The Drought Breaks

It had been a long time since the bastard left me for the tart. It had been a long time, over two years, since I had felt the intimate touch of a man, but I can't really say that I had missed it all that much. I have a life that doesn't involve men, apart from work colleagues, and I was happier than I had been for some time.

After the bastard had left me my friends commiserated with me, but I was quick to point out my relief that the worry of the previous two years was now over, it was all out in the open, his affairs were now common knowledge and he had chosen to move in with the tart, his Secretary, and leave me with the knowledge that I wasn't attractive to him any longer.

I had my work as an architect to keep me occupied and my cat to keep me sane and provide me with genuine love and affection. What more could a woman want?

When I looked in the mirror I saw a not unattractive woman still in her prime. I had a good job and I was good at it, good enough to undertake commissions on my own. I had confidence in dealing with clients and contractors so I often found myself walking around building sites negotiating with men, able to negotiate on a professional level with everyone from Site Managers to Tradesmen.

Henry, the Senior Partner called me into his office six months ago. "Jane, I'd like you to meet Peter Hansen, he has a proposition for us, for you."

I held out my hand and it was grasped firmly but not forcibly by a man who I guessed was not much older than myself and who looked me straight in the eyes with a friendly expression in his eyes. "Pleased to meet you." I returned his expression.

"Peter has asked us to design a home for him and he has asked for you specifically."

"I'm flattered."

"Jane, the reason that I ask for you to carry out this commission is that I have seen some of your recent work, spoken to the Site Managers and building owners and they have all had nothing but praise for your professionalism. What I have in mind will not be an easy commission but I have confidence in you."

"I'm even more flattered."

"Are you busy this morning?" Henry asked.

"Nothing that can't wait. I just have to take my preliminaries over to a client but that won't take long."

"I'll get one of the Juniors to run them over. Peter has asked if you can go with him to look over the site and discuss his plans with him. It will take the better part of the day as there is some travel involved."

"Then I guess that I'm free and at his disposal."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow."

I followed Peter to the car park where he held the door of very well preserved E type Jag open for me. I slipped into the passenger seat aware that my skirt rode up a little more than I would have wanted it to in the process. "Very nice." I commented as he slid into the driver's seat.

The engine roared into life and settled into the Jag's characteristic burble as he backed out of the parking space and trickled onto the road.

"You like older cars?" He handled the light traffic effortlessly.

"Not all older cars, but these are hardly your normal car, are they?"

"I guess not. They're something of a dinosaur these days, what with high fuel prices and disposable plastic cars."

We chatted about nothing much as we loped along the highway for about an hour before turning off onto a secondary road that wound up into the foothills, through several small towns until he turned off the road and stopped at a farm gate. Getting out I opened the gate, he drove through and I closed the gate. We drove for another couple of hundred yards up a smooth gravel road.

"Well here we are." He said as he slid out of the car.

"Wow! This is great!" We had pulled up on a ridge half way up a forested rise. The land down the slope had been cleared and looked as if it had been farmed at some time past. It was now covered in green grass that looked as if it had been recently mowed.

"You can't see them but I have a flock of goats that keep this tidy. I plan to build a dairy and cheese factory here for when I retire."

"Now that's what I call planning ahead. You can't be anywhere near old enough to be thinking of that."

"When I say retire I mean from the rat race not from life. This project will generate enough income for me to live comfortably on for the rest of my life. Now, you have seen the site, tell me what you think."

I walked over where he planned to build his house, looking at the soil, the slope and the view down over the valley. "If this was mine I would excavate into the slope and keep the construction as low a profile as I could while retaining the magnificent views. I would have to get a soil test done before I started to draw up any plans but, by the look of the soil depth in that creek bed beside the road, it shouldn't be a problem. There is a slight problem with that spring over here, but I think that we can use it to our advantage."

"How so?"

