Matt looked up and found Peggy watching. Smiling.
‘Feels good, doesn’t it?’ she asked and he thought he saw tears behind her smile.
‘It surely does. Happy Christmas, Peggy. You might need to go dry off before you freeze to death.’
‘I’d die happy,’ she said and he knew she would.
‘Peggy...’
‘Mmm?’
‘I know I said I’d stay until New Year.’
Her smile faltered a little and then recovered. ‘You can’t? It’s okay. Henry and I are okay.’
‘You are okay,’ he told her. ‘But I want you... I want us to be more okay. I’m thinking of taking a fast trip to Australia.’
‘To find Meg?’
‘To ask her to marry me,’ he said, because why not lay it on the line?
‘She wouldn’t have you last time,’ Peggy said simply and he thought how much did Peggy see? ‘So what’s changed?’
‘I think I have.’
Her eyes searched his face and slowly her smile returned.
‘Is that anything to do with the way Henry hugged you?’
‘Sort of,’ he told her and then, because it seemed important, he stepped forward and hugged her, too. An all-enveloping, lifting hug that made her squeal, that had Henry tearing back from the kitchen to see what was happening.
‘You’re cuddling Grandma,’ he said in astonishment, and Matt set the blushing, giggling Peggy down and hugged Henry again for good measure.
‘I’m practising,’ he told Henry. ‘I’d never figured out that hugs are important but now... Maybe they’re the most important things in the world.’
‘Puddles likes hugs,’ Henry said. ‘Though she chews my ear when I hug her tight.’
‘You might need to put up with chewing for a hug,’ Matt told him. ‘A chewed ear seems a small price to pay. I’m about to confess that all sorts of things can disappear if a hug is the pay-off. Peggy...’
‘You go get ’em,’ Peggy said happily. ‘You said you’d stay here until New Year? Henry and I can sacrifice that for a very big pay-off indeed.’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRALIA meant the start of summer holidays, and holidays meant Charlie’s charters were booked solid. The weather was great and the fishing was perfect. Meg cleaned and gutted more fish than she could count.
Thursday morning’s charter was due to leave at eight, late for a charter. The fishing was usually better at dawn but she wasn’t complaining.
She and Boof arrived to find the jetty almost deserted. The rest of the boats were already out. Her boat was tied at the docks. She was a sturdier vessel than the not-lamented Bertha.
No one was queued and waiting.
Cancellation? Her heart sank. A cancellation meant no pay, but she headed into the office and found Charlie beaming.
‘The punter’s already on board.’
‘Punter?’ she said cautiously. ‘One?’
‘That’s right.’
It had happened before—one cashed-up tourist wanting sole attention. Usually she steered clear. Being alone on a boat with someone she didn’t know was risky.
‘Why didn’t you get one of the guys to take it?’
‘Specific request for you,’ Charlie told her. ‘Repeat customer so it’s okay. Enjoy yourself.’
‘Charlie...’ She glowered. ‘If it’s some sleaze, I’m getting right off.’
‘Suit yourself,’ he said happily. ‘With the rate this guy’s prepared to pay I might even be tempted to take the boat out myself. Go check him out and let me know.’
Right. She headed out into the morning sunshine thinking at least it was a great day for being at sea, and with one customer there’d be fewer fish to clean.
She stepped on board—and Matt appeared from below.
Matt.
Boof went nuts.
Boof was far too well behaved to be permitted to go nuts. She should click her fingers, order him back to her side.
How could she do anything? Her heart seemed to have stopped.
Matt was catching Boof’s paws as he jumped up. Fondling his ears.
He was dressed casually in neat chinos, boat shoes and an open-necked shirt.
Why did he look different?
To be honest she wasn’t capable of wondering much at all. All she knew was that Matt was here and she was having trouble jump-starting her heart again.
‘Happy New Year,’ he told her, smiling straight at her.
‘I... Happy New Year.’
‘I wanted to come earlier but I had things to organise.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘I... You’ve come all this way...’ She was struggling here. ‘Henry? Peggy?’
‘They’re still at McLellan Place. I’d have brought them but Steven still won’t let Henry leave the country. Not until the adoption goes through.’
‘You’re still...adopting?’ Each word seemed an effort.
‘It’s early days yet,’ he told her. ‘But as long as it’s made clear publicly that Steven hasn’t abandoned Henry, he’s amenable. But meanwhile, Meg, I’ve paid for charter. You want to put to sea?’
She took three deep breaths and steadied.
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘Garnett Island,’ he told her. ‘I need to check my new investment.’
‘You’ve bought it?’ That was a squeak. ‘From Peggy?’
‘I have.’
‘But why?’
‘Let’s go see,’ he told her. ‘We can talk about it later. It’s a great day. Let’s just enjoy it.’
‘Matt...’
‘There are lots of things we need to talk about,’ he said, suddenly grave. ‘There are so many things I messed up. I need time to explain, time to get things in perspective. If you’ll trust me to go to sea with you... Meg, can we enjoy the morning and let things happen as they will? No rush. For now let’s just be together and let the future take care of itself.’
