Licence to Dream (24 page)

For a moment longer he hesitated, then said quietly, ‘Let’s go and sit down.’

She chose a chair opposite him, because if she sat close enough to touch, they’d end up forgetting to talk. ‘Go on, give!’

‘I hadn’t realised that they might take all this from me.’ He waved one hand around them. ‘Even if they don’t, I shan’t be able to afford to develop things for a while. I can’t bear the thought of them taking my property in Queensland after Sandy and I worked so hard. And . . . Well, I’d expected something at least from the business. So I’ll have to try to
earn
more money. And the worst of it is that I won’t be able to do that here, not the sort of money I need. All my business contacts are over east.’

Silence settled between them.

‘Does it have to be a big development here?’ she asked at last. ‘Couldn’t you start small again?’

‘I suppose so, but the major earthworks won’t come cheaply and the lake was to be the centrepiece. It won’t be right without that lake, not on an inland site. So it’d make more sense to get that done first and work round it.’ He sighed. ‘You wouldn’t fancy relocating to Queensland for a while, would you?’

She didn’t want to leave. And yet, she didn’t want to lose him, either. ‘Give me time to think about it, Ben. We’ll talk again tomorrow. We don’t have to decide all at once, do we?’

* * * *

The next day after breakfast, she cleared the table and sat down opposite him. ‘How about we combine forces?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I have some land. I could put it with yours and then you could start smallish.’

He looked at her. ‘Thanks. If I’ve any money left . . . afterwards, I suppose we could consider it. But I’d not do anything till I was sure I was free of Phil. I’m not risking you losing your land if he drags me into bankruptcy.’

He was so subdued, so unlike his usual ebullient self, it upset her. ‘We’d not do it as a partnership in any case. We’d set up proper business arrangements. My share would be quite safe then. Do you have any paperwork about this development?’

He stared at her in puzzlement.

‘You know, costs, estimates, projections, planning lists and figures. Tiny details like that.’

‘Ah, well – I thought
you
could handle those. I’ve just got the image of it in my mind, how the lake would look, what plants I’d put round it – that sort of thing. It’s quite detailed, I’ve been thinking about it for years . . . but I’ve not written it down.’

She rolled her eyes upwards, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds and praying for patience. She loved him, but she didn’t trust him an inch where business was concerned, not because he was dishonest, but because he was impractical. ‘I can’t invest in anything until I know exactly what you’re planning and how I’d be involved.’

‘I thought we could just – make a start and see how we went from there. I’d do the drawings first, of course. I’m good at those.’

‘Ben Elless, are you crazy? We have to start with working plans, not to mention contingency plans and detailed financial arrangements. If not, we could both end up losing everything we own. Is this how you always work?’

He shrugged. ‘Sandy used to handle the business side of things and leave me to do the creative things. I admit I’m not the world’s best numbers man, but I do have a flair for major landscaping, truly I do.’

She sighed. ‘All I can say at this stage, then, is I’d be interested in looking things over, and potentially would consider committing some land to the project, but I’m not signing anything until I’m satisfied with the paperwork – and until you’re clear of this Phil Hantley.’

‘You’ll still stay with me, though, won’t you? I mean, you and I will still be an item?’

‘Yes, you fool. It’ll make no difference to our being together.’ She wasn’t sure she ever wanted to get married, though, and she was quite sure already that he would. Well, that was for later. ‘Now, let’s start working out the business stuff, Ben. I’m not going anywhere, I promise you.’ She went to give him a hug and wound up just standing there in his arms for a while. It felt good. She definitely didn’t intend to lose him.

When she moved away, he said, ‘Let’s go outside and I’ll
show
you what I want to do. Put on some sturdy jeans and boots. We’ll be pushing through the bush at times.’

Outdoors Ben was much more impressive. He had wonderful ideas for landscaping and the ability to sketch a scene in a few lines on a notepad, then flesh it in with talk, so that you could almost see the way he’d shape the land, subtly, enhancing the natural flow and curves. He talked of rare wildflowers blooming, even, later down the track, rare native animals safe from harm in cat-proof enclosures.

