Ch.12, Pt. 3: Blaine looked a little annoyed…
Blaine looked a little annoyed, although he said pleasantly, “You’ve been very discrete.”
“It just wasn’t anyone’s business here at work. At least I didn’t see a reason to broadcast it. It’s still in the formative stages.” Inwardly, she grinned at the irony.
Other memories from the past week: her naive hopefulness in the supermarket after work a few days ago. She was holding some potatoes when she thought no, I’ll tell Rick I don’t want to. No new house, no other houses at all. No subdivision all around her — their stone house. Because yes, of course let’s live together. We almost do already. But I want to live in the country. I want it to remain country, not suddenly in a matter of months become — what was his term for it? Estate residential. A litre of milk in one hand, and a package of cheese in the other, she felt relief at the simplicity of the solution. I’ll tell him I’d rather not do all that. Let’s move in together, maybe get married first, but let’s keep my stone house in the country. He’ll have to find another use for the land. Maybe he’ll go for the ranch after all. Has to be a way.
Rick had not been amused when she had told him this later. “We can live here while the new one’s being finished,” he said. “That’ll still give us plenty of time here.”
“But I just moved in. I’m not ready to leave.” She put a hand on his arm, silently imploring him to consider her side. “What’s wrong with waiting a few years before we think about building?”
Rick impatiently shook her hand off. “You don’t understand, do you? The way to get this house built is at the same time as all the others. When the project is this big, one house more or less doesn’t add that much to the price. But if we wait a few years, we’ll have to pay top dollar for all the trades and services.” His face softened and he changed his tone of voice. “Look. You just don’t understand. You don’t have the experience. Trust me to make the right decisions. This is really the best way, you’ll see.”
That had been when Rick still had patience with her. Last night, everything had changed. He had come over with a document for her to sign, a letter of intent, he called it. All she knew was that he wanted her commitment to include her 10 acres of land in the development scheme.
“I’m going to have to think about it some more,” she said, hoping that the whole issue would just go away.
Rick’s hand rested on the kitchen table. His voice was deadly quiet. “What’s there to think about?”
“I just don’t want to rush into anything.”
“There’s no rush. I just need to know that you’re with me on this. That’s all this is.”
“That looks a little like a contract to me, and I’m not ready.”
Rick pulled out a chair and sat down. “I don’t think you understand, so I’m going to explain it to you. Again.”
Katherine stared at him, astonished by the patronizing way he was speaking to her these days.
“This is a big opportunity. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You don’t want to miss it. You might not get a chance like this again.” He was speaking as if to a child. Katherine sat back and studied him. “Now I realize that you’re having a hard time understanding all the technical aspects, but that’s all right. You don’t have to worry about those things. We’ll look after everything. All we need you to do is let us know that you’re in the deal. That’s all that this document does.” He looked at her. They were silent a moment. “I told you that I’d look after you, and that I’d make the right decisions. I’m not going to let you miss your big chance. You’ll thank me for this later. Trust me.” He pushed the paper toward her. “Go on. Sign. And everything will be all right. Better than you dreamed.”
Katherine glanced down at the letter with the empty line waiting for her signature, and then back up at Rick. “Sorry. I’m just not ready. Maybe later.”
“No. I think we’ve talked about this long enough. It’s time to get with it. You’re starting to hold things up, and frankly, I don’t know how long my partners are going to be willing to wait. I don’t want you to miss your only chance at a good life, and I need your signature to be able to look after things.”
Katherine gave a humourless smile. “My only chance at a good life? What exactly do you mean by that?”
“You and your words!” Rick exploded. “You twist everything around, examine everything from all directions. Pretending you never heard of words like development and estate residential and arterial road, for Chrissake. You make your bloody living talking to people, I think you can understand what I’m talking about. The truth is, honey, this is your last and best chance to make something of yourself. Your job — face it — doesn’t bring you all that much money. And it’s a dead end, too. Where can you go from here?”
Katherine felt stung and sat back in her chair.
”You better smarten up and jump at this opportunity. It’s the only one you’re likely to get. And it’s pretty damn good, too, for someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” Katherine repeated, her mouth dry. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Look. You know I love you, so I can tell you the truth. I’m offering you the chance to make a pot of money, get the house of your dreams, and to move in together. What more do you want? Take a good long look at yourself, sweetie.