by Diana Fraser
She pressed her lips together and shrugged and a shadow dimmed her brightness momentarily. “It’s okay. I’m not sure many people listen to me. I think most people find me a joke.” Her lips twitched as if trying to smile but failing. Her gaze flickered away from him and she looked around, as her hand sought her bag, the candlelight glancing off its sequins and showering her face with sparkling light. He felt an unaccountable pain in that place where he’d felt something slot into place. He’d come to think of it as the Amber place. With surprise, he realized he was feeling her pain.
“I think I’d better leave,” she said.
He reached out and took her hand. “Amber, you’re no joke to me. You have to believe that.”
“I do.”
“You do? You don’t doubt me?”
“No,” she said. “I know you’re always serious about everything. Someone who gives such serious consideration to a café menu which never changes from one week to the next, isn’t likely to be flakey about deciding to take someone to dinner.”
He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you realize I’m not flakey.” He didn’t think that word had ever been used in connection with him in his whole life—there had never been a necessity to describe him as its opposite.
“No, you’re serious, but I’m not sure why.”
“Because I like you. I really like you.”
Amber glanced at Katherine, who had risen to leave with her partner and wiggled her fingers their way. She nodded in response and turned back to face him. “But not in the way you liked Katherine. I can tell.”
He sat back with a sigh. “Amber, you and I have nothing to do with Katherine. I suggest you forget about her.”
“She’s hard to forget,” mumbled Amber, and he followed her gaze to where Katherine was drawing attention to herself as she walked out of the restaurant. He could feel Amber drifting away from him. That would never do. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“I’d like to see you again, Amber. Really, I would.”
“Then come to my family dinner.”
Even while he drew in a long breath like a dying man, scared of drowning, he knew that there was only one way to get what he wanted.
“Sure.” He tried to smile but he wasn’t sure his mouth complied. “I’ll rearrange my schedule. I’ll make sure I can come.”
He was rewarded with a beaming smile. “Wonderful! I’m sure you won’t regret it. My family are all just lovely.”
Just lovely, he repeated to himself with a sigh.
4
David looked across at the old building and shook his head. The faulty brickwork, which was there for everyone to see, was the least of the structural problems. The earthquake had made the 130-year-old building a death trap. Shame other people refused to see it that way. From his vantage point in the ultra modern offices across the road he could see the cracks radiating out from the windows where the boney old lime mortar had crumbled, threatening the integrity of the old double-brick building. Another shake and David was convinced it would be reduced to rubble.
Angus, his business partner, came and stood beside him and followed his gaze. “Someone told me the other day that we should strengthen it—repoint the mortar, add steel structure within the building to reinforce the whole thing.” He swore under his breath. “I told him not to waste his breath. That we didn’t operate like that.”
“If we spent on it what it was worth, it wouldn’t see out the next earthquake. And I’m not having any building of mine come crashing down on innocent men, women and children.”
Angus turned to him, sympathy in his eyes. David hated sympathy and hated the fact he’d given himself away yet again.
“You can’t turn the clock back, David. You can’t help Zoe now.”
Maybe not, but he could try to alleviate the guilt, which was his constant companion since the accident. It should have been him in that building, not Zoe.
“No, but I can damn well make sure that it never happens to anyone else.” He jerked his head to the old building opposite, which had only just withstood the last major earthquake in Christchurch. “That building is coming down and I don’t care how many demonstrations we have to call the cops in for, how many rainbows we have to remove.” He sighed at the thought of the new rainbow which had popped up, seemingly overnight. He glanced at it now—the colors were beautiful. No bright primaries this time but muted shades drifting into each other like the subtle colors of a slowing growing sunset until the outer edges flared to deepest red.
“They must have got someone else to paint them instead of that red-headed girl. It looks different this time. The colors are different.”
David scanned his emails and closed the laptop with a definitive snap.
“No, it’s the same artist.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw her working on it.”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
“There was no point.” David glanced at the rainbow. Amber must have used a ladder to reach the top of the wall, knowing it could be seen from any angle, including the head office of the development company over the road. He came and stood beside Angus once more.
“And why’s that?”
“Because she’d simply come back tomorrow, when I’m not here, and repeat the process.” He turned to Angus. “No, this requires a different approach.”
“And what’s that?”
“A subtle one.”
Angus grunted a cynical laugh. “Subtle? You? That’s never exactly been your forte, David.”
“Maybe not. But I’m working on it.” He scooped up his phone from the table and walked to the door. “See you later.”
He left the building, as he usually did, through the basement where he got into his car. He exited the narrow alley and then drove directly onto the motorway. There was no public access, so privacy had easily been retained. No one knew of his association with the property company which was knocking down so many of the old inner city buildings, replacing them with modern works of art.
