After buying a writing pad and stamped envelope in the concourse he settled down under an ornamental palm. His thoughts flowed once he set pen to paper. He wrote about his peculiar relationship with Kirsty and how he had tried to cope with the trauma of her untimely death. He mentioned about how he had wrestled with the idea of forgetting about Caxton Manor and even considered signing his half of the inheritance over to her. He closed by saying how much he regretted not having declared his feelings for her, and that he wanted her to know that even though their time together had been brief, she still occupied a very special place in his heart.
He read the letter a couple of times, unsure whether to sign and seal the envelope or tear it up. For what seemed an interminable age he sat, pen poised, in agonising indecision. Then he looked up to see an elderly woman on the next seat watching closely. She reached over and touched his arm lightly.
‘Send it anyway,’ she urged him. ‘If nothing comes of it, you have lost nothing, but you will have been true to yourself.’
Her earnest look convinced Steve that she was right.
‘Okay,’ he said, with a smile. ‘I’ll take your advice.’
As he posted the letter, Steve felt a sense of achievement. Whether Suzi responded or not wouldn’t matter now; he had declared his love, and that was enough.
The return flight was far more enjoyable, and he stepped off the plane with a great feeling of contentment. It did not matter what happened to Caxton Manor in the future, because he had hinted to Duncan that if there were any disagreement about the current arrangement, he would deed his half share over to Suzi Lysle Spencer. As far as he was concerned, he could consign it all to the past, or even treat it as if it had never happened.
*
Suzi had difficulty seeing through her tears as she drove away from The Stow Restaurant. She almost stumbled into the manor as Eileen opened the door and went straight to her room without saying a word. It took some time for her to regain her composure, and when she finally came downstairs, Eileen had a cup of tea waiting for her.
‘Are you all right, dear?’ the woman asked, in a concerned voice.
‘I’ll be okay,’ Suzi replied. ‘I’ve just had a bit of a shock, that’s all.’
‘Would you like to talk about it? Sometimes it’s better to get it out of your system.’
Over the next half-hour Eileen coaxed Suzi to unburden herself. She made no comment as she listened to the story of love found and lost again. She listened sympathetically at how disappointed Suzi had been over not being able to turn Caxton Manor into a reception venue, and finally, she listened patiently to the distressing story of the loss of the restaurant. As she came to the end of her narrative, Suzi burst into tears again.
‘I’ve got nothing now,’ she sobbed, ‘I’ve signed the manor away. The restaurant’s gone. My dearest friend is thousands of miles away in New Zealand and I have no one to turn to.’
‘How long before you have to vacate the premises?’ Eileen asked.
‘I’ve agreed to move out at the end of the month.’ Suzi dabbed her eyes dry. ‘It’s just as well that I still have my little bungalow to go back to, but that is leased out for a year. I’ll have to work out what to put into storage and what to sell.’ She grasped the older woman’s hand. ‘But there’s good news for you. The company who are leasing this building have agreed to consider you as live-in housekeeper, if you want the job.’ She pulled a business card from her handbag. ‘Here it is. Give them a ring now and see what they offer.’
Eileen came back from the phone with a broad smile on her face, and related her conversation with the personnel officer. The company had agreed to her status in the house, the rooms she could occupy, and a monthly wage. It was a wonderful opportunity, but she lamented the fact that it had come about at Suzi’s expense.
‘If things had gone the way you had planned, I’d be still be in a bed-sit,’ she said, quietly. ‘And now I’ve got a lovely home. And you’ve got nothing.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Suzi said, in a brave attempt to be cheerful. ‘I can always start again, but you deserve a break after all the hard knocks you’ve suffered.’ She kissed the woman’s cheek. ‘I’m happy for you.’
After Suzi had signed the lease documents, Duncan shook her hand warmly and repeated the promise he had made to Steve. When she returned home, Eileen said she had arranged for some large cardboard packing cases to be collected from a nearby industrial estate. She had begun to clear out one of the outhouses and suggested that Suzi’s things could be stored there until she had found another place for them.