She was more impressed than she’d expected to be by his vision and his instinctive grasp of how best to do what he wanted. He juggled alternative approaches in rough sketches that brought his words to life. He waved his arms around a lot, pointing, finding ways to minimise expense even as he built word pictures of his dreams.

Next time she wanted to talk figures, she’d bring him out here and jot down what he said on a pad. She’d get twice as much information in half the time, and better information too.

As they walked back to the house, she asked, ‘Do you have any skill with building chalets, or whatever it is you’re going to put up here to house visitors?’

He shrugged. ‘I’ve worked on residential developments, but I usually turn over the accommodation side of things to a builder – or to Phil.’

‘I see.’ Phil again, taking care of all the business details – and the finances – and keeping Ben in ignorance of half the things that were happening, but profiting from his creativity and vision. ‘Have you ever thought of using kit homes?’

‘Could do. As long as they didn’t look too cheapskate.’

She would go and look at them herself first and take Ben along with her later if she found anything worthwhile. If they were going to become partners, they would each need to understand all aspects of the business, broadly at least. That seemed reasonable to her. None of this leaving things to other people – who might or might not deal with them properly, who might or might not take care of the finances and who might or might not be honest.

And she was still worried about who had damaged the old house. Was it the would-be developers? Had they given up now, or were they prepared to harm Ben to get what they wanted? There could be big money involved. She didn’t want to face dragons on two fronts.

No, her imagination was running wild. They had to deal with this Phil mess first.

She watched Ben stop to study a clump of plants and her heart twisted in her chest. She liked him better because he wasn’t superman. She didn’t even care now that he was good-looking, though of course the mutual attraction was crucial. What she cared about most was how good and kind a person he was. Too soft for his own good, but not too soft for her.

He and Grandpop would have got on like a house on fire.

The following afternoon Meriel took out the manuscript that had been couriered across to her from Sydney and began to read, marking passages of useful description which might provide a scene for the cover. The story was gripping and it was not until the light began to fade that she realised just how long she had been sitting there, or how many rough preliminary sketches she had screwed up and tossed into the bin. She sighed. Her worries about Ben were getting between her and her work.

Only as she went to join him in the living area did she look round and ask, ‘Where’s Tina?’

‘I thought she was with you.’

‘I haven’t seen her since lunch time.’

‘Nor have I, come to think of it.’

He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Normally, the dog would have come running to hurl herself at him, but today there wasn’t even the faintest bark or rustle of foliage in response.

‘Where can she be? She’s not the sort to run away.’ On the contrary. Tina never went far away and she always made some sort of noise when they called her.

They circled the house, finding no sign of the dog.

Meriel looked at him. ‘There are snakes in the bush. She could have been bitten and . . . ’

‘Let’s look further away.’ He put his arm round her shoulders and they walked along the path that led to his block. When they saw something lying half-hidden by a bush they both ran forward.

Tina. Not moving.

‘Is she alive?’ Meriel dropped to her knees, feeling a tightness in her throat at the sight of the usually lively animal lying so still.

‘Let me. I’m used to dogs.’

Ben began to check Tina gently and Meriel watched, because clearly he knew what he was doing.

‘Yes, she’s alive, but only just. Her heartbeat is unsteady. We need to take her to the vet’s.’ As he stood up, he studied the ground, stirring the mess with his toe. ‘She’s vomited and it contains pieces of raw meat.’

Meriel swallowed hard. ‘We never feed her raw meat.’

‘No.’ His face was grim.

‘Could she have found a dead animal and eaten that?’

‘I doubt it. The lumps look too regular.’ He was poking around in the mess with a stick. ‘This is definitely butcher’s meat. There’s no sign of skin or bone or feathers.’ He looked at Meriel and his voice was rough with emotion as he knelt down again and began to caress the dog’s head. ‘I think we have some more trouble on our hands here in the West, love. Serious trouble. Tina’s been poisoned. And the only reason I can see for that was to threaten us – Why?’

‘To make us sell out and leave?’ Meriel stood up and drew in a long, shaky breath. ‘We’ll not only call in the police but this time, Ben, we’ll mention what happened at your uncle’s old shack, too.’