"When we excavate we can put in sub-soil drainage and pipe it to a small dam we can build in that hollow there to form a lake." I scooped up a handful of water from the spring, it was sweet and clean. "You can use the water in the lake to supplement the storm water for house use and for the dairy, you might even be able to stock it with fish."

"Let me tell you that you are the third architect I have had look over the site and the only one to see the potential that I see in it. The other two could only see expensive problems with it.

I had a sketch pad with me and was drawing on it. Peter came and looked over my shoulder. "Wow! That's exactly what I had in mind. What's this?"

He pointed to a vertical cross hatching at the rear of the building that continued underneath. "That is a three inch aggregate retaining wall, you've probably seen them on highway cuttings, the aggregate is encased in a heavy galvanised mesh. The aggregate continues under the concrete raft foundations. Any sub-soil water that is there from the spring runs through the aggregate into sub-soil drains and is piped away from the building. I have put your garage at the rear of the lower section. There will be a large open space at the front of the upper level that you can use for entertaining or whatever."

"Looks good so far."

"How many bedrooms do you want and do you want en-suites in all or only some of them?"

"A master bedroom and three guest suites, all with en-suites, the one off the master bedroom can serve as the main bathroom. I want an open space living area as well as a formal dining room off the kitchen, and I will need a home office."

I scribbled notes on the page. I looked closely at the site and began pacing off where I thought the house would sit to gain some idea of the dimensions. "I should have draft plans for you this time next week." I stood for some time looking over the site and its views, this was somewhere that I would like to live when I retired. "I guess that we should be heading back to town."

"Are you in any great hurry?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"I thought that we could take the scenic route and stop for lunch somewhere."

"But I thought that we came up the scenic route, do you mean there is a more scenic one?"

"Jump in, I'll show you." He was right, it was better. The road wound through the hills and every now and then a spectacular view opened up before us. I admired the confident way that he drove on the sometimes difficult road and felt very safe beside him.

We pulled up in front of the only hotel in a small town. Walking into the dining room I was immediately immersed in the ambience of the place, it oozed country hospitality from the dark panelled walls to the crisp white linen table cloths and shining glasses and cutlery. Peter pulled out a chair for me as the waitress approached with a couple of menus.

"Good afternoon Sir, Madam, would you like a drink while you order?"

Peter looked at me and I nodded agreement. "Could we have a couple of glasses of the house white please?"

"Certainly Sir." She handed us each a menu and went off to fetch our drinks.

I looked at the menu and found it contained a broad selection of country style cuisine based on fresh local produce. "Where do I start?"

"I'm having steak and from experience of this hotel I can highly recommend it, that is if you like steak."

"I love it, as long as it is good quality and well cooked."

"Then you won't have a problem."

The waitress returned with our drinks. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yes, we will both have the steak, I'll have mine rare, and," he looked at me, I nodded agreement. "Two rare steaks and a bottle of," he consulted the wine list, "Shiraz, they all look good, I'll leave the choice up to you."

She walked off to place our orders and get the wine. I sipped the white wine and found it refreshingly dry with crisp front notes and a clean finish to it, I couldn't have chosen better, it just added to my feeling of contentment. "I could get to like this lifestyle." I said to Peter.

"Could you really? Most people I bring up here give me the impression that they can only stand so much of this serenity."

"Oh no, I was brought up in a country town like this and if I hadn't had to leave to further my career I would probably still be there, married to some farmer and the mother of several kids, yuk!"

The waitress arrived with a bottle of wine which she proceeded to open, presenting Peter with the cork. The base of the cork was covered with a deep red stain, Peter sniffed it before reading the label that she held for him. "Very good, just the one that I would have chosen." She splashed a small amount into his glass, he held it to his nose and sniffed it before taking a sip. I was glad to see that he didn't go through the wine snob ritual of swirling it around in his mouth and drawing air over it. He swallowed it and nodded to the waitress who filled our glasses. Leaving the bottle on the table she went off to get our meals.

