Licence to Dream (14 page)

‘May I come in? I need to talk to you.’ His voice was as sharp as the crack of a whip.

She realised she’d been standing gaping at him. ‘Yes, of course.’ She held the door open and led the way into the kitchen-family area, the only place that was even half furnished. ‘I – er – didn't realise we were neighbours again. I thought you were just visiting York before Christmas to see what your uncle's properties were like.’

‘Oh, did you?’ Sarcasm was thick in his voice.

She looked at him in puzzlement. What on earth had got into him? ‘Won't you sit down? Can I get you something cold to drink?’

‘No to both. This is
not
a social visit.’

Shock at his attitude seemed to have robbed her of her wits. She pulled herself together. ‘Well,
I’d
prefer to sit down.’ She sat on the rocking chair and after a moment's hesitation, he sat down on the edge of the sofa opposite her, a clenched fist resting on each denim clad knee.

‘You said you weren't interested in buying this property.’

He glared at her so fiercely she suddenly realised what this was about. Uh-oh! His must have been the other offer. Well, she wasn't going to let him blame her for his loss. ‘No, it was you who told me it was too big for a woman, if I remember correctly. I simply didn't bother to argue with you.’

‘It
is
too big for a woman on her own. You've been badly advised about this purchase, believe me.’

‘I suppose it didn’t occur to you that I might actually be capable of making up my own mind about such things?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Or perhaps you've been rather clever.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘You heard me.
Very
clever. Sneaky, even.’

‘Now listen here, Elless!’ She bounced to her feet. She wasn’t going to put up with that sort of sneering innuendo.

He stood up too, arms akimbo. ‘No, you listen here, Ingram. You made a fast move and got in first with this property. All right. I won't labour the unethical aspects of your action, considering you were my accountant at one stage. How much do you want for the place?’

She could only goggle at him.
‘Want for the place?
But I've only just moved in! And anyway, why should
you
want it? You live in Queensland.’

He didn’t answer, but looked scornfully around the room. ‘Just moved in? Who do you think you're kidding? You're not even pretending to furnish it, only camping out here to make your point.’

‘I don't have any point to make to you, Elless, so I think you'd better leave.’

‘I'm not leaving till we've got a few matters straightened out. I'll give you fifteen thousand dollars more than you paid for Somerlee and I'll take care of all the legal and other expenses for the re-sale. You'll never make a quicker profit on anything.’

She could feel the anger swelling her up like a bullfrog, so before she exploded at him, she turned and marched down the hallway to fling the front door open. ‘The property is
not
for sale, Elless, and I don't have to listen to your insults in my own home. Please leave at once.’

He got up but remained standing in the kitchen doorway. ‘You're not a very good actress, you know. The anger's a bit overdone, if you ask me. But all right, twenty thousand extra, plus costs, and that's absolutely my last offer.’

‘Which word don’t you understand?
Not – For –
or –
Sale.
Now, if you don't leave my house this very minute, I'll call the police and have you thrown out.’ 

He moved towards the door and she kept a good distance between herself and him as she herded him along.

Half-way down the hall he swung round so suddenly she flinched and took a step backwards.

‘I'll leave you to think my offer over, but I'll be back. I'm not going to pay you any more than twenty thousand extra, whatever you say or do. I know exactly how much you paid for Somerlee. It's highway robbery for me to pay so much more, but I need the land. You were very clever snapping it up like that.’

In the doorway he paused again, to add more quietly, ‘I didn’t expect that sort of thing from you.’

Her rage overflowed. ‘How do I get it through your – your thick, arrogant skull that I've bought this place to live in and for nothing else. I've no intention whatsoever of selling it, not to you and not to anyone else!’

Before she had realised what he was doing, he had taken a swift step forward, put his fingers under her chin and forced it up, so that she had to stare up at him.

‘Let go of me!’ She tried to shove him away and failed to move him an inch. His body was hard and muscular against hers. Anger coursed through her and with it a strange sense of exhilaration. ‘Let me go, you big bully!’