‘There’s no need to spend money on storage if you don’t have to,’ she said, firmly. ‘And if you want anything in a hurry, I can find it for you.’
That evening Suzi phoned Charlize and related the events of the past few days.
‘Where are you going to live?’
‘I’ll find somewhere, don’t worry. Between everything, I’ve got enough money for that now.’
‘It’s a pity you’ve leased your house. If you’d known that Mark was going to buy your share of the business…’ She stopped short of completing the sentence.
‘Yes, I know, but it’s easy to be wise in hindsight, isn’t it?’
‘Well the first thing you should do is come over for a visit,’ Charlize said, in a voice that brooked no argument. ‘Lloyd’s mother has two or three spare rooms and said she’d be happy to put you up for a few weeks.
‘I’ll think about it, okay?
‘No, don’t think about it, ring up and book a flight now.’
The sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel driveway preceded the deep chime of the front doorbell. Suzi said a hurried goodbye to her friend and hung up. The postman needed her signature for a registered package. After he had gone, she made some coffee and carried it out into the garden. She had only just sat down on a bench when she heard the sound of Aub’s old Granada chugging up the drive. Seeing her there, he parked it under the copper beech and sauntered over to where she sat.
‘Looks as if I’m just in time for a cuppa.’ His face crinkled into a grin as he gestured at the mug in her hand. Then he put out a restraining hand. ‘No, no, I’m teasing; I can wait until you’ve finished.’
‘Nonsense. I’ll get it for you now, because I’ve something to tell you.’ When she returned with his coffee, Suzi handed him Gillam’s business card and explained that she was vacating the manor within a few weeks. ‘They’ll need someone to look after the garden, so it might pay you to give him a ring.’
By the time she had answered Aub’s queries about the new tenants, and tried to parry his questions about her plans, she was close to tears again. It seemed that whenever she talked about her situation she became overwhelmed with emotion. Rather than continue the conversation, she made an excuse to let him get on with the work, but the negative thoughts would not go away. Now, Charlize’s suggestion to visit her seemed more attractive by the minute. Yes , she decided, I’ll go as soon as I feel good enough to travel .
Suzi walked back into the house and picked up the bundle of mail that she had dumped on the hall table. She found a comfortable chair in the study, and sifted through them. One letter stood out from all the others. The envelope bore the imprint of Heathrow Airport, and was simply addressed: Suzi Lysle Spencer, Caxton Manor. She tore it open with trembling fingers, and read the first few words aloud.
My dearest Suzi ,
I am not sure whether I should be writing this letter. It seems as though things couldn’t get any worse than they are right now, so it might be better if I get everything off my chest.
Her eyes filled with tears as she continued to read. Twice the letter slipped from her fingers as she stopped to consider what was written there. By the time she reached the last paragraph, it was quite obvious many of her own thoughts had been echoed here. The final words leapt out from the page:
I don’t know why I felt so threatened, or why we were so hostile to each other at Mr Duncan’s
office. It is hard to accept that there may be a reason behind it all, but they say that nothing happens by chance. I wonder why things can’t be more straight forward.
More tears sprang to her eyes, as she read the bottom line.
No matter what happens , I will always remember you as someone I could have loved for a lifetime with the whole of my being.
Suzi bit her bottom lip as she recalled her nonchalant replies to his questions, and his reaction to her terse words. Why had she been so off-hand with him? He had every reason to be upset. She had eventually realised he had been the man who saved her life, and she had not even thanked him for pulling her out of the pale green waters of the Whitsunday Passage. But at least now she knew that he had made every effort to find her afterwards.
Still clutching the letter in her hand, she wandered into a secluded part of the garden and dropped down onto a bench-seat. Her thoughts swung from one extreme to the other as she considered what to do. Maybe Charlize had the right idea; maybe she could move to New Zealand, and open a restaurant there, and… and… invite more heartache? No—she shook her head at the thought.
She was still staring into space when Eileen found her an hour later. The woman had seen the crumpled envelope on the floor of the study and had gone looking for her.