I took a sip of the wine, the fruitiness of it filled my mouth, there was just a hint of oak on the palate that was balanced by the acidity, it was perfectly to my taste, it was almost as if this whole day was conspiring to please me.

The food arrived and I was confronted by a plate with a magnificent piece of beef which, on cutting it I found to be tender and cooked to perfection. A platter of fresh salad vegetables was placed in the centre of the table along with a plate of slices of fresh crusty bread and a dish containing fresh, and thankfully spreadable, butter. Peter and I concentrated on our food for several minutes before speaking again. "I don't know if I can eat all of this." I said between mouthfuls.

"You'd be surprised at how much you'll be able to get through, it has something to do with the country air."

I was surprised when I used a piece of bread to mop up the last of the meat juices from the plate. Peter poured me another glass of wine and looked at me. "Well, what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About everything, this place, my place, the job, everything."

"I love it all, I'm going to feel guilty about the exorbitant fee that I'm going to charge you for this job."

"If you can pull this off to my liking, and I'm sure you can, then it will all be worth it."

We headed back to the city and as I sat contentedly in the seat beside Peter I found myself drifting off into a different world. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew was Peter's touch on my arm. "We're here."

We were in the car park of my office. "I hope that you don't think me rude by falling asleep."

"Certainly not, in fact I'm flattered that you felt comfortable enough to go to sleep. Now when can we meet again?"

"I'll have to organise for the soil test and a survey of the site, I'll contact you as soon as that is arranged, by that time I should have preliminaries for you to look at."

"Excellent, I'll wait for your call."

I got out of his car and watched as he drove away, not taking my eyes off his car until it was out of sight.

It was just on a week later when I rang him. "Peter, I have the preliminaries for you to take a look at, would you like me to bring them over or would you prefer to come here?"

"Bring them over here, that way I can take you to lunch after I've seen them."

He approved the plans, I approved the lunch. "All that I need to do now is to draw up the specifications and submit the plans to council. Do you have a builder in mind or do you want me to put it out to tender?"

"I'm going to use one of the local builders, he knows the area, he won't have to travel miles every day and he does very good work."

"Very good, can you give me his name so that I can get the plans to him so that he can quote on it."

"Look, I would like to drive you up there, I know him and you won't have to go in cold."

My heart skipped a beat, I didn't like to admit it but his suggestion was what I had been dreaming about all week while I worked on the plans. I got the feeling that Henry was looking for any excuse to talk to me about this project and he was almost effusive in his compliments on my drawings.

The next day I found myself once more seated beside Peter in his Jag as we headed for the country. "If you don't mind me asking, what does your wife think of all this?"

He was quiet for several minutes and I got the feeling that I had hit a sore point. "I don't have a wife."

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me."

"No, it's alright, it's just a little painful still. Liz died of cancer two years ago."

"I'm so sorry. It must have devastated you."

"It did, I had to sit there and watch her suffer, I felt so helpless, that was the hard part, knowing that she was in pain and knowing that there was nothing that I could do about it. A weight was lifted off me when she died, but it still left me gutted."

I reached over and squeezed his thigh reassuringly. He glanced at me and a smile crossed his face. I left my hand on his thigh and he made no effort to remove it, even when he had to change gears.

We turned into a yard that was filled with all sorts of construction machinery. A man came out of a shed as we pulled up. He was solidly built with short reddish hair and a sun reddened face. He held out his hand to Peter and they shook as old friends. "Robert, I'd like you to meet Jane, she is the architect that I was telling you about." I held out my hand and found it grabbed by a firm hand that, while rough to touch, was surprisingly gentle.

"G'day, so you're the architect that I've heard so much about."

"All good I hope. I'm pleased to meet you."

We went into the shed and I unrolled the plans onto a bench and Robert looked at them. "That looks pretty straight forward."

"The only problem that I can see is that the soil test hit rock in a couple of places, just about where the bottom of the excavation will be. Now we won't know until you get down there whether it's a shelf of rock or whether it's just some isolated pieces."

