Page 48 of One Snowy Day
‘And that’ll take months. We’re already going to have to wait for it all until probate is finished, and a mortgage could take six, maybe eight weeks to arrange. I can have a cash offer on that next week. Sorry, bro. It’s not happening.’
‘Come on, Jason. At least meet her…’
‘How many times do I need to hit you before you lie downhere, Lachlan? This isn’t your world. You’re a decent builder, but you know nothing about finance. You stick to your stuff and I’ll stick to mine. This conversation is done.’
There was still an urge to argue, but Lachlan could see it was pointless. Instead, he got up, walked towards the door, but only after he said, ‘You know once upon a time I wanted to be just like you… but that was before you turned into a colossal prick.’
He was at the kitchen door, when, behind him, still standing at the island with his beer, Jason said, ‘Always trying to rescue people, little brother. Problem is, you pick the wrong people to help. Maybe if you’d worried about the people close to you, you wouldn’t have fucked up your life.’
Lachlan stopped, every single cell in his brain begging him to go back and punch that asshole until he couldn’t stand. Then he turned, and he saw Tanya was right behind him, her eyes pleading with him, her hand resting on the top of her swollen belly.
He didn’t know if it made him a good guy or a coward that he kept on walking.
When he reached the front door, Tanya stepped in front of him to open it. ‘Lachlan, don’t hate him.’
How could he not? But, again, he said nothing. He wasn’t going to drag her into this or upset her, especially now.
She kept her voice low as she went on. ‘He’s broke. Lost almost everything on a big deal that tanked and he’s trying to pull it back. He needs the cash from the sale of this property to clear his feet and let him get back to a position where the banks will loan to him again. That’s why he won’t hold off. He needs the full value of the building, and he needs it quickly. And he’s not aware that I know any of this, so it stays between us.’
Everything now made sense. The urgency. The arrogance.The lashing out. Jason always came out fighting, especially when his back was against the wall.
Lachlan understood it now, and most of all, he was 100 per cent sure that there was nothing he could do to change it.
Stepping out of the doorway, he felt the snap of the cold air, before he turned back to her. ‘Good luck, Tanya,’ he said softly. ‘I mean that. I want you to be happy.’
Her eyes were glistening under the door light as she nodded. ‘You too, Lachlan.’
As last goodbyes went, it was a sad, but maybe a needed one. Goodbye. I wish you well.
When he climbed into the car, he felt a sense of finality. They’d put a full stop on the end of their chapter.
But the last hour had also put a full stop on any hopes he had of helping Alyssa.
He glanced at the time on his watch. Almost eight o’clock. Still an hour until he needed to be at the airport for his flight. He went on to the airline app to check in online, and that’s when he saw the notification – the flight had been delayed until 11.30p.m. He checked in anyway, so he now had almost three hours to kill and the airport was only twenty minutes away. He thought about calling Margaux, but there was a text there from her too.
Ok – first impressions of date – he has no interest in true crime shows, so think he’s not a serial killer. Good sign. Did you get earlier flight or are you still here?
He texted back, determined not to say anything that would give her an excuse to flunk out on her date.
Glad non-serial-killer vibes established. All good with flight. Will call you in morning. Love ya! Xx
It was almost true. It was only a short delay. He could go straight to the airport now, or…
His thoughts returned to his mum’s mantra of doing one good thing at the end of a bad day.
He wanted to go back and see Alyssa, but he figured the café would be closed by now. That’s when he remembered her saying that she was hosting a party there tonight.
There might not be anything he could do to change what was happening to her – but he wanted to let her know that he’d tried.
8 P.M. – 10 P.M.
25
JESSIE
Jessie wasn’t sure what stung the most – the fact that Georgie would keep something this important from her or that Stan was at the bar and Dorinda Canavan was all over him like a rash. Actually, that wasn’t even a close contest – it was definitely Georgie’s secrecy that stung more.
Her daughter hadn’t even got her coat off before Jessie had challenged her about it and immediately saw that it wasn’t all some big mistake or misunderstanding on Moira’s part.
