Sharkbait Down Under

We drank some water looked around. We found some big coolers in the garage and enough bungees to strap them to the cargo racks on the ATV’s. “We can check out the property, then head into Cape Jervis and get as much ice as we can carry,” Nicholas said. I didn’t mind, I loved riding, and it was only six or so miles away.

There were no decent airports closer than Adelaide, so I was relieved when we found a level section at the edge of the property alongside Talisker Road. Nicholas thought we could put a small airstrip and hangar in and not ruin the rest of the property. We kept driving north on the road to Silverton, loving the views, then headed west to Cape Jervis.

The town only had three hundred people and depended on tourism and fishing to support them. We pulled into the parking lot of the Cape Jervis Tavern and General Store, making me laugh a little. “It’s like a bigger Miesville,” I said. They had ice for sale out front, so we bought all we could carry. The clerk recognized us from the news, so we posed for some photos before heading back out.

We drove back to the room, leaving the coolers of ice by the tub, and made lunch before going out on the jetski for the afternoon. Our bags included our dive gear from the wedding so we could do some underwater exploration as well. The riptides and currents along the shoreline were strong, and the rocky bottom reminded me of diving off Cape Cod.

The helicopter was supposed to arrive at five, so we made sure we had all the ingredients to go along with whatever meats Ian brought. We went outside when the helicopter arrived, waving at the pilot as he left behind the six people we’d invited. I saw Dorothy’s fresh bite; she would make her shift tomorrow. Nicholas took the meat around to the grill while I showed everyone our room. “You can leave our stuff there for now,” Ian told me. “We’ll be up all night with the fevers.”

“We can use the tub in our bathroom,” I told them. I gave Mom and Dad the far room and put Leo and Adrienne in the middle. I figured it would be less embarrassing for my Unka to hear us screwing all night long than my Mom.

“Are you sure you want us around on your honeymoon? You only had a day together,” Mom asked as we checked on the food in the oven.

“I asked you here, remember? Time is short, and I need your help.” We ate at the long table in the dining room, and I got everyone up to speed on the gift from the Vampires and what it meant. “What I don’t know is whether I should take this land that I’ve fallen in love with or move somewhere closer to the other Pack members.”

Leo sipped his wine as he considered his answer, while Olivia just blurted it out. “Your question is your answer, Vicki. You always wanted to live on the ocean, and this property is remote and large enough to let your wolves out. This view is your dream.”

She was right. Leo spoke next. “The real question is how you can be an Alpha when your Pack is so scattered.”

“Exactly,” I said.

Adrienne answered first. “You don’t have a choice at first; they are scattered about, each with their own homes and jobs. Wolves need to shift and run, and they instinctively want to be close to their Alphas. You have a safe place here for them to visit, and over time, you’ll find they will move closer on their own. Adelaide is close enough for those who need work or school in the city. There are fishing villages and land around for those who want to stay rural. Help them with moving expenses, local schools, and employment, and within a decade, most of them will live nearby.”

“We’re selling the business,” Ian said, shocking Nicholas with his words. “South Australia Seafoods made an offer last month to buy out our permits and our pens. With no new permits issued for over a decade, their value has skyrocketed. It’s enough money for your Uncle and me to retire, plus the real estate prices in Port Lincoln are nuts. When Alessandro told us what their gift was, we started looking at homes on this side of the Gulf. Both of our families will find a quiet place nearby, and others will follow.”

I’d expected they might talk me out of living here, but that wasn’t the case. Leo finished his wine. “If your mate can take us out, I’d like to see the rest of the land,” he said.

“We only have two ATV’s,” Nicholas said.

“That’s all right. I need to let my wolf out, so Mom can ride with you.”

“I’ll take Olivia on the other, and you boys can wolf out,” Adrienne said.

“I’ll clean up and get dessert ready for when you come back,” I said. “Nicholas, make sure you show them where I want our house to be. I don’t even know if it is possible to build there, but Leo will.”

I told them all to go before it got too dark. When the group took off, I cleaned up. I had the pies ready to go when they came back in, tired and excited. “The verdict?”

Leo sat down at the table, looking again at the map. “Design, zoning, setbacks, money, coastal restrictions? Any house there could be spectacular. The questions are, what do you want, how much are you willing to spend, and will the Government let you put it there?”

“You don’t have to decide right away, but I’d hire an architect right away. They will know what is allowed by coastal zoning.” I added that to my list.

Leo smiled as I handed him a slice of pie and ice cream. “I will say that it is the finest property I’ve visited in my three-plus decades as a builder. I’d get someone here tomorrow, so they can survey the site and put sketches together while you’re traveling.”

I let out a sigh. “It seems like all I do is travel.”

“At least you have a good job, so we’re not reliant on MY income,” Nicholas teased. “We all agreed that the property allows for a fine Pack House, and our jobs would allow us to work from this remote location. I can find some options if we decide not to take it, but I know that look on your face, Vicki. You want this.”

