by Jo Lovett
‘Great.’ Dina kept her eyes on his for a lot longer than an animal husbandry conversation warranted. ‘If you change your mind about the island dinner, let me know. And you’re very welcome, it should go without saying, to come to Amy’s party. We’ll hopefully see you at both. Happy animal feeding.’
Yeah, he still wasn’t going to the dinner but he’d maybe think about the party, whoever Amy was. Presumably another neighbour.
Feeding the alpacas and chickens wasn’t so bad, it turned out. James had rarely had anything at all to do with animals other than a couple of school visits to zoos. During his childhood, they’d never had a pet – a fortunate thing, given that it would have either died from neglect or been yet another far-too-early responsibility for him and Ella. And as a single adult with a busy job and a smart London flat, you just didn’t own animals.
You could in fact spend a fair amount of time watching them. This would be why zoos were a success and why people liked owning cats and dogs. Was he going mad or did alpacas have quite intelligent and kind faces? And the chickens; it was like they had actual personalities. There were definitely some who were bolder and some who were more timid. Who knew?
James scanned the index on Cassie’s notes one more time. He needed a water-tight reason to call her; there wasn’t a lot to say about the animals yet, and it clearly shouldn’t be to discuss something that she’d covered in the notes. Whale watching. She hadn’t mentioned that. It related to nature. She was clearly a nature lover. And it would be a good lead-in to discussing ecotourism and the financial benefits for locals.
‘Cassie. Hi. How are you?’
‘Good thanks. How are you?’
‘Yeah, great, thanks. I was just calling to ask your advice about something. Take advantage of your local knowledge, something you didn’t mention in your notes.’ Nice. Strong implication there that he’d read them.
‘Oh, okay. Of course.’ She actually had a very attractive voice.
‘I’d really like to do some whale watching and obviously I could just google it—’ if the bloody internet worked ‘—but I thought it would be better to get advice from you.’
‘I’m really sorry but I can’t give you any advice.’
‘Oh. Have you never been?’ Whatever. It had still been a good excuse to start this conversation.
‘No.’
‘I suppose it’s like I’ve never been to Buckingham Palace. You don’t do the tourist things close to home.’
‘Kind of. It’s more of a considered choice, though. Not to say you shouldn’t go if you want to, obviously, but I think a lot of conservationists are against it. I mean, you can do it safely for whales, but I think there’s a lot of evidence that people aren’t doing it safely. They get too close, in large boats, and it’s affecting whale behaviour and migratory patterns and breeding cycles and so on.’ Right. Probably not the moment to mention ecotourism. ‘So my view is that it’s probably best not to support it as an industry. I don’t think there’s anything in it for whales. And you can see them occasionally from the beaches, if you’re lucky.’
‘So what would you recommend?’
‘Well, I mean, there’s so much to do. As I mentioned, possibly at too much length, in my notes.’
James laughed politely. ‘Not at all. They were fascinating.’ He needed to get off the notes topic, fast. ‘How have you settled? Is your work going well?’ Whatever it was that she did exactly.
‘Yes, it’s great thank you. It’s a fab location, obviously, and the flat’s amazing. And, yep, work’s good, thanks.’
‘You said you were a writer?’
‘Yep.’
‘What kind of writing do you do?’ Most people liked talking about themselves.
There was a long pause.
‘I write books.’
‘Oh, wow. Book books? Fiction, I mean?’
‘Yep.’
‘That’s really interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever met an author before. What genre?’
Another longish pause.
‘Children’s.’
‘Wow. So what’s your pen name?’ She clearly didn’t write under her own name, because he’d have found her when he was googling her. There was no pause this time.
‘I can’t tell you. I’d have to kill you. Not joking. No-one knows; I never tell anyone.’
‘No-one?’
‘Hardly anyone.’
‘Well, wow again. I want to say congratulations, but that’s probably quite patronising if you’ve been doing this for a number of years or published a lot of books.’
‘I’ll overlook the patronising thing and say thank you.’ She had a smile in her voice but she wasn’t biting on giving him any more information. ‘What is it exactly that you do?’
‘Private equity. Basically investing in businesses, turning around ailing ones, investing in start-ups.’
‘Interesting. So what made you choose that career?’
‘I guess I just love the human side of business, you know what makes people tick, behavioural cycles, that sort of thing.’ Women always loved that answer. It wasn’t up there with saying you were a fireman or a doctor, obviously, but it made his job sound better than it was. He never told anyone the real reason, that he’d needed to start earning as much money as possible as young as he could, to look after his mother and Leonie better, and this had been the best paid job going when he graduated from uni.
Woah. The heavens had suddenly opened. James flattened himself against the wall of the house to huddle under the porch thing that ran all the way along, to keep his phone dry. Not a good idea to stop the conversation now, when they were finally getting on well.
They ended up chatting for a good fifteen minutes longer. Cassie was a lot more fun to talk to than James had imagined she would be. She had a great line in sarcasm.
He managed to get another pleasant phone chat in a couple of days later, having struck gold in realising that he could eat some of Cassie’s freezer meals and call her to thank her for them.
