Lighthouse Beach

By Jacqueline Pouliot

Two women meet and their lives are changed forever. Sara and Georgia are from completely different backgrounds but share some similar family circumstances. Love is a powerful force that compels them to be together. They find they share a deep, permanent love that proves a true partnership is stronger than anything else. (Lesbian, romance, relationships)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326292904

Book preview

Lighthouse Beach

Lighthouse Beach

Jacqueline Pouliot

EPUB Edition

Copyright © 2015 Lulu Press

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-326-29290-4

One

Feeling good from her morning workout, and fresh from her shower, Sara poured coffee into her favourite blue mug. Dressed for work in her usual black jacket and trousers with a white blouse, she sipped the coffee standing at the floor to ceiling windows of her apartment. The apartment building was on the edge of the harbour and her penthouse enjoyed mainly water views. The city skyline was just visible to the left around the curve of the harbour. More importantly, she could see the tall Richardson Building on the edge of the city centre.

Her mobile beeped and, frowning, Sara immediately read the message from Jenny Clarke, her assistant.

‘Jesus!’ Sara muttered. She then pressed a button on her phone and waited until the call was answered. 'Alberta?' Sara said briskly, absently flicking her dark fringe back from her eyes. She wore her hair to the collar with a slight fringe. It was dark and spiky with a slight part.

Alberta Connor, the Personnel Director for Richardson Developments, answered cautiously. 'Good morning, Sara.'

Sara brushed the greeting aside. 'My assistant texted me. Claims she is ill!'

'Oh. Again?'

Yes, again! Get rid of her, Berta!'

'Sara, you can't fire someone for being sick,' Alberta said gently. 'Let me check on the system to see how much leave Jenny has.’ A moment’s silence and Sara waited impatiently before Alberta continued. ‘She has two sick days left...'

'And she has just completed probation! I can't rely on her, Berta!' Sara said, still using the shortened version of the other woman's name. They had known each other for a long time.

'You still can't fire her for being sick...' Alberta sighed. 'Jenny can't help not being assertive enough for you...'

'If I can't fire her, move her. Stick her somewhere else in the company.'

Another sigh from Alberta. 'I'll talk to her. Maybe you just scare her.'

'Me?' Sara was genuinely surprised.

'Yes, you! Don't pretend to be surprised. I'll work something out. I'll call her.'

'Whatever you do, I don't want to see her again, Berta.'

'I know,' Alberta said wearily.

Sara disconnected, dropped the mobile into her leather brief case and checked her appearance in the mirror.

Tall, slim with broad shoulders and dark hair, Sara Richardson was an imposing figure. Although she rarely smiled, Sara had an attractive intensity about her that drew attention. She did not wear much make-up, just lip gloss occasionally, but her unexpected blue eyes were large and intelligent.

Riding the private elevator down to the basement car park, Sara's mind was already focused on the day and the moment she was in her red Mercedes sports car, she slipped her mobile into the hands-free slot and began to make calls.

'Sara,' Jorge Torres, the Director of Operations answered quickly. 'Good morning... '

'I see the architect’s panel is scheduled for ten?'

'Yes. It's been in your diary for a week... '

'My useless assistant didn't tell me...'

'Oh?'

'No. What is this meeting about?'

Jorge sighed. 'Sara, you said you wanted to approve and be involved in our next big project so we selected ten local firms, sent them the specs of the Holloway project and asked them to attend today to present over views of a concept.'

‘Fine. That’s what I want.’

'You should know,…' Jorge said flatly. ‘…that we’ve been getting a little flak from locals about this project.'

‘Oh? What sort of flak?’

‘Locals that want to keep the Holloway house.’

‘I see. Who else will be on the panel?'

‘Steve.' Steve Hubbard was the Director of Legal & Finance for the Richardson Developments.

'Okay,' Sara grunted.

'So, you will be there?'

'Yep.'

For all the presentations?' Jorge pressed.

'Unless there is a problem somewhere else, I'll stick around.'

'Good. See you at ten.'

Alberta strode down the corridor towards Sara’s office. Alberta was a black woman with a few grey hairs that she refused to colour and a fondness of elegant designer business suits. She had been with Richardson Developments since inception and had known Sara for a long time.

Sara was trying to find something on her desk computer when Alberta walked in and said, without preamble, 'Jenny has resigned. She's been looking for another job and found one today.'

