Stealing Luca's Heart (20 page)

Ally considered his words. “Did his meeting today have something to do with Turning Green?”

“Not that I know of, why?”

“I was waiting in line for a soda and saw him give a flash drive to someone. It was probably nothing, but it just struck me as odd.”

“He has tons of friends and contacts, so I couldn’t venture to guess what that was all about.”

If Luca didn’t think Sean’s behavior was strange, then she’d forget it. “Okay. I’m going to go find Dad. If you have time to answer a few more questions on why your defense struggled, I’m guessing he’d like to hear your answers just like everyone else.”

They walked up the front steps, and before Ally could walk through the door, Luca gently pulled her arm, stopping her.

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

“Don’t tell me you plan on cooking?” She thought he had to be exhausted.

“Not tonight. I was thinking pizza at my place?”

“Perfect.”

“Then I’ll find you after the meeting. You’ll have a few hours to yourself before then.”

They were both smiling as they entered the spacious living room. Cal was watching Sports Center on the big screen television mounted over the fireplace. Simone came in from the kitchen and took Luca’s bag from him.

“Here, let’s get that uniform in the wash since you’re going to be here awhile. I don’t usually do his wash, but I do wash the uniform occasionally,” she explained, walking back down the hall.

Ally faced Luca. “You knew she’d take that, didn’t you?”

Luca shrugged and walked toward Cal in the living room.

Cal put his recliner upright and started to make an effort to stand, but she quickly went over and put her hands on his shoulders, keeping him from getting up. She bent over to accept his embrace. He released her and turned to Luca. “What the hell happened out there today?”

Ally had to admit it warmed her heart watching Luca and her dad argue the finer points of rugby. They had a natural rhythm to their debate, with each enjoying an intellectual challenge. It wasn’t long before George walked in, breaking up their fun.

“If you guys don’t mind moving this discussion outside, it’s time for us to get down to some real business. Cal, I just assumed you’d want to have a listen, but it’s up to you. It will just be me, the boys, you, and my brother-in-law Wayne. We need to fine-tune our approach and work out some numbers. There’s also a strange development that popped up this afternoon that needs our attention. I’ll explain it shortly,” he added, seeing Luca’s concerned face.

Cal swung his legs around the recliner and waved her off as he stood up. “I wouldn’t miss it. Ally, I’m just a little sore, but I’m fine.” He slowly stood up. “Why don’t you go for a run? That’s what I’d do if I could. Just take off down the road toward the main buildings and see how it goes. There are some great paths through the paddocks, but watch out where you’re stepping,” he joked.

Luca offered Cal an arm for support. “Ally, I’ll see you then after the meeting?”

“Great.”

“Cal, we’ll be out on the patio by the kitchen. Simone has nibbles, so you might want to get out there before they’re gone,” George said.

Everyone walked into the hallway that led to the kitchen, but Cal stopped, letting Luca and George walk ahead. “Dinner date?”

“Pizza date, Dad. No big deal.”

“Right. Look, you and Luca became inseparable the second your plane touched down. I’m only sticking my nose in a little bit on this one.” He held up a hand when she was about to explain. “No, hear me out first. It’s obvious to me why he’d be interested in you, and I’ll assume his intentions are noble. I’m trying not to treat you like my little girl since I’m sure you know what you’re doing, but I just want you to have your eyes as wide open as your heart seems to be. Luca’s a great guy, but if you two decide to stick it out awhile, keep in mind that you just don’t take him on, you take on this big life of his,” he said, waving his hand around.

She nodded. “Dad, point taken. I’ve known him for what, three days? Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves and just see what happens. I like him. I didn’t expect to have so much fun down here, but I am. I’m cool with whatever happens.”

He gave her a long hug. “You know I love you.”

“I love you too.”

She watched him turn and slowly make his way down the long hallway to the kitchen. He was moving well, with just his arm in a sling. She could hear the men in the kitchen hollering at him for taking so long. She smiled and went the opposite direction to her room to change into her running clothes.

