Chapter Twelve #2
Dominic had been in Queensland on business and only flown back into Sydney last night.
He’d met Walter Burton from a very early flight from the US this morning.
After an afternoon of satisfactory meetings, Dominic had taken him back to his hotel.
The American businessman would then make his own way to Vaucluse for the crucial dinner with Dominic and Andie.
As soon as he let himself in through the front door of the house Dominic sensed a difference.
There was a subtle air of expectation, of warmth.
The chef and his assistant were in the kitchen and, if enticing aromas had anything to do with it, dinner was under way.
Arrangements of exotic orchids were discreetly arranged throughout the house. That was thanks to Andie.
It was all thanks to Andie. He would have felt uncomfortable hosting Walter Burton in his house if it weren’t for her.
He would have taken him to an upscale restaurant, which would have been nice but not the same.
The older man had been very pleased at the thought of being invited to Dominic’s home.
And now here she was, heading towards him from the terrace at the eastern end of the house where they would dine.
He caught his breath at how beautiful she looked in a body-hugging cream top and matching long skirt that wrapped across the front and revealed, as she walked, tantalising glimpses of long slender legs and high heeled ankle-strap sandals.
Her hair was up, but tousled strands fell around her face.
Her only jewellery was her engagement ring.
With her simple elegance, again she looked as if she belonged in this house.
‘You’re home,’ she said in that husky voice, already so familiar.
Home. That was the difference in his house this evening. Andie’s presence made it a home. And he had not felt he’d had a real home for a long time.
But Andie and her team were temporary hired help—she the lead actress in a play put on for the benefit of a visiting businessman. This was all just for show.
Because of Walter Burton, because there were strangers in the house, they had to play their roles—he the doting fiancé and she his betrothed.
Andie came close, smiling, raised her face for his kiss. Was that too for show? Or because she was genuinely glad to see him? At the touch of her lips, hunger for her instantly ignited. He closed his eyes as he breathed in her sweet, spicy scent, not wanting to let her go.
A waiter passed by on his way to the outdoor terrace, with a tray of wine glasses.
‘I’ve missed you,’ Andie murmured. For the waiter’s benefit or for Dominic’s? She sounded convincing but he couldn’t be sure.
‘Me too—missed you, I mean,’ he said stiffly, self-consciously.
That was the trouble with this deception he had initiated. It was only too easy to get caught between a false intimacy and an intimacy that could possibly be real. Or could it? He broke away from her, stepped back.
‘Is this another misbehaving skirt?’ he asked.
He resisted the urge to run his hand over the curve of her hip.
It would be an appropriate action for a fiancé but stepping over the boundaries of his agreement with Andie.
Kisses were okay—their public displays of affection had to look authentic.
Caresses of a more intimate nature, on the other hand, were not okay.
She laughed. ‘No breeze tonight so we’ll never know.
’ She lowered her voice. ‘Is there anything else you need to brief me about before Mr Burton arrives? I’ve read through the background information you gave me.
I think I’m up to speed on what a fiancée interested in her future husband’s work would most likely know. ’
‘Good,’ he said. ‘I have every faith you won’t let me down. If you’re not sure of anything, just keep quiet and I’ll cover for you. Not that I think I’ll have to do that.’
‘Fingers crossed I do you proud,’ she said.
Walter Burton arrived punctually—Dominic would have been surprised if he hadn’t. The more time he spent with his prospective joint venture partner, the more impressed he was by his acumen and professionalism. He really wanted this deal.
Andie greeted the older man with warmth and charm. Straight away he could see Walter was impressed.
She led him to the front terrace where the elegantly set round table—the right size for a friendly yet business orientated meal—had been placed against a backdrop of Sydney Harbour, sparkling blue in the light of the long summer evening.
As they edged towards the longest day on December the twenty-second, it did not get dark until after nine p.m.
Christmas should be cold and dark and frosty. He pushed the painful thought away. Dwelling on the past was not appropriate here, not when an important deal hung in the balance.
Andie was immediately taken with Walter Burton.
In his mid-sixties and of chunky build, his silver hair and close-trimmed silver beard gave him an avuncular appearance.
His pale blue eyes actually sparkled and she had to keep reminding herself that he could not be as genial as he appeared and be such a successful tycoon.
But his attitude to philanthropy was the reason she was here, organising the party, pretending to be Dominic’s betrothed.
He espoused the view that making as much money as you could was a fine aim—so long as you remembered to share it with those who had less.
‘It’s a social responsibility,’ he said.
Dominic had done nothing but agree with him. There was not a trace of Scrooge in anything he said. Andie had begun to believe the tag was purely a media invention.
Walter—he insisted she drop the ‘Mr Burton’—seemed genuinely keen to hear all the details of the Christmas party.
He was particularly interested when she told him Dominic had actively sought to dampen press interest. That had, as intended, flamed media interest. They already had two journalists volunteer to help out on that day—quite an achievement considering most people wanted to spend it with their families or close friends.
Several times during the meal, Andie squeezed Dominic’s hand under the table—as a private signal that she thought the evening was going well. His smile in return let her know he thought so too. The fiancée fraud appeared to be doing the trick.
The waiter had just cleared the main course when Walter sat back in his chair, relaxed, well fed and praising the excellent food. Andie felt she and Dominic could also finally relax from the knife-edge of tension required to impress the American without revealing the truth of their relationship.
So Walter’s next conversational gambit seemed to come from out of the blue. ‘Of course you understand the plight of your Christmas Day guests, Dominic, as you’ve come from Struggle Street yourself,’ he said. ‘Yet you do your utmost to hide it.’
