I Thought I Knew You: Prelude Series - Part Four

by Meg Buchanan

  Chapter Nine

  At the end of the day, before he went back to Rose’s, he pulled out Chapman’s business card and gave him a ring. No point in hurrying to get things ready to see him if he wasn’t available tomorrow.

  He got him straight away. “Chapman.”

  “Luke Reilly here.” He hoped the man remembered his name. Come to think of it, he wasn’t even sure the man knew he had a surname.

  “Luke!” No question mark on the end of that greeting. “Have you decided to take up my offer?”

  “Maybe. Can we meet and talk about it a bit more?”

  “When?” he could hear people talking in the background. It sounded like Chapman might be in the middle of a meeting.”

  “Tomorrow afternoon. If you’re available. I could be there by two.”

  “Works for me. I’ll give you the address.” Chapman reeled it off and Luke wrote it down. He knew where that was. It wouldn’t be too hard to find.

  “There’s a carpark about a block away,” said Chapman. “You’ll need to use that. No parking here.”

  “I’ll find it,” said Luke. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Looking forward to it.” That was a relief. If the man had sounded distracted, maybe he would have changed his mind and focused on this building project he was supposed to be getting ready to manage.

  The next morning, he had breakfast with Rose. He still hadn’t told her about Chapman. He didn’t want to upset her. Something about her made him feel protective.

  “Do you want to come to Auckland with me today?” he asked. After his shower he’d put on tidier clothes than he’d usually wear to work. He didn’t want to turn up in clothes covered in dust and glue. Actually, they were tidier clothes than he’d usually wear to a meeting with a project developer too.

  “Aren’t you working?” Rose asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m going to see a couple of people. Do you want to come for a ride?” He didn’t really see a lot of her, and it would be nice to have company. They could spend most of the day together and maybe go out to dinner before they came back.

  “I’d like that.”

  “I’ve got to go to the factory first, but I’ll pick you up from here in about half an hour.”

  He called into the factory and picked up the roll of plans, the quote and the notes he and the old man had made when they were doing the quote. McLean probably had his own copies, but this way he looked interested.

  Then he went home. His mum and dad had a better printer than Rose did. And he didn’t want her asking too many questions. He checked through the file Dominic had sent him and printed off the shots he wanted. He figured about ten pictures would work. If Chapman wanted to any more he could print them off himself.

  He looked at the CD Isaac had made. It didn’t need a cover. The picture of Noah might eventually be a CD cover, but not today.

  Before he left the house, he checked the mirror. Maybe Tessa was right. Not musician enough still. He found the mascara he used to use, and the kohl, and stuck it in his pocket. He hoped Tessa was wrong about needing to chuck out eye makeup after three months. He didn’t want to turn up looking like he had a cold.

  He headed for Rose’s house. He’d pick her up then go to Auckland. Rose was ready when he got there. She came out of the house, handbag over her shoulder, hugging her coat to her, locked the door behind her and came over to the car.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  She nodded, hopped in the passenger side and they headed off.

  He parked outside a bakery in St Heliers. The map on his phone said he was about a kilometre away from the site of this proposed retirement village.

  “Do you want to look around the shops while I’m at this meeting?” he asked.

  “How long will you be?”

  “An hour.” He shrugged. “Maybe a bit longer. I’m not sure. You won’t want to wait in the car for that long.”

  “No. Leave me here. If I get sick of looking around the shops, I’ll go for a walk on the beach.” Rose opened the car door. “Ring me when you’re finished. I’ll tell you where I am.”

  “Okay.” He glanced behind him at in the rear-view mirror to see if the traffic was clear enough to pull out. But Rose sat in the car holding the door open.

  “I hope the meeting goes well.”

  He wasn’t sure he did. If he messed this up he wouldn’t have to decide anything. It would be decided for him.

  “Thanks. It will. From what Dad and McLean were saying on Friday night this is a done deal. Today I’m just getting the guided tour and being introduced to a few people.”

  “You’ll be the project manager. I think it’s lovely your father trusts you with so much responsibility.” She turned in her seat, reached back for her coat, then hopped out of the car.

  “Yeah.” Not quite the way he saw it. He turned the key. “I’d better get going, or I won’t make my first meeting on time. Not a good look.”

  Rose laughed and pushed the door shut. She waved as he pulled back onto the street.

  He could see why the developer thought this was a good place to build this retirement village. Acres of bare land on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. From what he could see from the plans, most of the units would have some sort of sea view even if it was just a little glimpse from an upstairs bedroom window.

  McLean straightened up. “I think we should go for a walk around the site, so you get a feel for the place.”

  Luke nodded. McLean rolled up the plans and slid them back into the cylinder.

  The project was huge. He’d have to go over his father’s figures and make sure he hadn’t missed anything. A small miscalculation at this stage could mean disaster with something of this scale. He’d make sure everything was right before the contract was finally signed and sealed.

