Page 62 of The Wishing Tree Beside the Shor
Something about Harrison knowing Ryan’s name makes the hair at the back of my neck stand on end. ‘Oh. Oh!Thatguy! Yes, that’s him.’
‘Right. And?’
‘And?’ I tuck my hair back and look around to make sure I’m not being overheard.
‘Are you buying him off with freshly picked strawberries? Trying to seduce him? What’s your angle on this? Because youlooksmitten.’
‘Looks can be deceiving,’ I mutter. ‘I’mtryingto get to know people. To gain their trust. Get right to the heart of this protest, like you told me to.’ I grit my teeth as I say it. I’m doingnothinghe told me to. ‘No one’s going to let me in on their plans unless I prove myself to be trustworthy.’
He does a chortle that makes me go cold all over despite the summer sun. You know something’s gone horribly wrong in your life when even one of the most devious, underhanded businessmen in Britain laughs at the notion of you being trustworthy.
‘Have you had a chance to chat to the care home owner yet? I sent him a second set of copies of the paperwork last week – in case he’d misplaced the first lot seeing as it’s taking him so long to sign – and he’sstilldithering about it. Give him a kick up the backside when you see him, will you?’
‘He’s … around.’ I peer over the hedge again and spot Steffan skulking around the car park. He catches me looking and I duck down behind the hedge again fast.
‘Without him getting a wiggle on, we’ll lose the hotel company and all their future business if I don’t deliver on this pronto.’
‘Isn’t there somewhere else they can plonk their hotel? This place is special, it doesn’t deserve …’ I trail off because I hear him suck air in through his teeth.
‘Special, is it?’ The menacing tone is back too.
‘Well, not tome,’ I stutter. One day I’ll start thinking before I speak. Today is not that day. ‘To the locals. They won’t give up without a fight. The more of them I meet, the more it doesn’t seem worth it.’ Maybe this is the way out without upsetting either party. If I could persuade Harrison that it’s not worth the hassle, he’d never have to know that I’m not doing my job, and no one in Lemmon Cove would ever find out I’m not a chef.
‘Felicity, you’d make a truly terrible businesswoman.’
Then again, maybe not.
‘You don’t get this far into a transaction and then decide to walk away. How will we ever recoup the costs we’ve already funnelled into this?’
Ffion walks past and gives me a curious glance.
‘Maybe by not offering things you don’t have in the first place,’ I snap into the phone, ashamed of being caught red-handed, so to speak. I give her a nod and a smile, but inside, I’m shrivelling up like a lettuce leaf on a sunny windowsill.
I turn further into the hedge, trying to block out the noise of traffic and the slamming of car doors from the car park.
‘Felicity, this is adisaster. It’s going from bad to worse. That petition is gaining far too many signatures, and now the newspapers have got a hold of the stories. I sent you there to prevent this very thing.’
‘I’m trying, okay?’
‘Really? Because so far, it seems like you’retryingto save the place. If you cost us this client, your jobwillgo with them. Do you understand that?’
If you lose this client, it will be because you sold them land before you owned it.‘Yes, Harrison,’ I say meekly, annoyed at myself for not telling him where to shove his client. The more time I spend here, the more I despise my company and everything they stand for.
‘Have you tried blackmail? I’ll do some digging on this Ryan Sullivan chap, see what we can dredge up. That might help.’
‘No!’
I can hear the raised eyebrow over the phoneline. ‘Who is he, Felicity? What does he want?’
‘Nothing. He’s just a guy. He loves this place and he doesn’t want the landscape ruined by a hotel.’
‘Of course he doesn’t. He owns a flaming campsite, for God’s sake. That’s like those towns where you have a McDonald’s and a Burger King next door to each other. A constant competition. From what I understand, his campsite is currently theonlyplace to stay in the area. A hotel would drastically decrease his visitor numbers. If you think this is aboutanythingother than business, you’re more naive than I thought.’
I want to tell him he’s wrong. Ryan’s not like that. But the cynical part of me wonders how much of a point he’s got. A hotel opening across the waywillhave a detrimental effect on Ryan’s business. There’s no denying that.
‘So what’ve you got on him? In the three weeks you’ve been there, you must’ve got something. It certainly looks like you’ve got close enough …’
His tone leaves me without a shadow of a doubt that I have to give him something. I look to the sky for inspiration. ‘He lost his last business because he accidentally poisoned someone with squash.’
