‘I’m sure we could work something out if you agree. Maybe I hire someone to be a shop assistant to actually man it every day and you manage by popping in for an hour or two? That way, you won’t have to do much customer service, just handle the all-important financial side and oversee ordering, that kind of thing.’
‘What if I say no?’
Heidi pulled a face. ‘I won’t go.’
‘Seriously?’
Heidi couldn’t hide a smile. ‘Actually, that’s not true. I’ll find someone else, but it has to be a person I trust—and who better than a retired judge?’
‘Maybe I’m corrupt?’
‘Are you?’
‘No.’ Meredith mimicked being Cupid. ‘Straight as an arrow, which is where this one is going, lodged straight in your lovesick heart.’
‘So you’ll do it?’
Meredith nodded and Heidi let out an excited squeal. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’
‘My freezer stacked with cannelloni sounds like a good place to start.’ She pointed at her plate. ‘If I ever get to try it and see if it tastes as good as it looks, that is.’
‘Please start.’
Relieved she could set her plans in motion, Heidi took a sip of wine to quell the jumble of nerves in her stomach.
She was hitting the road with Jem.
She’d wanted to turn her staid life upside down and she’d certainly achieved that.
She couldn’t wait for the adventure to start.
CHAPTER
52
Hudson placed a cup of coffee in front of his father and sat opposite him behind his desk. This may not be a normal client meeting but having the desk between them grounded him, even if glancing at it reminded him of Karly and their steamy encounter. He’d done a lot of his best work at this desk: closed major deals, sold houses worth millions and accumulated commissions over the years that now saw him as a leading player in the Melbourne real estate scene.
But nothing could discombobulate him faster than talking to his dad.
Never in a million years had he envisaged Rowan in his office. Then again, until recently he hadn’t expected to speak to his father, yet here they were.
‘This is some office,’ Rowan said, glancing around. ‘You’ve done well.’
‘Hard work pays off.’ His clipped response garnered a partially raised eyebrow from Rowan, and he could sense his father’s confusion. Why would he invite him here considering he’d made it more than clear he hadn’t forgiven him and wouldn’t anytime soon?
‘Why am I here?’
Hudson could deal with bluntness. He preferred it. ‘Because after Dexter left I overheard you on the phone.’
Rowan’s shoulders sagged, as if he was ashamed of his housing situation. ‘I’ll take care of it.’
‘If you’ve been evicted you have no place to stay.’
‘I said I’d take care of it,’ Rowan snapped, immediately wincing. ‘Sorry. I’ve had to move six times in the last few months. Just when I feel like I’m settled I have to find a new place to live.’
Rowan didn’t have to ask where his father was living. To move around that much he must be in temporary housing, where people more needy had priority over rooms and those who were more self-sufficient, like his employed father, would be moved on.
It’s why he’d asked him here against his better judgement. Hudson knew of two blocks of flats that had vacancies for people just like his dad. People who’d done it tough and were trying to get their life back on track, usually ex-cons. But rent was low and turnover not a problem if the rent was paid on time. And while he wasn’t giving his father a handout, the least he could do was hook him up with a new place to live, considering what Rowan had done for Dexter.