by Timms, Lexy
The slight humidity in the warm wind reminded Charity that it was summer here. She followed Elijah and the car attendant to their rental. She enjoyed listening to the two men talk, Elijah’s accent sounding slightly American. She didn’t understand a few of the words but she liked they way their voices rose and dropped as they spoke.
“G’dday, ma’am.” The man touched his hat and whistled as he strolled away.
Elijah tossed their bags into the trunk of the car. He grinned at her. “You ready for this?”
“Sure. Throw it at me.”
Chapter 9
As Charity walked to the passenger side of the car, Elijah followed closely behind her. She laughed and jokingly tapped his shoulder. “You’re home five minutes and you turn into such a gentleman, opening the car door for me.”
Elijah grinned. “I thought you were going to open it for me.”
“Pardon?”
“Or do you want to drive?”
Charity glanced into the passenger window and hit her forehead. She forgot they drove on the left side of the road in New Zealand. “Sorry. Must be the jet lag.”
Elijah chuckled. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
She playfully spanked his derriere and walked around to the other side of the car as he slipped into the driver’s seat and leaned over to open the door for her. “I’ll try and be half the gentleman you thought I was, and open the door for you.”
“Ha ha. Automatic unlock would have been fine.” She settled into the seat and leaned against the cushion. Her body had no idea what time it was and her head seemed in a fog trying to figure out the zone difference. What was it? Eighteen hours? Seventeen?
“I should probably start prepping you on where my parents live.” Elijah pulled the car out of the rental lot, around a few roundabouts, and out onto the left side of the motorway.
“What do you mean?” Charity watched the passing scenery. Within minutes they were pulling away from what seemed like the city and driving with houses on one side and water on the other. The modernist design of many of the homes caught her eye. She loved the large glass windows overlooking the water.
They pulled into a line by the water that would lead them into a boat to ferry them across the channel.
Elijah tossed a piece of gum in his mouth. “My dad’s parents owned land on Waiheke Island. They split the land into three parts and gave one to each of their sons. My uncles both sold the property when the market was beyond ridiculous. My dad married my mom and built Rapt Bach Estate.”
Charity turned from the window and tucked her legs underneath her. “Rapt Back?”
“It started as a joke. My dad named it that when he had the architect help him with the plans of the place. The builder added iron gates and put the name at the entrance.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t get it.”
“They’re Kiwi terms.” His accent seemed to have come back thicker since their plane landed. “Bach means holiday home. Rapt sort of means enjoyable. Like you’re very pleased about something. It was meant to be a joke. The house they were having built was pretty big so to call it a holiday home… well, you’ll get the picture when you see it.”
“Uh-huh. I think you’d better fill me in on it a bit more. Why do I get the sudden feeling I’m going to be needing to do some shopping… like I didn’t pack the right clothes?”
“Did you bring your togs?”
“My what?”
“Sorry. Your bathing suit.”
She nodded.
“A bikini?” He winked at her.
“Maybe. Get back to the point, mister.”
“The estate has a private secluded beachfront and—”
“You’re jokin’!”
“I kid you not.”
She squinted as she stared at him. “How many bedrooms?”
“Eight.”
“Freakin’ ‘eh! Bathrooms?”
“Six.”
“Floors?”
“Just two.”
“Just two,” she mimicked. “One or two pools?”
He grinned. “One outdoor. An Olympic-size one beside the tennis courts.”
“Silly me. Of course.”
“There’s also an indoor one. Smaller, only nine and a half meters.”
She rolled her eyes. “Anything else interesting?”
“I’m not sure. The caretaker’s residence? That’s where I tended to hang out growing up.”
“Ohhh… The cute daughter.”
He chuckled. “No, Albert and Mia have three boys. David was the same age as me. We both loved sports.”
“Why in the world did you run away from home?”
“You’ll see. Give it a few days and you’ll be ready to leave.”
