You're One of Us Now

"I'm glad we did this." Coralie whispered as we separated. "When I was a little girl, I was probably about ten, and you would have been twelve, you were out here with your father talking to Great-grand-father. We didn't say anything, we were probably both too shy, but I had a crush on you. Every time I came here after that I hoped that you would be here as well. A couple of times I went into town, to your store, but didn't see you anywhere. I was disappointed at that. I don't know how long I'll be here this time, so I want to make the most of this opportunity."

"What do you mean, you don't know how long you'll be here?"

"My father sent me here to tidy the place up so that he can sell it, I have to do as much work as I can and only hire people for the things that I can't. So you see I won't be living here forever."

"Why is he selling it, surely he's not desperate for money?"

"I don't know, I have a feeling that business isn't all that buoyant."

"I would have thought that he should hang on for a few more years, we are in the perfect place for 'Tree-changers', people who want the rural lifestyle but in close proximity to the city."

"That's exactly what I told him, but he told me that he was not interested, that he'd never been interested in keeping the place. If I could afford to buy it I would."

"What if . . ."

"What if what?"

"I was just thinking that I might be able to get a mortgage and buy this place myself."

"That would be great, but what about me?"

"This is going to sound stupid, but I was thinking of you. I would let you stay here for as long as you like."

"But why? What's in it for you?"

"Do you remember telling me that you had a crush on me all those years ago, from the first time that you saw me?"

"Yes."

"Well, you weren't the only one with a crush, I saw you and, yes I was too shy, but I thought that you were pretty," my hand found her again, making her squirm, "and cute," My finger entered her wet from love pussy, "and you really liked your Great-grand-father and he thought the world of you, so you couldn't be a bad person. In my own way I was in love with you way back then."

"You were in love with me?"

"Yes, and I still am. Does that cause a problem?"

"No, at least not in the boy/girl scenario, but what if you can't buy this place, what happens then?"

"Then I'll just have to talk my parents into letting you come and live with us, I'm sure they won't mind, after all we're going to get married aren't we?"

"We are, are we? Don't I get some say in this?"

"Only to say that yes, you will marry me."

"You are amazingly self-assured for a shy person."

"I have seen an opportunity and I'm going to act on it. Coralie Ferguson, will you marry me?"

"Yes, but not any time soon, I want to sort out my life and where it's heading before I go down that path. I want very much to be your wife, and have done for years, since I was a little girl, but everything's up in the air with my life at the moment. Let's just say that I agree in principle to your proposal, and that I'll take each day as it comes." I kissed her to seal the deal, we made love once more before we said our good-byes, (that took ages) and I left her there to return home.

"You got in late." Mum said as I sat down. "And you don't look as if you've had much sleep, what happened?"

"Coralie and I had a long talk." The look that she gave me told me that she didn't believe that was all that we'd done. "Her father wants her to tidy the place up so that he can sell it. She doesn't want him to, but he's made up his mind. I thought that it would be a good investment for me to buy it and she can stay there for as long as she likes."

"And you'll be making regular trips out there just to check up on things, is that it?"

"Well yes, that thought did cross my mind."

"There's more to it than that, isn't there?"

"The more that I'm with her the more memories of when we were kids come flooding back. We were almost inseparable there for a while, weren't we?"

"Yes, you played together and explored all around the place, then she stopped coming out and we couldn't work out why. Old George was saddened by this, he and your father talked about it often, it would appear that her father had designs for her that didn't include her living out here. It looks as if he'll get his way unless something can be done about it."

"But what? I'll talk to the bank and see if I can get a mortgage that will let me buy the place when it comes onto the market."

"Good luck with that, it will depend on the price, if it sells for more than the valuation you could miss out even if you could get the mortgage."

"Sit down." Mr Jacobsen the Bank Manager indicated a chair opposite him. "Now, let me get this straight, you want to see if you can get a mortgage to buy the Ferguson place when it comes on the market, is this correct?"

"Yes sir." I said.

