Storms Over Blackpeak

by Holly Ford

  She woke to Ash’s touch, his fingers gently circling the naked skin of the small of her back. The afternoon sky beyond the turret window was a cold and steely grey, but the room was warm, a red and yellow glow playing over the ceiling. Sleepily, she rolled over. He’d lit the fire. In its light, Cally looked up into his beautiful, broken face. She could feel so much happiness bubbling inside her she thought she might burst like a champagne cork out of its bottle.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said, softly, his eyes following the movement of his hand as it traced the line of her thigh. ‘I just can’t believe you’re actually here.’

  That made two of them. ‘I am,’ she reassured them both.

  ‘Yes.’ Ash leaned over her. ‘You are.’

  When she slipped out from under his arm some time later, the fire was down to its final few embers and the bedroom was all but dark. Trying not to wake Ash, Cally searched the floor for her clothes. Finding them cold and wet, she helped herself, smiling, to one of Ash’s clean shirts, put more wood on the fire and, with one last look at his sleeping face, sneaked off to brush her teeth.

  ‘Hey,’ she laughed, as the bathroom door opened behind her. ‘I’m in here.’

  Ash grinned, his hands sliding up her shirt as he lifted her onto the countertop. ‘I know.’

  EPILOGUE

  Raising her head from Luke’s shoulder, Ella looked out through the window of The Plaza Hotel at the rain teeming down over Central Park. New York’s heat wave had finally broken.

  ‘You’re awake.’ Luke tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear.

  She buried her face in his neck again, breathing in the smell of his skin and the crisp, snow-white pillow beside him, as his arms tightened around her. It was still hard to believe she wasn’t dreaming.

  As if to prove Luke’s existence, his phone started to ring. He reached across the giant bed. ‘I think this is for you.’ Rolling her gently onto her back, he pressed the phone into her hand. ‘It’s Richard.’

  Oh! God, she’d completely forgotten to let him know—

  ‘It’s all right,’ Luke said quickly. ‘I filled him in last night while you were in the shower.’

  ‘Ella,’ Richard’s voice boomed in her ear. ‘How are you this morning?’

  ‘Very well.’ Blushing slightly, Ella pulled up the sheet. ‘Thank you.’ She bit her lip. ‘Richard, thank you for everything. So much. You’ve been amazing.’

  ‘Sweetheart. All I did was make a couple of calls. I’m not the one who rode fourteen thousand miles to your rescue.’

  Oh dear. Was she going to cry again? ‘I have a feeling you had something to do with that, too,’ she told him, softly, pressing the phone closer to her ear in the hope that Luke wouldn’t hear Richard’s reply. ‘What on earth did you say?’

  ‘It didn’t take very much. I just told him what had happened.’

  ‘Was that really all?’

  ‘Well, I may have thrown in one or two things I’ve learned over the years about Harrington women, but that was by the bye. He was already on his way.’

  Meeting Luke’s eyes, Ella smiled. Judging by the grin on his face, he knew perfectly well what they were discussing.

  ‘Anyway,’ Richard’s tone brightened, ‘I didn’t just call to talk about that. Can you let me know as soon as you get a new phone? I want to give my agent the number, if that’s all right with you.’

  Oh, that was kind, but … ‘It’s okay,’ she told him. ‘I won’t be needing anyone in New York. I’m going home.’

  ‘Home?’ he queried.

  ‘With Luke.’ Wherever, frankly, that might be. She watched Luke stretch and study the breakfast menu, pretending not to listen.

  ‘I’m very pleased to hear it.’ Richard cleared his throat. ‘But I wasn’t talking about Joel. I meant Fenella, my literary agent.’

  What?

  ‘Yesterday didn’t seem the right time to bring it up,’ he went on, sounding very pleased with himself, ‘but my publisher wants to use that portrait you took of me for the book cover. You know, my autobiography. Fen has a contract she’d like you to look at.’

  That was … that was … Ella’s tired brain struggled to process it. ‘That’s fantastic,’ she got out, at last.

  ‘I told her about your other work,’ Richard said. ‘She’d like to see that, too.’

  Her jaw dropped. ‘You’re kidding.’

