Eldorado

by Yvonne Whittal

  'I'm glad you could come, Mr Osborne,' he said in his deep, well-modulated voice when he shook hands with Gina's father.

  'We shall miss your mother,' Raymond Osborne replied, and Jarvis nodded gravely.

  'So shall I.'

  Did he mean that? Gina wondered. Or was he merely paying lip-service to a woman he had never forgiven for her unfortunate errors in the past?

  'Hello, Georgina.' That deep voice interrupted her thoughts and, despite her height, she still had to crane her neck to look up into those cold eyes.

  An unexpected shiver raced up her spine, and she lowered her gaze hastily to the hand he had extended towards her. She placed hers rather hesitantly in his, and felt a strange current of electricity passing through her that made her withdraw her fingers hastily a moment later.

  'Hello, Jarvis,' she responded stiffly.

  Had she imagined it, or had she seen a flash of mockery in his eyes in the second before he turned from her to speak to her father? She studied his strong profile, her glance taking in the broad, intelligent forehead, the straight, high-bridged nose, and the firm, jutting jaw. He had a beautiful mouth. His lips were sternly moulded with an exciting hint of sensuality in the curve of the lower lip, but at that moment there was a tightness about his mouth that heightened the severity of his appearance, and she wondered obscurely if he had forgotten how to laugh.

  'I imagine you haven't had much time for leisure these past two years, but please feel free to come out to the farm for a weekend whenever you wish,' her father was saying, and Gina felt her body grow taut with nerves.

  'Thank you very much for the invitation, and I shall take you up on it quite soon,' Jarvis promised.

  He did not mean that. He was merely being polite. He would not really take her father up on his invitation, would he? Gina wondered frantically. Hell, she hoped not! She did not like the idea of Jarvis Cain visiting her home, and especially not when she was there. She had buried all her old feelings two years ago, and she did not want him to rake them up again.

  Jarvis turned his dark head then and again their glances clashed. She saw him look at her rather oddly before he inclined his head briefly and walked away to talk to someone else, leaving Gina with the uncomfortable feeling that he had guessed she did not want him to visit her home.

  Gina's niece was born on the Sunday afternoon, two days after Evelyn's funeral. Clifford had called Gina that evening to give her the news, and when she finally replaced the receiver she felt a mixture of excitement and melancholy surging through her. Evelyn's life had ended, but a new life had just begun, and Gina could not decide whether she should feel happy or sad.

  During the course of that week she received a disturbing letter from Harold Ashton, Evelyn's lawyer, asking her to call at his offices at her earliest convenience. She made arrangements to see him the following afternoon, and it was a shock rather than a pleasant surprise to learn that Evelyn Cain had left her a legacy of fifty thousand rand.

  'There must be some mistake!' Gina protested, but the stockily built man behind the cluttered desk shook his head and smiled.

  'There is no mistake, I assure you, Miss Osborne. As soon as the estate is wound up I shall contact you again, and if you need advice about investments I shall be only too happy to assist you.'

  Gina was in a complete daze when she went back to work that afternoon, but the feeling of unreality soon dispersed to leave her with an uneasiness she could not shake off.

  'You're not listening!' Mitzi Warner complained, and Gina pulled herself together with an effort.

  'I'm sorry,' she muttered apologetically, attempting to focus her attention on her assistant. 'You were saying?'

  'It wasn't important.' Mitzi shook her blonde head. 'What is important is the fact that you went out this afternoon and came back an hour later looking as if you'd almost been run over by a bus. Did something happen to upset you?'

  'I've inherited a large sum of money from my godmother.'

  'Is that so terrible?' Mitzi demanded curiously, and Gina took a moment to consider this.

  Was it so terrible? No, not really, she answered herself. It was simply that she felt so undeserving of such a magnanimous gift, and she was also, curiously, concerned about what Jarvis might think.

  Gina went home to the farm at the end of that week, and her pulse quickened on Friday afternoon when she turned on to the Heidelberg road and left the city behind her. It was always like this when she went home, but this time there was the added excitement of seeing her little niece for the first time. Her Alfa handled beautifully on the open road, and her foot went down heavily on the accelerator when the traffic lessened.

  It was six-fifteen when she turned off on to the gravel road that led to the farmhouse nestling among the gum and poplar trees. The cattle were being herded out of the grazing camp on to her right, and on her left the mealies stood tall and green against the pink haze of the sky at sunset. Ahead of her lay the big, sprawling homestead with its wide, trellised verandah along its front and east sides. It was an old house, which had stood for several decades, and was home to Gina.

