Heart of The Tree

Chapter 27

Everyone was chatting when they heard a ringtone.

“It’s mine,” Shane said as he pulled out his mobile and flipped open the cover. He stood up, smiling. “Hi, Karen.”

Rhys smiled as he watched Shane manoeuvre his way through the restaurant so he could speak in semi-privacy outside. He had been shocked when he found out that Shane and Karen were trying to start a relationship, but then he realised that it made a weird sort of sense. Neither of them was the average sort of person, and both were very bright. Each of them needed someone who could deal with their being different. Rhys had thrown his full support behind them — not that they needed it — when he realised they would be the stereotypical doctor/nurse pair in a non-typical way. That had appealed to his sense of humour.

Rhys turned his attention back to the table. Cindy was the centre of Bobby, Alex and Jamie’s attention, and the conversation still revolved around cars and engines. Rhys had kept up for the first ten minutes, but had then lost interest. Vince and Matt were having a private chat at the far end of the table. Padma hadn’t been able to get away for the weekend, which had disappointed everyone, but she had rung Bobby earlier in the afternoon to wish him a happy birthday.

Rhys leant over to speak privately to Mia. “Cindy seems to be a hit.”

Mia sniffed. “A new face, that’s all. Once they finish talking about cars, they’ll probably find they don’t have anything else to talk to.”

Mark overheard them. “Be nice, Mia. Just because she made a crack about you being Bobby’s mother, you don’t have to hold it against her. You did come on a bit strong.”

Mia glared at Mark, who quickly settled back into his chair. She then turned her stare on Rhys.

Rhys didn’t let it phase him; he was used to worse from his dad. “He’s got a point. Bobby seems to like her, and they’re getting on really well. If you don’t like her, Bobby will pick that up. Do you want to make him turn away from the first new girl he seems to have taken to for as long as we can remember?”

Mia dropped her eyes. “No.”

“Then?”

Mia kicked him in the side of his shin. “Don’t push it, mister.”

Rhys grinned and then put on his most angelic expression. “Me? But I’m always innocent.”

Mia struggled not to smile, but failed. “Okay, okay. I’ll be nice.”

A couple of minutes later, Shane returned, a smile stretching across his face. He still had the phone to his ear. “Just a sec, here he is.” He held the phone out to Bobby. “Karen wants to wish you a happy birthday.”

Bobby took the phone and started chatting with Karen. Rhys could see that Cindy looked puzzled and maybe a bit off-put by the call from another girl. He decided to try to clear up the situation. “Okay, Shane. Time for some gossip. When are you and Karen going out on a date?”

Shane rocked back slightly before grinning. “What makes you think we haven’t been on one already?”

“When? You only started going out with her when she headed off to Sydney.”

Shane put his hands together in front of his chest and started twiddling his thumbs while smiling at the ceiling. “I don’t think you need to know.”

Rhys scowled, though inside he was happy. He caught Shane flicking a glance at Cindy and suspected that he was playing it up to make it clear to her that Karen wasn’t a threat.

“I think you’re making it up. You still haven’t gone out with her, have you?” Rhys leant forward and pointed at Shane accusingly.

“Moi? Making something up?” Shane threw a hand theatrically up against his forehead. “How could you think such a thing?”

Bobby interrupted. “Rhys, Karen said to say she’s just bought her first scalpel, and she’s happy to come out and cut your tongue out if you don’t start minding your own business.”

Rhys dropped back into his seat. “Please tell Karen that I love her, too, but I’m sure she wouldn’t want to blunt her first scalpel that quickly, so I’ll be a good boy and shut up.”

“For a maximum of thirty seconds,” Mark added.

“What? Are you saying I can’t keep quiet for more than thirty seconds?”

Mark turned to Mia. “I think that was about two seconds. What do you think?”

Mia chuckled. “I made it less than one, but what’s a second between friends?”

The banter ended when the waitress arrived with the menus. It only took ten minutes before everyone agreed to Mia’s suggestion of ordering one of the banquet options. That way everyone would get to have a wide selection to choose from.

