Chapter 16
After spending far too long deciding what to wear, Eliza settled on jeans, boots, and her favourite soft cashmere sweater which was, quite frankly, all she seemed to wear since she arrived in Farmington.
Which was just as well, since she couldn’t afford to buy any new clothes.
Then she slipped on the warmest coat she had, just as he instructed.
She had put on a pair of her sexiest knickers, too, just in case.
She was aware that her sexy knickers had seen more action in the last month than they had in her entire life, and she wondered whether maybe if she had worn them more often, then Henry wouldn’t have felt the need to sleep with his secretary.
At precisely eight o’clock, she heard the crunch of tyres on the gravel outside, and the now familiar growl of Luke’s pick-up.
Even his car was sexy. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her phone and keys and headed outside to meet him before he knocked – she felt like it gave her the upper hand.
It’s fine, she told herself as she went out to greet him, what’s the worst that can happen?
He dumps me. Or kills me. She thought the latter was unlikely.
And anyway, she was damn good at kick-boxing, and her core was still strong thanks to nearly two months of Mia’s intense intermediate Pilates class. He wouldn’t know what had hit him.
Luke was already leaning against his truck, hands in his pockets, looking like a movie star.
The sight of him made her heart skip a beat, and for a moment she decided she really didn’t care what it was he wanted to show her, she just wanted him.
All of him. Every single little bit. She hoped deep down that his plan was to have insanely hot sex with her.
‘Hi,’ she said simply.
‘Hi yourself,’ Luke replied, his eyes warm as they took her in. She always felt like he drank in every part of her, but she was sure that every woman he looked at felt the same. ‘You look damn sexy tonight.’
‘So, what’s this mysterious thing you need to show me?’ Eliza asked, deciding to ignore his comment as he opened the passenger door for her. She had this innate desire to touch him, but she had decided she wasn’t going to succumb too easily to his hotness tonight.
Luke smiled. ‘You’ll see.’
They drove in silence for a few minutes, just some music in the background, the sexual tension between them palpable.
Eliza focused on watching the familiar landscape slip by, until Luke turned down a lane she didn’t recognise.
Farmington really was a maze of hidden secrets, hidden roads, and hidden relationships.
She couldn’t deny she was fascinated by them both.
Or was it just that people in the countryside were so bored they had to create drama the whole time?
‘Now you have me intrigued,’ said Eliza, turning to him with a smile, ‘this is somewhere I didn’t even know existed, although I suppose I’m still a total newbie round here. Is this just the turnoff into the woods, or where you’re going to murder me?’ she said with a slightly nervous giggle.
He didn’t say anything, just smiled at her.
The truck continued to bounce along a rutted track until they reached an abandoned farm building – it had weathered stone walls that were silhouetted against a creepily darkening sky. In other circumstances she decided this would definitely be very unsettling. But with Luke, maybe it was just sexy.
He parked the truck right outside, turned off the engine, and took a deep breath, as if steeling himself. ‘This is where I grew up,’ he said with pride. ‘This, right here, is the old Stanley family farm.’
‘That is so cool!’ said Eliza, looking at him in surprise. ‘But I thought your family had always lived where you are now? Are you going to tell me it’s full of ghosts or dead bodies or something? Or someone was murdered here?’
He laughed. ‘You seem weirdly obsessed with murder tonight, Eliza! But no, I am not going to tell you any of that. But to answer your question, we have lived where we are for a long time, but this is where it all began for us generations ago.’
He jumped out of the truck and started walking towards the building, calling over his shoulder, ‘Are you coming?’
Intrigued, Eliza followed him towards the building, which looked a little dilapidated to her.
Although as they got closer, she could see that what had looked abandoned from a distance was actually in the early stages of renovation.
Scaffolding lay on the floor near one wall, and there were piles of building materials scattered about.
‘Watch where you put your feet,’ he shouted.
‘I’ve been working on restoring it.’ He expertly navigated his way over planks of wood and piles of bricks, while she tried not to break an ankle.
‘Not many people know about this place – at least not what I’m doing with it.
Lots of people just assume it’s a ruin – the rumour is that people are fighting over planning permission for it, and one day someone will turn it into something. But nobody knows it’s me.’