They were definitely on good enough terms now for him to ask her about the land.
The next time he called her, he made sure the forecast was good and his phone fully charged, and that it was 5 p.m. in the UK, which felt like an hour at which she might not be too busy. All bases covered, hopefully.
‘Hey, Cassie. How’s your day been?’
‘Hello. Good, thanks. I’m just back from a guided tour of Buckingham Palace. How are you?’
‘Also good, thanks. Was that work or pleasure? Sounds interesting?’
‘It was for work and yes it was very interesting. You obviously don’t see the queen’s actual living rooms but it’s still her house. Lots of history and beautiful things. And you see a bit of the garden, which basically seemed to be a lot of lawn and trees.’
‘So not as nice as your garden?’
‘Exactly.’ Cassie laughed. ‘How’s my garden doing?’
‘Looks nice. Lots of flowers coming out.’ James knew literally nothing about plants. ‘The gardener’s been busy.’
‘How’re the animals?’
‘They seem very well and, if I say it myself, they’re being very well looked after. I genuinely know all their names now, and I’m pretty sure they recognise me.’
‘Wow, listen to you. I really wouldn’t have had you down as an alpaca whisperer.’
‘Me either. Island living’s bringing out hidden talents in me. I’m becoming very good at bartering with eggs as well. I got a great steak yesterday from Lonnie Duggan in return for half a dozen.’
‘Impressive.’
‘I know. So what hidden talents have you found in yourself since you moved to London?’
‘That’s a good question. I’m becoming expert at not catching anyone’s eye on the Tube, head down, no smiling. And pushing really hard so that I get the last space in the carriage.’
‘Excellent. Important skills.’ James was smiling, even though there was no point because she couldn’t see him. Was th
is some kind of age-related issue, now he’d hit thirty-five, a lack of control over his facial muscles?
‘Exactly.’
‘Cool. Well, I should probably leap straight into what I have to ask you. I have a business proposition for you.’
‘Oh-kay. Interesting.’
‘I’ve been exploring the island, obviously, and, equally obviously, I love it, because who wouldn’t? It’s stunning.’ Always flatter people. Even hardened businessmen often fell for a bit of hyperbole. ‘And I discovered your plot of land and beach, round the headland, which gave me a business idea.’
‘Right.’ Her voice was flat. Hopefully she’d sound more interested when she’d heard more.
He’d planned his pitch in detail, including planning permission research and points that would appeal to the woman he thought she was, like how building a tourist business on the plot would benefit the local community economically and enable urban dwellers to experience the enriching joys of rural living.
She listened to the whole thing in complete silence and then continued with the silence, so he ended up suggesting that if she didn’t want to sell they could go into partnership, just for something to say. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d displayed such poor negotiating skills.
When he’d lapsed into silence himself, she finally spoke. ‘How did you find out that I own the land?’
‘When I saw what a good opportunity this was, I did a little digging.’ Yeah, okay, as he said it, he realised that if the tables had been turned he wouldn’t have appreciated Cassie hunting him down. She’d clearly wanted to keep her ownership under wraps, for whatever reason. She clearly liked to keep a lot of things private, like her pen name.
‘Right. Well, no, sorry, I have no intention of selling, or going into business with anyone. I bought that land with the intention of leaving it wild, for environmental reasons, and also slightly for selfish personal reasons, because I love the quiet there. And people travelling halfway across the world for eco holidays annoys me a lot as a concept. I mean, they wouldn’t be rowing or swimming themselves there, would they?’
‘True, but if people are going to fly to their holiday destination no matter what, it might as well be green when they get there. Still makes for a lower carbon footprint overall. Like it would be better for the environment if none of us bought new stuff, ever, but since we’re going to, let’s at least make what stuff we do buy environmentally friendly.’
‘Yup, okay, so maybe I was being a little judgy there, but still no. I don’t want a hotel at the end of my back garden and I do want my land to be a wildlife sanctuary, without even a very small number of guests. Sorry.’
‘Hey, no worries. Just a thought.’ He could carry on working on her over the next few weeks and months. He’d definitely made a dent in her argument about what was best for the environment.
‘James. Can I ask you a question?
‘Yep, sure.’
‘Have you been calling me… just because you wanted to develop my land?’ Bugger.
‘No, not at all.’
‘Oh my God. You totally have.’
‘Really, no.’ Was lying a good idea at this point? No-one wanted to go into business with a liar. ‘I mean, maybe a little.’
‘What? That’s so cynical.’ Okay, he should have gone with the lying.
‘Okay, yes, a little cynical to start off with, but I’ve really enjoyed our conversations. And I do think my suggestion would benefit a lot of people.’
‘Hmm.’
‘Sorry?’ A lot of women couldn’t resist when he said Sorry like that. Whether or not he meant it.
‘Oh-kay,’ she said, sounding like she could totally resist. ‘I’d better go. I have work to do. Nice to chat.’ Little bit sarcastic-sounding there. ‘Bye.’
That could have gone better.
