The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner

by Kandy Shepherd

  He forced his brain to change gears from thinking about making love to Kate to corporate responsibility and business pros and cons. And what would be the decision he would communicate to the potential purchaser of his company.

  Her lingering perfume and the imprint of her body against his made his old workaholic tricks the least effective they’d ever been.

  * * *

  Kate had to put up with much teasing from her sister and mother when they discovered her dishevelled and asleep on the sofa, with two empty cups on the coffee table.

  ‘I don’t have to ask who you had here until all hours,’ said Emily, her eyes dancing.

  There was no point in denying it. Half of Dolphin Bay had probably seen her kissing Sam on the balcony of the hotel. And Emily had been among the group who’d congregated in the bar after the wedding reception. Kate and Sam had held hands the entire time.

  As she showered, she thought that over breakfast might be a good time to talk through a few things with her mother and Emily.

  The thought of their Sunday favourite of scrambled eggs and bacon made her gag. Not that she was feeling ill; it was just that her stomach was tied in knots of tension. She missed Sam already. It was devastating to think that when she started her shift at the hotel this afternoon he wouldn’t be there. And she was also coming down from the high of all those frantic wedding preparations.

  She waved away the eggs and instead nibbled on the platter of fruit Emily had cut up. Clearing up and doing the dishes was her breakfast task for today. As three adults sharing a house, they also shared the chores.

  ‘So,’ said her mother, sipping a cup of tea. ‘Have you got something you want to say to us?’

  ‘Something about someone?’ said Emily. She broke into the childish chant the sisters had used since they’d been tiny and still did. ‘Someone whose name begins with S?’

  Kate put down her own cup of herbal tea. ‘Yes. I do. And it is about me and Sam.’

  ‘Tell all,’ said Emily, leaning forward on her elbows, her eyes avid.

  ‘There’s not a lot to tell yet, but there might be,’ said Kate.

  ‘We really like Sam, don’t we, Mum?’ asked Emily. Her mother nodded.

  ‘I like him, too,’ confessed Kate, the accursed blush betraying her. ‘But he lives in Sydney and I live here. Which could be a problem.’

  ‘Sweetie, there is that major issue for you to overcome before you can think about going to Sydney,’ said her mum, raising her eyebrows in the direction of Emily. ‘You know...’

  ‘Don’t worry, Mum, I’ve told Emily about the dome,’ Kate said. She’d found visualising her issue as ‘the dome’ made it easier somehow to imagine herself breaking out of it. She wondered if the psychologist she was seeing on Tuesday would think it was a good idea.

  ‘Good,’ said her mother.

  Kate took a deep breath. ‘But there’s another problem—one that doesn’t just involve me. When I’m able to, I’ll want to drive to Sydney fairly often. Who knows, I might end up living there one day before too long so I can date Sam, if I can afford exorbitant city rents. But...but I know I’m needed here. With you two.’

  Her mother and Emily exchanged glances that Kate couldn’t quite read.

  She hastened to reassure them. ‘Don’t worry. If you want me to stay, we can work things out and—’

  ‘Don’t even think of giving up Sam for my sake,’ said Emily. ‘A guy like him only comes along once in a million years. Grab on to him and don’t let him go.’

  ‘Er, Emily, that’s not quite the way to put it,’ said her mother. ‘But we know what you mean and I echo the sentiment.’

  Dawn reached out to give Kate a comforting pat on her arm. ‘Don’t worry about us, sweetie. It’s been wonderful having you here with us all these years, and don’t think I don’t appreciate it. But things change. For all of us. You need to get your wings back and start to fly.’

  ‘Actually, I have something to say too, Kate,’ ventured Emily, an edge of excitement to her voice. ‘I’m moving out next month. I didn’t want to announce anything until it was certain. I’ve only just told Mum.’

  Emily had talked about moving out on her own often enough but it was a big step. Kate was disconcerted it was actually happening. ‘Where are you moving to?’

