Black Diamonds (16 page)

Jackie knew she looked like a truffle dog given a treat, but she couldn’t help it. “I am.”

Through her stripy mittens she felt Eve squeeze her hand. “It must be some roller coaster.”

Ahead, Bob called out to them, waving his arms. “Over here!”

“Seems like they’ve found something!”

Twigs snapped underfoot as they rushed to see. One of the dogs, released from its chain, had started snuffling and scratching at the base of a soaring oak tree.

The group hushed as they watched and waited.

“
Voila!
” Triumphant, the dog handler held up the truffle, the size of a small misshapen egg, covered in earth. It had only taken a few minutes for the dog, a black Labrador like Royale, to dig it up.

“Is it a good one?” Eve asked.

“Around 200 grams, I’d say,” Jackie estimated. She was used to assessing the size and weight of truffles instantly. “It’s a real beauty.”

“That sets us off to a great start,” Bob crowed, as the dog handler tied a blue ribbon around the trunk of the tree, as if it had won a prize, to show a truffle had been found there. Next year, they would try the roots of that tree again, for truffles often multiplied in the same location. “Our luck’s in!”

Maybe it was. Jackie grinned to herself. It had been such a hard few months back in Western Australia. Now, she felt full of optimism for the future. She’d cope with the challenges facing the Paradise Truffle Farm, she thought, with a surge of energy. With Xavier beside her, she could do anything. Yes, maybe her luck had changed, after all.

“
Bonjour
, Mademoiselle Riley. Did you have a nice walk in the woods?”

“Yes, thank you, I did,” Jackie smiled at Marie as she pulled off her Drizabone. In the chateau courtyard, with the other guests, she had enjoyed some
cafe brulot
, a fragrant drink spiced with orange, cinnamon and brandy, that fought off the winter cold. It gave her the same warmth inside as one of her pa’s Irish whiskey hot toddies.

Marie held out her hand for the coat, tucking it away into a closet. “M. Antoine left a message. He will be back shortly. He suggested you wait for him in his study, and said to be sure to let you know he’d be back soon. Do you know where the study is,
mademoiselle
?”

Jackie smoothed her hair back from her face, tangled wild from the wind. “It’s just down there, isn’t it?”

Marie jerked her head down the flagged stone hall and smiled. “
Oui
.”

Thrusting her hands into the pockets of her jeans, Jackie reached for a lavender ribbon that had blown off earlier. Braiding swiftly, she glanced into a gilt frame mirror as she passed by. She looked healthier than she had for months. The elation she’d experiences in the woods had stayed with her. The tension inside her had vanished, leaving her feeling incredibly positive.

In the wood panelled study she glanced around appreciatively. This room was the one she liked best of all in the chateau, except perhaps Xavier’s bedroom. A shiver of pleasure ran through her. Both rooms had his inimitable masculine stamp on them.

It looked as if he’d already been hard at work in the study that morning while she’d slumbered in his bed. Wandering over to the desk, with its sleek silver laptop and printer, she wished she’d asked if she could use his laptop to send Mia and Dean an email. She’d texted them that she’d arrived safely, and sent them a photo of her beaming beside the Richerenches town sign, but she knew they’d appreciate more news. She’d be able to tell them the plans for the black diamond year, she thought with delight. How pleased they would be.

As she glanced down at the desk, three words on a piece of paper next to the printer caught her eye. It was a printed out email, she saw at a glance, unable to stop the words in capitals at the top of the page processing in her brain.

TO: Xavier Antoine

FROM: Daniel Lowe

RE: Paradise Truffle Farm

Paradise Truffle Farm? Why was Xavier being emailed about her business?

Her fingers shook as she picked up the piece of paper, and thrust it down as if it burnt her. She backed away from the desk.

I’m not going to look
, she told herself.
They’re Xavier’s private papers
.

RE: Paradise Truffle Farm
. The words flashed before her eyes, as though she was reading them again.

Had she really read those words? She was making far too much of it. Perhaps—a sudden gleam of hope beamed into her brain—she’d misread them. She was so used to seeing the words Paradise Truffle Farm, she probably saw them everywhere. There were other truffle farms that started with the letter P. It could have been Perigord Truffle Farms.