  ‘Since you’re heading back to New Zealand,’ he said, the grin quite clear in his voice, ‘you can ask Fen yourself very soon. She’s coming over with me next month.’

  Ella was speechless.

  ‘Well,’ said Richard. ‘That’s all I wanted to tell you. I’ll let you two go. You must have things to catch up on.’

  Lizzie put down the phone.

  ‘That was Ella,’ she told Carr, walking into the bedroom. ‘She and Luke just got back.’

  ‘Have you told them yet?’

  She shook her head. ‘They’re coming down next weekend. I thought I’d wait till we’re all together.’ She looked out through the bedroom window at the leafless rows of vines stretching up to the hills, the icy glitter of Black Peak in the distance. She was hoping that Luke might be able to help her decide what on earth she was going to do with the place.

  Walking over to stand beside her, Carr slipped his arms around her waist. ‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said, ‘we should put in a gate.’

  Lizzie turned her head to look at him. ‘A gate,’ she said, wondering if and when more information might be coming.

  ‘In the fence.’ Carr nodded up at the vineyard’s southern boundary. ‘It’ll make it easier to run both properties together.’

  She tried to keep the astonishment out of her voice. ‘Are you saying you think we should keep the vineyard?’

  ‘Well,’ his mouth twitched, ‘we’ve got to have somewhere to go when Ash chucks us out of the homestead.’

  Lizzie stared at him.

  ‘If it’s here, I’ll always be able to take a run over the hills and check he’s running the place right.’

  She laughed. ‘Even when they take your driver’s licence away.’

  ‘Exactly.’

  Curled up on the window seat, Cally watched the rain trickle down the mullioned panes of the turret window. In a few more hours, Carr and Lizzie would be back from their long weekend at the vineyard. She relaxed as Ash, settling himself into the cushions behind her, gathered her close. Outside, misty cloud was lying low on the hills, and the garden was soft and grey.

  ‘We should get up,’ she said, ‘before your dad gets home.’

  ‘They’ll be a while yet.’

  Cally turned her face into his chest, feeling the skin warm beneath her cheek.

  ‘You know, there’s something I’ve been trying to decide these past couple of weeks,’ Ash said. ‘You might be able to help me.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘I think maybe it’s time I moved out of here. I’ve been talking to Dad about it.’

  Move? Cally felt the world stop. ‘Move where?’

  ‘Just down the drive,’ he said quickly. ‘The cottage. It’s not exactly this place, but it’s okay.’ He paused. ‘It could be, anyway.’

  ‘But,’ she frowned, ‘do you want to move out?’ Her eyes wandered over the beautiful room. How could he bear to leave it?

  Behind her, she felt the muscles move as Ash shrugged.

  ‘The cottage does go with the job. And that way everybody would have a bit more space. Dad and Lizzie.’ He paused. ‘You and me.’

  Well, if Ash wasn’t across the hall, it would certainly slow their relationship down a bit. But that was okay, wasn’t it? It was a bit much to expect that they’d be together every night. And he’d only be a few hundred metres away, after all.

  ‘So what have you decided,’ she asked him, ‘so far?’

  ‘That it depends.’

  Cally nodded. ‘On what?’

  ‘On whether you’ll come with me.’

  She twisted to face h
im. ‘You mean …’

  ‘The cottage’ll need a bit of fixing up. But it could be our place. Just you and me.’ Ash looked down at her, eyes shining. ‘What do you think? Could you stand the commute?’

  ‘But,’ she stammered, not sure whether to laugh or cry, ‘wouldn’t you miss this place? It’s your home. This is where you belong.’

  ‘It’s not forever.’ Ash looked slowly around the room. Then, with a quick grin, he kissed her neck. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll be back.’

  A compelling rural romance set in the rugged high country of New Zealand’s South Island.

  Four generations of the Black family have farmed Blackpeak Station. Next in line, or so she believes, is Charlotte Black, stubborn as rock and unbiddable as the weather. But standing in her way are 150 years of tradition, an older brother, and a father who believes that daughters run families, not farms.

  To make her childhood dream of owning the family property come true, she’ll have to be as tough as the mountains themselves. There can be no room for romance in Charlotte’s life. Or so she thinks, until it arrives at her door. Can she have both love and land, or must she choose? Can Charlotte learn to trust her heart?