"Well, in principle I can't see there being a problem, but we have to look into various conditions, like how much is it worth, how much we will approve based on your savings. I know how much you have in your account and that is promising. Do you have any idea what the asking price might be?"

"No, it hasn't even been placed on the market yet."

"There is another problem, what if the vendor decides to put it under sealed tender, and you won't know what other bidders will offer. It could go for much more than the market valuation."

"So what can I do?"

"We can send our Valuer out to do a thorough appraisal of the property and take it from there."

"I've got to speak to Coralie first, she doesn't know I'm even thinking of this. I'll go out and see her now and call you and let you know where I stand."

"Coralie?"

"George's Great-grand-daughter, she's out there now tidying up the place."

"Alright, I'll leave that up to you. I think that you're doing the right thing, although it was let run down over the six months before George died, up until then it was a viable property."

I left the bank buoyed by my prospects, Mr Jacobsen seemed positive that they would be able to lend me the money to buy the place, all I need to do is to discuss with Coralie the prospects of me buying it and allowing her to run it.

She turned off the brush-cutter as I pulled into the access road. Taking off her work gloves she wiped the sweat from her face with a rag, stuffed it back into her pocket as, smiling broadly she came over to me as I got out of the Ute. "I can't keep you away from place, can I?"

"No." I took her in my arms and kissed her. "There's something here that keeps dragging me back and I can't work out what it is."

"Could it be me?" She said, striking an exaggerated pose.

"Could be. The reason I came out is, I need to discuss something with you."

"Okay but not here, come inside and I'll make us a coffee, and then I'll listen to whatever hair-brained scheme that you've come up with." I followed her inside and sat in the cool of the kitchen while she bustled around making coffee and cutting us a slice of a cake that she had cooling down fresh from the oven. It was almost as if she expected me to drop in, unless she was expecting someone else.

"Expecting visitors were we?"

"What gave you that idea? Oh, you mean the cake, don't get too excited, it'll keep for ages in the freezer."

"Oh." I was deflated.

"Of course I was expecting you, after last night I just knew that I wouldn't be able to keep you away for long, although I thought that you'd hold out a little longer than this, it's not even time for your lunch break."

"I came because I have something important to discuss with you that won't wait."

"This sounds ominous."

"I've been to see my Bank Manager and he's virtually guaranteed me mortgage to buy this place. I want to buy it so that you can stay here and work it."

"Is that the only reason why you want to buy it?"

"Baby steps, let's see how things progress. I just want to see you here because I know that's what your Great-grand-father would want."

"No ulterior motives then?"

"I wouldn't quite go that far. Look, I like you a lot, and while I was tossing and turning my way through the night, I came to realise that we were pretty close years ago, and that I'd like to get back to that situation."

"I'm glad that I wasn't the only one that lost sleep after last night. Yes we were pretty tight weren't we? Now where do we go from here?"

"The bank wants to send someone out to value the property to get an idea how much money they can lend me, and whether that will be enough for me to buy it. We'll take it from there, hopefully it will be enough."

"What if I chip in my savings as well, will that help?"

"I'm sure that it will. I'll let the bank know to go ahead with the valuation, when they have that we can arrange to see the manager and discuss the finer points of the transactions. Every little bit will help. Would you like to come in for dinner tonight?"

"Yes, I'd like that, but I don't want to wear out my welcome, are you sure that your mother's okay with this."

"She'd be only too happy to see you, she likes you, a lot." We kissed, I thanked her for the coffee and delicious cake and left, her to resume with the brush-cutter, and me to go back to the job that I'd managed to avoid for most of the morning.

"Well, how is it going?" Mother asked as I walked in through the back door.

"Fine, I've seen Mr Jacobsen and he's confident that I can borrow enough to buy the place, we've arranged for a valuation. I've spoken to Coralie and she's happy, she's even said that she'll chip in her savings to make our chances better. She's coming to dinner by the way, just thought that I should mention it."

"Good, we can have a round table discussion. I'll let your father know, he'll be pleased."

I knew something was wrong the moment I opened the door for Coralie. "What is it, what's happened?"