'Good,' Sara grunted.

'That was the reason for her sick days. She took time off to look for a job. Do you want to know her reason for leaving? '

'Not really.'

'I'm going to tell you anyway,' Alberta said firmly. 'She said you were demanding, unreasonable...'

'Unreasonable? That's a load of...'

'That you shouted at her, that you insulted her...'

'If she did her job, Berta, I wouldn't have to shout...'

Alberta shook her head in frustration. 'Sara, you have to treat people well...'

'I pay them well!' Sara said, jaw set with determination.

‘That’s not all there is, Sara and you know it. I have to tell you, I’m tired of this eighteen month bad mood of yours! I’m looking forward to you going back to that sweet kid I used to talk to on the phone…’

‘She’s gone! I think she vanished the day I had to move here,’ Sara said bitterly.

‘Come on, Sara. It’s not that bad…’

‘Yes, it is! And, as far as Jenny is concerned, if we pay people well, they should do their job well in return!'

'Okay, okay,' Alberta said in surrender. 'I'll start looking for a new assistant for you.' She paused at the door and Sara looked up.

'Anything else, Berta?'

'A friend of my little sister is coming for a visit. I wondered if you would be interest...'

Sara rolled her eyes and interrupted. 'Let me guess. Your sister's friend is gay and you offered me as a blind date!'

'Well...'

'Am I the only gay woman you know, Berta?'

‘I just thought you had something in common...'

'We're both gay?' Sara said dryly.

'More than that!' Alberta said crossly. ’She played basketball…’

'I'm not interested...'

'Why not?' Alberta said defensively. 'When was the last time you went on a date?'

'I'm not interested, Berta. I like being on my own.'

'I don't believe that for a minute!'

'Believe it or not,…' Sara said mildly. '…I am not interested in blind dates or dates of any kind.'

'You just haven't met the right woman...'

'That's for sure,' Sara said emphatically.

'How are you going to find the right one if you don't go on dates?'

'I've given up,' Sara said, scrolling through files on the computer.

'You never give up on anything!' Alberta said with a laugh.

'I have on that. Now, I have to get ready for a meeting.'

Two

Jorge and Steve greeted Sara when she walked into the small meeting room and put her briefcase beside a chair. 'How do we do this?' Sara asked, sitting down.

'Each firm gives a five minute pitch of their capability and then a ten minute overview of their concept for Holloway,' Jorge explained.

'Fifteen minutes each is good, Jorge,' Sara said.

'Thought you'd like that, ' Jorge said dryly and Steve chuckled.

The door suddenly jerked opened and a blonde woman strode in with a determined expression on her attractive face.

She paused in the doorway and for a sliver of frozen time, Sara thought her heart had burst! She woman was breathtakingly beautiful and just looking at her ignited small fires throughout Sara’s nervous system!

The woman’s almost golden hair was loose but Sara noticed a red hairband around the woman's tanned wrist. Perhaps, Sara thought, she had been distracted in the process of putting her thick golden hair into a ponytail. God, she is beautiful!

Sara also noticed the young woman was lightly tanned and her eyes were brown. Almost the opposite of what some people expected with blonde hair, just as Sara, with her blue eyes was also the opposite of others expectations of those with dark hair.

The woman was not as tall as Sara, about the same age, dressed in a loose pale blue linen dress that struggled to disguise her curves, and comfortable sandals. An oversized leather carryall handbag was slung over her shoulder and she carried papers in her hand.

‘I want to see J. Clarke?' The woman scowled at Sara, Jorge and Steve. Sara could not take her eyes from the woman. She seemed to glow with energy and beauty and for once in her life, Sara Richardson was completely lost for words.

The woman swept the three at the table with fiery dark eyes. Those big brown eyes lingered on Sara for a moment, then tore away, searching.

'Ah...She’s…not here…' Jorge said, glancing at Sara.

'Clarke signed this letter,' the woman said, throwing a letter on the table in front of the somewhat stunned three. Sara saw the Richardson logo on the top of the letter. 'And sent me this junk!' The specifications for the Holloway project joined the letter.

'You...you are an architect?' Steve asked.

