“You know? You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. I’ll give it a try.”
“It’ll work. Mum always forgives me when I mess up, so long as I admit to it and apologize.”
“Thanks for the tip, mate.” All this talk of the past had eased his arousal and allowed him to move once more. He jumped up. “Come on, let’s go and see what she’s up to.”
They found her just inside the curtain of pohutukawas, drawing water from a pump.
“A pump? I thought this bay was uninhabited.”
“It is now. But years ago?” She pushed aside a curtain of creepers. “Fantastic, isn’t it?”
James couldn’t see what she was looking at and preferred not to shift his own view. “Breathtaking,” James murmured as he focused on her long, lean, limbs. With effort, he shifted his gaze from her chest to whatever it was that was holding her attention. He walked up beside her.
She shifted the veil of vegetation further to reveal a grand, two-storied, colonial house, whose white paint had peeled, leaving scars of silvered wood, some rotten, with creepers curling green tendrils into the nooks and crannies. “Been that way for over fifty years.”
“Wow. Who’d have thought this was hiding behind these trees?” He looked up at the intricately balconied widow’s walk along its upper story, set amidst a crescent of flowering pohutukawa trees. “It’s like something out of a fairy tale.”
Tom came running up behind them. “Perhaps there’s a princess inside who needs a kiss to wake her up?”
Susie groped behind a ledge and produced a key. “Trust a person of the male species to believe a kiss could set everything right. When something’s dead, it’s dead.”
James watched her walk up and take Tom’s hand before opening the door. In that moment he realized just how much, and how deeply, he’d hurt her. And, for the first time, he wondered if he could ever put it right.
Chapter Five
James followed Susie and Tom inside. He was immediately struck by the smell of mice and dust. He ducked to avoid thick strands of grey cobwebs disturbed by the opening of the door. The two-story hallway was lit from above by a large, glass dome in the roof, from which a green-tinged light fell. Remarkably no panes had been broken and the interior was dry.
“It’s Pete’s family’s old homestead. Apparently the family stopped living there in the 1950s when the road opened up from the town to Whisper Creek. It was too isolated here. It’s only accessible by water now.”
James rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It’s stunning.”
“It’s falling down.” Tom suddenly appeared from one of the many rooms that led off the hexagonal hall. “Mum and I shelter here sometimes if the weather’s bad.”
“So why aren’t we sleeping here tonight?”
“It’s damp, and dusty. Definitely only a place for emergencies.”
James’s gaze shifted to Susie, who stood in the centre of the hall, the green light filtering down through the ivy that covered the glass ceiling, giving her an ethereal look. He had a jolt of déjà vu, as if he’d already seen her there before. Ridiculous. He turned away in confusion.
He opened the nearest door and walked in. It was heavy, good quality, and opened into a huge reception room on an incongruous scale, given its location, lit by large windows on two sides. He walked over to the windows, drawn by the view, dust rising with each step. He looked through French windows that opened out onto a wooden verandah. The blue of the bay was spread before him, just visible through the shifting leaves and branches.
Running footsteps approached and Tom slid up to him, arriving in a cloud of dust. James coughed and pushed open the warped windows with a shove. Tom made to go outside but James stopped him, placing his hands squarely on Tom’s shoulders. “Careful. It’s probably rotten.”
James looked down at Tom and felt a surge of affection for the boy. Was he his? At the first opportunity he’d ask Susie. In the meantime he’d enjoy the possibility. But he knew, that whatever the answer he was Susie’s boy, and he’d already developed a bond with him that would only grow.
“It’s like a Rousseau painting.”
“What?” Surprised, James looked out at where Tom was pointing at the thick vine and big green leaves.
“All jungly, dark and heavy and green.”
“Yes, I guess it is. Do you like art?”
“Love it.”
“Do you want to go to art school?”
For the first time Tom didn’t answer his question directly but bit his lip and looked away. “I’ll learn on my own. Art school’s expensive.”
James looked away also, feeling the boy’s pain through his too-adult words. “Yes, it is expensive. But if you want something, there’s always a way.”
Tom looked up at James with hope bright in his eyes. “Really? Do you really think I could do it?”
“Definitely.” He squeezed Tom’s shoulders and whispered in his ear. “Particularly if you have help from someone with a plan.”
What was that feeling? That strange mixture of emotions that consumes you when you see two people—who you are, or were, close to—bond? Susie didn’t know, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. She watched James dip his head to Tom and whisper something in his ear and her heart contracted at the expression on Tom’s face as he looked up into James’s—utter trust and hope.
She had to tell James the truth.
“This,” James said as he walked towards her, “is perfect.”
“Perfect, for what?”
“A luxury lodge. Nothing huge. We’d convert some of the bedrooms into en suites.”
“You can’t surely mean to convert this? Why would someone with heaps of money want to come here?”
“Because there’s nothing else like it, it’s picture perfect.” He glanced out the window. “Or will be when it’s finished. It’s got the character that people coming from bland luxury will love.”
She pressed her fingers into some rotting timber. “By character you mean rotting decay, I take it?”
“That’s easy to fix.”
“I don’t know.” She dug her finger nail in deeper. “It goes pretty deep.”