‘Are you all right, dear?’ she asked, softly. When she saw Suzi’s tearstained face and swollen eyes, she pointed to the letter in her hand. ‘I hope it’s not bad news.’
‘Good… and bad,’ Suzi replied with a deep sigh.
Once again, Eileen coaxed her to share her feelings, and when Suzi had finished, she advised her to let things settle in her mind before making a decision about her future.
‘Only fools and the dead don’t change their minds,’ she counselled. ‘It’s an enormous decision to make, so don’t be in too much of a hurry. Wait until you can think more clearly about things. You have to be quite certain in your mind about such important matters.’ She grasped Suzi’s hand. ‘Come on, I’ll make a pot of tea then we can get on with the packing. Keep busy that’s the best idea; it’ll take your mind off things.’
The following weeks sped by as Suzi prepared to move out of Caxton Manor. Everything she wanted to retain had been packed away, and the most of the excess furniture was up for auction. Daily trips to the physiotherapist had helped rebuild the muscles in her arm, and now it felt quite normal. She had given a great deal of thought to Charlize’s invitation, and finally decided the time was right to take a holiday in New Zealand. There was no reason not to go.
When Suzi phoned Charlize, she squealed with delight.
‘That’s the best news you given me for a long time. You’ll love it here. The people are so friendly. I’ll get Lloyd to fix things up with his mother so that you’ll have somewhere to stay. You’ll love her, she’s ever so nice.’
‘It’s okay; you don’t have to keep selling the place to me, I’m practically on my way. I moving out on the Thursday before Easter, so I’ll book into a hotel for the night before the flight on the following day.’
‘That’s great, but it’s a pity things turned out the way they have with Steve Pardoe,’ Charlize said, sadly. ‘He’s a really nice guy, and Lloyd thinks…’
‘And Lloyd thinks what?’
‘He thinks the guy is crazy not to drag you over here.’ Over the next few minutes Charlize related what had happened when Steve finally dropped in to say hello and wish them well. When she had finished, Suzi gasped.
‘The letter he wrote to me before he left the country echoes what you’ve just told me. Now I know why he was so abrupt when we met.’ She groaned softly. ‘He’d taken the trouble to fly over here to settle everything, and I didn’t even bother to invite him to dinner, nor ask where he was staying. I did nothing.’
‘Well, it’s not the end of the world,’ Charlize said, in an effort tried to console her. ‘He’s here in Auckland, and Lloyd will be only too happy to act as an intermediary.’
‘Okay, I hear you. Expect me some time over Easter.’
One week later she said goodbye to Eileen and climbed into the Honda. She forced herself not to look back as she drove out through the front gates, but her eyes still brimmed with tears.
Chapter Thirty Two
Steve came home to find his father tucked up in bed with a bad dose of influenza. Norah had finally convinced him that it was better to stay home rather than infect the rest of his workforce, but now she was having second thoughts.
‘Talk about a pain in the you-know-what,’ she complained. Then she shrugged. ‘He hardly ever gets sick, so I suppose it’s to be expected.’ She shoved Steve towards the bedroom. ‘Go and talk to him, tell him the factory won’t grind to a halt because neither of you is there.’
Vince brightened up as Steve came into the room. ‘How’d it go, son? Everything okay now?’ He didn’t wait for a reply before continuing. ‘Now those pumps. Burt seems to think there’s a big problem so you’d better slip down there straight away and sort it out.’
‘Okay, I’ll take care of it.’
Within a few days Steve felt as if he had never been away. He soon found out why the equipment wasn’t working a hundred percent and rectified the problem. By the time everything was running smoothly again, Vince had recovered enough to return to work—much to Norah’s relief.
The three of them were sitting around the table a few nights later discussing Steve’s trip to Wales, when Norah brought up the subject of houses. She and Vince had finally chosen a smaller place, but there were only two bedrooms.
