New Beginnings

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Alex swept the sand and soil mix over the paving blocks Jack and Blake had lifted into place. They were both shirtless as the mild autumn continued and Alex was enjoying the view of Blake’s sculpted muscles, the same sculpted muscles she raked her fingers over when he brought her to every sweet orgasm he’d gifted her each time they enjoyed the intensely physical aspect of their relationship.  But the relationship wasn’t only intensely physical, there was a meeting of minds, he was so insightful – for a man, anyway! The ideas she’d raised when they were last on Motutawa had resulted in volunteers from a charitable organisation coming to Motutawa. Blake donated the cost for a barge to come down so they could load as many of the items from the storage shed as possible onto it and return to Auckland. Blake and Jack had gone over and on returning home, reported that all the kitchen items, crockery and even shelving from the reception area had been removed. Then there was the decision to buy a semi-rural property, with a view to relocating most of the chalets, opening a new charity for victims of domestic violence and their children. In true Blake fashion, his name remained off all documents, instead the charity was a trust, with his sister being the Trustee.

“What do you think, Mum? Are you happy with it?”

“I am. It looks great and will really set off the dahlia garden. I can’t wait until the dahlia tubers become available in late winter.”

“You know which colours?” Blake asked.

“I do. In the back will be darker colours, deep crimson, dark purple, that sort of thing, they grow about a metre wide, so I have enough room for six across.”

“I love the way you’re able to plan a garden, it amazes me. You have such a talent for design, Alex.”

“Thank you. Of course, you guys have helped with the paving and the solar lights, so it has been a team event.”

Team event, the idea filled her with warmth. Blake was spending more and more time with them and they had moved into the easy rhythm they once shared as teens. But she couldn’t tell him how deep her feelings ran for fear of him revealing he wasn’t at the same point. She was a patient person, and she could wait and hopefully manifest the future she aspired to with him. All she asked was that he didn’t break her heart again, that she couldn’t go through. And there was one other issue that cast a shadow over her otherwise sunny viewpoint of life. Royce and Arlene Winchester. The memory Arlene’s surprise visit and her vitriolic language wasn’t something Alex would forget for quite a while.

“What say we down tools and get some lunch? We’ve been going since nine this morning and I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of food and water.”

“Glad you mentioned lunch, Mum because I’m getting lightheaded,” Jack agreed.

“Make that three of us then,” Blake added, giving her one of his toe curling smiles.

Once they’d washed up, Blake and Jack sat at the breakfast bar,

“Last night’s leftovers?” she asked.

“Cool,” that was Jack’s usual response and Blake gave her the thumbs up.

Alex pulled the left-over casserole from the fridge and placed it in the microwave. There was also Turkish bread which she wrapped in foil and placed in the oven at a low heat. When she turned around, Blake was no longer in the kitchen,

“Where’s Blake?”

“He got a call, sounded important. Maybe it’s about that crazy woman coming here?”

The photos together with Hunter and Xavier’s witness statements had been given to the court over the breach of the intervention order. That was more than three weeks ago, although the wheels of justice did tend to move slowly, the only problem for her was the effect the breach had had on own equilibrium. She wasn’t fearful exactly, but she did feel as though her boundaries had been violated, something she was having trouble with. Perhaps that was why Blake was staying on Waiheke on such a regular basis.

“I have news!” he said, entering the kitchen and returning to the seat next to Jack.

“Good news?”

“Yeah. Arlene Winchester was arrested this morning and, those two guys? The photos you took turned out to be winners because they showed up in the police database.”

“Wow! Do you think that old cow will end up in jail?” Jack asked.

“I’m just happy she’s facing the consequences of her actions,” Alex replied, “I mean, I’d love if she went to jail, but I’m not putting the cart before the horse. I daresay she’ll get bail before any court case?”

Blake nodded, “You’re right, Alex. I’d like her in a jail cell as well but yeah, it’s likely she’ll get bail. You can bet Royce has her lawyered up already with the best money can buy.”

Alex shook her head, there was so much injustice in the world wasn’t there? The adage that we’re all equal in the eyes of the law? That was crap, because how many times did wealthy, privileged offenders get off with a slap on the wrist or a community-based order? Meanwhile, ordinary people, unemployed people, those with mental health issues didn’t have access to expensive lawyers, often they were relying on legal aid representation with poorer outcomes.

“You okay, Mum? You have a kind of weird look on your face.”

“Just lost in thought, thinking about justice and how it doesn’t always work out for the little person.

“Well, the best news is that her lawyers have asked for a psych assessment. They’re fighting the charge on the grounds that she is suffering from severe anxiety and depression,”

“Oh, sweet Jesus!” Alex shouted, then thought about what Blake had just said and smiled, “Although, the psych assessment might deliver more than Arlene bargained for because it could also detect her major personality disorder!”

Blake and Jack laughed, “Alex, you are truly sensational!” Blake declared, “And I’m proud of you, turning that possible negative into a positive.”