Shane was telling a story of how one of his fellow nursing students was found wandering university grounds in a drunken state one weekend, wearing the bottom half of a giant koala costume and with absolutely no idea of how she had gotten there, when the first round of food arrived. The waitress — who Rhys learnt was doing Arts at the university — explained the different appetisers and then quietly withdrew.

Rhys had just put his first goi cuon in his mouth when his phone rang. He started to chew quickly, annoyed that he couldn’t savour the taste, while he pulled out his phone and checked the caller ID. He stopped chewing for a moment, and then gulped down what was left of the Vietnamese spring roll. He didn’t like the sinking feeling he was getting.

“Dad! What’s up?” Rhys dropped his free hand under the table and crossed his fingers. He was praying that it was a rare social call.

“Hi, Rhys. Is Vince with you?”

Rhys hesitated for a moment. He was tempted to lie, but he knew his dad wouldn’t be ringing if it wasn’t important. “Yeah. We’re all out celebrating Bobby’s birthday. Is it urgent?”

“No, not really.” Rhys’s dad drew out the first word, as if he wasn’t sure it was the correct answer. “It is important, though. Can I have a word with him, or can you get him to call me back in the next hour or so?”

Rhys glanced around to find that most of the people at the table were staring at him. “Just a sec.” He pulled a face as he looked at Vince. “Dad wants a word. He said it’s not super urgent, but he’d like to speak to you tonight.”

Vince raised his eyebrows and flicked a glance at Matt, before reaching across the table. “I’ll take it.”

Rhys handed over the phone. The boisterous noise of only a minute earlier was gone as they all stared at Vince.

“G’day, Mr. Dresdan.”

Vince frowned and then stiffened as his eyes went wide. “You’ve got to be joking!”

“What is it?” Mia asked, echoed by Matt and Bobby. Vince waved a hand to silence them. His forehead wrinkled as he concentrated on the conversation.

“Okay, thanks. I appreciate the call. Matt and I will have to think about it, but we’ll let you know what we decide to do. Thanks again.”

“He said to wish you a happy birthday, Bobby,” Vince said as he handed the phone back to Rhys.

“Somehow, I don’t think that was why he rang,” Bobby said dryly. “What’s going on?”

Vince stared at the food in front of him. Like Rhys, he’d gone for the spring rolls. “He was just letting me know of something going on back home.”

“And?” Rhys asked.

“And the rest can wait until tomorrow. We’re here for Bobby’s birthday.” Vince grabbed his beer and lifted it in Bobby’s direction. “You’re only nineteen once, after all.”

Bobby smiled. “Nice try. Now, what was it about? Is someone sick?”

“No, nothing like that.” Vince grabbed one of his goi cuons and stuck it into his mouth. It was obvious to everyone that he was avoiding eye contact.

Matt put a hand on top of Vince’s. “Everyone’s concerned, Vince. Just tell us the basics.”

Vince gulped down his food. He sighed. “The council has decided to chop down The Tree.”

Everyone from Mourton reacted. “WHAT?”

“What the bloody hell are they thinking?” Rhys felt like throttling someone.

“They’re politicians. Can’t do anything right.” Mark glared at the table.

Bobby just shook his head.

Cindy put a hand on Bobby’s arm. “What’s all this fuss about cutting down a tree?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Mia’s tone was abrupt.

Cindy started to bristle, but stopped when Bobby held up his hand. “Calm down, everyone.” He turned to Cindy. “The Tree is just a tree, like Lady Penelope is just a car. That doesn’t mean it isn’t special and that people who care don’t get upset when it’s threatened.”

Cindy stared for a moment and then nodded.

Vince took advantage of the brief silence that followed Bobby’s statement. “There’s nothing we can do about it tonight, so let’s just enjoy Bobby’s birthday. I’m sorry I said anything.”

They all made an effort, but the shine had been taken off the evening. The suggestion to go on a pub crawl after dinner died almost as soon as it was made. The only good part, from Rhys’s point of view, was that Cindy and Bobby went for a drive afterwards. He was happy that at least one thing was going right.

