Meg frowned. ‘I thought you hated the Ashworths.’
‘I do.’ Georgie’s eyes flicked to the door. ‘Holy shit.’
Meg turned to see a horde of men with sweat-stained faces and dirty boots streaming into the bar. In the midst of them was Isobel Ashworth.
Chapter 26
‘There’s money on the bar,’ Issy announced to the crowd assembled in the small annex reserved for them off the main bar. It was fine, although the whole place smelt of stale beer, which no one else seemed to notice. The turnout was strong, twenty-five or thirty she supposed, including Warwick, Cathy and most of the subcontractors who’d been on site that day. ‘Grab yourselves a drink, then I’d like to say a few words.’
Warwick gave her a strange look as most of the subbies headed to the bar.
‘What?’ she said.
‘I don’t think you need to make a speech.’
‘I won’t make aspeech, Warwick,’ Issy said. ‘I’ll literally just say a few words.’
He sighed. ‘Righto. What can I get you?’
‘I’d love a glass of bubbles, thanks, Warwick.’
‘Same for me,’ Cathy added.
Once everyone had drinks, Issy stepped up onto a raised platform in front of the fireplace so she could be seen above the crowd. ‘Okay, thanks all,’ she called out, waiting for attention. The voices fell as the eyes of the room turned to her. ‘I’ll keep this brief so you can get back to your conversations. I want to say thank you to each and every one of you. We’re all under a lot of pressure. It’s a busy time of year with Christmas just around the corner. When everyone else is winding down, we need you to work harder than ever. Every single one of us needs to pull together if we’re going to get this done, but I have total confidence we can do it.’
As she scanned their faces—pleased to see some nods and a few smiles—her eyes were drawn to a man beyond the group in the main bar. Hugh! What? When did he arrive in town? Frowning, she looked back at the group, who were waiting for her to go on.
‘So thanks again.’ She raised her glass. ‘Here’s to getting it done together!’
Glasses clinked and voices rose, the small space instantly humming again with conversation.
‘Good speech.’ Warwick gave her a wink. ‘Everything okay?’
‘Yeah, fine, I just saw Hugh in the bar. He didn’t tell me he was coming.’
‘He must’ve got down early. Stopped in for a quick one.’
Issy looked out to the main room again, straining to see between the subbies.
‘Didn’t you see him as we came in?’ Cathy asked. ‘I thought you knew he was here.’
Issy shook her head, feeling her face flush. ‘He must have forgotten to tell me. He’s been working on a big deal.’
She excused herself and went to the main bar, looking for Hugh, finding him in a corner, deep in conversation with a man with a long, dark ponytail and a full-sleeve tattoo covering his arm.
When he saw her approaching, Hugh’s brief frown was replaced with a broad smile. ‘Issy, babe!’ He pulled her towards him and kissed her. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Me? I’m having drinks with the construction team.’
Hugh gestured to the man sitting with him. ‘Issy, this is Deano.’
‘G’day,’ Deano said, unsmiling.
‘Hello,’ she said, trying not to look at his repulsive earlobes, which had large holes in them created by those black circles that stretched the skin.
‘Deano used to live up the road from me,’ Hugh said. He prided himself on his strong network, although he took it a little far sometimes, in Issy’s opinion.
Issy nodded as Deano looked at his phone. ‘I didn’t know you were coming,’ she said quietly to Hugh.