What else could she do, Alex thought and turned her attention to their lunch only to find both Blake and Jack attending to it, setting the table with plates and cutlery, glasses, and something to drink.

“Thanks guys, I was processing what Blake just said and yeah, it’s annoying she’s using mental health as an excuse for her behaviour but perhaps they’ll discover that she is mentally ill.”

She sat at the breakfast bar, opposite Blake and Jack who had filled their plates and glasses. Her gaze shifted from Jack to Blake, a sense of contentment blanketing her and while she believed her life had been extremely happy before Blake re-entered their lives, in moments such as this, there was an extra dimension to that happiness. Of course, she knew happiness flitted in and out in varying degrees, but this was different, it was soothing, inspirational and comfortable.”

“Are you looking forward to this weekend’s match?” Blake asked Jack, “Xavier mentioned Westlake are a tough opponent.”

Jack paused shoveling food into his mouth and finished chewing the mouthful he had,

“Sure are. They made it to the semis last year and were beaten, mainly because their best player was out. The guy is destined for an AB’s jersey, that’s for sure.”

“Wow. Is he playing on Saturday?”

Jack shook his head, “He finished high school last year, he’s playing for Varsity now.”

“I still think you have a good chance of beating them.”

“Can’t beat a father’s enthusiasm,” Alex added, pleased to be part of this interaction between father and son. There had been no bumps or hesitancy, instead it had been seamless, as though Blake had been part of Jack’s life every day. In some respects, he had, albeit on a surreal level because she hadn’t hidden Blake, nor had her parents. There were photos of Blake, he wasn’t a stranger to Jack and once Jack had skewered Blake with the question why he hadn’t come to him sooner, it was as though Jack simply needed Blake to say the words and then he was ready to welcome his father into his life.

“We ought to be able to finish the solar lights and the fountain this weekend,” Blake said.

“There’s no hurry, you have more than enough to do with Motutawa.”

“Alex, it’s not as though I’m digging the place over by hand. Everything is in place and that means this weekend we can go to rugby and finish this job for you.”

“In that case, I’ll be happy be part of the team. Jack, I haven’t been to watch you playing rugby at all this season, is your mother still allowed to attend or are you afraid I’ll hex the game for you guys?”

Jack drained the last of the juice from his glass and reached for the pitcher for a refill, he smiled,

“You’re always welcome, Mum. I’ve kind of missed you because you always used to make the home games, even though you can get a bit loud. Do you think we can have the guys stay over on Saturday night?”

Well, she might have liked the idea of a quiet Saturday night, a long soak in the hot tub to work out the knots between her shoulder blades, but if she didn’t have to cook a mountain of food, trying to feed the bottomless pits of teenage boys’ stomachs, she could forfeit the soak.

“A bit loud? When was I ever loud?”

Jack gave her a mischievous smile and she laughed,

“Alright, it’s a deal. I’m not cooking though, so you can choose pizza or fish and chips. Blake are you in?”

He wore a puzzled expression and she thought he maybe had something else he would rather do.

“I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world, but I was worried that maybe you hadn’t been going to Jack’s games because of me.”

He looked so uncertain, Alex’s heart melted,

“That isn’t the case at all. I wanted to give you a chance to experience that with Jack and without my interference. Thinking about the delivery of my request to Jack, I could have been a bit more articulate.”

“In that case, count me in,” he replied.

Blake finished scanning the last of the adoption documents onto his hard drive with a copy also onto a USB for extra back up. All in all, there were two hundred adoptions handled by the Miramar Private Hospital Trust, between 1958 and 1988. He didn’t know how his investigator friend, Rick, had come by them and decided it was best if he kept it that way. He found Gabriella’s adoption in amongst the paperwork and was surprised to read that her birth name had not changed, she was still Gabriella Forrester and her adoptive parents had simply added their name. Maybe it was their way of giving her a hint about her birth parents? The other documents related to Non-Disclosure Agreements many of the mothers relinquishing their babies for adoption had signed. These had been heartbreaking to read, the duress many of them were under and obviously feeling as though they had no way out, nobody ought to be placed in circumstances such as those, he thought, it was inhumane but then, Royce and Arlene were not humane by any stretch of the imagination. He was under no illusion that Arlene would have been the stand-over merchant, threatening vulnerable women with all kinds of unthinkable repercussions should they refuse to sign.

“You look like you need a break.” He looked up to see Alex in the doorway, holding two cups and his heart slammed hard into his ribs.

“You’re a lifesaver Alex, thanks.” He reached out and took one of the cups from her, then watched her make herself comfortable in an armchair in what was her office, her feet tucked underneath her.

“Hard going?”

“Heartbreaking if you want the honest truth. This private hospital arranged adoptions over a thirty-year period and not one of the two hundred women who relinquished their children have had a way to reconnect with their children,” he sipped is coffee, “When I was searching for my birth parents, I was told that males rarely try to make contact with or locate their birth family and that sometimes birth mothers live in fear of their adopted children making contact.”

“Because of the guilt?”