* * *

“We’re not going to rush into things!” Vince scowled at Mark.

Mark rocked back. He hadn’t expected Vince to snap at him. “I didn’t say you should, but if you don’t do something soon, it might be too late.”

Mia put down her toast and glanced around at the group gathered around the kitchen table. It wasn’t often they had breakfast at the same time but that Sunday morning they were all up early, including their visitor, Bobby.

“I noticed you and Matt had a few private chats during the night. Did you talk about it?” Bobby asked.

“We decided to discuss it today. Last night wasn’t a good time.”

“When?” asked Mark.

“Sometime — we didn’t say when.” Vince was so annoyed that he almost spat the words.

“Steady, Vince. Don’t get hot under the collar over it. You know we’ll all support you with whatever you decide — isn’t that right, everyone?” Rhys made eye contact with everyone around the table until they all agreed. He turned back to Vince. “I told you before, but I’ll say it again — you’re more important to me than The Tree. If you think it’s too dangerous, then I vote to let The Tree die.”

Vince looked embarrassed. “It’s not that. It’s just that I don’t want to be pressured.” He shook his head. “No, that’s not right, either. I probably need a bit of pushing to get me to do something, but I don’t like feeling I’m being forced.”

“What about Matt? What does he think?” Mia asked.

“He’s kind of the same. I don’t want to be pressured into coming out before I’m ready. He doesn’t want to be pressured into making a commitment before he’s ready. We’re not feeling the same thing, but we both agree on the outcome — we’re not doing anything until we’re both happy.”

“Good for you.” Rhys smiled.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Bobby asked.

“Just be there when we need you, that’s all. For now, we need to decide if this is too early, or if this is just pushing us along a bit faster than we intended.”

“Are you saying you might be ready?” Mark asked eagerly.

Vince gnawed at his lower lip. “I don’t know. This is something between Matt and me — just give us room, okay?”

“That’s enough, guys. Vince is right — we’ve got no input into their decision and we should butt out until we’re asked,” Mia said.

Vince put an arm around Mia and gave her a hug. “Thanks. I’ll let you all know tonight how things are going.”

“Okay, then. What’s on the agenda for today?” Rhys asked, rubbing his hands. “There’s a pub within walking distance if anyone wants to join me.”

“It’s only nine in the morning!” Mark said.

Rhys stared. “So?”

Bobby laughed. “I’m meeting up with Cindy at lunchtime. I’m free until then. Why don’t you guys show me around the uni?” He paused and looked at Rhys. “When did you start drinking?”

“I started a couple of weeks ago. Someone convinced me that a drink or two wasn’t going to kill me. As long as I don’t go overboard, it’s fine. I was surprised to find I like beer.”

Bobby shook his head in amazement. “Someone who got you to start drinking after all these years must be pretty persuasive. I’d like to meet them, one day.”

Rhys shrugged. “Unfortunately, she’s already got a boyfriend, so I don’t know if I’ll be seeing her again.” He grinned. “Come on. Let’s go to the uni. There’s supposed to be a band playing sometime today.”

* * *

Alex glanced across at Bobby, who was staring out the car window. “You’re pretty quiet. Did the weekend exhaust you that much?”

Bobby laughed and turned to face Alex. “I had a great time — thanks to you and the rest of the group. I’m tired, but not that tired. No, I’m thinking more about Vince and Matt.”

Alex pulled a face while he overtook a slow moving caravan. “I’m glad I’m not in their shoes — I’m not sure what I’d do.”

“That’s still pretty much the situation. They’re looking at whether they’re ready to have a commitment ceremony under The Tree, but it’s not definite yet. There are still a few hurdles to jump over first.”

“Oh, like what?”

Bobby grinned. “Vince has started to go into meltdown. Matt’s parents are going to be in Dubbo next weekend to meet him. That was one of the things they organised this afternoon. I got the impression that Vince was going to meet them next month, but they’ve brought it forward.”