Charity laced her fingers behind her head and leaned back against the head rest. “I highly doubt that. I hope you bought open flight tickets. You can head back when you need to but I may just stay a few years.” She put her sunglasses on and let the warm sunlight bounce against her face. She tried unsuccessfully to stifle back a yawn. “How long till we get there?”
“About forty or fifty minutes. The ferry ride takes about half an hour.” His voice softened. “Sleep. I’ll wake you up five minutes before we get off the boat.”
“It’s so gorgeous here! I don’t want to close my eyes and miss anything.”
“Yes, it is beautiful.” The sadness in his voice as he spoke caught her attention. He’d slipped his sunglasses on so she couldn’t read his face.
She opted to remain silent until they boarded the ferry. Charity asked questions about the country and economy. She steered away from anything personal. If Elijah wanted to talk to her, he would. She had no intention of forcing anything out of him. She could only imagine coming back to a place like this, let alone under the circumstances Elijah was now dealing with.
Before long they were crossing into a dock and as they drove back onto land, Charity saw a sign: Welcome to Waiheke Island.
They rode by farmlands, vineyards, forests, houses, and beaches. She couldn’t get over the abundance of scenery and changes in the land. And everything was green! Not brown and dead like New York begging for snow just before winter.
As they reached the top of a hill Elijah pointed out her window. “Just over the ridge you can see the house. The one with the blue tin roof.”
Charity ran her eyes over the view below and scoffed. She didn’t mean to, it just came out. “Is all that land part of the house? There’s one massive house and one small house.”
“That’s Alberta and Mia’s. It’s actually not that small.”
“So how does it work? Do you talk down to the caretakers like they are slaves?”
Elijah laughed. “Not at all. They’re more like my parents.” He cleared his throat. “Like my second parents, I mean.”
The view disappeared as they drove down the hill. Charity continued to stare out the window. She couldn’t believe the size of the house. She half believed Elijah had been teasing her before about the place. “Do only your folks live on the plantation?”
“Yes, but my mother loves to entertain. By the way, we can joke and refer to it as a plantation, but if you say it around my mother… heads will roll.” He made a line across his neck with his hand and dropped his head to the side with his tongue sticking out.
Charity laughed. “Noted.”
“The house is set up with regular living quarters and then the rest. My dad actually designed most of it and it’s pretty neat. My only wonder is if my mother put your room in the guest room section.”
So they wouldn’t be sharing a room. Maybe that was a good thing. Elijah turned the car onto a country road that winded and eventually ended in a roundabout. He drove to the last exit, which had a cast iron entrance with RAPT BACH ESTATE written on the top.
Butterflies started floating in Charity’s stomach. She slipped some lip gloss on and hoped she didn’t look as jetlagged as she suddenly felt. Elijah looked fantastic. He’d pulled his sunglasses on t
op of his head and had the whole Top Gun thing going on without even trying. All of him was incredible. There were no circles or darkness under his eyes; even his unshaven jaw line looked sexy. “Did you ever do any modelling?”
“Excuse me?” He glanced at her with his eyebrows raised.
“You’re very hot. I bet you were quite the catch in high school. I’d have bought magazines with you in them back then. No agent or scout ever sought you out?”
He laughed. “No, but if you’re interested in acting as my agent…”
“Hmmm… Not sure how comfortable you’d be with my line of clients. I mainly deal in underwear ads and near nudity.” She felt herself grow warm even though she was only teasing.
“Maybe I could do some personal modelling for you then?”
She fanned herself with her hand. Images of him standing in some massive over-fancy bedroom were turning her on. What had she started? Here she was mere minutes away from meeting his mother, who’d just lost her husband, and she was trying to bang the son? Really?
“Hold that thought…” Elijah slowed the car down and rolled down the window. “Gd’day!” he shouted to a man riding a tractor with a massive lawnmower attached to the back.