"Grant, I don't know what to do, this afternoon a guy came out and put a 'for Sale' sign out front. There's to be an auction on Saturday, what can we do in a couple of days?"

"Come in, I'll get Mum." I led her to the living room and went to the kitchen to get Mum. "Coralie has just told me that her father has had a sign put up at the property and that there is an auction on Saturday, I, we need to get to the bank first thing and see if we can arrange the finances before the auction, otherwise we won't be able to bid on it."

"Okay, first thing, the two of you get to the bank and see what you can organise. There's not a lot that we can do tonight, so why don't we forget all about it for the time being and enjoy the moment." She looked at Coralie, "I've cooked Grant's favourite, I hope you like it too."

"I'm sure I will."

We were ushered into the dining room and Mum went to serve up the Chicken Liver Risotto served with a fresh garden salad on the side. I opened a bottle of red wine and we dug in. "I can see why he likes this, I've had risotto before but not one of these, you'll have to give me the recipe."

Mum looked from me to Coralie, and a smile spread over her face. "I'll lend you my recipe folder with our favourites if you like."

"I'd like that, at least I'll know what to cook when you come to dinner, both of you." We knew that she meant both Mum and Dad, but we also knew that it was unlikely to happen, she was just letting us know that she wanted to be a part of our family.

We talked for ages, most of it about when we were kids and I would visit the farm, sometimes on my own and others alone. As the evening went on I came to realise that Coralie and spent a lot more time together than I at first remembered. She must have been a teenager when her father stopped bringing her out, that would have been about the time that my visits began to become fewer and further apart, I probably, without realising it, had less of a reason to go there.

"I should be getting home." Coralie stood up. "Thank you for a lovely dinner," she went around and kissed Mum on the cheek, "and thank you for inviting me," she kissed me on the lips.

"Why don't you stay here for the night, you'll only be back first thing." Mum took the words right out of my mouth. I smiled at her, she smiled at me and we both smiled at Mum. "Grant's bed is big enough for the both of you." This was Mum's way of telling us that she approved of our relationship, and that she knew that we were already lovers.

It was a tired but happy Coralie and me that walked bleary-eyed into the kitchen to find Mum busy with breakfast. "I hope you slept well." Her smile told us that she was aware that we had other things on our minds in bed.

"Yes thank you, Mrs McAdam."

"Mum, we don't stand on formalities in this house, and you're going to be a part of our family soon, actually I look on you as part of our family already."

"Thank you, Mum." She kissed Mum and we sat down to breakfast of muesli with fresh fruit and yoghurt followed by coffee.

"After you've been to the bank I need you to look after the shop, your father wants me to see our solicitor."

"What about?"

"I don't really know, all that he said was that I was to go to Wilkinson's and speak to William and tell him to follow the instructions in the file that he left there last year. All very mysterious."

The news from the bank was encouraging. "Our Valuer has given me a figure that's in your reach."

"What if we were to include my savings as well?" Coralie said as she took a bank statement from her bag.

Mr Jacobsen looked at it and took a calculator from his drawer and calculated how much we could go to at the auction. "We put the valuation at $675,000, on the figures that we can work with, you can safely go to $650,000 before we start to worry about your ability to service the loan."

"Great!" I said, feeling excited at the prospect. "I think that he's jumped the gun by selling so soon, on the surface of it 500 would be a reasonable sale price, that is unless you've carried out a closer inspection than most buyers would have. Scratch beneath the surface and you'd realise that the house is more substantial than the outside appearance would indicate. On first impressions a buyer could be forgiven in thinking that he would be up for substantial renovation costs, and could be tossing up whether to go down that path or demolish and start again. The cedar cladding doesn't need even a coat of paint, it's in near to perfect, albeit weathered condition."

Mr Jacobsen looked at the Valuer's report. "Are you sure about the condition of the weather boards?"

"Yes. Unless you know of the history of that house you'd be forgiven for thinking that those grey weatherboards are in need of replacing, the same goes for the cedar shingles on the roof, they are in as good condition as the day that they were put on."