Alex chuckled. “Jamie was the same when he met my parents. He was fine once he was there, but beforehand he was a nervous wreck.”

“What about you and Jamie’s mum? How did that go?”

“Really well. She’s a really nice lady who fussed over me like I was a long-lost son.” Alex gave a sheepish grin. “It was really embarrassing. Jamie told me I went through more shades of red than he’d ever seen anyone go through before.”

“What about her boyfriend? What’s he like?”

“A really cool guy. We spent an easy couple of hours talking cars this morning. Jamie’s mum had to ban the subject at lunchtime so she would have a chance to join in.” Alex paused. “Have you met Cindy’s parents yet?”

Bobby blinked at the change of topic. “Uh… no. I don’t see I need to do that anytime soon.”

“So, you are going to see her again!”

“Maybe… probably… I don’t know. We got along well, but was she just being nice to the birthday boy?”

“You’ve got her number, haven’t you?”

“Sure. I just don’t know if I should use it.”

“Why the hell not?”

“She lives a couple of hours away. I don’t want to lead her on if things aren’t going to work out. How often are we going to be able to see each other?”

“Every second weekend? That’s not that bad when you’re just starting out. You get to know each other slowly — and when you’re together you’ll be making sure it’s quality time.” Alex grinned.

“I know that look and I don’t want to know what you and Jamie consider to be quality time.”

Alex chuckled. “We’re a bit past the ‘just starting out’ stage, but I have to admit that while I initially hated the idea of only seeing him every fortnight, it’s turned out to be good. We’ve started doing the little social things that we skipped initially — the things that show how much we miss each other, rather than jumping straight into –”

“STOP!”

“You don’t want the details?”

“No bloody way!”

Alex laughed. After a short pause, Bobby joined in.

“So, are you going to ring her?”

Bobby nodded. “I think so. Vince told me to stop looking for perfection and just take a chance. We’ll see how it goes.”

* * *

Ryan Klenston frowned across the bar at his customer. Councillor John Young was an infrequent visitor to The Cricketer’s Arms and the two of them were having a chat.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit drastic? There’s no need to rush on this — what if the new Heart is about to step forward?” Ryan asked.

John Young rolled his eyes. “Please, be reasonable. The Tree is dangerous. Do you want to wait until a branch falls down and seriously injures someone? What if it’s a kid — do you want that on your conscience? We’ve tried to keep things safe by putting a fence around it, but vandals keep opening sections during the night. We’ve really got no choice — The Tree has to come down.”

Ryan paused before responding. He noticed that most of the bar had gone quiet while they listened to the conversation. “But what about The Heart?”

John scoffed at the idea. “If there was a new Heart, don’t you think they would have stepped forward by now?” He shook his head. “No, I think we have to all face up to the fact that Aunt Cynthia was the last Heart. The Tree is her last legacy and we shouldn’t let it deteriorate — we should do something special. The council has voted to donate the wood from The Tree to the high school so the senior students can turn it into memorials to her memory.”

They were interrupted. “You’re wrong, John, and we’ll do all we can to stop this travesty.”

Ryan and John turned to see Mama Saviloni marching towards them. Her expression showed clearly her displeasure. She slapped a clipboard onto the bar. “Ryan, I’d appreciate it if you would ask your patrons to sign this petition. We want to show the council that the town does not want The Tree cut down.”

“Now, Mama, you have to be reasonable. It’s been almost three months since The Tree started to die. We brought in experts to try to work out what’s wrong with it and they couldn’t figure it out. We have to take action before someone gets hurt and the town gets sued.”

“What’s wrong with it is simple — it’s hurt because someone couldn’t feel love.” Mama Saviloni poked a finger at John Young. “And it’s attitudes like yours that cause that. How are the young people of this town supposed to feel love when they think the town leaders are only interested in money. Whatever happened to living? Whatever happened to love?”

Ryan stepped back and let the two argue. He personally thought Mama was wrong with her comment about the town leaders. The elected leaders may have to worry about financial matters, but Mama was someone that everyone looked up to — one of the social and cultural leaders who helped shape the soul of the town.

