Public Property (7 page)

‘
So
,
rather than tell me that
,
you made up a story about my father paying you to leave and you had me believe that story for all this time? Wait a minute, this doesn’t add up. I’ve told my father on more than one occasion that I blamed him for making you leave and he
’
s never contradicted me. Why would he take the blame if he wasn’t involved?
’

Her brain was working overtime now. None of this made sense and she was struggling to fit the pieces together.

‘
I don’t know
.
I can’t comment on anything Eric might or might not have said
.
B
ut I
’
m telling you
now,
he did not pay me to leave you.
I
t was my decision, I made it on my own and I
apologise
if I upset you
.’

‘
Upset me? I wouldn’t say the
house burning
was entirely down to you leaving me
,
but it was a contributing factor. My God, all this time I’ve been thinking it was my evil father at work again and it was just a normal dumping scenario
.’

She’d been jilted, plain and simple. That thought had her reaching for her wineglass and pouring it into the mouth.

‘
Like I said
,
it was complicated
,’
Jonathan repeated.

‘
Sure
, whatever.’

She felt sick.

‘
Look, surely we can move on from this
.
I mean we were both young and immature and these things happen. And you’re engaged now
.
T
ell me about Nicholas
Kaden
,’
he urged.

‘
Nick
’
s the most amazing man I
’
ve ever met. He’s kind of a male version of me, without the temper and obviously slimmer. But he does have a soft spot for takeaways and I
’
m teaching him that leftovers really are nice
on
toast for breakfast
.’

‘
He
’
s developing your discerning palate then
,’ Jonathan remarked, a smile on his lips.

‘
He’s trying.
’ She smiled as she thought about her fiancé.
‘
He’s just really special and unlike some of the men I
’
ve dated
,
he
’
s
realised
the importance and unimportance of money
.’

‘
I can understand why that
’
d be vital to you
.’

‘
God
,
Jonny, I
’
m so mad at you right now. I don’t know whether I can sit here and be adult about this
,’
she admitted, blowing out a breath.

‘
I
’
d like it if you did.
If only for the food.
Besides
,
I do have a proposition for you
.
T
his
is
a business lunch
,’
he told her
.

‘
Why do I get the feeling this is going to be something I
’
m likely to oppose?
’

‘
I’m not going to bulldoze
Mayleaf
if that’s what you’re thinking. Besides, the town eld
ers are pretty scary characters.
I wouldn
’
t like to cross those guys
.’

‘
Then what
are
you going to do? Build a
Recuperation Inn on top of
Exposure
?
’ she asked.

‘
Let’s eat
,
then I’ll show you
.’

‘
You enjoyed the food
?’
Jonathan asked
.
They were in back in the Chrysler heading off in an easterly direction.

‘Yes, it was good.
I enjoyed it all the more because you were paying
,’
she admitted.

S
he would pay later because she could barely move with the amount she’d
stuffed in
.
If the car went any quicker she was likely to lose it all over the leather upholstery.

‘You must be a breath of fresh air to the world of celebrity, Freya. Tell me, do you still raid the discounted items at the grocery stores?’

‘
Sometimes
,
but more often than not I buy double what I need and drop into a soup kitchen on the way home. And I do
n’t do
that for the publicity
,
I do that
because I can. And I have to tell you
,
it gives me more satisfaction to see an old man with holes in his clothes and nothing on his feet eating a good meal in a warm place
,
than it does to eat an
expensive Italian meal.’

‘
I heard you talk on Atlantic FM
about the homeless.
I found it very moving
,’
Jonathan admitted.

‘
The homeless are a project of mine at the moment. I
’
m in the process of setting up a
centre
to provide accommo
dation and food
. It sort of started out as a vision for a hostel and then it turned into something bigger than that
. I want
somewhere that provides
counselling
and advice, skills to get people jobs and support for when they can leave the centre and get a place of their own
.’

She felt more passionately about the homeless shelter project than she did about anything else in her life. There was something about giving people with nothing help to start over again that struck a chord with her.

‘
It sounds like it
’s something close to your heart.
’

‘
Nick took me to where he used to live when he was struggling to raise his brother. The number of
homeless people there is well above the national average and these people are of all ages and backgrounds and some are children. I was appalled and I said we had to do something about it. So
,
to start with I bought out the stock in two clothes stores and we handed it all out
.
T
hen we decided
,
to make a real difference
,
it would ta
ke more than just a handout. T
hat’s when I decided to set up
the
Every Day
project
,’
she explained
.

‘
I know
.’

‘
What? What
d
’
you
mean you know?
’

The Every Day project was new, very new. Only their closest advisors knew of their plans. Nothing had even been drafted for the release to the press yet.

‘
I know about your charity,
the
Every Day
project
.
I made a bid for the same piece of land your first centre is going to be built on
,’
he told her
.

‘That was all done anonymously and no one knew what that was for.
How?’

‘I know a lot of people.’

‘So
,
what happened?
Y
ou couldn’t outbid me?
That I don’t believe
.’

She was angry again. What was it with this man? Why was he back poking his nose into her life? What did he want? There had to be something.

‘
Oh
,
I could have outbid you but I took the time and trouble to
investigate that fake name you used
. I wanted to find out who I
was
really
up against
.
When I found out I decided
you were too formidable a force
.’
He smiled.

‘
Conscience
get
the better of you?
’

‘
Something
like
that. I admire your selflessness
,
Freya
. I really do.’
There was sincerity in his expression.

‘
Don’t admire me
.
T
here isn’t anything special about what I
’
m doing. I
’
m just making the most of what I have by spreading it around a bit
,’
she
told him.

‘
Do you not think you could have done that if you
’
d stayed with your family? Taken your trust fu
nd at eighteen and given it to Save the Whale
or something?
’

‘
My father would never have given me anything unless I changed how I felt about his world. I couldn’t do that, not even for pretence
.
I’m a black and white person
,
Jonny, you know that
.
T
here are no grey areas with me
.’
She pulled her head up to meet his eyes and jutted her chin out. She hoped it spelt out her determination.

‘
I guess not
. W
ell
,
here we are
,’
he
announced as the car came to a halt at the edge of a minor road.

He got out
and walked around to open her door.

‘
Here we are? We’re in
Gatebrook
, near Covenant Bridge. There’s nothing here but the river, the bridge and the old church
.
N
o one lives here
,’ Freya said. She stepped out of the car, the biting wind chilling her to the bone. She wished she’d brought a jacket.

‘
No one lives here at the moment
.
B
ut they could do, in a year or so
,’
he said. He
walk
ed off
the road and onto the grassland.

‘
I’m not with you
.’

‘
This
land
b
elongs to me
,’
he
announced
. H
e spread his arms wide
and let out a satisfied laugh
.

‘
You bought the field? Isn’t it a little out of
the
way for a Recuperation Inn? The nearest petrol station is at least three miles away
,’
Freya commented.

‘
I bought the town of
Gatebrook
, from boundary to boundary
.
I
sn’t it great? I own the church, the bridge and all this grass
.’
He was really going for it with the laughter now. It was like JR Ewing nailing an important oil deal.

‘
You own one of
t
he Christian Fathers bridges
? B
ut they
’
re protected
,
aren’t they?
’

The thought of him taking a w
recking ball to one of her much
loved sites would be the final nail in their relationship. She might even have to vomit up the lunch if that’s what he was telling her.

‘
Everyone has a price
,
Freya
,’ he answered.

‘
God, now you
’
re starting to sound like my father
.’

‘
So
,
what do you think?”
He turned to her, loosened his tie a little. He looked like he was waiting for her to
answer
favourably
.