‘Like you just said, Alex, she’s smart. Audrey had already concluded we’d be staying somewhere overnight. But I let her think we’d be bunking down in separate rooms in an ordinary motel, not in an apartment at a five-star resort.’
‘Good thinking. Did you organise someone to feed the cat while you’re away?’
‘Yes, Audrey’s doing it.’
‘That’s good. Can’t have the poor old thing passing away from starvation while we’re away. You’d blame me, and I don’t think I could live with the guilt.’
‘Don’t be silly. You have nothing to feel guilty about where Romany is concerned. Did I ever thank you for letting him be the office cat?’
‘Only about a hundred times.’
‘Oh. Yes, well, it was still very good of you. Poor Romany,’ she said with a sigh. ‘I dare say he’ll die soon. Still, at least we made the last part of his life a little happier.’
‘You do spoil him rotten, Harry. Sometimes I almost feel jealous of that cat. Now, I don’t want to stop again till we get to Port Macquarie, probably around eleven. I want to make the golf estate by two o’clock at the latest. Is that all right with you?’
‘That’s fine,’ she agreed.
‘If you need a break before then, just say so.’
‘I’ll be all right.’
‘Good. Now, just settle back and relax and listen to the music. Eventually, though, I’ll have to make some business calls. But not yet. It’s still early.’
Harriet doubted that she would relax, but amazingly she did, the heated seats and the music melting away her earlier tension. She even drifted off to sleep, jolting awake when Alex started talking more loudly than the music. She listened, amazed at how much he could achieve on the phone in just a couple of hours, contacting all the foremen on his current building projects, demanding updates on their progress, giving them a hurry-up when needed.
Eleven saw them eating a disgustingly fattening lunch in the service centre near the turn-off to Port Macquarie, Alex scoffing at her comment that she’d end up with a backside the size of a bus if she ate that for lunch every day.
‘No worries there, Harry. You would starve rather than eat this kind of food every day.’
‘True,’ she agreed.
‘It doesn’t hurt to bend your rules every once in a while, you know.’
She stared at him across the wooden bench, wondering what rules he was referring to. Probably that silly checklist of hers. Not that all of it was silly. In fact, a lot of those rules made perfect sense. The trouble was that men weren’t perfect, so finding someone to fit all her far-too-many requirements was doomed to failure. All she could hope for was that the main ones might be fulfilled. The ones about love and respect and money and, yes, sex.
‘You could be right, there,’ she mused.
‘I am right,’ he pronounced. ‘Now, drink up that cappuccino. Time to get going.’
He was back on the phone again as soon as they hit the road, chatting away with the sales team in the office, finding out how things were going and how many sales they’d had off their various plans. They had several blocks of units in a developmental stage, all of them in the far western suburbs and very reasonably priced. Most were likely to be sold before a single brick was laid. They also had a housing estate near where the new Sydney airport was to be built, which was proving popular with first-time buyers and builders. Harriet listened as Alex told each of the boys personally about his having to go away the week after next. When he finally finished talking, Harriet turned to glance his way.
‘By the way, will we be handling the sales of the housing blocks on the golf estate, or are you going to give that job to local real-estate agents?’
‘Both. And we’ll advertise extensively online. That will be your job, Harry. Perhaps you can think about that while I’m away, since you won’t be running around all the time getting your boss bagels and doing myriad other jobs which the lazy so-and-so could possibly do himself.’
Harriet laughed. ‘I don’t mind, really.’
‘I know you don’t. You are indispensable to me, Harry.’
‘No one is indispensable, Alex.’
‘You are to me. As selfish as it sounds, I’m almost glad that you’ve broken off your engagement. The thought of you getting married and leaving me to become a mother was filling me with dread.’
Harriet rolled her eyes. What a hopeless exaggerator he was! But, yes, it was selfish of him to say that. And rather insensitive.
‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘But I still intend to get married and have at least one baby, so you’ll just have to cope when that day comes. But don’t worry. I have no intention of giving up my day job just because I’m pregnant. I’ll waddle into the office right up to the last second. You might even have to drive me to the maternity ward if my husband is unavailable,’ she added with a straight face.