Mama Saviloni and John Young continued to argue. Ryan recognised what was going on. Should the town be making their decision based on the heart or the head? He glanced around at the interested onlookers, but he couldn’t work out which was going to win. Ryan wasn’t sure himself. If a new Heart didn’t appear soon, he would have to side with the council, no matter how much he hated the idea.

* * *

Matt and Vince lay together on Matt’s bed, arms around each other, silently enjoying each other’s company. They could hear the sounds of the other residents through the door, forming a muffled background. Vince had dropped in after his last class, as he knew that Matt finished early on Tuesdays.

“It’s bothering you, isn’t it,” Matt stated, rather than asked.

Vince sighed. “Yeah. I know what I should be doing, but I don’t know if I’m able.”

“I thought we agreed there’s no ‘should’. It’s up to us when and where we come out and whether we commit to each other. We’re doing things on our timetable, not anyone else’s.”

“I have to come out if we’re going to live together. I should do that now, because I don’t think there’ll be a better time, but I’m scared.”

Matt squeezed Vince reassuringly. “Are you ready to talk about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“What you’re scared of. Talking about it can help.”

“How?”

“Tell me what’s scaring you. Not vague things, but concrete things.”

Vince thought for a moment. “Being hated. I don’t like people hating me and I don’t think I’d like to walk down the street and have someone say something.”

“There’ll always be bigots and idiots, Vince. You’ll get people who’ll make comments because you voted for the ‘wrong’ party, or because you support the ‘wrong’ rugby team. Give me specifics. Who are you afraid will hate you?”

Vince thought about it. As he went through the list he realised that almost everyone who was important to him already knew.

“You’re having trouble thinking of someone whose opinion you care for, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. There are a couple — Mr. Klenston at the pub and Mama Saviloni — but most of the people I’d be worried about already know.”

“You’ve got it easier than most, in that respect. When I have this chat with someone, there is usually a long list of people they are scared will hate them afterwards.”

Vince rolled onto his side and found Matt smiling at him. “That’s right… Shane said you help a lot of guys come out.” He grinned. “I hope you don’t have these chats lying in bed, though.”

Matt laughed. “Nope, this is a first in that respect. So, are you feeling better about it now?”

“A bit. But it’s not just me. What about Mum and Dad’s friends? What are they going to think? I don’t want Mum and Dad to have hassles because of me.”

Matt eyed his boyfriend thoughtfully. “Do you know you’re someone special? Behind that mask you normally wear, you really care for people, don’t you?”

Vince blushed and rolled onto his back. “I don’t like people being hurt.”

Matt kissed Vince’s cheek. ”You need to talk to your parents on that one. If I know them, they’ve already been thinking about it, so it won’t be a surprise. Ultimately, that’s their business — not yours. By all means, talk it over, but don’t use them as an excuse.”

“Are you telling me I’m ready to come out, then?”

Matt shook his head. “No, that will always be your decision and no one should take that away from you. I’m just trying to make sure that you’re not going to hide for the wrong reasons. There are guys I’ve advised to stay in the closet until they finish uni, because it was too dangerous for them to come out, but I don’t think you’re in that category. You need to talk to your parents about your concerns, but I suspect they’ll tell you that it won’t be a problem.”

Vince felt a surge of affection for the guy next to him. “Thanks, Matt. Talking about it has helped.” He paused for a moment. “Going back to something you said earlier… do you follow league, union, or both, and what rugby team do you barrack for?”

Matt raised his eyebrows at the change of topic. “League and the Panthers. What about you?”

Vince pulled himself out of Matt’s embrace and sat up. “The Panthers? That’s it — I can’t have a relationship with a Panthers supporter.”

Matt grinned. “And what team am I supposed to follow?”

“The Roosters, of course.”

“The Roosters? I need to teach you a thing or two.” Matt grabbed Vince and pulled him back onto the bed. Both of them started chuckling while they wrestled.

