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‘I know,’ Amelia said again. ‘We wait. We do this right.’

‘You’re sure you want to wait?’ Jake asked, and there was genuine uncertainty in his voice. ‘I’d understand if—’

‘I’m sure,’ Amelia said firmly. ‘It’s worth waiting for.’

Jake’s expression in the sunset light was raw and honest. ‘So are you.’

Davo’s voice carried up from below: ‘Oi! You two done canoodling? Dinner’s ready!’

They both laughed, breaking the tension.

‘We’re not canoodling!’ Amelia called down.

‘Could’ve fooled me,’ Davo shouted back. ‘The whole camp can see you from here!’

‘Subtle as a brick,’ Jake muttered, but he was smiling.

As they climbed down, Amelia grinned. They weren’t hiding anymore, not really. Everyone knew. Everyone saw.

***

Friday’s meeting with the Regional Community Foundation went better than anyone dared hope.

Jill and Alex returned with provisional approval for forty thousand dollars in heritage preservation funding, contingent on the council supporting the project and the foundation work being completed to code by certified builders.

‘Forty thousand!’ Sophie shrieked, hugging Jill fiercely. ‘That’s more than half what we need!’

‘Plus the twelve from local businesses, plus materials at cost from Ryan, plus volunteer labour,’ Jill tallied. ‘We’re actually close. If we can raise another twenty thousand, we can do this.’

‘Community fundraiser,’ Tom suggested. ‘A proper one. BBQ, auction, entertainment. Let people contribute and feel part of the project.’

‘Could do it the week after “meet and mingle”,’ Bec said. ‘Strike while the community’s energised.’

Plans formed quickly. The fundraiser would be at the Royal Hotel site itself—let people see the progress, understand what they were supporting. Local businesses could donate auction items. Workers could provide entertainment. Make it a celebration, not a plea.

‘Margaret will hate this,’ Sophie said.

‘Good,’ Amelia replied. ‘Let her see the community supporting us. Let her see she’s on the wrong side.’

That evening, as the sun set, Jake called Amelia over to the foundation area.

‘Look,’ he said, pointing to the exposed stumps. ‘See how the load-bearing pattern works? The way the stress distributes through the structure?’

Amelia looked, really looked, seeing what he was showing her. The building was a living system, weight and counterweight, forces in balance. The failed stumps had disrupted that balance, but the solution was elegant—new piers placed precisely to restore the equilibrium.

‘I see it,’ she said. ‘It’s beautiful, in a way. The engineering.’

‘That’s exactly it,’ Jake said, excitement in his voice. ‘You see the beauty in the structure. Most people just see problems to fix. You see the elegant solution.’

He was standing very close, pointing at details, his enthusiasm making him forget his usual careful distance. Amelia could feel the warmth of him, smell sawdust and sweat and something essentially Jake.

‘You’re going to be excellent at this,’ Jake said, turning to look at her. ‘Building, I mean. You have the gift for it.’

‘You think so?’

As Amelia walked back to the van that night, she was smiling.

Three weeks until the “meet and mingle”.