* * * *

George introduced Cal and Wayne. “I know this isn’t on the agenda, but something has come up that requires our immediate attention. Phillip, you took the call this afternoon, so why don’t you explain what’s going on.”

Phillip took the stack of papers in front of him and passed them around. “A call came in from an Auckland attorney named Todd Jenkins. I did some checking, and he’s legitimate, as is his firm, who deal exclusively with real estate law. He called to inform me he has someone interested in purchasing or leasing part of our land for a mining operation.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Luca asked. “We get those calls all the time. Everyone knows this area is rich in gold and coal. Just tell them we’re not interested.”

“I did. I also asked if his client was a member of Straterra, thinking I could somehow whittle down who he was working for, but he said no.”

“What’s Straterra?” Cal interrupted.

“Back in 2008, a bunch of gold and coal companies created a society that represents almost ninety percent of the production of New Zealand’s minerals,” Wayne explained. “New Zealand has billions of dollars of unexploited minerals.”

“You have gold in your hills?” Cal asked.

“Gold, coal, silver, iron ore, and limestone,” added Sean, smiling.

George raised his voice. “I’m not about to rape our land with mountaintop removal mining or tunneling around, destroying the landscape. Not to mention the infrastructure I’d have to put in place to support those operations. It would involve new roads, processing, and bi-product plants. Then there would be the concern about how it would impact our regional parks.”

“So did you narrow down what they want?” Cal asked.

“No,” Phillip answered. “He e-mailed me documents that outlined the area of interest. You can see on the papers I passed around.”

Luca set his papers down. “This is a joke, right? Especially the line here that reads the price is negotiable. What’s that mean, name your price? Good one, Phil. I almost thought this was legit.”

“It’s not a joke, son. The attorney wants to know if we will sell or lease the area of land inside that square on the map he sent for a potential mining operation.”

Wayne put on his reading glasses. “I see here it also says that we have forty-eight hours to accept before it’s null and void.”

“You’re telling me that an anonymous offer comes in to buy the land Silver Fern Canyon runs through within forty-eight hours of our announcing our own plans for that area? A bit ironic, don’t you think?” Luca stood up from the table. “I find that implausible. I need to think. No, I need a beer. Anyone else?”

All hands went up.

“Be right back, then.”

“Of course, we’re going to ignore this, but Phil and I wanted everyone to know that this is probably just the beginning of people or companies sniffing around more than usual. Especially with companies wanting to partner with us. Ah, cheers,” George said, taking a bottle from the bucket of beers Luca set on the table.

Sean twisted the top off his beer and took a long pull. “Why don’t we just lease the land? Shit, just lease it to somebody else to do the wind farm if that’s how you want to use the land. It seems to be a far easier way to make money.”

“Figures that’s the way you’d see it.” Luca narrowed his eyes at his brother.

“Sean,” Wayne said calmly. “It sounds like your dad has made his decision. One that’s not unexpected.”

“That’s right,” chimed Phillip. “Tell ’em to go to hell!”

Luca caught something in Sean’s eyes when his brother glanced over at his uncle. Amusement maybe, it was difficult to pinpoint. Luca shifted his gaze to his dad who was also giving Sean a long look. His dad turned and told the group to look at the second item on the agenda. They needed to approve the name of their new company, Turning Green.

* * * *

Ally stepped out the front door and down the stone steps. She planned on using Gracie’s car to lean on for her stretches before she ran. As she approached the hood, she discovered two large, olive-brown colored birds pecking at the car. One was nibbling on the rubber wiper and the other was attacking the rubber trim around the front window. They didn’t seem too concerned about her until she tried pushing them off the car. She admired the orange in their wings as they flew off.

She was excited to have the opportunity to run outside. Most of her runs the past few months were on the field-house treadmills on campus. She glanced down at her watch and figured she’d do thirty minutes out and then thirty back. Negative splits were how she typically ran, but today it would also stop her from getting distracted by the scenery and wandering out too far. She had her iPod in her pocket, loaded with some new music, but doubted she’d need the extra motivation today.