  He wandered out of the site office behind McLean. The bulldozers had already started to clear the site. It looked like the developers planned on keeping the mature trees, they had red flags and string lines around them. But they were clearing everything else. It must have been pasture or extensive gardens or something. The grass was going and curls of clay taking its place. It hadn’t been built on before. Strange for a huge area of land to be left this long in the middle of the city.

  “All this land used to belong to the Catholic Church. We grabbed it when it came on the market. The population is getting older and retirement villages are the way to go if you want to make money,” McLean said then led him across the bare clay. They stopped well back from the edge of the cliff where it dropped down to the ocean.

  “As you saw on the plan, this area will be a communal park for the use of the residents. Planning permission meant we couldn’t build here. We don’t want any houses dropping down into the sea if the worst happens. And it will give the village a nicer feel. It is important to have communal spaces.”

  Luke shoved his hands in his pockets. “Where is the admin block going?” He’d seen it on the plans, but he couldn’t quite orientate himself yet.

  McLean waved his arm at a flat area lower down near the entrance.

  “Over there. That will be part of the second stage. First, we’ll get the houses started, so we have something to sell from. Once we’ve got the first twelve finished we’ll start on the amenities.”

  “Twelve?” asked Luke. So far, they hadn’t talked about a schedule of work. There had just been vague references to stages and timeframes.

  McLean nodded. “We’re planning to work in batches of twelve houses. A three-month turnabout for each batch. Can your men cope with that?”

  “From start to finish?” Some of the houses on the plans were huge. A few of them were more modest but not many. They’d be pushing it to make those targets.

  Mclean nodded. “From starting the foundations through to lockable.”

  He might talk to the old man about taking on a few extra tradesmen if they were going to meet those deadlines. The joinery was high spec too. He’d make sure it was Isaac in charge
of running that part. He wasn’t going to let Steve near it. They wouldn’t want to be doing the sort of rework he caused if the turnaround was twelve houses every three months.

  The meeting with McLean went for longer than the hour he’d told Rose he’d be. It was getting close to mid-day before he shook hands with McLean and headed back into town.

  He’d got a text from Rose to say she was going for a walk on the beach. It shouldn’t be too hard to find her. It was a week day. How many people would be walking on the beach?

  He found a park beside the stone wall that separated the footpath from the sand, got out of the car, locked it and scanned the beach for any sign of Rose. He’d been wrong. It looked like half the population came down to the waterfront to eat their lunch.

  Then he spotted her in the distance, wandering slowly along. She looked cute. She had her shoes off and had them in one hand and was dragging a stick through the sand making lines the way kids did. She looked deep in thought, head down, watching the water swirling around her feet.

  His heart reached out to her. He could go and join her, but she was headed back this way so no point in getting covered in sand too. He’d just wait for her to come back to him.

  Chapter Ten

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and watched Rose’s slow progress along the beach. He should tell her about Chapman’s offer, but it was easier not to. He’d drop her off somewhere to wait for him like he did with this meeting then he wouldn’t have to do it yet.

  Tessa had been happy for him about Chapman’s offer, maybe Rose would be too. But it had always been Tessa he’d talked to about his dreams of becoming a successful singer. He was certain Rose wouldn’t like the idea of him leaving and risking everything to make music his life. Rose was like the old man. She liked ‘safe’ and just assumed he’d keep working in the business until he took over.

  And it was bloody scary just how quickly he fell into the role of lead contractor when he was talking to McLean. It had really felt like he was part of it all and this is what he’d be doing for the next five years of this life.

  And would it be that bad? It would keep the old man happy. He’d be off the tools. Not that he didn’t like the hands-on work and he was good at it, but this would be something to get his teeth into. A bit of a challenge.

  He rubbed his cheek. He’d see what Chapman was offering. Then he was going to have to decide one way or the other. Stick with his father or try to make it as a musician.

  He watched a family sitting on a rug on the sand picnicking. The woman had a baby on her knee, and the man was trying to keep a toddler from running over to the water. He’d already chased the little kid, scooped him up and brought him back to the rug a couple of time. The two parents were laughing and looked happy.

  That could be him and Rose in a few years. He couldn’t imagine Tessa wanting that. She didn’t have any illusions about happy families. She said she planned on skipping that whole side of life. Up until about three minutes ago he had completely agreed with that point of view.

  He looked back at Rose. She’d finally noticed him. She waved, dropped the stick and wandered over smiling.

  “All done?” she asked when she got to him.

  “Yeah, all finished. Do you want to get lunch? We’ve got a couple of hours to fill in before the next meeting.”

  Rose nodded. “But let’s buy a picnic and do what they’re doing.” She nodded at the couple he’d been watching.

  “Okay.” He slid his arm around her waist and they walked together across the road. “I can’t supply the kids today though.”

  She smiled up at him, those eyes looking at him with complete trust. “But you will be able to in a few years’ time.”

  He glanced back at the couple. The toddler had been wooed with a sandwich and lay curled up on his father’s lap eating.

  Is that what he wanted? Love, family, security? Is that why Rose appealed so much? He couldn’t decide about that anymore either.