“Nothing’s unfixable, not if it’s essentially sound.” He caught her eye and then moved forward. “Just think, Susie.” He paced around the room, looking up at the ornate ceiling, now covered in grime. “For access, you have the flat land above, perfect for a helicopter pad, and you’re only half an hour boat ride away from any of Auckland’s marinas.”
“But that’s not good access, surely?”
“It is for people with money who want privacy. I know people who’d rent this whole place out for their family for months at a time. And between times, it could be run as an exclusive lodge. It would have a professional kitchen and be a showcase for Whisper Creek wines.
“And you reckon it would be worth it? It wouldn’t ruin this place?”
“Not if it’s done right. Which it would be. You’ll see when we go to Onihau next week. Guy, runs something similar at his winery. You’d be able to develop the winery in line with your vision and invest in its operations.
She frowned up at him. “It’ll require huge investment to get the place up to scratch. Where’s the money going to come from?”
“Mackenzie Investments has been developing property for years. I’ve got the team. I’m assuming Pete would be interested in a joint venture, or selling it?”
She shrugged. “Probably, so long as he didn’t have to be involved. His heart’s in the Mackenzie country, even though he’s kept hold of most of the original estate.”
“Good. No problems then.”
“For you, maybe not. But it would change the whole feel of the place.”
“Susie, your and Tom’s future would be secure. You’d both have the freedom to do as you like.”
She was speechless at the sudden vision of a future where anything was possible. But, the door slammed closed on her vision. James still owned everything. He still had the power
.
“It’ll be fine,” James continued, oblivious to the turmoil that was raging in her head. “I’ll show you the kind of lodge I’m envisaging when we go to Onihau.”
She nibbled her lip. “Just for one night, that’s all I’ve agreed to. I need to be back for Tom. He’s finishing school early next week.”
“No you haven’t, Susie,” Tom piped up. “I’m staying in Auckland for the rest of the week so I can go to Matt’s birthday party, remember. Aunty said it would be okay.”
“That’s settled then.” James thrust his hands in his pockets and Susie could see his mind slipping into business mode as he looked around the place. “Next week in the Wairarapa we’ll discuss the lodge and new equipment with Guy.” He turned to Tom. “Does your mum have some posh clothes?”
“Yes.” Tom grinned. “But she never wears them.”
“Dust them off, Susie, you’re wearing them next week. Lucia and Guy like to do things properly.”
She tried to smile for Tom’s sake. But still the seed of doubt nagged at her. Why was he doing this? Would this venture make her free, as he claimed, or tie her further to him? She and Tom followed James outside to where he stood looking up at the battered facade of the once grand old house.
“What a perfect place. I hope, one day, I’ll find a home like this.”
“You must have a string of beautiful properties, all over the world probably.”
“Properties, yes. A home, no.”
She frowned. “You’ll find a home one day, I’m sure you will.”
His face held no trace of smile now. “Are you? I’m not.”
“See!” Tom exclaimed proudly. “We don’t need a tent.” He tentatively rattled the collection of driftwood that he’d hammered into the sand behind where they’d be sleeping and James suitably admired it.
“The flag’s especially good,” James said, flicking the tattered white cloth marked with a skull and crossbones with his thumb and finger in lieu of any breeze. “Should ward off any pirates.”
Tom looked at him with a pitying expression. “James, there are no pirates any more.”
James laughed. “There are on foreign seas—Indonesia, Africa.”
“But we’re not near foreign seas, are we?”
Still laughing at his reduced status as an object of pity to a ten-year-old boy, James reached for a bottle of wine. “Where’s your mother?”
Susie had made sure she was never alone with James. She obviously didn’t want the conversation he wanted. But he would have it.
“She’s just coming round the rocks.” James followed where Tom was pointing. Susie was wearing a long sarong-type wrap skirt and a flowing shirt, both a soft orange. Slowly James stood up, transfixed as Tom darted over to her and took the basket of pine cones she’d been gathering from a neighboring bay.
Tom ran over and tipped them onto the pile of dry leaves and twigs they’d placed for the fire. James handed Susie a glass of wine and she came and sat a little distance from James, leaving a space between them for Tom.
“It’s a beautiful evening.” James looked up at the sky, sipping his wine. “The stars are already beginning to appear.”
“Do you know anything about the stars, James?” asked Tom as he flopped down beside James and pulled some blankets over him.
“No, sadly. I remember my brother, Callum, trying to teach me which stars were which, but I never paid much attention.”
“You’ve got a brother? I wish I had a brother.”
“Oh, you’re better off without them. I have two—one in the South Island and one in Wellington. They argue with you when they’re bored, they thump you when they’re happy and they try to humiliate you as frequently as possible. It’s one of their favorite pastimes.”
“They sound mean. Don’t they love you?”
James’s heart melted a little at the boy’s seriousness. Apart from the obvious need for a good education, he could see why Susie had decided he needed to mix more with other kids on the mainland. “Of course we love each other. We’re just used to expressing it in different ways. Like, if you want to tell your mum you love her, I guess you go and say it, or hug her, do you?”
Tom nodded. “Yep. She likes that, don’t you Mum?”
