Love or Money Read Online Free PDF

on the legal fine print of what they were doing. Then organise protests to stop those wicked developers raping the place. Write applications for government grants — all that stuff.’
    He paused. She sensed his guilt over letting his hobby horse gallop away with him, his awareness that he should get back to being civilised dinner company. He twirled another bundle of noodles onto his chopsticks.
    â€˜Then one summer Edna just happened to leak a bit of local gossip to me. Old Tom Parker, The Bay’s one and only lawyer, was selling up and moving to an old folks’ home. It seemed Tom liked me so much, he sold me his practice for a song. I reckon Edna had something to do with that. So here I am.’ He stopped to draw breath as he captured the last few noodles on his plate.
    â€˜Don’t you, well, miss some of those fancy creature comforts that go with city living?’ Erin asked, struggling with the revelation. The man had turned his back on a millionaire lifestyle most people would kill for.
    â€˜I’d rather work on saving habitat for an endangered frog than help some greedy multinational corporation gobble up another innocent local company,’ he said. ‘And now I’m getting more and more of the work I like, from bigger and bigger outfits. So it’s not such lean pickings these days. All round the world, people are realising that we’ve only got one planet, so we’d better look after it.’ He took a breath. ‘Anyway, now it’s your turn,’ he flicked a hand towards Erin. ‘What are you going to do with that beautiful property of yours?’
    Hamish had bared his soul to her. She’d better reciprocate.
    â€˜I will have to sell it. Sooner rather than later.’
    â€˜As you told me this afternoon,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t believe you. Not that beautiful place. It’s unique, spiritual.’
    She caught the feisty glow in his eye before he turned away. Erin had hit the nerve she’d sensed lay just under the man’s genial skin. Now the truth was out, she’d continue. ‘My mother…my parents split when I was eight…she has a heart condition. It will soon become life-threatening, her specialist says. Years of struggle as a single mother, a mortgage that’s a dead weight round her neck.’ She paused. ‘And there’s my job.’
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜I write children’s books. Write and illustrate. It’s mostly drawing, actually.’
    â€˜Can’t wait to see your work,’ he said. ‘But couldn’t you draw pictures here in Luna Bay? Maybe better pictures than you do now? Isn’t it just possible the view from your workbench might inspire you?’
    â€˜Well, I have to spend a lot of time with my publisher, so it’s —’ As his words hit her, she realised he had a point. She mustn’t give in.
    â€˜Luna Bay’s only a few hours’ drive from your publisher’s office.’ Hamish chased an imaginary noodle around his empty bowl. ‘And there’s technology, remember. Lots of Bay locals work from home these days. Anna Kershaw, my neighbour. A financial journalist for AMC Press. She finds a Sydney visit about once every second Pancake Day is enough.’
    For no reason, Erin grimaced. She’d seen the slick journalist’s photo heading her column. Dressed to kill, the often-quoted Anna Kershaw was Hamish’s neighbour. Why had she taken an instant dislike to a woman she’d never met, Erin asked herself. She didn’t get a straight answer.
    â€˜It’s my mother,’ she continued. ‘She really needs to feel I’m there for her. Know that I’ll call around every few days.’ She’d always loved her mother, the woman who’d overcome so much to raise her. ‘She could end up in care at any time. Or…worse.’ Erin stopped short. Every time she remembered her mother