As she tried to twist away from him, he put his hands on her shoulders and pinned her against the wall. ‘As I said before,’ the hands tightened on her shoulders, ‘you're a poor actress.
And,’
he thrust his face forward till it was only inches away from hers, ‘you're showing even poorer judgement in trying to blackmail me.’

Blackmail him! Blackmail! White hot fury seared through her and as his hands slackened, she stamped on his foot, following that up with a hard kick to the shins that made him yelp in shock and pain. She’d pushed him over the doorstep before he’d recovered from his surprise at her sudden attack.

She slammed the door in his face and locked it, leaning against it for a moment because she was shaking with rage.

He rattled the door handle. ‘I'll be back tomorrow for my answer, you hellcat!’

‘Go and find someone else to bully! You won’t change my mind.’

His parting words echoed in her head as she stormed back into the kitchen and poured herself some iced water with hands that were still shaking. How dared he assume she was trying to hold him to ransom over the house? She set the glass down untasted.

‘He's the most conceited, evil-minded brute I've ever met!’ she exclaimed, stalking up and down the room. ‘Coming here and threatening me like that! I’ll take out a restraining order against him if he doesn’t leave me alone.’

She couldn’t stop thinking of the many things she wished she had said to Elless, and would say to him, too, if he came here again.

‘Who does he think he is?’ she asked the rocking chair when she went back inside. She sat in it briefly, then sprang to her feet, leaving it rocking violently to and fro on its own.

‘I'll give him “not even pretending to furnish it”. I'll go out tomorrow and buy a whole houseful of furniture,’ she told the fridge as she got herself another cold drink to replace the one that had grown warm while it sat waiting for her.

She went outside and stormed up and down the back veranda for a few minutes, glass in hand, but more of the water splashed on to the wooden floor than went down her throat. If he came back, she wouldn’t even let him through the door. She’d just tell him calmly to go away then refuse to speak to him.

When there was a knock on the door, she thought for a moment it was
him
coming back and raced to the door, ready to do battle. But it was only the men delivering the outdoor furniture.

‘Where do you want it, lady?’ one of them asked when she didn’t move.

‘Oh, er, out on the back veranda. You’d be best taking it round that side.’ She pointed.

After they’d gone she couldn’t settle to anything creative, though she had set everything up earlier for painting one of the fluffy, cherry-red blossoms from a small tree at the side of the house.

After wandering round for a while, still muttering to herself, she stopped in the bedroom and stared at herself in the long mirror on the wall. ‘What's the matter with you today, Ingram?’ she asked her reflection. ‘You're letting that bully get to you. Snap out of it, woman!’

Her Grandpop had always said that when you were upset, the best thing was to keep busy, so she got out the tins of pale cream paint she had bought in town and started undercoating the bare plaster walls of her bedroom.

Painting walls didn’t take her mind off Ben Elless, but she felt cheered up by the thought that at least she was doing something productive with her anger, something that would show him whether she really intended to live here or not. The first coat was finished by evening.

‘If he tries to force his way inside that door again, I will definitely phone the police,’ she declared later, as she chopped up some vegetables for her evening meal. ‘Threatening me like that. He's nothing but a bully and you have to stand up to bullies.’

‘And what’s more,’ she thumped the pillow for the twentieth time as she tried to get to sleep, ‘if he so much as
hints
at sharp business practices again, I'll really give him something to sue me for!’

She couldn’t think what, but something.

* * * *

Ria came back from shopping to find two men in suits, who looked incongruously out of place on a country block, shouting at Pete.

She got out of the car and hurried across to them. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘You’re trespassing, lady, that’s what.’

‘Sorry. We thought this block was unused.’

‘It still belongs to someone. We don’t want vagrants camping out here.’

She looked down her nose at him. ‘I’m not a vagrant. I’m employed by the Education Department as a counsellor.’

‘Then why aren’t you living in a proper house?’

‘We’ve been house sitting for someone, haven’t found anywhere else to live yet. Perhaps you’d like us to look after this block for you? We can provide references and – ’

‘All the owners want is for you to get the hell out of here.’