* * *
There was little choice but to agree. In truth there was little to disagree about. He wanted to go to Garnett and she was being paid to take him. What was there in that to make her feel as if the world were holding its breath?
There were so many questions spinning in her head but there didn’t seem any way she could get them out. Matt didn’t seem to want to talk, so neither did she.
She stood at the wheel and he stood beside her. Not touching but close.
The day was calm and warm—he really was seeing Bass Strait at its best. Dolphins were treating their wake as their own personal surf, leaping in and out of the milky foam, ducking under the boat, charging ahead—like a guard of honour?
It was almost dreamlike. That Matt was here... She had no idea what was happening but the closer they got to Garnett, the more she felt that something had stilled within her, some emptiness was filling.
It had to be her imagination. There was a part of her that was fighting to keep her stupid heart under control.
He’d bought Garnett? So what? It wouldn’t dent his wealth and it’d give Peggy independence. It was only sensible that he come and check it out, figure what to do with it.
With her. He’d asked for her.
Down, she told her heart. Stop jumping about like a puppy with a treat in store. She had to stay sensible.
Halfway out she produced her standard punter fare of cheese sandwiches and coffee. She stayed at the wheel, munching her sandwich, checking out a bunch of cormorants diving off one of the rocky outcrops.
‘It’s stunning,’ Matt said softly. ‘I never realised how beautiful. Last time I was here...’
‘You were too busy working out how to stay alive,’ she said dryly and he smiled.
‘I didn’t have to worry about that. You
were showing us how to live.’
There was enough in that to take her breath away all over again. There was also enough there to make her focus—fiercely—on her cheese sandwich and not say anything at all.
Finally Garnett Island came into view. As far as she knew, no one had been near the place for months. There’d been a couple of decent storms since they’d last been here. Peggy’s boat hadn’t fared so well. It was still at its mooring, but it had started taking water and was now partly submerged.
‘That’ll be a job, getting rid of her,’ Matt said.
‘You’ll replace her?’
‘I can’t stay on the island without a decent boat.’
What the...? ‘You intend to stay on the island?’
‘I hope so. It’s a great place for a family holiday. And Peggy tells me it’s a haven for sea creatures. I’m starting to think we might form a chain of wildlife sanctuaries. Small but many. Today, McLellan Place and Garnett Island. Tomorrow, the world.’
There was even more to take her breath away. Luckily she had stuff to do. It took skill to manoeuvre the boat safely into the only part of Peggy’s jetty that was still available. Matt helped, stepping easily out of the boat, manoeuvring ropes, attaching them with skill.
This was a charter. He’d wanted to come here to see his purchase. She had to stay sensible.
‘I’ll stay with the boat,’ she said and he grinned.
‘You think I engineered this whole thing so I could sit up in Peggy’s house by myself? In your dreams, Meg O’Hara. What you see before you is step one of the McLellan and O’Hara Master Plan, and that plan has Meg O’Hara right in the very middle. Take you away and the whole thing disintegrates. You want to see?’ And he held out his hand to help her off the boat.
She stared at his hand in bewilderment.
No one helped her off her boat. For some reason that thought was front and centre. Not since she could remember. Even as a tiny kid she’d made that leap herself.
He held out his hand and she thought, I can do it myself.
But... The McLellan and O’Hara Master Plan. Not the McLellan Plan.
His hand was just there.
She reached out and took it. He tugged her upward and she came a little too fast. It turned into a hug, a gentle caress, and then he put her away, still holding her hand but taking it no further. As if there were things to be said. Things to be sorted.
‘If we’re going up to the house maybe we should take the sandwiches,’ she ventured. ‘The charter includes food for the day. Cheese sandwiches for morning tea, salad sandwiches for lunch, fruit cake for a midafternoon snack.’
‘Food’s been organised,’ he said. ‘It’s in the house. Come and see.’
His hold on her hand firmed. Numbly, she allowed him to lead her along the overgrown path, up to the house.
Boof, delighted to be off the boat, hared away to rediscover what seemed a doggy paradise.
Last time Meg had been here this hadn’t seemed a human paradise. It had looked sad.
Now, though, the little cottage almost gleamed a welcome. Loose tin on the roof had been nailed down. Someone had worked on the garden. A pile of weeds were heaped by the fence, as if waiting to be composted.
‘We had to work fast,’ Matt said placidly. ‘Do you realise how hard it is to get things done in Australia between Christmas and New Year?’
‘It’s beach and sleep time here,’ she managed, feeling stunned. ‘But, Matt, why...?’
And then he opened the door to the cottage and she couldn’t say another word.
Gone was the appalling settee with the broken springs, the threadbare rugs, the rickety furniture. Peggy had asked for the things she most valued to be taken off the island and Meg had expected to see the place stripped. Instead, the shabby furniture had been replaced by...gorgeous.
No, not gorgeous, she thought, as she stared in amazement around the little living room. By simple. By comfortable. By cosy.
The settee was big and squishy. The rug was thick and warm. Lamps were set on either side of the fireplace.
Some of Peggy’s photographs had been returned to the mantle. Another photograph took pride of place, though. It was a picture taken by the reporter from Rowan Bay’s local paper the day they were rescued.