  A mother and daughter arrive at Blackpeak Vineyard in search of a new life and new love in this sizzling romance.

  Longing for a new life in the country, former television executive Lizzie Harrington settles on the vineyard south of Blackpeak Station, bringing with her some glamorous guests – none more so than the dazzling actor Richard Bourne, with whom Lizzie has had a secret love affair for years. But in the hills beyond Lizzie’s boundary fence lives a very different sort of man. Could one unforgettable encounter be about to change the course of Lizzie’s life in more ways than she had expected?

  Meanwhile, a visit from Lizzie’s beautiful daughter, Ella, puts other hearts in danger. At Blackpeak Station, Charlotte Black and the love of her life are busy not only with sheep but also a fashion shoot featuring Italian male models. Of all the men at Blackpeak, will Ella fall for the one she can’t have? And what of the striking man whom Lizzie unwittingly ushers back into Charlotte’s life?

  Grab a checked shirt and hold on – in Holly Ford’s new high-country adventure, the course of true love is about to get bumpy.

  Praise for Blackpeak Station

  ‘Blackpeak Station is a great read. It has a strong storyline, excellent flow, lots of ‘almost’ local pillars and landmarks. Well worth the recommended … retail price.’

  — Jacquie Webby, Oamaru Mail

  ‘Blackpeak Station is a celebration, in a sense, of high country life, and all its beauty and splendour. It has been sympathetically written to convey authentically the setting, the characters and relationships, and the challenges of living in this remote part of New Zealand. The story is engaging, the characters true, and the setting beautifully realised. If you think this is just another romance, think again as there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. Blackpeak Station is contemporary, it is well written and gambols along at a pace to keep you hooked. It is, as they say, a really good yarn.’

  — Wendy A. Mill, Daily News, Taranaki

  ‘With rural romance as a strong genre at present this is a worthy addition to the bookshelf and a great read to curl up with as the autumn chill arrives.’

  — Latitude Magazine

  ‘Nice to see a strong Kiwi heroine sticking to her guns and fighting for what she wants.’

  — Shandelle Battersby, Weekend Herald

  ‘There is a real feel of New Zealand about this story which gives the whole book a genuine feel and it is a good story of ambition over tradition.’

  — Gisborne Herald

  ‘… an easy read with likeable characters and a decent plot … While it is touted as a romance, author Holly Ford does a great job at chronicling the highs and lows, lives and losses of a farming family struggling to ensure the station’s future viability … a great escapist read for a rainy afternoon.’

  — Rebekah Fraser, Greymouth Evening Star

  Praise for Blackpeak Vines

  ‘The dialogue is sharp and the pace of the book romps along. I think a lot of women will be able to relate to Lizzie’s character and enjoy the romantic parts of the novel. I devoured Blackpeak Vines — a perfect summer read.’

  — JT, Latitude Magazine

  ‘A very light, enjoyable read.’

  — Susan Aynsley, Greymouth Evening Star

  ‘This is meant to be a pleasantly domestic, romantic read and that’s exactly what it is. The characters are well rounded and believable (though even the minor ones have escaped the ugly stick) and the story has enough drama and interest to keep the pages turning.’

  — Catherine Robertson, NZ Listener

  ‘[Blackpeak Vines] is really good and I couldn’t put it down. It’s got everything … It’s a fun read. I really recommend it.’

  — Kate Langdon, Good Morning TVNZ

  Copyright

  BANTAM

  UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia

  India | New Zealand | South Africa | China

  Bantam is an imprint of the Penguin Random House group of companies, whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

  First published by Penguin Random House New Zealand 2015

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  Text copyright © Holly Ford 2015

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  Cover design by Kate Barraclough © Penguin Random House New Zealand

  Text design by Carla Sy © Penguin Random House New Zealand

  Cover photographs by iStock: top image © Debi Bishop; bottom image © George Clerk

  Typeset in ITC New Baskerville by Sam Bunny

  Colour separation by Image Centre Group

  Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press,

  an Accredited ISO AS/NZS 14001 Environmental Management Systems Printer

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand.

  ISBN 978-1-77553-773-1

  eISBN 978-1-77553-774-8

  penguinrandomhouse.co.nz