An Outback Affair/Runaway Wife/Outback Bridegroom/Outback Surrender/Home To Eden (60 page)

“Why swipe at Granddad?” Nicole finished off her cold cup of tea, grimaced. “I just don't buy it. I never saw Granddad being anything but kind and tolerant with Joel. It was always Joel who had problems.”

“Joel's way of trying to get some attention,” Siggy said moodily. “No, Nicole, Father wasn't fair to my boy. Or me. First it was Corrinne, so beautiful! Father was a collector. He loved beautiful things. Corrinne was perfect even when she messed up. I was just the frumpy one with the abrasive tongue. Then you turned up, the
premature
baby.”

Nicole's quick intake of breath made a hissing sound. “Ouch! You're saying I wasn't? Swell! Thanks a lot, Siggy.”

Siggy shrugged. “Sorry about that,” she said, but didn't sound sorry at all. “You were the bonniest, most robust little premie I've ever seen.” She shifted the subject. “Corrinne was just so bedable. You can bet your life she and the oh-so-gallant, that really superior gentleman, David, were lovers. Corrinne was so
sexy she should have been tied up. Then you arrived. Who needed to start counting? Father devoted his entire life to you from that moment on. It was really sweet except it was a giant pain in the ar—neck. The rest of us missed the attention. He left you Eden and most of the loot. The irony is, you won't keep it.”

“I'd just love to prove you wrong.” Nicole tossed out the challenge briskly, well aware of her aunt's accumulated resentments. Eden, not money, was the thread that ran through everything.

Siggy sighed deeply. “Your friends the Bradshaws mean a lot to you. You've rung them two or three times since you've been home. You've settled into New York. You've changed your whole way of life. Your career is there. And that's great. New York is the center of the world. Eventually you'll go back. You won't want to keep Eden going. Drake McClelland has brought himself right back into the picture for a very good reason. Hasn't it crossed your mind it might all be an act asking you to Kooltar? I can't believe he's sincere. He needs to learn of your plans. It would be a perfect time to try and talk you into selling.”

“It's a possibility.” Nicole frowned for a moment, considering. Manipulation was certainly in Drake's line.

Siggy lowered her voice as though he was right outside the door. “Just so long as you know. Drake can be extremely persuasive, as many have discovered before they quite knew what was happening. It's not friendship, believe me. I know. He's being a bloody hypocrite. They'll never invite us to rejoin the circle. They'll always hate us. They'll never forget about Da
vid, the guy that was cuckolding your father. Callista especially. The tragedy sent her off the deep end.”

“In my opinion she was in the deep end before that,” Nicole said crisply. She leaned forward, speaking as gently as she could. “Siggy, what's all this about Joel gaining a reputation for violence?”

Siggy looked mortally offended. She'd been sitting slumped, now she came as grim-faced and erect as an Easter Island statue. She didn't reply for a very long moment, either. “Where did you hear that?”

“A reliable source.”

“Yeah, the mighty Drake McClelland,” Siggy intoned. “You should have told him to mind his own ruddy business.”

“Look, just answer me. Is it true?”

“Okay, one incident,” Siggy threw up a hand, suggesting it was all a wild exaggeration. “I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention the fight to Mother. Lord only knows how she's kept that sweet innocence. Joel had a few drinks, and some guy at the Koomera pub made him furious.”

“What did this guy say? Any idea?”

“No.” Siggy looked down at her weathered hands with their blunt nails. “I asked, but he wasn't interested in telling me.”

“Maybe the guy made a pass at him. Asked him if he wanted to move in.” Bemused, Nicole attempted black humor. “It had to be something really untoward to start a fight. I hear they don't want Joel at the pub anymore, and Mick's pretty easygoing.”

“Nothing to it!” Siggy said. “They'll let him back in soon.” She didn't sound confident.

“Joel can't do this.” Nicole looked directly into her
aunt's eyes. “I won't have it. Had he been an ordinary employee, he'd have been told to pack up and leave. Granddad was very proud of the station's good name.”

“Sure. That's what got Heath off the hook. The Cavanagh name.”

Nicole reached out and gripped her aunt's wrist.

“Ouch, that hurts! For a featherweight, you're strong.” Siggy sounded very hard done by.

“I'm not releasing you until you tell me exactly what you mean by that.”

“Don't take any notice of me.” Siggy's shoulders drooped. “The older I get the more garbage I spout. I'm a bit like you, Nikki. The way we lost your mother and that prize dope, David, pushed me over the edge. Poor old Heath had nothing to do with it. He was miles away.”

“Only one person could vouch for that and he's dead.”