“I do,” I said. I knew my family would support my dreams, so now I needed to talk to my Pack.

We retired with drinks to the deck to watch the stars come out. This far from any city, there was almost no light pollution as we looked out past the crashing surf below. “What are you thinking about for the design of your home,” Leo asked me as he refilled his wine glass.

“Not like this,” I said. “Modern design with its metal and glass does nothing for me.”

Nicholas nodded. “Most of the homes built around Port Lincoln are like that, and they suck. I much prefer the historical.”

Leo nodded. “Close your eyes, and imagine your home on that point. What do you see?”

I closed my eyes and let my imagination wander. “It looks like it has been there for centuries,” I said. “Stone walls with big windows and a deep patio. It’s two stories, like a fort, with three sides facing the sea and the two beaches. There is a wraparound deck on the second floor, with access to the rooms. You can move anywhere to get the right view or stay out of the wind or sun. The top is flat, a place to gather for parties or to enjoy the sun. Everything is about the ocean and the views, Unka Leo. It has a big swimming pool in the middle, and a conservatory for the winter on the north side with lots of glass and sunlight.”

Leo had asked Nicholas to get his tablet, and he came out with it a few moments later. “Come sit here by me, you two.” We sat on each side of him at the outdoor table as he searched for examples. “You’ll want a big house with at least eight bedrooms, Vicki. As Pack Alphas, you’ll need to host Pack families and visitors often, and you’re too far out for anything else. The good news is that you have the money to pull it off. You’re looking at mansions, even smaller buildings turned into hotels. I started the search with historical Australian homes,” he said. “Look through these, and see if there is something similar out there. If you like it, save the picture and move on. When you talk with your architect, you’ll be able to show him things you want in your home.”

It was a great idea, and the two of us were quickly immersed in photos while Leo went in to get a pad of paper. He made a rough sketch of the point and started laying out the boundaries of a house. Leo’s practicality made an appearance, popping one of my bubbles. “You’ve got a problem with the layout,” he said. “A U-shaped or rectangular home won’t work with a pool in the middle.”

“Why not?”

“Setbacks,” he said. “I paced out the top of that point; it runs between a hundred and a hundred and fifty feet wide in the area you want to build. The building site is bedrock covered with sand and soil. That’s good because you might be able to dig a basement and anchor it firmly, but you can’t get too close to the edges, or your yard could collapse. I’d set back at least thirty feet from any cliff, and that leaves you only forty feet wide for your home. You could build a long, narrow house with a central passageway, but putting a pool or conservatory in the center won’t happen on that point. You could do it above the next beach, though.”

“You have an idea, don’t you?”

He smiled. “You’ve got million-dollar views on the point AND curving around to the east over that beach. Build the house on the point, build a pool overlooking the beach, and put a conservatory in the middle like a joint connecting them. If you use the same materials, it will look like a fort and a barracks.”

I was still smarting from the loss of the enclosed pool. “Can you sketch it out?” He nodded and went to work.

I stopped scrolling a few minutes later and enlarged a photo, smiling broadly. “This is beautiful,” I said.

“It is,” Nicholas said. The main building was a stone two-story building with a wrap-around covered deck. “Hazelmere,” he said. Opening a new window, he found it was a wedding venue and bed-and-breakfast in Echunga, a rural area in horse country about an hour north of here.

We flipped through the photos as I fell in love with the Aussie Victorian design, a combination of rugged stonework and ornate cast iron. At first, I thought the home had a full-pitch roof, but there was a flat portion at the top. “I don’t like the way there is a roof, then another roof a foot or two lower that covers the upper deck,” I said.

Leo glanced over. “Flatten the roof pitch and extend it out over the deck, and don’t make it as high so you can get your entertaining space up top,” he said. “Easy fix.”

“It would look nice with matching railing on the second floor and the roof,” Mom said. “Kind of like the widow’s walks they have in some of the port towns in New England. Can you imagine having a social gathering overlooking all of this?”

I could, and I loved the idea. It also had a massive indoor pool. “Do you think we could visit this?”

“We’ll bring the architect,” Nicholas promised. One of the things I loved about Nicholas was how decisive he was, and he matched me perfectly. Both of us knew what we liked, and we didn’t agonize over little things. We’d already come together on the vision, and now it was mundane things like how to build it.

Leo showed me a sketch of his idea. He’d added a cottage on the other end of the pool area, overlooking the private beach. “Guest home for when Unka and Auntie come visit the grandkids,” he said with a smile.

Olivia looked over at the drawing and agreed. “When we come to visit, we’re staying a while,” she promised. “I can just imagine escaping the January cold here!”

We were busy with more research when Ian noticed his wife was flushed and uncomfortable. He checked her forehead. “The fevers have started,” he told us.