Eliza followed him inside, where he turned on battery-powered lanterns that cast a warm glow over beautiful old exposed beams. Despite its unfinished state, there was something undeniably charming about the space.
Eliza turned slowly, taking it all in. ‘But why is it a secret? Surely your family would be so excited – the son who saves the family land! I mean, it’s an awesome story! ’
Luke sighed. ‘Well, like everything in my life seems to be, it’s complicated.
This farm belonged to my grandfather and, when he died, it should have passed to my father, but there were a few snags.
There were so many debts that no one knew about, and in the end we had to sell most of the land to pay it off.
That’s not uncommon in the farming world, it’s just hard to get it back once you’ve sold it, because it generally costs a hell of a lot more!
’ Luke was running a hand casually over the wall, a wistful look in his eye and part of her wanted to just walk over and hug him.
‘But I was always determined to find a way. It’s been my life focus pretty much. ’
‘So that’s what you’re doing?’ Eliza asked. ‘That’s pretty incredible, Luke, if so.’
‘Yup, buying it back piece by piece.’ Luke nodded, a mix of pride and determination in his voice. ‘It’s taken me years, and a lot of hard work, but I’ve managed to buy back most of the original land. This house was the last piece of the puzzle, well, nearly the last piece.’
‘Bloody hell, Luke,’ said Eliza, peering out of the window, ‘so all of this land is yours? And no one knows?’
‘Well, Stavros knows, but there’s nothing he doesn’t know.
But I just didn’t want anyone else to know until the deal was done.
I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, especially my father’s.
He’s never forgiven himself for losing this place.
I wanted to wait until it was all finalised, present it to him as a done deal.
Show him that the Stanley legacy wasn’t lost after all. ’
‘The Stanley legacy – I love that. Although I do think that’s one hell of a secret to keep all to yourself. And honestly, I’m not sure how that’s possible in a place like this where all people do is gossip.’
‘Well, it was Phil’s father who bought most of this land when my family had to sell it, but Phil thinks his father is selling to a development company. If he knew it was me who bought it back, it would eat him alive. Obviously he’s going to find out soon enough.’
‘So that’s why there’s all this tension between you two,’ Eliza said, pieces starting to fall into place. ‘I assumed it was probably woman-related.’
Luke smirked. ‘You really do have a high opinion of me, don’t you! Though, you’re right, Phil and I aren’t close now,’ Luke admitted. ‘But we were actually friends growing up. Best friends.’
Eliza’s eyebrows shot up. ‘You and Phil were best friends? Now that seems like a weird duo – the cool hot one, and the geeky business guy.’
Eliza couldn’t work out whether she thought that was extraordinary, or whether in a weird way she could believe it. They say opposites attract and all that.
Luke nodded. ‘Yup! It’s hard to believe now. Growing up around here there wasn’t much choice, but we were inseparable as kids. His family had the money, mine had the land and the farming know-how, and it all just worked. Our fathers did business together for years.’
‘So, what happened to make you guys fall out?’ Eliza asked, desperate to know.
Luke was quiet for a moment. He looked up to the roof, which was in desperate need of a patch-up from where Eliza was standing, but she decided not to mention that.
‘My grandfather passed away, all the bad debts came out, you know, nothing too exciting. But Phil’s father stepped in, offering to buy portions of our land. At first, it seemed like he was helping us out and everything was going to be okay . . .’
‘But he wasn’t?’ asked Eliza, totally intrigued by the family saga she seemed to have fallen into.
Luke’s jaw tightened. ‘God, it’s such a long story, it would take me more than just a couple of bottles of wine to talk you through the whole saga.
He paid well below market value, knowing my father was desperate.
He just took advantage of him. By the time Dad realised what was happening, it was too late.
He trusted his friend wouldn’t screw him over, but he did.
We’d suddenly lost almost everything, including this house. ’
‘And Phil? Was he part of it?’ asked Eliza.
‘No,’ Luke sighed, ‘not back then at any rate. He was as shocked as I was. But over time, it was like he changed, started to see the upside of all the cash. He became a hard businessman, and acted like they’d done us a favour by giving us the money when we needed it.
He seemed to forget about the history and the emotional ties – but I guess that’s business. ’