The man (probably in his fifties; maybe early sixties) stopped the tractor and looked over at us. His face lit up. He jumped off the tractor and jogged over. “’Lijah! Gd’day. It’s so good to see you!”
Elijah opened the car and hugged the man. “How are you, Alex?”
As they chatted, Charity slipped out of the car and came the around the front.
“Alex, let me introduce you to Charity Thompson.”
“Thompson?” The caretaker smiled at her and when she held out her hand, he playfully pushed it aside and hugged her. “Any friend of ‘Lijah’s is a friend of ours. Now, you aren’t the Doctor Scott Thompson’s daughter, are you?”
She glanced at Elijah, who just shrugged his shoulders. “I am. The one and only.”
Alex clapped his hands. “That’s great, love. It’s nice to meet you.” He turned to Elijah. “Ain’t she a fox?” He winked. “You’d best be on your way to see yer Mum. She’s waitin’ for you.”
“How is she?” Elijah tucked his hands into his jean pockets. He seemed in no rush to get to the main house.
“She’s fine. You know yer Mum.”
“That I do.” Elijah nodded. “And how’s Mia?”
“Beautiful as ever. She’s doing fine, too. Yer Mum’s got her catering up a storm, so Mia’s loving the business. Darn woman never stops.”
Charity smiled. She had a feeling that the darn man in front of her never did, either.
“How are the boys?”
“Great. Got me ten grandbabies now! David’s got three and another on the way! They’ll be coming down the day of the… they’ll be here for the funeral.” He clapped Elijah on the shoulder, his eyes glistening. “I better finish this lawn. It ain’t gonna cut itself.” Alex smiled at Charity, a silent tear running down his cheek. “Nice meeting you.”
Elijah and Charity watched him walk back to the tractor. They both returned to the car.
“He seems really nice.”
“He is. Wait till you meet Mia. Oh, and wait till you try her cooking. She’s amazing! The stuff she makes and she never went to culinary school. I grew up on her food, and nearly starved my first year of university. I came home that first summer and, thank goodness, she taught me how to cook. She still emails me recipes.”
Charity sensed he needed the distraction. He stopped talking about food when they pulled into the driveway. Elijah parked the car outside an extremely large garage. At least Charity hoped it was a garage; the place seemed big enough to be an airplane hanger. She didn’t bother asking, as she already had a feeling what the answer would be.
She tossed her sunglasses in her purse and flipped the sun visor down to take one last look in the little mirror.
She was not impressed with the reflection staring back at her.
Chapter 10
Hair from her bun escaped in wisps everywhere. She had rosy cheeks from lack of sleep and barely any makeup remained on her face. What were the chances she’d have five minutes in a bathroom before they ran into Elijah’s mother? She rummaged through her purse for her lip-gloss and then tried to tame some of her wild hair. The wind on the ferry had definitely pulled a stint on her. Damn! Her makeup and brush were somewhere inside her suitcase.
In the meantime, Elijah got out of the car and had pulled their bags out of the trunk. He came around to her side and opened the door. Crouching down, he kissed her cheek. “Ready?”
“Why didn’t you tell me my hair had turned into a bird’s nest?” She pulled the bun out and redid it, feeling wisps escape as she tried to brush them tight with her fingers.
“It’s windswept and wonderful.” He laughed. “You look great! What’s the worry?”
“Your mother.”
“I wouldn’t worry about her.” He straightened and held his hand out. “I don’t.”
She took his outstretched hand and got out. Each grabbed their own bags and she followed him around the house to what she thought was the back of it – except the house had been built so the front faced the bay. As they had pulled up to the back entrance she’d been impressed by the house, but the front was more spectacular than she had been anticipating.
Two pillars stood near the center entrance and four pillars on each side held up balconies. Glass covered almost everything and reflected off the white of the building and blue roof perfectly. The house was beyond movie-star appeal. Charity felt her jaw drop and stopped walking.