  ‘To Melbourne. I’m going to share with some other basketball players in a house that’s set up for wheelies. The bank has organised a transfer for me to a branch down there. I’m all set.’

  Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘And are all your new roomies female?’

  ‘Um, no,’ said Emily. ‘But that’s all very new and I don’t want to jinx it by talking about him.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Kate, determined she would get all the details out of her sister before the end of the day. ‘I’m really pleased for you. And visiting you will give me a good excuse to get to Melbourne.’ Another reason to get out from under that dome.

  She could feel her major tie to Dolphin Bay stretching and snapping. Emily didn’t need her any more—though, if she was honest with herself, Emily hadn’t needed her for a long time. Had she needed to be needed?

  ‘So that just leaves you and me, Mum,’ Kate said.

  ‘I’m not pushing you out, Kate, but it will do you good to go when you’re ready. I never imagined I’d have my great big girls of twenty-eight and twenty-six still living at home with me. It’s time for me to have my independence too.’

  Kate had inherited her tendency to blush from her mother and she was surprised at the rising colour on her mother’s cheeks.

  ‘I didn’t know Colin’s other name was “independence”, Mum,’ teased Emily.

  Kate looked from her mother to Emily and back again. ‘Colin?’

  ‘My friend from the hospital—he’s new in the admin department. He was the one who helped me and Sam put up the wedding arch. He...he’s very nice.’

  ‘And why didn’t I know this?’ demanded Kate.

  ‘You’re losing the plot, sister dear,’ replied Emily. ‘Too caught up with handsome Sam to keep your finger on the pulse of everyone else’s business as you usually do.’

  ‘And the wedding planning. And the resort stuff...’ began Kate, and realised she was being overly defensive. She laughed. Maybe she didn’t need to keep such a rigid control on things any more. Maybe there were fewer fears to keep at bay.

  She’d ask Sam what he thought.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ON MONDAY MORNING, Sam sat behind the imposing desk that had once been his grandfather’s in his office at the Sydney headquarters of Lancaster & Son Construction. He was aware if he went ahead with the sale of the family company that the name Lancaster & Son, founded by his grandfather, carried on by his father and then nurtured by him, would disappear into the history books.

  That would be inevitable. But if he didn’t have a son—or had a son who didn’t want to go into the construction industry—would the name be such a loss?

  In many ways it would be a relief—the burden of living up to that name and to his father’s expectations would be finally lifted. He remembered back to the day he’d turned twenty-one when he’d demanded some autonomy from his father. Grudgingly, it had been given. But, even though his father had gone, there was still that feeling of having stepped into his shoes without having forged shoes of his own. He’d worked for the company since he’d been fourteen years old. Surely he deserved the chance for some cashed-up freedom?

  Still, it was gut-wrenching to think of pulling the plug on so much of his family’s endeavours. Thanks to his canny management, the company had been successful through all the ups and downs of the market. The balance sheet was very healthy with profits consistently rising—which was what made it so attractive to the company wanting to buy it. And the Lancaster reputation for quality and reliability wa
s unsurpassed.

  The money the sale would earn him was a mind-boggling amount, more than enough for him to start a business that was just his own. As well as the luxury of time to decide what that new venture might be.

  It was a compelling reason to sell.

  Again he flipped through the document that answered his questions about what the multi-national company intended to do if he accepted their offer. With the turn of each page, his gut clenched into tighter and more painful knots. Whatever labels you put on a business strategy, be they ‘process re-engineering’, ‘shifting paradigms’ or ‘amalgamating cost centres’, the truth of the matter was that the sale would result in downsizing. And not one member of his crew deserved to lose their job. There were the clients to consider too—clients who trusted him. Clients like his friend Ben Morgan.