“Sure do.” Susie’s smile to her son brought a lump to James’s throat. “Bread and cheese anyone?” She passed a slice topped with melting Camembert to James.
“Thank you. And, Tom, I’m sure she does.” He glanced over at her. “Well, when we were your age, if Callum approved of something I’d done, he’d punch me in the arm, get my head in a head lock and slap me playfully on top of my head and say ‘do it better next time.’” James shrugged. “That’s love in our family.”
“Wow!” Tom’s eyes were large with surprise.
“Both my brothers are married now. Hopefully their wives have taught them that headlocks are not a good way to express love.”
“I heard they’d got married.” Susie, propped up on the multitude of cushions that James had insisted on bringing, pulled Tom closer into her embrace as she nibbled on the cheese and drank the wine. The soft warm breeze ruffled her hair and the flickering firelight gave her face a look at once familiar and exotic. “I can kind of imagine Callum married, because he got married young, didn’t he? And his wife died. But Dallas? I was surprised. He always seemed like a confirmed bachelor.”
“Not now. He’s very happily married with two children. And Callum’s wife, Gemma, had their first child six months ago.”
Susie looked at him thoughtfully. “So you’re on your own now—the only one unmarried, the only one without a family.”
“Thank you, Susie, for pointing out how quite alone I am.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
Tom sat up and looked at them both in turn, his eyes suddenly bright with curiosity, obviously aware of some undercurrent of conversation. “Because James wants a family?” He turned to James. “Is it?”
James glanced uneasily at Tom. “You both think I’m lonely? No, I have a lot of friends, a whole other life in the US and big plans for the future. I’m just here to check on your mum. Your mum and I were friends years ago. I wanted to see how she was getting on. That’s all. Make sure she was okay.”
“Sure she’s okay.” Reassured, Tom dropped back down to the ground. Susie covered him in blankets. “She’s got me to look after her.”
James nodded. “So I can see. So…” He desperately needed to change the subject. “Coming back to these stars. What have we got?” He took a sip of his wine and drew closer to Tom and Susie. With Tom half-hidden by the blankets on the ground, James’s face was close to Susie’s.
Susie lifted up her arm and pointed to a cluster of stars already dipping towards the western horizon. He watched the pale underside of her arm and itched to stroke it. “That’s Scorpius. Maori say it’s the fish hook that the god Maui used to catch the Great Fish of Maui.”
“The Great Fish of Maui is the North Island,” Tom informed James.
“Is it indeed? That is some big fish,” he added, distracted as he watched Susie shift her hand until her arm was nearly stretched across his body. “And do you know what that is?”
Tom yawned and James was too busy gently blowing out a breath against her skin, watching her skin goose bump under the influence of his breath, to answer.
“It’s the Sea Goat. Capricornus.” She looked at them both. “Am I the only one who knows about stars round here?”
“I’m sure Tom does, but he’s too sleepy. Besides we don’t need to, with you here. You always were smart.”
She withdrew her arm, suddenly self-conscious and pulled a blanket loosely over herself. “Not so smart.”
He shifted onto his side, propped up by his hand. “Yes, smart.”
“Not so smart now, though, am I? Trapped on a beach with you.”
“And me, Mum!” Tom said sleepily before burying himself even further. His body stretched, pushing at them both, as he gave a great ya
wn. “I’m tired.”
“Then snuggle down and I’ll tell you about the stars.”
Slowly the light faded until the only light was coming from the stars and their reflection on the sea. Susie recounted the stories about each of the constellations that were gradually becoming visible. James sat back, one arm hooked under his head, and listened to her stories, allowing her voice to wrap its way around him, to find its way into his heart.
Tom wriggled one last wriggle as his breathing deepened and he fell asleep.
James reached over and took hold of Susie’s hand that was about to point out another star. “He’s asleep.” He lowered their joint hands until they rested gently on Tom. “Your hands are cold.” He blew on her fingers and rubbed them between his own. “You should get under the covers. Keep warm.”
Slowly she withdrew her hand from his, her eyes dropping to his mouth. He licked his lips as his thoughts refused to shift from her own lips. “Um.” She shivered. “Guess you’re right, Mac.” There was something in her lowered tone, in the use of her nickname for him, that got to him. It was like a vibration that made its way deep inside of him, triggering a response of which he hoped she wasn’t aware. She pulled the covers up until only her head was visible, and her eyes, which still held his gaze. “It’s lucky…” She trailed off before clearing her throat. “…that you brought the extra thermal blankets. The night’s colder than I thought it would be.”
He felt an overpowering need to touch her, to feel the reality of her. Casually, he shifted his hand so he could touch her hair that spilled over the cushion. It felt like silk under his fingertips. She didn’t move, didn’t show she was aware of what he was doing. “It came with the rest of the stuff. Warm enough?”
She nodded, the slight movement betrayed by the gleam of the stars on her hair. “You?”
“Put it this way. You and Tom have all the extra blankets and I’m manly enough to cope with the cold, despite what you think.”
She grinned and it warmed his heart. “Too manly to go searching for the sleeping bag or admit you might be cold, that’s for sure.”
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