She looked at them and could tell there was no chance of persuading them to change their minds. ‘Fine. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.’

‘You’ll be off within the hour.’

‘It takes longer than that to pack up.’

‘We’ll help you.’

Just then Jim came out of the bush, saw that something was going on and ran across to join them.

‘What’s the matter, Ria?’ he asked in the deep voice that matched his large muscular body perfectly.

‘These . . .
gentlemen
want us to leave within the hour.’

‘Can’t be done.’

‘Two hours then,’ one man snapped.

She could see Jim starting to get angry and laid one hand on his arm.

‘Well, get started! Pack your things up and go!’ one of the strangers ordered.

Jim moved her hand and stepped forward, taking the two men by surprise. Picking up both of them at once, he carried them across to their car. He dumped them down so that they stumbled back against the vehicle. ‘We can leave in the morning and the place will be immaculate. Or we can leave in four hours and the place will be a mess. Your choice.’

Ria hurried across, knowing that simply by standing there, she’d calm Jim down a little.

For a moment there was silence, then one of the men straightened his clothing. ‘It’d better be immaculate, then.’

When they’d gone, she linked her arm in Jim’s. ‘You all right?’

‘Yes.’ He patted her arm. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got the anger under control now, thanks to your help over the past year or two.’

‘I know.’ She turned and gestured to her children to get out of the car. ‘Better start packing up, kids. I’ll phone the campsite and see if they’ve a place for us.’

Jim sighed. ‘I hate those public camping grounds.’

‘Me too. But we’ll find another block to look after. It won’t be for long. One day we’ll have enough to buy a block of our own land.’

* * * *

Since it was three o'clock in the morning before she got to sleep, Meriel didn’t wake up until almost ten. She still felt tired and stumbled round the kitchen, muttering to herself as she made some toast.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone rang and snatched up the receiver, ready to do battle. ‘Oh, Rosanna. You startled me!’

It was a relief not to have
him
haranguing her again and the only reason she felt disappointed was because she was longing to give him a piece of her mind. She realised her friend had stopped speaking. ‘Sorry, I missed that. Must be a bad line.’

‘I was just ringing to see if you were all right, Meriel. How's the house? Did the move go OK? You should have let us come and help you.’

If Rosanna had come, she'd have brought another of her many male relatives. No, thank you! ‘Everything went fine. Just fine.’ Meriel's voice sounded hollow, even to her own ears. She sighed and ran her free hand through her hair.

‘What's the matter? Are you all right? Are you still there? Meriel Ingram, answer me this minute! What's wrong?’

That was the trouble with friends. They knew you too well. ‘Nothing's wrong. I didn't sleep very well last night. I've only this minute got up and I'm still dopey.’

‘I wouldn't sleep well any night if I lived in the middle of a big bush block like that. Look, Karl and I were talking about it. If you're going to insist on living there, you really ought to get yourself a dog.’

‘A dog?’

‘Yeah, a dog. A big one, with a loud bark and sharp white teeth.’

Meriel enjoyed a brief fantasy of a dog biting deep into Ben Elless’s leg. ‘Well, actually I was thinking about getting one – not because I'm afraid,’ she certainly was not afraid to be here on her own, just let anyone try to break in and she would smash them over the head with the baseball bat she kept next to her bed, ‘but for the company.’

‘In that case, what would you say to a Labrador?’

‘Come again?’

‘A golden Labrador. She's a real nice dog, but my cousin Maria is going overseas for a year and her mother won't look after the dog for her, and anyway, they never expected it to grow so big, and it digs the garden up – only because it's bored on its own all day, not because it's a bad dog or anything. What do you think?’

‘I'd have to meet it first. Dogs are a very personal thing. They're like people. You either take to one or you don't.’ And sometimes you could be quite mistaken about a person. It was a lot easier with dogs.

‘All right, then. Maria and I will bring the dog out to meet you. You'll love it. It's called Tina. How about we come today?’