* * *

Dave Buller and Mark sat down in the cafeteria. It was shortly before the normal university lunchtime rush.

“Do you see any problems with doing this assignment together?” Dave asked.

“Not that I can see.” Mark grinned. “My impression from the lecturer was that she’s going to give out a lot of joint assignments, so if this works well we can team up for the rest of the semester.”

They were discussing the details when Vince and Mia showed up. Mark stood up and gave Mia a kiss.

“Dave, these are two of my best friends, Mia and Vince. Mia, Vince, this is Dave. He’s doing teaching with me.”

Vince sat next to Dave while Mia sat with Mark. The four of them chatted for a few minutes as they got to know one another.

They had just learnt that Dave was from Coonabarabran, to the northeast of Dubbo, and was staying in the on-site student accommodation when Dave glanced up. “Uh oh. I hope he doesn’t spot me.”

Mark looked in the same direction. “Who?”

“There’s this gay guy who’s staying in the residence, and I’m sure he’s got the hots for me. He’s always smiling and talking to me and getting closer than is comfortable.”

“Which one is he?”

“He’s the guy in the orange shirt — he told me this morning it was apricot and wanted my opinion on whether it suited his new hairstyle.” Dave shuddered. “He’s just to the right of the entrance.” Dave looked away so he wouldn’t accidentally make eye contact.

Mark spotted the guy in question: Shane. He looked at Mia and Vince and saw that they had spotted Shane, too.

“Don’t you like gays?” Mark asked.

“As long as they keep away, I don’t have a problem. That’s their thing, but I don’t think I could ever be friends with one.”

Mark flicked a glance at Vince. Vince’s forehead was wrinkled but he seemed otherwise unconcerned.

“Don’t get me wrong; Shane — that’s the guy’s name — hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s got a straight friend in the residence who made it quite clear that he wouldn’t tolerate any abuse. However, Shane makes me uncomfortable so I try to spend as little time there as I can. I do most of my studying at the library instead of the lounge room, just to avoid him.”

“I see,” Mia said dryly. “Well, this doesn’t appear to be your lucky day, because he’s headed this way.”

“Please, no!” Dave glanced up. “Damn! I’ll try to get rid of him as quick as possible — don’t worry about it.”

Shane walked over and stood at the end of the table. He smiled. “Hi, everyone. I’m sorry I can’t stay, but Cindy seems to have told Zoe about Karen, and Zoe made me promise to give her all the details over lunch, so I’ve got to go.”

Mia stood up, stepped over to Shane and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Have fun, Shane. We’ll catch up later.”

“Thanks, Mia. Bye, Mark. Bye, Vince.” Shane winked at Dave. “You’ve fallen in with a good bunch here, Dave — they’re really great friends.”

Dave stared open-mouthed as Shane headed to another table. He looked nervously at the other three. “Uh… you know him?”

“Yep. We know his girlfriend, too,” Mark said.

“Girlfriend? But he’s gay!”

Mark smiled. “I know he comes over that way, but no, he’s not. Don’t worry, I made the same mistake when I first met him, didn’t I Mia?”

“Yes, and it was just so much fun to watch.” Mia grinned at Mark. “And don’t think I didn’t catch that look after I kissed him. You still can’t be jealous.”

Mark blushed and muttered something inaudible.

“I did, too, Dave,” Vince said. “It just goes to prove that you can’t always tell what a person’s like from what you see.”

“Look, I’m sorry if what I said sounded insulting. I didn’t mean to. It’s just I feel uncomfortable around gays, that’s all.”

“But you’re okay now?” Vince asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“That’s good,” Vince said nonchalantly. He looked up and waved to someone coming into the cafeteria. “You don’t mind if I invite Matt to join us?”

“Matt? Oh, of course. If you know Shane, you’ll know Matt. Yeah, Matt’s cool — I don’t mind at all.”

Vince rose as Matt approached. “G’day, Matt.” He stepped forward and kissed Matt on the lips. “Sit down and join us for lunch.”

“Sure.”

