Page 89 of Third Time’s a Charm

Ben told us to buy proper office furniture, but Louise is conscious of every penny we spend. So here I am. Busting recently healed knuckles on constructing melamine shelving and desks. The only thing I insisted on was decent chairs. I took that decision right out of her thrifty little hands. They arrive next week, and as long as she doesn’t see the invoice, she’ll thank me. We’ll save a fortune in chiropractic bills.

But I digress.

The point is, who knew the mindless assembly of furniture could lead to a breakthrough. Because as I struggle with pieces that don’t fit, I have an epiphany. Suddenly, like the yellow brick road, the way forward for us becomes clear.

“I just need to run out for something.” I scramble off the floor, grab my phone and head for the door. “I’ll be back in ten.” There’s an unintelligible mumbled response from Louise’s office, where she’s hip-deep in spreadsheets.

I sit in my recently acquired car so she can’t overhear my conversations and get to work.

Once I’ve organised the logistics, I call Ben, since I’ll need a cover story.

He answers on the second ring. “What’s up?”

“Is this cloak and dagger?” he asks after I’ve explained my plan. “Because if it is, I’m totally there for it.”

“Not only is it cloak and dagger, but if I play my cards right, there might be shenanigans,” I respond, knowing how much all the Carters love shenanigans.

“You should have led with that. Consider it done.”

Things are about to change.

It’s not even ten minutes later when Louise charges out of her office, laptop open in her hands.

“Have you read this email from Ben?” she asks.

Wow. That was quick.

“Hmm? Email?” I feign distraction. “No, I’ve been a bit busy with Allen keys and missing bolts. What does he want?”

“Look.” She passes me her laptop, and I pretend to read the email.

“Sounds interesting.” I hand it back and start pawing through the collection of bolts on the carpet.

“Does it seem weird to you? Ben suggesting a winery, I mean?”

Ben has only ever worked with us on the back-end stuff. He’s always left approaching wineries to us, saying that’s our area of expertise, not his. So it’s not entirely surprising Louise would be suspicious.

I shrug. “Maybe it’s someone he knows. Or was recommended. Either way, it seems like an opportunity we should pursue.”

The little eleven that’s taken up semipermanent residence between her eyebrows deepens and she chews on her lip. I don’t want her thinking about this too hard.

“I can book a hotel. What if I pick you up at, say, eight tomorrow? That should get us there in time for a quick lunch before our meeting with this guy … Peter, is it?”

“We don’t need a hotel. I mean, it’d be a long day, but we can drive back after our meeting.”

A shot of panic races through me.

“Orrr,” I say, drawing the word out as I slip an Allen key into the bolt and start turning. “We could stay the night. Poke around at a few of the other wineries. I really think we need to get across what’s going on in that region, don’t you? Since we’ve not made it out there yet.” I risk a quick look at her face.

“Okay, that makes sense, I guess.” She nods and turns back to her office.

I sigh with relief.

“What was that?” She looks over her shoulder, a suspicious frown back on her face.

“Oh, I thought I’d lost this little bolty thing. But here it is.” I hold up one of the many pieces of hardware scattered around me.

Thank God I only have to keep up the façade for another couple of hours. Ben and his band of brothers might enjoy it, but I’m not cut out for cloak and dagger.