He didn’t care for publicity, and he especially didn’t care for Amber Connelly to know what he did for a living. It would jeopardize everything. First, he needed her to convince EarthFoods to stop creating adverse publicity to his demolition plans and accept the relocation to a modern commercial complex in the suburbs. Then, well, it would all be over anyway. He’d have what he wanted—a secure building which would ensure there would be no repeat of the disaster which had ended up with his sister becoming paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
He’d hoped the council would write it off for demolition, but it seemed it didn’t meet their criteria. Which, in David’s opinion, was far too wide. David couldn’t look at any of these old buildings without a feeling of nausea and dread filling him. He’d step in if he had to, if the council’s regulations didn’t allow them to demolish. If that meant treading on a few toes, lying by omission, then so be it. It was a small price to pay.
“Here he is!” exclaimed Jim, too heartily. Everyone turned around to see David slam the car door and walk toward the verandah steps. Jim stepped forward and greeted David with a shake of the hand. “Good to see you, David. Now, let me introduce you to everybody.”
Everyone turned to look at David who, Amber thought, looked exceptionally handsome in his white shirt and stone-colored chinos. Smarter than any of her brothers and with a machismo to rival even Max, who wore his manliness like a badge of honor. David didn’t alter his stance or respond in any way to Max’s physical challenge. Most men did. Amber liked it that David didn’t feel the need. Max took a step forward and Amber tried to move between them, but the table was in the way.
But, before Max could reach David and any intimidation could occur, Max’s wife, Laura, jumped in front and extended her hand to David.
“David!” said Laura. “How lovely to meet you. We’ve heard all about you from Amber.”
Laura momentarily turned her brilliant
smile from David to Amber, winked, and then turned to David once more. Amber loved that Laura was watching out for her, trying to smooth the way between Amber’s over-protective brothers and David. But Laura was totally gorgeous—blonde, sexy, and fun—and Amber definitely felt in her shade.
But, apart from returning Laura’s polite greeting, David didn’t seem to pay her much attention. Instead, he followed Laura’s gaze to Amber and smiled. Amber smiled back and sighed as the warmth of his expression filled every inch of her. It wasn’t until Gabe cleared his throat and then nudged her that she realized someone had been talking and neither of them had heard.
“David!” she said. A path suddenly cleared in front of her. He stepped forward and took her hand. “Thanks for coming.”
“My pleasure.” He kissed her cheek. She blushed, and her siblings tried not to grin. “You look beautiful.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear and shook her head. She wished he didn’t feel he had to say that. She hardly looked beautiful compared to the rest of the women in her family. Still, it was a nice thing to say. “Thank you.” She picked up a plate to offer David. “It’s sweet of you to say so, but I think the other Connelly women have cornered the market on beauty.” She smiled again, but David didn’t. He simply glared at the rest of her family. Amber’s smile dropped. She hoped no one would notice. As much as she appreciated David’s comment, she really didn’t want her family upset.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Sure, thank you.”
“We have pretty much anything you could want,” said Lizzi, the eldest of the family, who ran a café in Shelter Springs, in the Mackenzie country. “Pete brought his latest vintage to top up Pop’s collection.” She gestured to the wine fridge, which took up one corner of the covered veranda, and which contained a selection of wines from her husband Pete’s winery. “So we won’t go short, that’s for sure.”
“Water, please.”
“Oh,” said Pete, looking crestfallen. He and Lizzi exchanged bewildered looks. Their lives revolved around food and wine, and they didn’t understand David’s spartan tastes. Which wasn’t surprising, because Amber didn’t either. All she knew was that there was something quite exciting about watching someone rein himself in that tight. It made you wonder what passions lurked beneath which required such control.
She reached for her own glass of sparkling water and took a gulp. Luckily the moment of silence was broken by the entrance of her other sister, Rachel, who stepped out from the kitchen holding a hot tray in her designer oven gloves.
Just as well she wasn’t the insecure type, thought Amber. Because between her sisters-in-law—Maddy and Laura—and her two sisters—Lizzi and Rachel—she didn’t stand a chance. Luckily, they were all happily married.
Rachel deposited the hot tray on the table and stood back with a beaming smile. After a day spent in a kitchen, Rachel really shouldn’t look quite as fresh and glamorous as she did. She was dressed in a figure-hugging red dress with a deep neckline which showed off her figure. And the only lock of hair out of place looked as if it had been arranged that way for aesthetic reasons—or at least reasons which gave her husband, Zane, an excuse to push it off her face with a loving caress.
Amber shot another glance at David to see if she was checking out Rachel’s cleavage—something which Amber had not a chance of possessing, given the size of her boobs—but, again, David appeared the perfect gentleman, saying something polite to Rachel before turning to Zane, to talk about rugby.
It looked like David was passing the first test—not to be distracted by the beauty and charm of the Connelly women. Which would stand him in good stead for the second test—not to be scared off by the Connelly men, who most assuredly would not appreciate David ogling their wives.
“So, what is it you do, David?” asked Max, taking a swig of his beer straight from the bottle before fixing David with an unflinching gaze.
Amber frowned at Max. Max ignored her, and the warning hiss from Laura. But, much to Amber’s relief, David didn’t turn a hair. He faced Max, looking as cool and relaxed as if he were ordering a drink at a bar. “I’m in property development.”