  He thought about what Kate had said—and knew there was much truth in her words. With his inheritance had come responsibilities. His father had been fond of that old-fashioned word ‘duty’. In the contemporary world of dog-eat-dog business, did words like ‘responsibility’ and ‘duty’ have a place—or were they just remnants of a more honourable past?

  Then there was his personal life to consider. His workaholic devotion to the company had lost him a fiancée. Now he’d fallen for a woman who might not be able to leave her small, coastal home town in the short-term; perhaps not for a long time. If he wanted to be with her, he might have to live there too. What had she said? You’d be bored out of your brain within weeks.

  He’d started to be seduced by Dolphin Bay but now he was back in Sydney the thought of living in a backwater became less and less appealing. Even with Kate by his side, a ton of money in the bank and freedom from corporate responsibility, he suspected he would find it stifling.

  If he took that path, might he come to resent her? Might that resentment become a poison that would destroy their relationship before it would have time to flourish?

  There was such a short time left for him to make his momentous decision. He leaned back in his big leather chair, linked his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and reviewed again his options.

  It seemed like no time at all had elapsed before his PA buzzed him that his meeting was about to start.

  He picked up the folder with all the relevant documents and headed for the boardroom.

  * * *

  Kate was on edge all morning. From the time Sam’s meeting was scheduled, she had started checking her mobile phone for messages. Whatever decision he made it would be life-changing for him—and possibly for her.

  When the call finally came, she found her hands were shaking as she picked up her phone. ‘Well?’ she asked him. She held her breath for his answer.

  ‘I didn’t sell,’ he said. ‘The company is still mine.’

  She let out her breath in a sigh. ‘Congratulations. I’m proud of you. It must have been difficult but I think you made the right decision.’

  ‘Me too. I did that “make a choice and live with it for an hour” exercise—and decided to sell. But as I headed to the meeting, and realised it would be the last time I would have a say in the business, I knew there was nothing I’d rather do than run Lancaster & Son Construction. I finally understood that my inheritance had never been a burden but a privilege. And that it was entirely up to me how I chose to direct it—my vision, my future. So I changed my mind.’

  ‘Which means everyone gets to keep their jobs and Ben gets to keep his builder.’

  ‘All that.’

  ‘I’d like to give you a big hug.’

  ‘A big Kate hug is just what I need right now. I didn’t realise just how stressful the whole process would be.’ She could sense the weariness in his voice.

  ‘I wish I...’

  ‘You wish what?’

  ‘Oh, I wish I could hop in the car and drive up to Sydney to be with you to celebrate. But obviously that can’t be.’

  ‘You’ll get there, just give it time,’ he said. It still amazed her that this big, sexy hunk of a man could be so considerate.

  She took another deep breath. ‘I’ve got a new goal to aim for—besides seeing the Indian palace hotel, that is. When Ben comes back from his honeymoon, I plan to drive up to Sydney to see you.’

  There was silence at the other end of the line. ‘You’re sure that’s not too ambitious?’

  She shook her head, even knowing he couldn’t see her. ‘No. I’m going to drive a little further every day until I can point that car in the direction of Sydney and go for it. And hope I don’t drive smack into the dome, of course.’

  ‘Okay. But don’t beat yourself up about it if the practice proves more difficult than the theory.’

  ‘I won’t,’ she promised.

  There was a pause on the line before Sam spoke again. ‘Unfortunately, the decision to hold on to the company means it’s unlikely I’ll make it down to Dolphin Bay. Not before the time Ben gets back, anyway.’

  Disappointment, dark and choking, constricted her voice but she forced herself to sound cheerful. ‘That’s okay. I’ll...I’ll be so flat out with everything here. Not to mention the daily get-out-of-town driving goals I’ve set myself that—’

  ‘It’s not okay,’ he said. ‘But because I’ve been away for a week, and because I’ve got to be seen to be taking the reins with confidence, that’s the way it’s got to be. There are changes I want to make straight away. This is seen as a turning point for the company.’ She suspected his words were accompanied by a shrug. ‘I’m sorry,’ he added.

