the window and waved back at them, and, Sadie thought idly, at her too.
Up in the helicopter the children were now just diminishing dots hundreds of feet below. Mac let his face go, and immediately it became furrowed once more. He turned away from the window.
Another home, another wrench to leave them.
It wasn’t a question of saving them all – even Mac’s pot wasn’t bottomless. And often it wasn’t just about the money. These kids needed love. But he wasn’t the one to rely on for that. Whatever money he could give, however, he would, and he’d keep on giving for as long as he knew he could make a difference. Giving his time was another matter. It meant giving of himself. And some parts he just wasn’t ready to give.
But in a year’s time, if all went according to plan, all that would be different.
He gave a command to the pilot to descend towards the beach a few miles in the distance, the sun glinting off the golden sand and vivid blue water. He felt a pull in his stomach and he closed his eyes. Children’s homes. Each time it drained him, as much as it energised him.
Too many memories, too much pain. Twenty years ago one of those kids would have been … Snapping his eyes open again, he shook away the chains anchoring him to the past and looked out the window.
The helicopter pilot began his descent and Mac felt adrenaline start to flow. Nothing helped him escape the past more than his extreme sports – except they’d had to become more and more extreme over the last few years to satisfy the growing emptiness within. Surfing some waves would have to do for now – he had to find some way to clear his mind. And get some serious sea swimming in, so that his training didn’t go completely to pot.
He’d revealed a little more of himself than anyone ever saw today. To Sadie Samantha Businesswoman. So, most of all, he needed to clear away the image of Sadie’s face, soft in wonderment, watching him hold the little boy. And he definitely needed to banish his innate instinct to hold her too. ’Cos that just wouldn’t do. Wouldn’t do at all.
Besides, he needed to focus. Because in about three hours it was make or break time for the deal, and possibly for Sadie’s future. And what he hadn’t told her was that after this morning, it could go either way.
Chapter Eleven
Sadie got back to the hotel and showered for the second time in five hours. Humidity had a lot to answer for. It had been a busy morning – all that science and seeing Mac’s soft side all before lunch.
An hour later, she was still in the bedroom, with two half-finished cups of coffee sitting beside her. She was sitting on the bed with her legs up, her chin on one knee, checking for any messages on her new mobile phone. There they were at last – the latest performance results from the early trials on the water samples. She read them through, then sent a quick text home, and left the phone to charge.
Still no word from Mac.
She’d at least expected a heads up. Still, she reminded herself, it was probably Alexis who was getting the briefing from him right this minute. Probably somewhere in the hotel. Maybe even just the two of them, alone in Mac’s room, she was probably …
Brrrrrrrinnng.
The room phone rang and she nearly jumped off the bed to answer it.
Mac!
‘Daaarling!’
‘Oh, it’s you, Mum. You’re up late.’
‘Yes, well the girls insisted on watching the TV with me and George.’
‘Mum! I told you about—’
‘Darling, we have news. I did leave a message earlier, at least I think I did. But I’ve got you now. Anyway, Georgia passed her Greek! I mean German! All on her own! See how clever she is? Yes, you are my smooch-coochy … what? They’re not your cheeks, they’re your mother’s cheeks – and mine by proxy, so I’ll pinch them if I want to! Anyway, go to bed, you can talk to her tomorrow. If she finds out I let you watch the late movie she’ll … oh, here you are then.’
The plaintive voice of Sadie’s youngest came on the phone.
‘Mum?’
‘Hello, darling. Told you you could do it. Did you use that verb conjugation I told you about, and—’
‘Mum …’
‘What?’
‘We miss you.’
A lump in Sadie’s throat just about stopped her saying ‘Nana driving you nuts again, huh?’ Instead, she said, ‘I miss you too, darling.’
‘Mum … if … if you can’t afford to pay for the trip. We spoke about it. We’ll give up the places. If you need us to.’
‘Let’s see, my lovely,’ Sadie replied, then got onto small talk as quickly as possible for a couple more minutes before Georgia gave her a big ‘mmmmmwah!’ good night kiss, and handed her back.
‘Sadie, are you still there?’ said her mum.
‘Yes, Mum.’
‘How’s it going?’
Sadie slumped onto the bed. ‘To be honest, I don’t know.’
‘What? Haven’t they given you an answer about signing the contract yet? Will it be long? Can I buy my sports car yet?’
‘Mother …’
‘Well, it’s nice to have something to look forward to darling, that doesn’t involve George and bowls.’
‘I thought it was Herb.’
‘No, Herb’s gone off with Greta. Anyway less about us and more about you. When will you hear, then?’
‘I really
don’t know, Mum.’ And Sadie went on to have a quick word with her other daughter, who was unusually quiet. Sadie’s creeping guilt began to make its way once more into her psyche. She badly missed home. But this trip was so important. And she needed someone to talk to about it all – and with her sister, Helen, incommunicado for a week or so, she decided to update her mother on everything that had happened. She normally wouldn’t share everything with her in such detail, as it usually came back to haunt her, but Sadie felt lonely so it all came tumbling out. She had to admit she did feel a little better afterwards.
‘Well, don’t forget we all love you. And think you’re amazing and clever and all those things a mother should say to a daughter.’ Sadie’s mother paused. ‘And so often doesn’t … I don’t … Not often enough, darling.’
Sadie choked up a little at her words. Her mum went on, ‘Abi and Georgia understand, too, by the way. A big bill arrived this morning – one that wasn’t on your list. So I had “the chat” with them earlier this evening.’
‘The chat?’
‘That the latest school trip had better be a no, after all, since it’s just out of the question given your budget right now, and the extended deadline was yesterday, so they’ve both decided to turn it down, and agreed to tighten their belts too, till this is sorted.’
‘That explains a lot.’
‘Well, I told Abi being the only one in the class not to go to China is character building. And Georgia can stay with her friend, Suki, whose parents are getting a divorce so she can’t go either and at least they can share each other’s pissed-offness. After all, we’ve all had our fair share of disappointment in our lives, haven’t we? I said haven’t we, darling? Sadie?’
Sadie couldn’t speak – she felt the lump grow exponentially bigger in her throat. Her eldest was going to miss out on the one trip she’d been talking about for a year. No wonder she was quiet.
Sadie felt the tears prickle and shook herself. Just a little longer – so close now, so close. Think positive, think positive.
‘Well, it’s bedtime now, for us at least. We’ll talk again tomorrow. Nice to hear from you. Glad your back in mobile communication. I’ll give the girls the news that they can harass the hell out of you again now, instead of me. Plus they can slag me off via the wonders of social media. Like those trawls.’