On the last Friday in March, Daryn Goldsmith was
back in Spaniards Creek to perform another inspection on the Spanish River
site.
He was a stonemason by trade but doubled up as the
Islands Building inspector, which was scarcely even a part time occupation.
He
was forty-eight years old and was widowed, and on his last visit to the island,
fifty-year-old farmer Debbie Wilson reversed her car into his in the
Stephenson’s Supermarket carpark.
She
was deeply apologetic and insisted on exchanging details, even though he was
satisfied there was no damage.
Later
that day she phoned him and offered to buy him a coffee on the pretence of an
apology.
In
truth she wanted some romance back in her life whether out of desperation or
loneliness, so had decided to dip her toe back in the water and begin dating
and she saw the accident as providence.
So
they met at the Galleon Coffee shop in Spaniards Creek and made a very strong
connection, and apart from being attracted to each other they also discovered a
shared love of sailing.
So
on the ferry on the way to the island he phoned her
“Debbie
speaking” she said
“Hi
Debbie, its Daryn Goldsmith”
“Oh
hello Daryn” she said “It’s good to hear from you”
“I’m
on my way to the island and I was hoping we could meet for coffee again” he
said
“Oh
I would love to but I’m afraid I can’t get away from the farm” she responded
“Oh
that’s a shame” he said “Maybe next time”
“If
you’re here all day, I could meet you in St Pierre about 4.30” She suggested
He
was planning to catch the 2 o’clock ferry and be home by 4.30 but he had been
looking forward to seeing her again very much, so he said
“I
can make that work”
“Fab”
she said “Theres a coffee shop overlooking the harbour called Gilbert’s, I’ll
meet you there as close to 4.30 as I can get”
“Looking
forward to it” he said and hoped he hadn’t sounded too keen.
Debbie
was highly motivated to get finished in time to make herself look presentable,
because she thought Daryn sounded as keen as she was so she worked like a
trojan all morning, muck spreading, and ate lunch in the tractor cab and at 3
o’clock she stopped and left her brother’s Duncan and James to finish off, so
she could get back to the farm to make herself at least half decent, she didn’t
have time for the full works, he would just have to take her as he found her.
Daryn
spent more time on site in Spaniards Creek than he otherwise would, and he even
had time to do his first inspection of the property on the west side of the
river with project manager Adam Jandrell
for about an hour and gleaned some useful information when they were chewing
the fat, about a potential renovation of the Norman Church, which was right up
his street.
“If
it comes to fruition” Daryn said handing him a business card “I would be
interested in tendering”
“No
problem” Adam said
Debbie
left her home moderately happy with how she looked, but it was the best she
could do in the time allowed, and got in her car, and at that precise moment
Daryn was getting in his car in Spaniards Creek.
They
both arrived in St Pierre at the same time but parked in separate carparks, so
when they emerged onto the square.
They
were on different trajectories to Gilbert’s which took them either side of the
war memorial and when they passed it their paths converged, and they were both
so focused on their destination they bumped into each other.
It
happened so quickly they didn’t realise who the other person was until they got
to the apologies, and they laughed.
“We
seem destined to have collisions” Daryn said and then they kissed each other’s
cheeks and made their way, arm in arm, to the Coffee House.
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