  Her voice was too choked to reply immediately and she nodded. But of course he couldn’t see that. She donned her ‘everything is just fine’ voice. ‘Sure. We can call or text. Maybe even video calls.’

  ‘It won’t be the same as seeing you but, yes, that’s what we’ll do. Now, I have to go for the first of a long line-up of meetings. The start of the new era.’

  ‘Where the company is truly yours—in your mind, anyway.’

  There was silence at the end of the line and Kate thought he might have hung up. But he spoke again. ‘You’re very perceptive. That’s exactly what the decision has meant to me.’

  When Kate put down the phone she was more than ever determined to get out of that dome so she could take more control of her life—and choose when she wanted to see Sam, rather than waiting for him to come to her.

  * * *

  By Wednesday afternoon, Kate had driven further away from Dolphin Bay town centre than she had for two years. While being aware there was such a thing as overconfidence, she felt buoyed by the knowledge that she had got into the car without shaking or nausea. By the end of the ten days, she was sure she would make it onto the Princes Highway and away.

  The initial meeting with the psychologist had gone well. She’d been surprised that the thoughtful, middle-aged woman hadn’t wanted to talk much about the past. Rather, she’d acknowledged that Kate—thanks to her talks with Sam—already had a level of insight into what had caused her problems. Then the psychologist had gone straight into examining and challenging Kate’s thoughts and feelings. At the second session on Wednesday morning, she’d given her strategies for coping in trigger situations, like getting into cars. Kate had found the breathing techniques and visualisations particularly helpful.

  She’d been amazed that she could progress so quickly when she’d thought it might take months—even years—to get to the bottom of things. Why on earth hadn’t she admitted to herself long ago that she’d needed help, when the solution seemed so straightforward?

  By the following Tuesday, on her morning off, she drove all the way south to the larger town of Bateman’s Bay nearly an hour away. She strolled up and down the waterfront, revelling in her freedom. Then she sat in a café right on the water and congratulated herself for having pushed the boundary of the dome so far back. She was confiden
t that by Friday she’d be on the road north to Sydney, counting down the minutes until she saw Sam.

  After she finished her coffee, she decided to phone Sam on her mobile to share the good news. She’d be in Sydney on Friday in time to meet him for dinner.

  ‘I’m so proud of you, you’re doing amazingly well,’ he said. ‘But there’s going to be a change of plan.’

  Kate swallowed hard against that same lump of disappointment that seemed to rise in her throat when she talked to Sam about her plans to visit him in Sydney. But she refused to listen to the nagging, internal voice that taunted her that she had, once again, been a bad judge of a man’s character. That maybe, just maybe, Sam would hedge and defer and change dates until it ended up that she would never see him again.

  Trust him, trust him, trust him, she chanted to herself.

  ‘A change of plan?’ she repeated, desperately fighting a dull edge to her voice.

  ‘Not such a bad one,’ he said. ‘At least, I don’t think you’ll find it so bad. In fact, I’m sure you’ll think it’s good news.’ There was a rising tone of restrained excitement to his voice that made her wonder.

  ‘Okay, so enough with the torture,’ she said. ‘Tell me what it is.’

  ‘I have to fly to Singapore tonight for a series of meetings that will go on until the weekend.’

  ‘And that’s good news?’ she said, her heart sinking.

  ‘The good news is I want you to meet me there. Now that you’ve told me you’ll be in Sydney, I’m confident you can do it. I’ll send you an email with the details.’

  She had to pause to get her thoughts together. ‘In Singapore? You want me to meet you in Singapore?’ She wasn’t sure if the churning in her stomach was dread or excitement.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘When I’ve only just managed Bateman’s Bay?’

  ‘You can do it, Kate. I know you can. Especially when you hear where we’ll be staying in Singapore. Remember the hotel you told me about that shared top spot with the Indian palace one on your list of must-see hotels?’