“That was the man's third accident on his motor-bike. He was no Evel Knievel. Away from Eden he drank heavily. He once came back from Darwin wearing a big silver hoop earring in one ear and a really weird headband made out of crocodile skin. Alan liked it so much he actually sent for one. But the man didn't lie about your father. Actually, I'm very proud of you for giving your father refuge. The way you strode off from our first meeting last week had Mother and I really worried. We thought you were determined to throw him out. Maybe by yourself.”

“No one could throw him out the way he looks,” Nicole said, her expression bleak. “I think he should be hospitalized.”

“Would you want to die in a hospital when you could die at home?”

“I guess not.” Nicole sighed deeply.

“Just thought I'd ask.”

“I don't know what it is, but you've always had a crazy soft spot for Heath.” Nicole sought her aunt's eyes.

Siggy flashed a wry grin. “If I did, it was a big mistake. People were having it off all around me. I missed all the action.”

“Oh, Siggy,” Nicole breathed, “what lives we've led! It might come to hospital for Heath all the same. I can't believe the change in him. The way he used to look, the way he looks now.”

“He was the handsomest man I'd ever seen,” Siggy reflected. “So macho. Those eyes of his would have lured any woman into his bed. No wonder Corrinne went temporarily insane. That was your father in those days.”

“Were you in love with him?”

“As if I would tell you,” Siggy said, brushing the question off.

“He was never very kind to you.”

“Well, who cares! That in itself doesn't mean a great deal.” Siggy's thin cheeks grew flushed. “Things being what they were, Heath was married to my sister. I kept my wild fantasies to myself.”

“Absolutely wise, considering you were married to Uncle Alan. By the same token, I have the unsettling feeling you're not telling the truth.”

Siggy started to haul herself up. “Bless you, you should have been a detective. It's all long ago, Nikki.
No one cares anymore. Are you really going over to Kooltar?”

“Not yet. There's too much I want to see here, but maybe toward the end of next week, if it suits Drake.”

“It'll suit him,” Siggy observed very dryly. “You're aware he's got a girlfriend?”

“I'm not planning to seduce him.”

“You probably will, anyhow. It's something over which you've no control. Just don't eat any pancakes for breakfast if Callista offers them to you. They could be laced with the weedkiller she picked up at the Koomera store.”

J
OEL WAS UTTERLY DISMAYED
when she asked him to ferry her over to Kooltar in the helicopter. His narrow features drew together, giving him a curiously pinched look.

“I can't for the life of me understand why you want to go.” He turned hard, reproachful eyes on her.

“Look at it this way. Wouldn't it be better if we stopped the feud?” Recent comments about Joel had done funny things to her. She almost felt as if she didn't know him at all. “We mightn't ever get back to being friends exactly, but I think it's about time we all tried to put the past behind us.”

“Oh, cut it out!” Joel began to pace the terrace where they'd been sitting. “You'll have me in tears next. It's McClelland, isn't it? You're attracted to him.” Joel came closer, looking as if he was about to grasp her arms.

She leaned back in reaction. “You think so?” She made her voice distant. His pronouncement was far too close to the truth.

“It's my gut feeling. He always had a powerful effect on you. What happened to all those hostile angry feelings?”

Good question. “I expect they'll resurface from
time to time.” She sat straighter, ready to get up and leave.

“We can never forget the past,” Joel said with fierce certainty. “It's cemented in place. Mum's right for once. They hate us. They truly hate us. He wants to absorb Eden into Kooltar. We've got a tremendous asset in the Minareechi.”

“That could well be it,” Nicole agreed tightly. “There are a lot of wild guesses, half-baked rumors, ideas I have to track down. I'd like to sort them out first. It might all come to nothing.”

Joel glared at her. “I have to tell you I'm dead set against this.” He shook a fist in anger. “I don't trust McClelland. He's a guy who goes about acquiring things. He's already got a foot in the door. Who's to know what's going on in his arrogant head? He's a man of dangerous ambitions. A man of power. They reckon he's increased his father's fortune several times over. He might be set on acquiring you. Wouldn't that be a tremendous coup? At the same time he'd get Eden. Everything would come together. Aren't you troubled by this?”

“Dammit, he's got a girlfriend! Karen Stirling.” Nicole was really on edge now. She didn't want to listen to Joel's ranting. “You told me yourself.”

Joel stared at her, his hands jammed into his pockets. “He's been mixed up with a string of girlfriends all begging for him to marry them. It's so easy to get women when you're rich and high on the social register.”

“Why feel so sorry for yourself? What's holding you up?”

He gave a faint smile. “No one will measure up to you, Nikki.”

Some shade of expression in his eyes left her shaken. “Don't be ridiculous. I'm your cousin. We're family. Remoteness does have its drawbacks. It's very difficult for you to meet eligible women except at the functions that mercifully get organized so the opposite sexes can come together.”