‘That means no spare room.’ Steve looked from one to the other. ‘I get the hint. You mean it’s time I found a place for myself.’ He grinned. ‘Okay. Now that I’ve straightened out the mess in Britain, solved the pump problem and had time to recover from my jetlag, I suppose I should start looking.’
‘Well, it doesn’t look too bright does it?’ Vince said looking over the top of his wineglass. ‘I mean the managing director of Voxlin living at home with his parents. It’s not very impressive, is it?’
‘Managing director?’
‘Yes, it’s about time I took a back seat and let you run the show. You’ve proved time and again that you do a better job than I can now.’ He reached across the table. ‘Congratulations son, you’ve made the big time.’
‘And you deserve it,’ Norah added.
The rest of the workforce was equally surprised by Vince’s decision, but they were unanimous in adding their congratulations. It was decided to close the workshop an hour earlier than usual the following Friday and celebrate at the nearest pub. Most of the staff were married, so after a few drinks they made their excuses and left. Vince bought one more round, and then declared the party over.
The next morning Steve took a taxi to town and picked up his car, and then he spent the afternoon looking at houses that were being advertised for sale. The rest of the weekend he spent driving around the bay area, still looking, but finding nothing he fancied. He approached Harry Wisecombe to see what he might have, but he had nothing to offer.
‘I’ll let you know the moment something special comes on the market. I know the kind of place you’re looking for.’ He said, as Steve bade him goodbye.
When the remaining pumps were dispatched to North Queensland, both Steve and his father gave a sigh of relief. It had been touch and go whether they would meet the deadline. Nick Bolte had promised to phone when they arrived and keep them up to date with the installation, so they were both dismayed when the man’s daughter rang a few days later.
‘Dad’s been rushed to hospital,’ she said. ‘He went fishing this morning, jumped in the water to untangle his line from the propeller, and landed on a jellyfish.’
‘How bad is he?’
‘The doctor says he’ll be all right, but it’s a bit scary. It was just pure luck that a friend was close by and took him to hospital before any irreparable damage was done.’ Her voice faded for a moment. ‘He’ll be upset that he’s let you down.�
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‘It’s okay. Don’t you worry, and tell Nick we’ll take care of it.’
Vince turned to Steve. ‘Looks like a job for the managing director,’ he joked. Then he became serious. ‘Sorry son, but you’re the only one who can do it. We can’t rely on casual workers at this stage.’
‘That’s okay. Nick was going to do the Babinda job first, but he didn’t explain why. Never mind, I’ll sort it out when I get there. I’d better book a flight to Brisbane now.’
‘When will you leave?’
‘Easter Saturday is as good a time as any.
The next few days were spent checking that everything had been dispatched and arrived safely. Steve packed a selection of tools and tossed in his own hard hat for good measure. A punctured rear tyre nearly caused him to miss the plane. As Vince roared up the departure terminal and stopped with a squeal of tyres Steve jumped out of the car. He yanked a bag from the back seat, banged the car roof and ran into the building. The stewardess looked pointedly at her watch as he raced up the walkway and into the waiting aircraft.
‘Another minute and you’d have been left at the gate,’ she remarked dryly. She pointed to the nearest seat. ‘Sit there until we’ve taken off.’
As she spoke, the aircraft moved away from the loading area and headed towards the runway. Ten minutes later they were airborne.
*
Suzi’s flight was delayed because one of the pilots had to be replaced at the last moment, but the passengers were assured that the lost time would be made up before the plane reached New Zealand. The captain had been right, and they touched down at Auckland within minutes of the scheduled time. Charlize waved frantically as Suzi walked into the reception hall. The two women clung to each other for a long time as they embraced.
‘It’s so lovely to see you again,’ Charlize sniffed. ‘You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve missed you.’
‘But you’ve got Lloyd.’
‘Yes, but I’ve still missed you. Come on, let’s go.’ She picked up one of Suzi’s bags and led the way out of the terminal. ‘Lloyd is nearly as excited as I am about it all. His parents are visiting friends at Cormandel Peninsula over the weekend so you can stay with us until they return.’
Written in the Stars Page 25