I don’t need to check. I can trust Xavier.
But Jackie’s feet were moving back towards the desk as though they were separated from her body. Poised in front of the desk, she stared down at the silver laptop, the slimline printer and the printed email.

No, she wouldn’t pick the piece of paper up again. That would be wrong. But if she just happened to glance down and confirm the name …

The print danced in front of her eyes.

RE: Paradise Truffle Farm

She jumped back, her breath coming in fast, jagged gasps.

There was no mistake. Xavier was corresponding by email about her farm. But why? Why could he possibly be receiving emails about her business? She frowned as a throbbing pain formed behind her temples.

With a trembling hand she rubbed her brow.

Don’t read it. Trust him.
The words echoed in her brain.

But the email had her company’s name on it, another part of her brain reasoned. She shouldn’t read a private email, of course, whether it had the Paradise name on it or not. It was against her moral code.
It’s like opening a letter. You wouldn’t open a letter, would you, Jackie?

She had to know. She had to find out why her truffle farm was a subject line in his correspondence. She was going to have to read each word.

A terrible sense of trepidation washed over her, as though she were being pulled under water by a treacherous undertow, as she moved forward, biting her lip. Her intuition screamed warning signals: her heart raced, her temples pounded.

Like a puppet on a string her head jerked down.

Dear Xavier
, she read.
It was good to see you while you were here in Western Australia. Hope you got back to France okay. I’ve looked in to Paradise Truffle Farm as you instructed. As the land is right next to yours it would be ideal for expansion of the Antoine Estate. From what I can gather the Riley business hasn’t been doing too well for the past few years, so there’s a good chance you could pick it up for a low price. We can work out an offer. There’s one other matter. It appears that Paradise uses Antoine Estate’s dam water to irrigate their trees. The dam is on your land as far as we can make out. There doesn’t appear to be a written record of any agreement for use, though there may have been a verbal one. There may be room for some negotiation, or even some arm twisting on that score. I know how much you want the Paradise land.

Cheers,

Daniel Lowe,

Partner, Carmody and Lowe.

Handwritten across the bottom, in a large scrawl were the words:
Discuss with Jacaranda Riley
.

Jackie’s legs folded beneath her as she slid down into Xavier’s desk chair, her eyes still taking in the words on the page. They were having trouble sending the message to her brain.

It couldn’t be true! With a gasp of horror she buried her face in her hands.

“Jacaranda … Jacaranda, what’s happened?”

Her head snapped up.

Xavier stood at the doorway, appearing full of concern as he took her in. Her distress must have shown; she felt as if she were about to faint, a spiral pulling her down, down, down into icy darkness. She must be as white as a ghost.

“What’s the matter,
cherie
?”

Staring at him, her lips turned numb. She couldn’t reply.

He moved swiftly across the room in the long legged movement she usually found so magnetic. Now, she found herself backing away in the chair, repelled, as though the powerful magnetism between them had been reversed.

His dark head reared back.

“What has happened?” he asked again, his voice even.

Standing up she bowed her head towards the printed email.

Following to where her focus rested, he took it in at a glance. “Ah.
Oui
.”

“
Oui
?” she repeated, incredulous, as speech returned to her. “
Oui
? That’s all you can say?”

He shrugged, in the way she couldn’t believe she’d come to like. “I’m sorry you read it. You weren’t meant to find it like that. I wanted to talk to you about it. I can, of course, explain.”

“You can
explain
? You can
explain
?” Hysteria built in her voice.

“Yes, I can explain,” he said, with a calm that enraged her further.

Shakily, she pointed an accusing finger towards the email. “What explanation can there possibly be, for that?”

“A satisfactory one, I hope.” He jerked his head towards the sofa. “You’re over-reacting. Come and sit down.”

He hadn’t denied it
. The thought pierced her numbed brain as she followed him across the room and half fell on to the leather seat.
He’d only said he would explain.

Shuddering, Jackie leant back, closing her eyes as if she could blot out the words she’d seen. But she couldn’t make them disappear. She knew she would never forget them.