“Partially, but the other aspect is they might have gone on to marry and have other children. Telling their husbands or kids about the mistake they made, is just so difficult they remain silent.”

“What an awful situation to find yourself in. I expect many of those women were never allowed to forget their terrible mistake. The one their parents had to clean up to retain their reputation, without even considering the sadness their daughter was experiencing.”

“Yeah. Moving to a more pleasant topic, I heard from the builder carrying out the renovations on the four chalets I kept on Motutawa and he’s happy with the progress. He thinks they ought to be completed by the end of next week.”

She gave him a warm smile, “That soon?”

“Yep. So, I’ll need my garden design guru to come up with something sensational in terms of shrubs, landscaping, that sort of thing.”

“Garden guru?” she laughed, “I’m not sure I’ve attained guru status yet, but I’ll take it as a compliment. If you give me an idea of the area measurements, I can get something on paper. Because that’s the highest point of Motutawa, it will be more exposed to the elements so we’ll need to consider plants that are salt tolerant and can act as a windbreak.”

“I was thinking we’ll need something to give the chalets some privacy. There is fencing on order, but I wondered about planting trees or shrubs on the outside of the fence?”

“Okay, we can do that, but I’ll need to check it out perhaps on a day when the builders aren’t there?”

“Not a problem. We can do -,” his phone buzzed with a new message that had anger flaring inside of him, “s**t!” he roared.

“Blake? What the hell is it?”

“Those saplings your guys planted two weeks ago; someone has poisoned them.”

“What? No! How is that possible with the rangers being there, the builders, the guys installing the CCTV cameras, it’s not as though the bloody place is deserted is it?”

“No,” he checked his watch, “At times like this I need a helicopter, I could be there in a few minutes.”

“And where would you keep said helicopter, Blake? Getting there in a few minutes is not going to save the trees is it?”

She was right, of course. He called the ranger who had sent him the message to get more details, the poison had been used on the saplings at the lower reaches of the island, adjacent to the wharf area while those further inland, were okay which probably indicated a lack of knowledge regarding placement of more trees or was this just a warning? He finished the call, anger and frustration still bubbling inside him. He needed to go and look for himself.

“What did he say?” Alex asked.

“At this stage it’s confined to the saplings at the lower level, near the wharf and the old administration area. They’re taking some trees back to be analysed and might be able to learn what type of poison was used.”

“And the other saplings? Those on higher ground?”

“At this stage it looks as though they’re okay. One thing for certain, I need to get over there to have a look.”

“You’re not going alone Blake. Jack has inter-school sport this afternoon and they’re playing at Glenfield College. He won’t be home until after six.”

She uncurled herself from the armchair, reached across the desk and picked up his cup,

“I’ll grab us a few snacks and make a thermos of coffee. It won’t take me a minute.”

He got to his feet and, as she turned to leave, he placed his hand on her arm,

“You don’t need to do this, Alex. I’m okay. Pissed off? Definitely. But I want to see for myself,  to take photos because if this is sabotage, I need to lodge a complaint with the police.”

“I get that, but I’m still coming with you. Besides, poisoning native flora and fauna is taken very seriously by the Department of Conservation, there are stiff penalties for offenders or if you paid someone to administer the poison. I know what you’re thinking, that this is payback for Arlene and maybe it is. But don’t let them get to you like this, I know that’s easy for me to say but we’ll check it out, the department will take samples and you might also like to take a sample for Rick.”

He frowned, not able to make a connection between dead trees and Rick, mainly because his brain had rewound an image of Alex under him, moaning…Okay, he need to stop that right now otherwise it could get embarrassing.

“Rick? He’s a private investigator, I’m not sure his expertise runs to trees.”

She c****d her head to the side, “He isn’t just a private investigator. He knows people who know people, believe me he will have a contact who can provide a second opinion.”

He stood looking at her, amazed at her calm demeanour, her ability to size up a situation and provide another angle to that situation. At times like this he wondered how he had managed to create a business from scratch, turn it into a billion dollar success and yet this incredible woman who had spent her working life with plants and nature seemed so much more adept at everything. Face it Blake, he told himself, you need to stop running from your feelings where Alex is concerned. One of these days he was going to have to sit down with those feelings, or with Tom Gordon, and work out what the hell he was going to do.

“Come on,” Alex urged gently, “So many things, so little time or whatever it was Willy Wonka said.”

“Willy Wonka?”

“Yeah, you know of the Chocolate Factory fame?”

“Not sure about that one.”

She rolled her eyes, “Doesn’t surprise me, I think Jack has it on DVD somewhere, the new version that is. We could watch it one night.”

“Right. My childhood really was crap wasn’t it?”

“In some ways, yes. However, you’re not a small boy and you’re not a troubled teen. You are the hugely successful and incredibly wealthy Blake Forrester. Now go and get ready and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“I’ll check the alarm and the gate before I do that. Can you let Marron know where we are.?” He didn’t need to finish because she was already on the phone, walking in the direction of the kitchen, explaining the situation to Marron.