'Of course I’m an architect,' the woman snorted. 'I've been away and this was waiting for me when I returned. I've tried to contact this person Clarke but no luck! Why put your name and number on a letter and not answer your phone? Either J. Clarke is lazy or incompetent! Which one of you is Clarke?'

'None of us,' Steve said, trying to take control. 'Are you here to present your concept...'

The woman laughed and Sara felt a thrill ripple through her at the deep throaty mirth that escaped from the blonde woman.

God, I can’t stop looking at her!

'I am here to tell you to scratch my name off your list! I want nothing to do with this or any other project by Richardson’s. If you had answered your phone, I wouldn't have to dash across town!'

'You could have just not turned up...' Steve ventured.

'I'm afraid that would not have been polite.’ and Sara wondered if she detected a southern drawl. ‘Now, will you take my name off your list?'

'Yes, if you tell us your name...'

'It's on the letter. At least you got that right.'

Stung, Jorge said, 'The letters were sent two weeks ago...'

'As I said, I have been away.'

'You shut your office down when you go away?' Jorge snapped and Sara could see the young blonde woman had antagonised Jorge. Then, Sara wondered why she wasn't upset by the other woman's manner.

'I run my business my way. Good morning,' she said, nodded and walked to the door.

'Wait,' Sara managed to call. 'Why don't you want to work with our group?'

'Because you build monumentally ugly and ineffective buildings! I want no part of that!'

'Ugly?' Jorge spluttered. 'Ineffective? You don't know what you are talking about!'

'No?' Sara watched the woman smile while a blonde curved eyebrow rose. 'None of your buildings have more that sixty-nine per cent occupancy. I think that is ineffective!'

She surveyed the three people. 'And I definitely would not do what you want to do for the Holloway place. I think the one hundred and fifty year old house should be preserved and so should those wonderful trees. According to the specifications, you want to bulldoze the lot to erect an ugly phallic symbol!'

And, she was gone.

'Christ in a Cadillac!' Jorge exploded. 'Who does she think she is?'

Steve picked up the discarded letter. 'Georgia Wade,' he read. 'Architect. Office down by the beach.'

‘She’s got a nerve!’ Jorge muttered.

‘She is clearly passionate,’ Steve said with a wry smile. ‘Nothing wrong with passion, I suppose.’

Sara nodded, silently memorising the name. 'Shall we start?' she said.

Jorge stood and moved to the door. 'I'll bring the first firm in.'

Sarah smiled at the group Jorge ushered in but her head was echoing slightly with one name.

Georgia Wade!

Three

Georgia regretted the actions the moment she left the meeting room. To make matters worse, she came face to face with the three architects from Harrison Partners, the firm at which she had been an intern all those summers ago.

Wide eyed the three men, who stared at her, had clearly heard Georgia’s outburst, and Georgia weakly half waved. ‘Hi,’ she mumbled and hurried past.

Safely in the lobby, she paused and pulled her hair into a ponytail while her mind raced.

Why did I do that? That is so unlike me!

It was a silent rhetorical question as Georgia knew why.

Walking out of the tall Richardson Building, hair now tamed, Georgia knew she was still sad and angry from grief. Her emotions had been completely confused for weeks, maybe even months.

Everyone told her she would get over it in time but Georgia knew she never would. Sure, the pain would not be as visible and would just lodge somewhere deep inside her but Georgia knew the aching loss would never leave her.

Her bicycle was still locked to the rack in front of the library and she put her carryall into the cane basket in the front as she unlocked the chain.

Pedalling down the hill towards the harbour, she could not stop thinking of how she had just made a fool of herself.

‘Hopefully, I’ll never see any of them again,’ she murmured. Remembering the shocked faces of the Harrison architects, she added, ‘I’ll just have to avoid going to the local architects meetings. Old man Harrison looked like he was about to faint!’

Her mind lingered on the woman in the middle of the table. A dark haired beauty with an androgynous air that, strangely, appealed to Georgia. She had avoided extreme butch girls for a long time but this one, although not extreme butch, tantalised her in a strange way. She seemed calm in the midst of Georgia’s unreasonable outburst. In fact, she had even smiled.

Georgia grimaced slightly at the humiliating memory and parked her bike next to the wall of her office.

Her office was in an old rambling house that Georgia had converted to two professional office suites. She had created the design and specifications for her brother Jackson and his crew to do the refit. A dentist operated in one