"That shouldn't be a problem, if it is a shelf I'll go down as far as possible and if the jack hammer won't touch it I'll get a couple of sticks of gelignite, that'll shift it. This aggregate retaining wall, do you want to use the blocks or do you think that I can build the concrete wall and backfill with aggregate once it's cured?"

"I would prefer the blocks because they are stable in their own right, they don't have to rely on the strength of the concrete to hold them up. Once the concrete is poured you can start work on the rest of the building, there is no delay then."

"Fair enough. When do you want me to start?"

Peter looked at me, "I would like to make a start as soon as possible, it's up to you and Jane to work that out."

"The only hold-up as I can see it is getting building approval. I'll drop the plans in to Council on the way back into town."

"I've got a better idea," Robert said, "why don't I come with you, I have certain influence with the Planning Officer, if he doesn't approve it straight away he doesn't get to marry my daughter." So the plans were fast-tracked through the approval process.

The following Monday morning found me watching as Robert attacked the site with his bull-dozer, ripping the clay out of the hillside and dumping it down slope to form the wall of the dam that was to become the lake, I hadn't asked him to do it, he just did it. The rock proved to be no obstacle, just a couple of large boulders that were no match for the bull-dozer. By the end of day one the excavation was complete.

I walked over to Robert as he shut off the dozer motor. "You don't need me on site all the time, I can see that you know exactly what you're doing. I'll leave you to it. If you run into a problem here is my direct number, give me a call. If you have a digital camera, what you can do is to take photos of your progress and Email them to me at that address, that way I only need to come up, say when the slab is being poured and when the frame is going up. I don't want you to feel me looking over your shoulder all the time."

The arrangement worked well, he was a good tradesman and hired only good tradesmen. The construction was completed ahead of schedule, whether it was under or over budget I didn't know, that side of things was an arrangement between Peter and Robert, all I had to do was approve the progress payments.

It was five months after construction commenced that Peter and Robert came to see me in my office. "Jane, the job is finished, all we need is for you to sign off on it and I can move in."

"I'll have to inspect it first before I sign off on it. When do you want me to go up and do that?"

"If you've got time today I thought we could all go up together and get it out of the way." Peter said.

"It's not that he's anxious to get in or anything." Robert smiled as he said it.

Peter and I drove up in the Jag while Robert drove his own car. The sight that greeted me as we drove up the hill was more than I expected. The house seemed to sit back into the hill and blend with its surroundings in the way that I had hoped, Robert had done a magnificent job converting my plans of Peter's vision into reality.

We all walked out onto the front balcony and looked down over the lake with its growth of reeds giving it the appearance of having been there forever. Beyond it the valley spread out before us, it was the most idyllic scene, I was envious of Peter.

"What do you think?" Peter asked.

"You are so lucky to have this view, I could live in a shack with this view." I caught a look between Peter and Robert and wondered what was going on.

"Jane," Peter seemed almost hesitant, "I'm having a house-warming party when I've moved in, because you have been so important a part of this I would like you to come, could you, would you?"

"Yes, I'd love that, I'd love to see this house with people in it, that would complete the picture."

On the way back into the city Peter reached over and touched my arm. "Jane, I have a favour to ask of you. As I have no-one to act in the role, do you think that you could be my hostess for the house-warming party?"

"Of course, I'd love to." My heart was racing. I had been on several dates with Peter where we did little more than discuss the project. I would have liked them to have been more but I felt that Peter was having a hard time relaxing with me.

Peter had organised for the local hotel to cater the party so there was little for me to do other than meet and greet and mingle with the four couples. I knew Robert and was introduced to his wife who I felt at home with immediately. Robert's daughter and her boyfriend the Planning Officer were there and he cast a critical eye over the house before giving me his approval.

A car pulled up and as the couple walked through the door I was surprised to be confronted by Henry and his wife. "Hello Jane," his eyes quickly scanned the room, "this looks really magnificent." Peter walked over. "I was just telling Jane how good this place looks."