Elijah continued a few feet, and then turned around. “You okay?” He laughed when he saw her face. “I forgot you haven’t seen the place before. Just remember: all that glitters isn’t gold.”
She blinked, made a conscious effort to close her mouth, and quickened her pace to catch up to him. Her parents had built an English-Tudor style house that was quite big by her standards but this… this was beyond anyone’s standards. This place had modernist design but still held a sense of Victorian era.
Elijah stood by the front doors. They were made of a dark wood with large panes of glass on each side and above the doors as well – like a wall of glass. It reflected the beautiful view of the palm trees and water in front of the house, which looked like a painted mural.
“Coming?” Elijah smiled and held the door open for her.
“I’m working on it,” she joked and elbowed him in his hard abs as she walked by.
“Ouch!” He pretended to grab his stomach but couldn’t hold back the laughter. “I thought nothing fazed you.”
“I’m not my father.” She turned to face him, still leaning against the door, with her back to the grand room she’d just walked into. “And come on, we’ve hung out, what, maybe eight times? So you’ve got no idea how I react.” She crossed her arms, her nervousness making her feel a bit edgy. “We barely know each other.”
A woman’s voice interrupted their conversation. “Barely know each other?” The accent was thicker than Elijah’s, but the disgust in it was unmistakeable. “Why in the world would you bring someone you hardly know to your father’s funeral?”
Charity froze. She was too scared to turn around to see who the voice belonged to.
“Gd’day, Mum,” Elijah said, but he didn’t move.
Elijah’s mother.
“Seriously, Elijah? You can screw anyone. Why bring someone no one here knows and who is apparently a complete stranger to you as well?”
Holy Cahona’s! Did she seriously just refer to Charity as a slut? Charity had no idea what to do. She was staying in this woman’s home. She glanced at Elijah, whose face hardened. His lips pressed into a thin line as his jaw twitched. His nostrils flared as he slowly exhaled. “Thanks, Mum. That’s a great way to make Charity feel welcome.” He grabbed Charity’s hand and turned her around. “I asked her to come.” The anger in his voice was unmistakeable. “Please don’
t make me regret coming.”
The petite woman who stood in the massive foyer was impeccable. Her designer clothing even matched the décor of the room. She may not have been tall, but the woman had stature. Charity saw little resemblance between Elijah and his mother. Her brown eyes glared at Charity and showed little friendliness, which Elijah’s face always carried.
The woman had just lost her husband and, in her view, her son had just brought some blonde bimbo to their personal home from the other side of the world. Charity wiped her hands on her skirt. “Can we maybe try this again?” She held out her hand, determined to smooth this over, whatever the cost. “I’m Charity Thompson. Elijah is the chief of surgery at my father’s hospital. Elijah and I are currently working together on a project for the hospital. We’re just friends. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Bennet.” She glanced at Elijah, begging him to stay silent.
Mrs. Bennet’s face broke into a smile. She returned Charity’s handshake with extra firmness. “It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Thompson. Please, call me Margaret.”
“No, sorry. I’m not a doctor. I work with hospitals but…” She blew her bangs away from her forehead.
Elijah brought their bags by one of the winding staircases. “She saves hospitals. She does fundraisers to build new hospital wards and wings, gets new equipment or whatever they need. She’s one of the best in the country.”
“In America you mean.” Margaret didn’t hide her disappointment. “That’s nice too, I guess.”
“She knows how to throw a proper party. One that would make your yacht club and bridge club friends cringe with envy.”
A single eyebrow rose on Margaret’s pretty face. Her son definitely got that from her. “Interesting.” A phone began ringing. “I have so much to prepare and do. I really don’t have time for this. Elijah, your room is ready. Charity, your room is at the end of the hall. The last one on the left.” She turned to answer the phone. She paused at the archway. “Nice to have you home finally.” Then she left.
Elijah sighed. “And I’m back.” He shook his head. “Come on. Let’s get our stuff up to my room.”