“Jacaranda.”

She opened her eyes. Xavier moved to sit beside her.

“No,” she said, through gritted teeth. “I don’t want you near me.”

As if holding back his words his mouth formed a harsh line. “Very well.”

Tossing aside a cushion he found a place on the sofa opposite her and bent forward, his hands loosely clasped together.

Jackie closed her eyes again. She couldn’t bear to see his face.

“Look at me, Jacaranda. Trust me.”

Trust him? Her eyes snapped open. “Don’t start that again.”

She sensed he fought to remain controlled. “Start what again?”

“
Look at me, Jacaranda
.
Trust me, Jacaranda
,” she imitated. “How can I trust anything you say? You’ve been lying to me all along!”

Rage narrowed his eyes. “
Non
. I have not.”

“You’re lying to me now!” She heard the hysterical note creeping into her voice once more and steadied it with a long breath. “All I want to know is if it’s true. That you planned to buy Paradise.”

For a long, agonising moment he waited before saying, “I did ask my lawyers to investigate buying it.”

“Why?”

“For the reasons stated in the email: Because your land is next to mine. Because it would be ideal for expansion for Antoine Estate.”

“I see. When did you decide this?”

“Before I went to Western Australia.”

Realisation dawned on her. “So that’s why you were looking for my father.”

He nodded briefly. “
Oui
.”

“But you didn’t know what had happened to him. That he’d died. Spoiled your plans, did it?”

“
Non
.” He emphasised the single word. “It didn’t spoil my plans to witness your grief.” A muscle worked in his cheek. “I would never have come to see you at such a time if I had known. I was very angry I hadn’t been informed.”

“Yes, I remember you saying that. It seemed a bit strange to me, at the time. But you don’t deny it, do you?” Jackie raced on. “That it was all planned. An international buy up of all the small truffle farms of Western Australia, was it? A hostile takeover, isn’t that what it’s called?”

He hesitated. “I would have made a fair offer for your land.”

“Then why were you trying to discover what financial shape Paradise was in?” she demanded. “You must have been very pleased when I came and gave you all that information for free.”

Xavier ground out each word separately. “I was not pleased.”

“You weren’t happy to hear you were going to be able to get Paradise Truffle Farm at a bargain price? You weren’t delighted to hear I was going to have to close?” Jackie’s laugh choked her. “To think I was going to take your advice this year in a last bid to save the business. That would have played right into your hands, wouldn’t it? For me to take a big risk? What were you going to do? Just sit back and watch me fail?”

In a disgusted movement he pulled back. “I don’t want you to fail.”

“Then why were you advising me to gamble on my inheritance?” The words tumbled from her mouth, she couldn’t stop them. “Am I supposed to believe that you were being honest with me?”

“I don’t lie,” he fired at her. “Don’t insult me. You think I’d mislead you? I’ve tried to help you, in case you’ve forgotten. I brought the Armitages over to meet you.”

“All very convenient, wasn’t it, bringing Eve and Bob around to my farm, having them tell me how good the new truffle oil was, and building up my hopes.”

His voice turned to steel. “You’re being ridiculous. You’re accusing me of some kind of industrial espionage.”

“Well that’s what it looks like to me. Is that why you lured me here to France? You’ve been gathering information about my business ever since I got here!” Jackie’s eyes stung. She blinked back the tears before they could form.
I will not cry anymore in front of Xavier Antoine
.

“What a plan,” she continued bitterly. “To encourage me to put everything I had into a year so that you could ensure that I’d have to sell up.”

“You think I’d stoop to that?” He threw the words at her.

“Who knows? Who knows how low you would stoop to get my land cheaply? Was that part of the plan—to make me a laughing stock?”

Suddenly he was on his feet, looming over her. “
Arrete.
Stop this, Jacaranda. Stop it.”

“Stop telling the truth?” Jackie leapt up too, and faced him, fury throbbing through her veins. “The truth that you’re trying to take my business and my home away from me … everything my father and I have ever worked for?”

He stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. “I won’t listen to any more of this.”