His moody face lost its smile. “Don't start trying to marry me off.” He turned away, visibly ruffled. “I get enough of that from Mum. I have a sex life, Nikki. I've bedded my fair share. But you're my goddess.”

Nothing could have dismayed her more. “Goddess? Good grief, I hope that's a joke.” She braced herself.

Suddenly he was laughing. “When I look at you, goddess comes to mind. You can melt men to honey.”

“Oh, stop it.” Nicole was disgusted. She rose from her chair, looking out over the garden with its magnificent date palms and desert oaks.

“If we weren't first cousins, would you marry me?” Joel followed her. She stood beside a white column that looked bare, stripped of its thick veil of jasmine.

“What sort of question is that?” She was aghast. “We are cousins. Produced by sisters. We're close family. It's the only way I love you.”

“Do you think I don't know that?” He lifted a hand and stroked her smooth cheek, a gentle caress. “Only joking, Nikki. You're such a special person. I badly need to find someone like you, but I figure that's impossible. I can't hide my emotional attachment, but it's a mystical thing. Don't you feel it, too? Growing up together, sharing experiences, a little boy and a little girl. It's an intimate thing.”

Only, intimate was unthinkable.

 

D
RAKE WAS WAITING
for them by his four-wheel drive as they taxied in.

“You're not getting out?” Overnight bag in hand, Nicole looked back at her cousin, who made no move to leave the cockpit.

“Say hello to him for me if you have to,” Joel said flatly, making no bones about the way he felt. “I just hope to God he treats you well. Him and that bloody bitch Callista. Talk about attachments! Boy, did she have a problem with her brother.”

“Who's now dead,” Nicole reminded him quietly. “Callista never created a life for herself unfortunately. Her life was her family. Thanks, Joel. I'll let you know when I want to come home.”

“You said tomorrow?” he inquired sharply.

“I mean what time tomorrow. See you.” She gave a little wave. “Drake's coming.”

He looked out briefly. “He'd better not try to prolong your visit. Take care, Nikki. If you can't put up with more than a day, I'll be back in a flash for you.”

“See you then,” she said.

“Tomorrow or earlier,” he corrected.

 

“J
OEL IN A HURRY
to get away?” Drake's expression was sardonic.

“He said to say hello. He's pretty busy. He's following up on a few of my suggestions.”

“That's gutsy, confronting Joel. He's so darn belligerent.” Drake looked down at her, absorbing her beauty. Her abundant hair was up in some sort of knot except for a couple of long locks that curled forward onto her cheeks. She looked exquisite, but a little pale,
he thought. He hoped that cousin of hers hadn't been acting threatening in any way.

“Sometimes I think I am gutsy.” She laughed. “I could have gone under, but I chose not to. Anyway, Eden is mine.”

“So you can say exactly as you please.”

“Well…within limits. Siggy didn't like that I had all the jasmine pulled down from the columns. She couldn't make sense of it and I didn't explain.”

“Bad memories. Perfume has an astonishing ability to remind us of people and places. When we were kids, you had the fragrance of boronia all over you.”

“How extraordinary you remember. I can explain it. Dot always tucked sachets of it into my clothes and the bed linen.”

“Nowadays you wear Chanel's Gardenia.”

“You're too good.”

“Maybe I had a girlfriend who wore it.”

“I assume a girlfriend no longer,” she parried lightly. “I left Siggy and Joel holding the fort. You're right—Eden has deteriorated with the passing of time, but I intend turning it around.”

“So you're planning on staying?” His glance was keen.

“I'm going to make life interesting for you, Drake. I'm not going to tell you my exact plans.”

“You don't trust me?”

“Not for years and years. The family's amazed on two counts. One, you issued an invitation to Kooltar. Two, I accepted. Heath actually laughed when I told him.”

“How is he?” Drake opened up the passenger door, before stowing her overnight bag.

“Dying,” she said bluntly.

“That could well have been preventable, but after your mother he simply didn't care. It's suicide in a way.”

“I agree, but he was always self-destructive.”

“Rumor has it he had a hard early life,” Drake remarked when he was behind the wheel. “Most of our troubles start in childhood. You're allowing him to stay?”

“No one with any heart could send him away. I was shocked at the change in him. Worse than I ever imagined. Sadly, I feel no love for him, but I'll still do everything I can.”

“He is your father, after all.” He set the vehicle in motion.

Nicole left her window open, preferring to breathe in the dry aromatic air. The scents of the bush were wonderful to her. Better than anything that came out of a bottle. “It's been years since I've been on Kooltar,” she said eventually.

“Sir Giles's auburn-haired princess.”