  After the picnic, they went back to the car. Rose opened the back-door of the car to put her coat on the seat.

  “Your folder has fallen down.” He saw her bend down to pick it up.

  “Thanks.” He put his hand out thinking she’d give it to him, but one of the photos had slid out.

  She picked it up and studied it. “It’s a photo of you.” She sounded puzzled. “A really nice photo of you. Are the others of you too?”

  She opened the folder and started leafing through the pictures. Fuck.

  “This one is Isaac. And one of Cole.” He hadn’t introduced her to them, and she’d never questioned not meeting his friends, but it was a small town and it only had one café, so she would recognise them.

  “Who’s this?” She held up the picture of Adam. She was really starting to sound puzzled.

  “Adam,” he said. She wasn’t usually nosey. That’s why he hadn’t bothered to hide the folder. He did up his seatbelt and waited for the next question.

  Rose stood on the sidewalk and studied the picture a bit longer then moved on to the next one in the pile. “I guess this is Noah then.” She looked over the seat at him. “Why are you taking photos of your band to Auckland?”

  He couldn’t think of any reason he’d have a sheaf of pictures of Stadium in the car, except the truth.

  “I’m going to meet an agent now. He thinks he might have work for us.”

  “What agent?”

  He leaned across and opened the passenger door for her. Her standing on the sidewalk and him sitting in the car wasn’t the way to have this conversation.

  Still holding the folder, she shut the back door and got in the passenger seat.

  “Oliver Chapman.” He pulled the business card out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  Rose studied it carefully and then looked over at him.

  “Work for who?” she asked. Maybe hoping it was building work, but he doubted it.

  “Stadium,” he said.

  “Where?”

  “Australia.” This wasn’t quite the way he’d planned to tell her. He’d planned to lead up to it gently and carefully. Especially when it still mightn’t happen, and he mightn’t have had to tell her at all.

  “But, we’ve only known each other a few months.” she said.

  He nodded.

  “And you’re planning on leaving?

  He nodded.

  “Why?”

  He turned enough so he could see her properly. She still just looked puzzled.

  “Music is what I want to do. This could be my chance to do it as a career.” He should get better at saying that.

  “But you’re a builder.”

  “And a singer.” Maybe it was starting to feel real.

  “Oh,” she said, and went quiet. She opened the folder again and leafed through the rest of the photos. “When were these taken?”

  “We got a photographer to take them on Sunday. The guy I’m meeting wanted photos.”

  “Is that why you were late home? It wasn’t because Isaac had changed something?” Now Rose sounded hurt.

  He didn’t get caught out in a lie very often, but she’d got him on that one. He nodded reluctantly.

  “Have you been planning this for a long time?” Rose asked, still sounding hurt.

  “No. The guy talked to us on Saturday night. We organised it all on Sunday.”

  This time it was Rose who nodded. She went through the photos again.

  “You all look nice. I haven’t seen you in makeup before.” She’d noticed. More observant than he’d thought. He really felt guilty about his weekend now. When they first met, Jilly had told Rose about Tessa and that he was engaged. He’d told her he’d got unengaged. He rubbed his nose and started the car hoping to stop any more questions.

  Rose just sat there and didn’t ask anything else. But she must know he didn’t have the contacts to organise a photographer overnight. And she knew Adam and Noah lived with Tessa, and Tessa was studying fashion.

  Maybe she knew al
l along he was lying about dropping Tessa and chose not to mind. He checked behind him, the road was clear, so he pulled out and headed for the main drag. No. Wishful thinking. She wasn’t stupid. She’d never wear that.

  One day he’d have to tell her the truth about Tessa then he’d have to choose between them. That was if either of them ever trusted him again. But not today. Today could be hard enough. Today he could be choosing between the chance to live the dream or doing what everyone thought he should do.

  Luke found the building and carpark just where Chapman had said it would be.

  “What do you want to do while I’m at the meeting this time?” he asked Rose after he’d parked the car.

  “How long will you be?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She waved at the complex they’d just passed. “I’ll walk down to the mall and get a coffee.” Obliging, but quiet, even for her.

  “Are you, all right?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah.” And gave him a smile. “It’s just taking me a while to get used to the idea you might be going away.”

  He leaned over and kissed her. “It’ll just be for a while. Just three months,” he lied. She was so sweet, he hated to make her sad. He didn’t add that if he made this happen he probably wouldn’t be coming back.

  He took the folder off her. She’d held it for the whole half hour it had taken to get here from St Heliers. She hadn’t opened it again, but every now and then she’d run her hand over the cover.

  “I know.” She got out of the car. “Ring me when you’re finished.”

  “Okay.” He opened the folder to check the CD was still there. Rose hadn’t commented on it.

  He watched her wander down the street then turn back and wave when she reached the intersection. This was all bittersweet. He’d miss her.

  At least with Rose finding out this way, it gave her time to get used to the idea he might leave. It wouldn’t be such a shock when it happened.