Mark could tell that Matt was taken aback by Vince’s kiss. He noticed that Dave appeared shocked.

“By the way, what brought the kiss on? Not that I’m complaining, but you don’t normally do that sort of thing in public,” Matt said as he sat down.

Vince glanced at Dave and grinned. He turned back to Matt. “I’ve been thinking of what you said last night. If I can’t kiss my boyfriend in public, then what’s the point in being out? You told me the uni is safe, so this seemed like a good time to start.”

Dave gulped. “You’re both gay?”

Matt looked puzzled. “Didn’t you know?” His eyes opened wide. “Damn! Normally everyone finds out because of all the O-week activities, but I didn’t do them this year. Sorry, Dave, I didn’t realise you didn’t know. Yes, I’m gay, and Vince is my boyfriend.” He grinned at Vince. “And I’m one very happy guy as a consequence.”

* * *

Colin Richardson looked up as the door to his office opened. He gulped when he saw the stormy expression on the portly man in the pin stripe business suit. Colin mentally reviewed the schedules but couldn’t think of a reason why the CEO of Mourton Wineries would be wanting to see the maintenance manager. It was also unusual for Keith Tyler to be in that early. Colin knew that Keith normally spent Thursday mornings at meetings in town.

Colin rose to his feet. “Good morning, sir.”

Keith waved a hand to indicate Colin should sit. “There’s nothing good about it, and it’s going to get more unpleasant very soon.”

Colin swallowed nervously. He opened his mouth and then shut it again. He decided it was better to wait for the CEO to tell him what was going on.

Keith put his hands on the desk and stared down at Colin. “I’ve been going through the personnel records. You’ve got a new mechanic by the name of Robert Elkington. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.” Colin wondered what Bobby had done to bring himself to the attention of upper management.

“Is he trustworthy?”

Colin was confused. He stammered out a reply. “I’ve never had a problem with his work, and the others seem to respect him.”

“That wasn’t what I asked. Is he trustworthy?”

“I don’t understand.” Colin felt himself shrinking under Keith’s glare.

“Can he be trusted to do what he’s told?”

“Yes, sir. He doesn’t need a lot of supervision, if that’s what you mean.”

“That isn’t what I meant. I’ll try it another way. Is he smart? Can he keep his mouth shut?”

“Yes to both.” Colin had given up trying to work out what was going on. He decided to just react to wherever Keith took the conversation.

“Good. Get him in here. I want to talk to him.”

Colin punched a number on his phone. “Eric? I need Bobby in the office, pronto. Five minutes ago, if that’s possible.” Colin looked up to see Keith grunt and straighten up. Colin was happy not to be under that stare any longer, but he felt sorry for whatever Bobby was about to go through.

“While I’m waiting, tell me what equipment we’ll have ready for preparing the northeast slope for more vines.”

Colin was briefing the CEO when there was a knock at the door. It opened and Bobby stepped through. Bobby glanced at Keith Tyler before turning his attention to Colin. “You wanted to see me, Colin?”

“He didn’t. I do,” Keith said. He pointed to the only spare chair in the room. “Sit.”

Bobby kept a wary eye on the CEO. He had seen him around, but had never been close to him.

“I’ve got a job for someone to do, and I think you’re the best person to do it. This is my decision and Colin has had no input in the matter, so don’t try to blame him.”

Bobby turned to stare at Colin in surprise. Colin shrugged. He had no idea as to what was going on.

Keith brought their attention back to himself with a cough. “Are you aware of the recent council decision regarding The Tree?”

Bobby scowled and nodded.

“Under council rules, the job went out for tender. It was done in what I would consider indecent haste, and they only gave prospective tenderers one day to put in a bid.”

Colin and Bobby were listening intently, but neither was able to work out where things were leading.

“Mourton Wineries put in a bid, and we were successful. Bobby, I’m assigning you the job of cutting down The Tree.”

Bobby stiffened and then slowly rose to his feet. He crossed his arms. “No. I’ll quit first.”

To Colin’s surprise, Keith smiled. “Good. I was hoping you’d say that.”