“Your mother once told me she'd longed to have a daughter.”

“Instead, she only had me.”

“Maybe you were too hard an act to follow.”

He smiled. “Thank you for coming, Nicole,” he said quietly, giving her a sidelong look.

“It's time for us to ease back into a normal life. How did Callista react to my being invited here?”

“My aunt is far more sensible than you think. Any guest of mine is made welcome.”

“Do you invite your girlfriends over? Of course you
do. Why not? Rumor has it you're all but engaged to Karen Stirling.”

“Would that upset you?” he retorted.

“I'd rather die than admit it.”

He gave a low attractive laugh. “Karen and I have a thing going. I don't know that you could interpret it as a serious commitment.”

“Not on your part,” she said dryly. “As I recall, Karen carried a torch for you from her teens.”

He swung his head. “Who told you all this? It had to come from home.”

“Come to think of it, it was Joel.”

“He needs to find himself a good woman and marry her,” he said firmly.

“One could say the same about you.”

“It's not my most urgent quest at the moment.”

“What is? Acquiring property?”

“Certainly that's part of it. Running a cattle chain efficiently and at a profit takes total commitment. At the moment, as you said yourself, you have a bit of a crisis on your hands.”

She brought her chin up. “I see it as a challenge.”

“You'll have to bring in someone with a diversity of skills to run Eden if you're going to survive.”

“I realize that. But surely finding someone isn't an insurmountable problem, is it?”

He glanced at her. “I wouldn't make too light of the magnitude of the undertaking, Nicole. There's so much to learn. So much to know. Do you think I'd be as effective if I hadn't been bred to it? I don't think so. For that matter, how would Joel take to having a man put in charge over him?”

She felt a chill. “I don't imagine he'd like it, but I have broached the subject with Siggy.”

“And?”

“She's fully aware Joel needs help, but of course he's her son and she wants to see him remain as boss.”

He groaned softly. “I don't envy you your task. What do you suppose will happen after you return to New York?”

“Let me settle in here first,” she said wryly.

“What about your painting? Don't you want to continue to show your work?”

“There are any number of first-class galleries in Australia, Drake. Surely I don't have to tell you that.”

“But I thought you'd embraced your new lifestyle. The glamour and excitement, the feeling of being at the center of things. It would be hard to beat New York.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me? Be honest.”

She might have been laying down a challenge. “I want you to stay,” he said.

 

A
WOMAN IN RIDING DRESS
, cream silk shirt, beige jodhpurs, polished boots, stood on the first landing of the finely joined cedar staircase that ran to the left of the spacious entrance hall. Tiny and dolllike, she had large dark eyes and hair black and sleek as ebony wrapped around her head in a braid.

Callista McClelland.

Nicole looked at her, apprehensive despite herself. Even at that distance she could sense the lack of welcome. “Miss McClelland!” She didn't forget to sound respectful. There had never been a time in her life she
hadn't addressed Callista formally. Callista McClelland was that sort of person. Meeting her was like being on the receiving end of a jug of ice water.

“Nicole, so you're here.” Callista seemed to have a struggle finding words. Nevertheless, she continued gracefully down the stairs, extending her small hand as if it demanded a deferential kiss rather than be shaken. “How are you settling into being home?”

Dark, thickly lashed eyes, glittering like metal, drilled into Nicole.

“As if I'd never been away.” Nicole accepted the cool, dry hand that was offered, finding the touch unwelcome, even embarrassing, given the hostility she had encountered from Callista during her childhood and adolescence. “How are you?”

“Oh, much the same, Nicole, though I see you're even more like your mother.”

Well, she hadn't expected Callista to envelop her in a hug, had she? “In looks, perhaps,” Nicole said pleasantly. “I have my own identity. My father doesn't even agree about the looks. He says apart from the coloring there are differences.”

“Only he can see.” Callista gave a cool little smile. “You must be furious he's back on Eden.”

Nicole, who had labored all her life to feel affection for Heath Cavanagh, now felt positively filial. “Let me say I hope
you're
not, Miss McClelland. I simply don't have the heart to be furious. He's a very sick man.”

“Ah well, at least he's had a life.” The bitterness spurted like a geyser, for all Callista's attempt at civility.

“Callista, please.” Drake lifted a staying hand, his handsome features tightening in protest.

“Forgive me, dear.” Callista's smooth cheeks colored. She laid a conciliatory hand on his sleeve. “Sometimes my feelings get the better of me. I know you said it's important we all be friends.” She turned her head to smile bravely at Nicole. “Let me show you to your room, Nicole. I know you'll like it. It faces the garden. And please, do call me Callista. Miss McClelland makes me feel quite ancient.”

“When you look ridiculously young,” Nicole said.