Four people were climbing from the helicopter. Peggy was holding Henry. She was turning back to smile as Matt lifted Meg from the chopper.
It was an action photo but it was much more. It was four people who’d come together in the most extraordinary circumstances.
‘I figure it’s our first family photo,’ Matt said tentatively. ‘At least I hope it is.’
She stared at the photo and then she turned and stared at Matt.
He’d lost his assurance, she thought. His eyes held doubt. Hope. Fear?
‘What’s happening?’ she managed.
‘Meg, we have a chance to change our lives,’ he said and he took her hands. The link was warm, strong, but still she felt the tremor of uncertainty. ‘I’ve messed it up. I’m hoping with everything I have that I haven’t messed it up for ever.’
How to answer that? She had to make her voice work. Caution, her sensible self was saying. If it’s more of the same, you have to find the strength to pull away.
‘You’d better... You’d better tell me.’
‘First things first.’ She was right, the look in his eyes was definitely anxious. ‘I’ve resigned as chairman of McLellan Corporation.’
‘You’ve resigned.’
‘As of this week. My combined family’s currently having forty fits. My cousins are vying for the job. I have the biggest pecuniary interest so I get the say. I’m actually thinking of appointing my secretary. Helen knows the company backward and she’ll support what I plan.’
‘What you plan?’ Did she sound like a parrot? She couldn’t care.
‘Here’s the thing,’ he told her. ‘Meg, after Christmas, after your phone call, after seeing you on the beach, I started thinking why am I doing...what I’m doing. The answer came back that I’m good at it. I’m good at moving and shaking. I’m good at making money. But you’re right, it’s what I do. I’ve never questioned what I am. So then I thought who am I? And the deeper question is, who do I want to be?’
‘Which is?’ She’d started to shake. Why? It was warm enough.
Someone must have been here this morning. There was a fire in the grate. She could see the table set in the kitchen. She could see a bottle of wine. Glasses.
To say she was discombobulated was an understatement. All she could do was feel the warmth of Matt’s hold, and wait for him...to set her world right?
‘That’s where the adoption comes in,’ he told her. ‘I want to be Henry’s dad. I want to be a part of his life.’
‘That’s...that’s great?’
‘And I want to care for Peggy. We’ve talked about it. We reckon if I’m Henry’s dad, then Peggy can be my mother-in-law. It makes sense. We both like the idea.’
‘I... Yeah.’ She could see that.
‘And I don’t want to work in Manhattan any more. At least, not much. Meg, as soon as I started thinking past what I do, the “wants” and the “don’t wants” started cascading. When I was fifteen my grandfather allocated me the office next to his. He introduced me to “our people”. As a kid, as a college student, I’d use my over-the-top office to study, picking up knowledge of the company while I did. It seemed natural. It seemed what I was. It’s only this jolt... It’s only you, Meg O’Hara, who’s made me see it’s not who I am at all.’
‘So...’ Wow, she was struggling. ‘You’re adopting Henry—and Peggy? You’re quitting work?’
‘I’m not quitting work. I’m probably going to be busier than I’ve ever been. That’s the next step. I asked myself what gives me the most satisfaction. And one of the things is my turtles.�
��
‘Protecting them...’
‘With my gates? No. I’ve figured another way. I’m throwing the gates open. Peggy concurs. She’ll help me. We’re starting to channel McLellan money into forming conservation areas. More, we’ll make part of what we do education. McLellan Place is one of the best places in the world to bring school groups, to teach, to learn. And we can set up places all around the world.’
‘W-we?’
‘You and me,’ he told her. ‘This isn’t who I want to be, Meg O’Hara. It’s what I want us to be. Which is you and me and Peggy and Henry and Boof and Stretchie and Puddles and whoever else comes along. My family.’
‘Family.’ She felt dizzy. This was unreal. Crazy. She was frantically trying to make herself make sense.
‘How can you bring school groups to Garnett?’ she managed, which was ridiculous but her head was spinning in so many directions the dizziness was almost making her sway.
‘We might have trouble bringing school groups here,’ he conceded, and he smiled down at her, a wide, encompassing smile that made her heart turn over. ‘It’s definitely a conservation area but I’m thinking we might be a little bit selfish.’
‘What...what do you mean?’
‘Let me show you,’ he said, and his dark eyes gleamed with laughter. And tenderness. And...something that made her feel as if she were melting.
And before she knew what he was about he’d swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs.
There were three bedrooms up here: Peggy’s, the little room she’d furnished for Henry and a spare. In the time she’d been here, Meg had investigated and seen a barren room with nothing to recommend it but sunbeams shining through a dormer window and a view almost to Tasmania.
But now the room had been transformed with soft rugs, chintz curtains, lamps. Centre stage was the most enormous bed she’d ever seen. Covered with a feather duvet, pillows, pillows and more pillows, it was the sort of bed you could invite a small army to share.
‘Is it big enough?’ Matt asked, sounding anxious, and she almost choked.
‘How did you get this here?’ she squeaked. ‘How did you even get it up the stairs?’
Cinderella and the Billionaire Page 17