Bobby’s cold anger was lost to confusion. “What?”

Keith waved a hand at Bobby. “Sit. This will take a while to explain, but what you hear has to stay between the three of us. I’m only including Colin because you’re going to need his help.”

Bobby sat down and narrowed his eyes. “I’ll listen, but I’m not going to cut down The Tree.”

Keith chuckled. “I never said you would.”

“But you said you wanted me to cut it down?”

“No, I didn’t. I said I’m assigning you the job of cutting it down. That’s not the same thing.”

“Sounds the same to me.”

“If you’ll let me talk for a few minutes I’ll explain.”

Bobby nodded. “Okay.” His tone was still suspicious.

Keith walked over to the window that overlooked the maintenance area. With his back to Colin and Bobby, he started talking.

“We won the tender because I put in a bid of one dollar. They had to take the lowest bid and naturally that was ours. If I hadn’t done that, it would probably have gone to someone from out of town who would have had no problems with doing the job. The Tree would probably have been cut done by the end of this week.”

Keith turned to face Bobby. “But we got the bid, and there’s a loophole in the contract. It doesn’t say when we have to do it. I suspect the person who wrote it up did that deliberately, because I got an anonymous phone call on Monday night to point it out to me.”

Bobby sat for a moment and then started to smile.

“Good. Colin said you were smart. Yes, we’re going to take our time. We have to do something, or they could argue a breach of contract, but we don’t have to do it fast.”

“I think I can do that, sir.”

“Good. Now how long will it take you to get the cherry-picker into top-notch condition?”

“A couple of days, I think. I was checking it yesterday and it’s in pretty good nick.” Bobby glanced at Colin and asked a silent question.

“That’s right. It had its last maintenance last month,” Colin said.

Keith shook his head. “That won’t do. Mourton Wineries won’t look good if our equipment doesn’t perform perfectly when it’s on show to the whole town. I want you to pull the whole thing apart and if there is a part that looks suspect, get it replaced. I want that cherry-picker in absolute top condition before you take it out. Do you understand?”

Bobby grinned. “Yes, sir! I think it’ll take me a couple of weeks to do that — longer if we have to get parts ordered in.”

“Good!” Keith smiled. “I’m glad you understand. Mourton Wineries is going to be on show and we have to make the town proud with how we do the job.” He winked.

Colin bit his lower lip for a moment before speaking. “Uh, sir?”

“Yes? What is it, Colin?”

“I don’t have the budget to do that sort of work and still get the regular maintenance done. Does this take priority over our normal jobs?”

Keith frowned. “A good point. Hmm… I think this should come out of the discretionary budget, not yours. Tell you what — send all of Bobby’s requisition orders up to my secretary. I’ll approve them personally before you order the parts. How does that sound?”

Colin smiled. He knew how much Keith hated doing paperwork. Getting his signature on the purchase orders was likely to take some time. “That sounds fine, sir.”

“And Bobby will still be expected to do his share of the other work, too. I think half a day on this job and half on his regular work is reasonable.”

Keith narrowed his eyes and stared down at Bobby. “I know I’ve given you a tough job. The truth of what we’re doing can’t get out, or the council could pull a swifty and bring someone in to do the job without telling anyone. You might get harassed by those who don’t understand, but you have to be very careful who you tell.”

“I understand, sir. I’ll be careful.”

Keith sighed and turned away. “I just hope The Heart makes her appearance soon. We can’t delay forever.”

“I’ll let them know, sir.”

Keith spun around. “You know who she is?”

Bobby stared back passively.

After a moment, Keith smiled. “I knew you were the right one for the job when I saw you. Are you able to tell me how long we have to hold off the council?”

Bobby pursed his lips as he considered the question. “I don’t know for sure, but at least a month, I’d say. Things are progressing, but they’re not ready to get married yet and getting married too early would be very wrong. I’m hoping it’ll be less than two.”

Keith nodded. “Thanks. That gives me something to work with. Keep up the good work, Bobby.”

NEXT CHAPTER