‘You can say that again,’ Jack murmurs, taking another slug of his beer. ‘I’m guessing the corporation behind it knows the house has to be surreal to raise millions in prize-draw entries.’
‘DreamKey do give a percentage of each ticket price to charity,’ I add, sensing Jack’s cynicism.
He shakes his head. ‘I don’t know. Seems like, these days, folks can’t just donate for the sake of it. They expect something back or they’re not interested.’
I smart at this, glancing at Dev. He says, ‘I bought Merri one ticket for our wedding anniversary, mate. I wasn’t thinking about it that deeply.’
Jack nods. ‘Yeah, I know you guys are cool, but DreamKey? They’re another ball game altogether. When they built this place, they didn’t give a stuff about the area or the people who live here. Loads of people my age are still forced to live with their parents. Me and Sarah have to rent out of town because of the lack of affordable homes around here.’
I hide behind my wine glass. The last thing we want is for the evening to get political.
‘I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about it, Jack,’ Dev says. ‘But I know you’ve grown up here, so I guess –’
‘My grandparents lived here for forty years. My granddad died and then Grandma had to go into a home. We were forced to sell her house to pay her care fees. A builder bought the house intending to renovate it but it stood empty for a bit waiting for him to raise the funds to start work.’
‘He never renovated it?’ Dev asks.
‘No. The next thing we heard, the DreamKey juggernaut had scooped it up for peanuts.’
I can’t hear any bitterness and resentment simmering under Jack’s words. How must it feel to be sitting here partying, remembering his dear grandparents and the years of joy they had on this very land?
‘I feel terrible you had to go through that, Jack,’ I say, genuinely meaning it. At the same time I realize it’s one hellof a motive if someone wanted to get their own back. ‘I’m so sorry our good fortune came at a personal cost to you and your family.’
‘Yeah, sorry about that, mate,’ Dev says lightly. ‘You never think about how a company like DreamKey gets its hands on a piece of land like this, do you? It’s eye-opening, it really is.’
Jack smiles and waves away our comments. ‘Hey, you’re good people. It’s no reflection on you guys at all. Hope you know that.’ He holds up his beer. ‘Cheers to my grandparents and to us partying here in their memory.’
I put down my glass and paste a wide smile on my face. ‘And on that note, I just remembered that not everyone’s had a proper look around the place. Who’d like a little impromptu tour?’
The response is immediate, enthusiastic. Sarah claps her hands, her face lighting up. ‘Oh, I’d love that! I’ve been dying to see it all but I didn’t like to ask!’
‘Sounds like a great idea.’ Tilda beams.
Jack laughs, appearing to have made a full recovery from his sad memories. ‘Absolutely. We’d love to see how the other half lives.’
Simon calls, ‘I’ll be with you in two minutes.’
Dev meets my gaze.This is it.Time to put our plan into play.
‘Tilda and I will wait for Simon,’ he says. ‘We’ll catch you up.’
There’s a ripple of laughter and nods of agreement as Sarah and Jack stand. I smile, pushing down my nervousness.The plan is working. Stick to the plan.
I gesture for Sarah and Jack to follow me. ‘This way,’ I say, keeping my voice upbeat. ‘We’ll make a start.’
Our first stop is the smallest of the reception rooms, which DreamKey have turned into a kind of chill-out relaxationspace. The shelves stretch from floor to ceiling, dark wood glinting in the soft light.
Jack instantly gravitates to the boxes of old records on display. He flips through some of the album covers with what looks to be genuine appreciation.
‘Have you played any of these?’ His eyes search for a record player.
‘No. Dev said most of them are scratched and unplayable, and some of the sleeves are empty.’
Jack’s smile fades. ‘So they’re just for show, then?’
I nod. ‘Looks that way. DreamKey do a lot just for the staging value.’For the photos, I almost add, but stop myself.
‘Merri?’ I hear Dev call from the hallway. ‘Your phone is constantly ringing in here. Looks like Paige is trying to get hold of you.’