Amber’s frown dissolved as she became interested. She hadn’t known this. She’d thought he was something to do with Finance. Finance with a capital ‘F’ because it was a thing about which she knew nothing. Come to think about it, she only had vague notions about what a property developer did, too.
“How do you mean, developing? You mean renovating or something?” she asked. She shot him a smile. It seemed like they had more in common than she’d imagined. “I love renovating old houses.”
Did she imagine it or did his smile fix a little? “No, more like building new ones.”
“Oh, did you build that one opposite Flo’s place? The one I saw you going into the other day?”
“Yes, I did.”
It was Jim’s turn to frown. “The one where old Briar Cottage used to stand? Shame. There was a lot of history in that cottage.”
“Not enough to keep it standing unfortunately, sir.” Jim’s frown deepened at being called ‘sir’ again. “It was riddled with rot and woodworm. It wasn’t cost effective to restore it.”
“Must everything come down to cost these days?” exclaimed Jim, his white bushy eyebrows beetling over irritated eyes.
“Yes,” said David firmly. “It must.” Amber shuffled forward, trying to wedge herself between David and Jim. This conversation wasn’t going as she’d planned. “Otherwise there would be no money to invest in new projects, and there’d be no progress.”
“More drinks, anybody?” she called out too loudly, considering she was standing so close to her father and David. They both looked at her with puzzled expressions. “And while I’m getting them, David, let me introduce you to Gabe and Maddy.” She laughed nervously. “I forgot. You know them already from the café, don’t you?”
Gabe stepped forward with that charisma he had—a warm doctor’s presence—which was entirely natural to him. The entire female population—young and old—of Akaroa had gone into mourning when he’d fallen in love and married the mysterious Madeleine, mysterious no longer.
“Good to meet you somewhere different from the café, David. And thank God you got around to asking Amber out. Between my lovely wife and Amber, I began to think I’d ask you out myself if you didn’t hurry up.”
David’s lips tweaked, which Amber took to be a sign of amusement.
“I would have said no, Gabe. You’re not my type.” The others laughed. “Actually,” he said, looking at Amber with a smile, “nor is Amber.” The laughter stopped, replaced by a stunned silence. “And yet I was entranced from the moment I saw her. I didn’t ask her out immediately because I wanted to see if that interest waned. But…” He sighed and Amber could virtually feel her family leaning in toward him, their anxiety palpable as to what he might say next. “But it didn’t. It only increased. She’s a beautiful woman with a big heart.”
There were huffs, murmurs, and nods of relief from her family.
“You’ll be staying for dinner, I hope?” asked Rachel, obviously warmed by his comments. Since Rachel had returned to Akaroa a few years ago, Amber had grown close to the sister she’d barely known before Rachel had departed to make her career as a TV chef. Rachel gave a quick nod of approval to Amber.
“I’m afraid not. I have commitments in Christchurch I can’t get out of.” His gaze shifted to Amber. “But I couldn’t resist Amber’s invitation to meet you all.”
Suddenly there was jostling and chatter from young voices, and Rachel’s daughter Etta and Lizzi’s daughter Aimee appeared carrying large trays. Aimee’s continuous chatter was punctuated by Etta’s odd dry, and to the point, comments. Aimee adored her newly found cousin, thinking her the epitome of cool.
“Careful, Etta,” said Zane, steadying the plate just in time before it fell off the edge of the table. Etta was more accomplished at scoring a try in her beloved rugby than waiting at
table.
“So,” said Jim, clearing his throat. Here it comes, thought Amber. “Do you plan to stay around Akaroa? Is this a permanent or temporary move?”
“Dad!” exclaimed Amber. “That’s David’s business.”
“And it’s mine now, since he’s shown an interest in you.”
“That’s okay, Amber. I understand your family is protective of you, and that’s as it should be.” He turned to Jim Connelly—the family patriarch. “It’s temporary.”
Amber felt her heart drop and it must have showed in her face.
“For now,” he said, looking at her. She gave a wan smile.
“Anyone like a top up?” She held up a bottle of wine, and wandered off, digesting this piece of information. Did she really want to get involved with someone who was passing through? One look at David, now talking to Jim and Pete about property prices in Central Otago, told her that she shouldn’t, but that she would.
Lizzi held out her half-empty glass for Amber to refill and nodded toward David. “Trial by Connelly,” she muttered. “He’s done well to survive us this far.”
“He seems pretty solid to me,” said Max, with grudging respect, coming up behind Amber and Lizzi and following their gaze to David.
“Solid?” asks Lizzi. “Not sure that demolishing a beautiful old cottage could be called solid. But he seems a nice guy despite that. And really interested in you, Amber.” Lizzi nudged Amber with her elbow.
Amber felt herself blush. “He does, doesn’t he?” she whispered to Lizzi.
“You’re wrong, Lizzi,” said Max. “Not about his interest in Amber. Of course he is, who wouldn’t be?” He gave Amber a quick hug. “You’re wrong about demolishing the cottage. What could be more solid than demolishing a rickety old cottage and putting something in its place which will last another couple of centuries? Nothing wrong with that. Nothing to be gained by clinging to old things.”