‘We can’t prove anything.’

She looked at him in exasperation. ‘No, but the police might be able to. It’s all part of the same thing, I’m sure. This is far too serious to ignore.’

He sighed and as he leaned forward to pick the dog up, a man’s voice called ‘Elless!’ from some distance away. He froze, making a quick shushing sound.

‘Sell the land, Elless, and go back to where you belong!’ the voice went on.

‘Why the hell should I?’ Ben yelled back.

‘Because if you don’t, your lady love might get hurt next, like your dog did.’

After that there was silence, then a short time later the sound of a car driving away in the distance.

Ben looked at Meriel and said in a low voice, ‘Let’s deal with poor Tina and later we’ll go and see if they’ve left tyre marks. I’ll carry her to the car then come back with a shovel and scrape up some of that mess for analysis.’

‘No. Wait a minute. I’ll fetch a shovel and we’ll get our sample before we move away from here. I know we heard a car driving away, but we don’t know that all the intruders were in it. You stay and keep guard.’

Before he could stop her, she’d darted off through the bush. Furious at her for taking risks, he could only wait for her to come back, listening intently the whole time. If he heard any other sounds, he’d leave the dog and go back to her . . . But whoever it was had driven off so surely she’d be all right?

He couldn’t bear to lose another woman he loved. He’d do anything to keep her safe.

As Meriel ran, it was anger that fuelled her, not fear. Her peaceful asylum had been invaded and she wasn’t having it. She carried the baseball bat ready, almost hoping someone would try to stop her so she could thwack the coward who’d poisoned an innocent animal. But nothing happened, no voice calling, no sounds of other people.

While Meriel drove Tina to the vet’s, Ben stayed behind at the house. He found a vantage point outside from which he could observe the surrounding land and simply waited in silence. If anyone approached, he’d hear them. And if –
when
Tina recovered, he’d teach her not to eat from anyone’s hands but his and Meriel’s.

Didn’t he have enough on his plate with Phil?

The police had still not arrived by the time Meriel returned. Ben ran across to the car. ‘How is she?’

‘Still alive. Just. They agree with our guess that she’s been poisoned. And they’re going to get the sample analysed for us.’ Suddenly tears were running down her face.

He held her close, making low comforting sounds and rocking her slightly. ‘What are her chances, could they tell?’

‘Only fifty-fifty. They’re keeping her under observation and if she lasts the night, they think she’ll be all right.’ She fumbled for a tissue and mopped her eyes. ‘You get to love dogs, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’

She heard a gulp beside her in the darkness and realised he was near tears too, so gave him a rib-cracking hug. ‘I love you, Ben.’ It was the first time she’d said it to him.

He tipped her face up for a quick kiss, comforting not sexual. ‘I love you too, Meriel.’

She leaned against him and they stood together looking round at the quiet moonlit scene. ‘Have the police been and gone already?’ she asked after a while.

‘No. They’ve not arrived yet. It’s to be hoped we never have a real emergency.’

‘What do you call this, Elless?’ she demanded, thumping his chest for emphasis.

‘Poisoning of a dog. And my shack was vandalism. Terrible for us, but not a major emergency in police books. Only . . . After this, I don’t want you staying out here on your own. And I reckon I’ll have to go to and fro between here and Queensland for a while. I can’t avoid that.’

She opened her mouth to say she could take care of herself, then closed it again. Someone had almost killed Ben and nearly killed their dog. This was definitely more than she could handle on her own. ‘I’ll hire a bodyguard or get someone to stay with me while you’re away. I’m not stupid. There are times to be independent and times to seek help. This time I need help.’

‘Promise.’

‘Yes, I promise. Now, do you want a coffee?’

He shook his head. ‘No. I just want to keep watch till the police arrive.’

It was another fifteen minutes before they heard the sound of a car and saw headlights turn into their drive. When they’d explained to the young policeman what had happened, Meriel spoke up, since Ben hadn’t said anything. ‘You should know that there’s been other trouble before this. Someone tried to injure Ben a few weeks ago.’ She explained about the roof.