Dominic seemed shocked into silence. Andie watched in alarm as he blanched under his tan and gripped the edge of the table so his knuckles showed white. ‘I’m not sure what you mean,’ he said at last.
Walter’s shrewd eyes narrowed. ‘You’ve covered your tracks well, but I have a policy of never doing business with someone I haven’t fully researched. I know about young Nick Hunt and the trouble he got into.’
Dominic seemed to go even paler. ‘You mean the assault charge? Even though it never went to court. Even though I was a juvenile and there should be no record of it. How did you—?’
‘Never mind how I found out. But I also discovered how much Dominic Hunt has given back to the world in which he had to fight to survive.’ Walter looked to Andie. ‘I guess you don’t know about this, my dear.’
‘Dominic has told me about his past,’ she said cautiously. She sat at the edge of her seat, feeling trapped by uncertainty, terrified of saying the wrong thing, not wanting to reveal her ignorance of anything important. ‘I also know how very generous he is.’
‘Generous to the point that he funds a centre to help troubled young people in Brisbane.’ Andie couldn’t help a gasp of surprise that revealed her total lack of knowledge.
‘He hasn’t told you about his Underground Help Centre?
’ Walter didn’t wait for her to answer. ‘It provides safe emergency accommodation, health care, counselling, rehab—all funded by your fiancé. Altogether a most admirable venture.’
Why had Dominic let everyone think he was a Scrooge?
‘You’ve done your research well, Walter,’ Dominic said. ‘Yes, I haven’t yet told Andie about the centre. I wanted to take her to Brisbane and show her the work we do there.’
‘I’ll look forward to that, darling,’ she said, not having to fake her admiration for him.
Dominic addressed both her and Walter. ‘When I started to make serious money, I bought the abandoned shopping centre site where I’d sought refuge as a troubled runaway and redeveloped it.
But part of the site was always going to be for the Underground Help Centre that I founded.
I recruited Jim, the social worker who had helped me, to head it up for me. ’
Andie felt she would burst with pride in him. Pride and something even more heartfelt. He must hate having to reveal himself like this.
Walter leaned towards Dominic. ‘You’re a self-made man and I admire that,’ he said.
‘You’re sharing the wealth you acquired by your own hard work and initiative and I admire that too.
What I don’t understand, Dominic, is why you keep all this such a big secret.
There’s nothing to be ashamed of in having pulled yourself up by your bootstraps. ’
‘I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done,’ Dominic said. ‘But I didn’t want my past to affect my future success. Especially, I didn’t want it to rub off on my business partner, Jake Marlow.’
Andie felt as if she was floundering. Dominic had briefed her on business aspects she might be expected to know about tonight, but nothing about this. She could only do what she felt was right. Without hesitation, she reached out and took his hand so they stood united.
‘People can be very judgemental,’ she said to Walter.
‘And the media seem to be particularly unfair to Dominic. I’m incredibly proud of him and support his reasons for wanting to keep what he does in Brisbane private.
To talk about that terrible time is to relive it, over and over again.
From what Dominic has told me, living it once would be more than enough for anyone. ’
Dominic squeezed her hand back, hard, and his eyes were warm with gratitude. Gratitude and perhaps—just perhaps—something more? ‘I can’t stop the nightmares of being back there,’ he said. ‘But I can avoid talking about it and bringing those times back to life.’
Andie angled herself to face Walter full-on.
She was finding it difficult to keep her voice steady.
‘If people knew about the centre they’d find out about his living rough and the assault charge.
People who don’t know him might judge him unfairly.
At the same time, I’d love more people to know how generous and kind he actually is and—’ She’d probably said enough.
Walter chuckled. ‘Another thing he’s done right is his choice of fiancée.’
Dominic reached over to kiss her lightly on the lips. ‘I concur, Walter,’ he said. Was it part of the act or did he really mean it?
‘Th...thank you,’ stuttered Andie. She added Walter to the list of people who would be disappointed when she dumped Dominic.
‘I’m afraid I can’t say the same for your choice of first wife,’ Walter said.
Dominic visibly tensed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I met with her and your former employee this morning. He’s an impressive guy, though not someone I feel I want to do business with.
But your ex-wife made it clear she would do anything—and I stress anything—to seal the deal.
She suggested that to me—happily married for more than forty years and who has never even looked at another woman. ’
Dominic made a sound of utter disgust but nothing more. Andie thought more of him that he didn’t say anything to disparage Tara, appalling though her behaviour had been. Dominic had more dignity.
‘The upshot of this is, Dominic, that you are exactly the kind of guy I want to do business with. You and your delightful wife-to-be. You make a great team.’
Dominic reached over to take Andie’s hand again. ‘Thank you, Walter. Thank you from us both.’
Andie smiled with lips that were aching from all her false smiles and nodded her thanks.
The fake engagement had done exactly what it was intended to.
She should be jubilant for Dominic’s sake.
But that also meant there would soon be no need to carry on with it.
And that made her feel miserable. She wasn’t doing a very good job of guarding her heart.
When Andie said goodnight to Dominic, she clung to him for a moment longer than was necessary. Playing wife-to-be for the evening had made her start to wish a real relationship with Dominic could perhaps one day be on the cards.
Perhaps it was a good thing she wouldn’t see Dominic again until Christmas Eve.
He had to fly out to Minneapolis to finalise details with Walter, leaving her to handle the countdown to the Christmas party.
And trying not to think too much about what had to happen after Christmas, when her ‘engagement’ would come to an end.