Cassie’s responses over the next few days to his messages about the animals and Laura were less chatty than usual; she definitely wasn’t that impressed by his hunting her down and the business suggestion. Well, fine. Her land would be perfect for his purposes, but there were other plots on other islands in the area, some for sale, presumably with much more amenable owners. Or Cassie might come round in due course.
A few days later, the quiet of the morning was shattered by some kind of large vehicle beeping and crunching over the gravel in the drive. James pushed his chair out from the desk and stood up to investigate. Life on the island was so quiet that he’d got to the point where he was mildly pleased at the possibility of a chat with anyone.
When he got round the side of the house, he found a large lorry coming to a halt in the drive.
‘I have your marquee,’ the driver told him as he swung down from the cab.
‘Sorry, I think you’ve got the wrong address,’ James said.
The driver’s companion already had the back of the lorry open.
‘It’s the right address,’ the driver said. ‘We’ve delivered here before for Cassie.’
James shook his head. ‘Nope, definitely a mistake. Cassie isn’t here. Sorry.’
‘It’s definitely today.’ The man showed James the booking form. Yep, it was today’s date. Odd, because Cassie didn’t strike James as someone who messed up in that kind of way. But she obviously had.
‘I’m thinking she must have made a mistake with the date when she booked it.’
‘I don’t think so. She confirmed last week.’ What?
The men didn’t look like they were going anywhere. And presumably they’d gone to quite a lot of trouble to get the marquee here. Unless by some lucky chance there was a marquee business on the island.
‘You local?’ he asked.
‘Pretty much. From the mainland. Just got off the ferry.’ Yeah, not that local.
James was going to have to call Cassie.
She picked up on the third ring. ‘Hi, James.’
‘Hi. I have a lorry with a marquee on it in the drive.’
‘Oh good. Thank you for letting me know.’ What?
‘Why? Did you actually order it for today?’
‘Yes? I thought I told you it was coming today? Did I put the wrong date?’
‘Erm.’ When did she think she’d told him? Oh. Probably in her notes. ‘What’s the marquee for?’
‘For the party?’ She sounded a bit impatient, definitely sure that he should know what she was talking about. Given the level of detail she’d gone into about everything else, it did seem likely that she’d covered this party in her notes. So she was about to realise that he hadn’t read them. But seriously, who would have read that many pages? The notes were practically book-length. And did he care whether she knew that he hadn’t? He did recall a heading along the lines of ‘social events’ in the notes index, but he’d assumed that would just be elaborating in excruciating detail on things like the island dinner that Dina had mentioned.
‘Party?’
‘Amy’s eighteenth?’ She sounded properly annoyed now.
‘Amy?’ Who was Amy? This would be the party Dina had talked about.
‘Her party’s on Saturday. In the marquee. On the field. I definitely told you about it.’ Right. Maybe at this point the best thing would be for him to go and check her notes.
‘Okay. I need to go. I’ll call you back.’
‘Great. I’ll be waiting on the edge of my seat to hear from you.’
James managed – with a fifty-dollar bribe – to convince the men to hold off for a few minutes on beginning the marquee erection.
Then he found and speed-read the party-related notes. Okay. Amy was Dina’s daughter and she was turning eighteen today – Dina must have been very young when she had her – and on Saturday evening she was having a big birthday party in the marquee that was about to be erected in Cassie’s field. The only access to the field was via Cassie’s, or James’s – depending on how you looked at it – garden, or by boat; and if he didn’t want things to be delivered via the garden he should let Cassie know as soon as he arrived,
so that she could organise for the deliveries to be made by boat, but she’d be incredibly grateful if they could use the garden, which would barely inconvenience James at all and would be cheaper.
There would be caterers. There would be portable toilets. There would be several hundred guests in total, because a lot of the islanders would be coming plus other friends. And James would be a very welcome guest at the party.
And she had another party planned for this summer. Laura’s eightieth.
Right. If he was honest, James didn’t really mind about there being a party in the field or about his garden being used for access. If you’d asked him before he got here or even at the weekend, he wouldn’t have been happy at the thought of having his peace shattered and having to spend a lot of time with his neighbours, but as it turned out he wasn’t loving the solitude thing, so, no, he didn’t mind enormously.
He did mind, though, about the principle that she hadn’t told him in advance about either the Wi-Fi or the party hosting. Was he going to get any more unpleasant surprises?
He went back outside and told the men that they were welcome to go ahead, and then he called Cassie back.
‘Hi. So, I’m not convinced it’s okay to rent a house to someone and then, after they’ve signed on the dotted line, in fact arrived, tell them that they’re throwing an enormous, or indeed even a very small, party,’ he said.
There was a very long pause. He was not going to fill it. Silence was always the best negotiation tactic.
Eventually, Cassie said, ‘The party’s in the field, which is not part of the rental agreement although obviously you can use it if you wish, and I left the notes asking you to let me know if you didn’t want to allow access through the garden as then they would have brought it by boat. And while you might not want to attend or listen to a loud party at that proximity to the house, it isn’t that close, and it isn’t on the land you have rented and there are big events in venues in relatively close proximity to your flat here all the time. Like both the parks.’ Oh, please.