The gravel road she began her run on should lead her to Luca’s house. After that, she figured she’d just continue on down the road until she hit thirty minutes. She’d only been on the road five minutes when she saw a green sign along the road to her right. In yellow lettering it read TETARI REGIONAL PARK with an arrow pointing down a dirt path.

Not far from where Tara lived, there was a beautiful regional park at the end of the peninsula. It was named Shakespeare, after the family who donated the land. This was probably the same thing. The regional parks featured structures that were designed to resemble enormous picture frames that “framed” the best view. People would usually sit or stand in them like she and Tara had done.

Ally had planned to stay on the gravel road, but this was too tempting. She wanted to see where the path led. Besides, she would still stick to her thirty minute turnaround time.

She veered off to the right and read the map next to the sign. It had three separate paths offering different distances with all three meeting at a lookout point. She picked the shortest one. Running down the path with the red arrows, she descended down a dirt trail and was transported into a tropical forest. The immaculate trail was lush and dense, winding along a rushing creek with thick, ancient gnarled trees growing next to the banks.

Ally remembered what Luca had said about the silver ferns, so she slowed to see if she could find one. There were plenty of ferns around, but it took her a bit to find one. As expected, green on top, silver underneath. Very cool.

Her legs burned while she ran up a series of wooden stairs leading up and out of the forest into a clearing. She caught her breath while she looked for the next red marker. In front of her was open farmland spreading out over the side of the mountain. Up ahead she found the post with the red arrow, and it was pointing in the direction that she figured it would be, straight up to the lookout. She shifted her eyes from the marker and then back up the mountain. Looked like some tunes would come in handy after all. She put in her earphones, cranked up a David Guetta remix, and began the run.

It didn’t take long for Ally to realize that she needed to keep her focus on the ground to sidestep the cow-pie land mines scattered all over. By the time she had reached the top, she was exhausted and glad to see a gravel path leading a short distance to the lookout, a wooden two-story platform. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see people on it, but it felt like she was in the middle of nowhere, not necessarily in a park. She climbed the steps and found a couple in their mid-thirties, with their backpacks next to their feet.

The view was worth every step. She could make out George and Simone’s house, but Luca’s was hidden behind the tree line she had run through. The Remarkables overlooked the valley, far out in the distance. She pulled out her earphones.

“Hi,” she said, turning from the ledge to watch the couple put their packs back on. “Great day for trekking.”

“It is. You’re American?” asked the man.

She nodded. “Sounds like you are too?”

“Canadian.”

She nodded. She suddenly felt a strange kindred with the Canadians. Maybe because they were all so far from their own continent. “Where are you headed?”

“We’re booked into the Brookside hut not too far from here,” the man said pointing toward the east. “Figure we should make it in another hour.”

“A hut?”

The woman smiled. “It’s not much, just a couple of beds with a toilet and roof, but we’ll take it.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that before. How do you book a hut?”

“You just get on the DOC website—Department of Conservation—and pay your ten dollars. Then they send you a ticket showing that you’ve paid,” the man said, walking back down the wooden stairs.

“Have a good trip,” Ally offered, watching them both follow a different path in the opposite direction. She thought that actually sounded romantic. Leaning on the railing, absorbing the late afternoon sun, she marveled at how people could wander around the countryside without the fear of being mauled by an animal or bitten by a snake. A country without snakes—how great was that? Ally looked at the time and decided she’d give herself an extra five minutes here since it would be downhill on the way back.

She breathed in the fresh air and exhaled, enjoying it immensely. For the first time since arriving, she allowed herself to reflect on this whirlwind of a trip. Maybe it was the endorphins, but she was feeling great, actually happy. She turned around, resting her elbows on the railing behind her. It was time to let Luca know how she felt. She’d been more reserved, and that needed to change. Selecting a Black Eyed Peas tune, she trotted back down the stairs to retrace her steps.

* * * *

Luca was beginning to feel the weight of the day as he threw Molly’s tennis ball for her to retrieve, for what felt like the fiftieth time. What he really wanted now was some serious downtime to chill before the conference. Playing with his Lab was a good way to start.