‘Sorry,’ Sam said, looking at his shoes. ‘I dunno. I wasn’t thinking.’
‘What was that?’
The kid’s head bounced up. ‘I said I was sorry.’
‘Good. So you damn well should be.’
They glared at each other, each breathing hard. Nothing else moved except the pansies in the breeze. In the paddocks out beyond the bowling green, one of the steers bellowed.
‘Right,’ Jake said, wondering what he was supposed to do now. He wouldn’t put it past Sam to resume his plot if he left him here, and now that he’d cooled down, he really wasn’t sure how far to read the riot act. Wasn’t that his father’s job?
Yet this kid intrigued him. Sam was obviously smart. He’d been great with Percy. Jake was convinced there was a rough diamond under the tough-guy stone.
‘You do get it, dontcha, mate? If any of the locals caught you cutting up their bowling green on your bike, it’s your mum who’d have to pay for the damage. You understand that, don’t you?’
‘Yeah. I guess. If they’d caught me.’
Jake ignored that. Getting caught wasn’t really the point. ‘No one would sign her up to sell their house. She wouldn’t have a job anymore.’
Sam dropped his gaze. ‘Yeah, okay, I get it.’
‘It’s her livelihood, mate. It’s how she puts food in your fridge, pays the bills.’
‘It’s just a dumb job,’ Sam burst out. ‘She cares more about selling stupid houses than she cares about me. If she cared about me, I wouldn’t be in this crap-hole where there’s nothing to do.’
‘Right.’ Someone had to set this kid straight, starting right now. ‘So how about if I give you a job to do then, hey? Then you won’t be bored.’
‘What job?’ Sam asked.
‘You’ll see. Come with me.’
* * *
‘Initial here and here,’ Ella said, pointing to the sales contract, trying not to talk too fast, trying not to miss anything, ‘and then sign here, and here, and Harvey can be your witness.’
Henry Graham initialled and signed, and as he clicked his pen carefully before putting it in his pocket, Ella’s blood fizzed.
This was like winning National trials. This was as good as a personal best.
Harvey leaned across the Begg & Robertson boardroom table to drag the papers towards him, witnessing Henry’s signature before pushing the pages back.
All three stood and Henry offered his hand, first to Harvey.
‘So you’ll get back to me when you hear something from your seller,’ Henry said, moving his handshake and his smile to Ella.
‘Of course. I’ll call him now. Thank you so much, Henry.’
He maintained the pressure on her palm. ‘I’m around today but I have to be in Perth tomorrow.’
‘No problem. I’ve got your number.’
She wanted Henry Graham out of the building because she wanted to shake her booty up the corridor and yell at the photocopier, ‘I made a sale!’
Technically, it wasn’t a sale till Jake signed, but Ella wouldn’t let that kill her buzz. Ella wouldn’t let anything kill her buzz.
‘Pleasure doing business with you,’ Henry said, finally releasing her hand. ‘Talk to you later.’
‘Later, Henry. Thank you. I’ll be in touch.’
Henry Graham closed the front door behind him.
Ella bounced on the balls of her feet. Once. Twice.
As he watched her, a slow smile deepened the grooves that already layered Harvey Begg’s face. ‘Congratulations, Ella. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?’
‘It’s a great feeling, Harvey,’ then she added, ‘even though I’m only halfway there.’
‘Not that I want to dampen your enthusiasm, but I’m not sure you’re even halfway on this one. But it’s a starting point. That’s what you’ve got. You’ve got something to show Jake.’
Ella bounced again. ‘I’m going to call him now. I can go straight round if he’s home so I can present it to him.’
‘Do you need me to hang around and come with you?’
‘Harvey, thank you. I think I’ve got it, though, and I feel a bit more comfortable with Jake. If I have to call you while I’m with him, I think that will be fine. I just didn’t want to stuff anything up with my first possible buyer and I get the feeling Henry Graham’s done this kind of thing before.’
Harvey’s gaze followed the route Henry had taken out the door. ‘He has. It’s interesting that he’d consider a place like Irma’s. It’s not his usual thing.’
Ella wasn’t about to question Henry’s motives. She really didn’t care what he did with the property. All she wanted to do was sell it.
‘Are you good to lock the office then, Ella?’ Harvey asked, and when she nodded, he picked up the hat he’d left on the table. ‘I’ll leave you to it. Good luck with Jake.’
‘Thanks. See you tomorrow,’ Ella called as Harvey shut the door.
Ella counted to ten to wait for Harvey to get beyond earshot. Then she let out a squeal and hunted for her phone. The display indicated she’d missed a few calls while she’d been with Henry Graham. They could wait another minute or two.
She hunted out Jake’s name in her contacts and put the call through, drumming the boardroom table with her fingertip.
‘Come on, Jake. Answer the bloody phone.’
She scanned the walls while she waited. Begg & Robertson’s office registration and credentials were displayed in simple A4 frames. Nearer the window a low table housed more accolades and awards, usually with Bob’s name on them. Begg & Robertson Top Sales Consultant. Great Southern’s Top Selling Agent.
That could be her name in three years. Ella Davenport, Top Sales Consultant. Cop that, Bob.
‘You’ve reached Jake. Leave a message.’
‘Jake, this is Ella Davenport. I have an offer on your nanna’s place. Would you call me, please, as soon as you get this message?’
Ella ended the call and spun her phone on the table. What should she do now? If Erik and Sam had been at home she would have gone straight there to share the news, but Erik was on his way back to Perth, and she wasn’t sure Sam would celebrate.
What was she going to do with her boy?