"I see that it pays to know something of building materials and history."

"Because cedar hasn't been used in building for almost a century, most people would never have seen it or known about its strengths as a building material."

"In that case, you can go another 10 thousand higher with your building."

We thanked him and walked back to the shop feeling a lot more positive than we had this morning.

Coralie took to helping in the shop like a duck to water. If she was unsure of something she came straight to me for advice but in most cases common sense prevailed and she was able to help without my involvement. It was after lunch that Mum came in, her expression gave nothing away. "What happened at Wilkinson's?" I asked.

"I really don't know. I did as your father told me and he just smiled and told me to consider it done."

"Consider what done?" Coralie asked.

"I don't know."

"Sit down Brenda." William Wilkinson said as he walked to his side of the desk and sat. "I hope this has nothing to do with Martin."

"Yes and no. I have instructions for you that I don't understand. I suppose I should start from the beginning. You Know George Ferguson's house is on the market, well his great-grand-daughter Coralie has been fixing it up, expecting to stay there. But her father has other ideas and wants to sell it. When I mentioned it to Rodney last night he told me to come here and tell you to act on the instructions in the file that he left with you last year. I don't know what's in the files, I didn't even know that he'd given you a file."

"Don't worry about a thing. You say that the property is on the market?"

"Yes, there's to be an auction on Saturday. Grant has been in discussions with the bank to see if he can get enough to buy the place, I think that he and Coralie have plans to live there. We are worried that he won't have enough to get the place."

"I wouldn't worry if I were you, and tell Grant that he can start making plans for the future."

"So you see why I'm confused, he told me not to worry, but what can he do?" I didn't know what he could do either. "By the way, I wouldn't expect too many locals would be interested in buying after I spread the word that you two wanted to buy it."

Saturday dawned brightly, helping our mood, we were still worried that the price would get out of our reach and that we'd lose out to some wealthy 'tree-changer'.

We drove out to the house in time to see the Auctioneer and Coralie's father standing out front looking at the house.

"I wondered where you'd gotten to." He said as Coralie got out of the Ute, have you got the keys?"

"Yes." She was short with him, he had not greeted her with any warmth and she returned the favour, and he had totally ignored my presence. The two of them went inside to check the place out as cars began to roll up. I recognised none of them, meaning that the property had attracted the attention of city people and that there were no locals interested. They did a walk through before the auction began.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this auction. The property is as you see it, it is currently un-occupied, (This came as a surprise.) and includes all sheds and outbuildings. It has an area of 10 hectares and is zoned as a 'Hobby farm'. "Who will open the building?"

"Three hundred thousand!"

"Three fifty!"

"And advance on three fifty?" A man raised the brochure about a centimetre.

"Four, do I see four fifty?" Another man got into the action.

"I have four fifty, do I see five?" Again the movement of the brochure.

"Five, do I see five fifty?" I raised a finger.

"We have a new bidder, do I see six?" I saw Coralie's father glare at me, he wasn't happy at this turn of events. Again the brochure.

"I have six, do I see six fifty?" I raised my finger again. I was beginning to worry, if he bid six fifty I could only raise it by twenty-five thousand. If he topped that bid I was gone. Shit, there goes that brochure again.

"Six fifty, do I see seven?"

"Six seventy-five." I had reached my limit. I waited for the brochure to move.

"Stop the sale!" Everyone turned to look at the men who had silently moved onto the property.

"What does this mean and who are you?"

"I am from the Sheriff's office and I have here an injunction halting this sale."

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds that Mr Ferguson is not the owner of this property, it's not his to sell."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Of course it's my property, my grand-father left it to me in his will. His will quite clearly states that he was leaving his property to me, so it's mine to sell!"

"No it is not. Six months before he died he transferred ownership of this property to his great-grand-daughter Coralie Ferguson. If you'd done a title search you would have found that out for yourself, and if you had carried out the search and gone ahead with the sale then you stand a good chance of being charged with fraud. Now would you people kindly leave and let the owner go about her business in peace."