‘Yeah, Ally mentioned something about freelance work,’ Murray confessed, gritting his teeth as Nell decided now was the time and this was the high street lamppost to do her morning wee against.
Barbara didn’t mince her words.
There were three contracts on the table. Future Proof Planet needed overseers for transferring funds from Switzerland to new community projects in various spots around the globe, and all of them required an experienced person to accompany them and get the projects’ initial phases off the ground.
This had been one of Murray’s favourite perks of the job: travelling all over the place, meeting people, seeing the world, learning new sustainability strategies.
‘I know you made it clear you were never coming back to HQ…’
‘That’s right, I can’t,’ he said.
‘You were always competent, Murray. A safe pair of hands. A people person.That’swhy we hired you.’ He heard that change in intonation. She was telling him he hadn’t been brought in as a mere perk of the job for Andreas.
‘And you know,’ Barbara went on, confidingly, ‘Andreas Favre won’t be with the charity for much longer.’
‘Really? Why?’
‘Strictly between ourselves? He’s been headhunted by David’s company.’
Her tone conveyed her feelings about that. She’d lost her right-hand man to Andreas’s billionaire boyfriend, David Zoros, and his space tourism firm.
Murray let that sink in. David had been a major supporter of Future Proof Planet for a long time, appeasing his conscience (and avoiding the taxman), by giving millions in donations to the charity. Ultimately, Andreas Favre had sold out and turned corporate for a rich old space junk salesman. Maybe every eco-warrior CEO has their price, thought Murray, but it would never be him sleeping with (and in the pay of) one of the biggest polluters on earth.
‘You don’t have to agree now, but I hope I can tempt you by saying the first posting is to an ocean-cleaning co-op on the beaches of Bali.’
Murray would be mad not to accept right away. Nell, however, had her lead tangled around the lamppost and was now bouncing for joy at the sight of Cary’s wandering cat, Dinah, over the road, as much of a fluffball as it was mean and hissing. He struggled to keep the phone to his ear while untangling the barking dog.
At that moment Cary’s truck pulled up alongside the cat and Murray only half-observed the carpenter getting the feline into the passenger seat beside him and driving off at speed towards the town limits.
‘I’ll think about it.’
‘I will need a decision for HR in the next fortnight. I’ll send over the project files for you to look over. And Murray?’
He straightened up, holding tight to the lead.
‘Your sister fought hard for you in today’s meeting. I won’t keep these avenues open for you forever.’
‘Got it. I appreciate you…’
Barbara had hung up the call.
‘Bali?’ Murray mused out loud, not that Nell was listening. ‘What would I do with you and the puppers if I was sent to Bali?’
Nell didn’t have an answer for that, but she did reckon searching for that disappearing cat along the high street was a good idea. Murray braced tight on her lead to control her.
‘What you need, Nell, is a good, long, calming…’ Murray scanned the town and the mountain vista beyond, his eyes lighting on the boulder pass that led to Finlay’s cottage, ‘…walkies?’
Nell, in her heartfelt agreement, dragged him off the pavement, into the slow-moving traffic and right across the street. A hill walk was what they both needed.
* * *
Up on the pass, minding his business, through binoculars, Finlay hadn’t caught Kurt’s kiss goodbye, but he had clocked the determined strides Murray was making, right this second, up the hill path towards him with that besom of a dog, and they were already drawing level with the rangers’ station carpark.
There was only one reason Murray would be marching that daft mutt up the mountain, and Finlay had no intention of being found when he came knocking, looking for an adoptive dog-dad.
He zipped his coat and hightailed it for the line of low cloud now sitting down fully over the upper slopes and obscuring everything there with freezing droplets of fog. He’d hide out until his mountain was his own again.
Finlay didn’t have the presence of mind to stop and examine any other reasons he feared being in Murray’s presence, but if he’d taken his time, his concerns would be numbered: one, Murray was infuriating; two, Murray was excessively braw to look at and very intriguing; and three, Murray wasn’t interested in him one iota, and that stung quite a lot.