  Her father's dusty Ford truck stood alongside the house, and Gina parked her Alfa next to it. She got out quickly to breathe the country air deep into her lungs, and she arched her tall, slender body as she raised her face towards the setting sun. In brown slacks and safari-type shirt she looked almost boyish, but there was a natural feminine grace in the way she moved when she took her bag out of the boot and walked round to the front of the house. Her heart felt lighter when she climbed the well-trodden steps up to the verandah, and the outer door creaked with a welcoming familiarity beneath her hand when she entered the house. She left her bag next to the hat stand and, following the smell of a roast in the oven and freshly ground coffee, she crossed the carpeted hall and walked down the passage into the kitchen.

  A dark-haired woman, looking slender in a floral summer frock after her months of pregnancy, turned from her inspection of the dinner simmering on the stove, and the corners of her bright blue eyes creased into a welcoming smile when she saw Gina. 'You're just in time for dinner.'

  'Hm… it smells good, Susan.' Gina kissed her sister-in-law's cheek and turned towards the grey-haired man who had risen from a chair beside the scrubbed wooden table. 'Hello, Dad.'

  'We expected you half an hour ago,' Raymond Osborne announced accusingly when he had extricated himself from his daughter's fervent embrace, and he lowered his tall, lean body on to the chair he had vacated moments before.

  'The traffic was rather heavy on the exit routes from the city,' Gina explained, turning eagerly back to Susan. 'Is there time to take a quick look at my niece before dinner?'

  'Of course there is,' Susan laughed softly, wiping her hands on a cloth and leading the way out of the kitchen and along the passage to her bedroom where a tiny, pink bundle lay sleeping in a cradle. 'Isn't she beautiful?' Susan whispered proudly.

  'Beautiful,' Gina agreed, smiling as she brushed the tips of her fingers lightly over the soft, dark hair. 'She looks like Clifford, but she has your dark hair, and if you're not careful I'm going to spoil her.'

  'When are you going to find yourself a nice young man you can marry and have children with, Gina?'

  Gina looked up sharply to meet her sister-in-law's steady gaze. 'I'm only twenty-one, Susan,' she protested.

  'And I'm twenty-two with a husband and a child.'

  'You were lucky enough to meet the right man,' Gina answered defensively, and with a certain amount of envy that she could not suppress.

  'The trouble with you is you don't let any man get close enough to you, and if you don't do that you'll never find out if he's the right man for you.' Susan continued the argument in a lowered voice.

  'That's not quite true,' Gina protested calmly. 'Norman Thorpe and I spend a lot of time in each other's company.'

  'And how close do you let him get to you?'

  'Close enough.'

  'Within arm's length, mentally
and physically, I presume,' grinned Susan, and Gina felt herself colouring in the dim bedside light.

  'I don't want a physical relationship with Norman, and I don't feel the need to share all my private thoughts with him.' She turned away agitatedly until her face with in shadow. 'I don't want that kind of relationship with a man.'

  'When the right man comes along you'll want to be physically close, and you'll want to share all your thoughts with him.' Susan spoke with quiet conviction.

  There was only one man Gina had thought could make her feel like that, but he was beyond her reach. Anyway, she enjoyed her freedom, it was something she cherished, and she had no burning desire to change her lifestyle in a hurry.'

  'I hope dinner is ready, because I'm starving.' Gina changed the subject, and Susan did not pursue the matter as she accompanied Gina out of the room.

  Clifford had been out mending fences washed down by the recent rainstorms, but he arrived home in time to join them for dinner. His tall, bulky frame made the floorboards shudder beneath him when he entered the dining-room.

  'Hello, George,' he smiled teasingly, his welcoming embrace almost a punishment. 'How's your love-life?'

  Gina looked up at her fair-haired brother with stormy green eyes. 'Don't call me George, and mind your own business!'

  'Cheeky as ever, I notice,' he laughed throatily, pushing a big, calloused hand through his unruly hair before he pulled out a chair and seated himself at the table. 'It's going to take a man of steel to keep you in order, little sister, and I don't envy him the task.'

  He had inherited their mother's velvety-brown eyes, and they were laughing at Gina in a way that made an involuntary smile pluck at her generous mouth. 'I wonder sometimes why I tolerate you!'

  He laughed again, a deep, thundering laugh, and it was so contagious that Gina laughed as well. Clifford was eight years older than Gina, and they were very close despite the fact that his teasing often drove her to anger. He was a warm, spontaneous and loving person. He was also fortunate to have found a wife like Susan who had fitted so perfectly into the family, and Gina could almost envy them their happiness.

  It was late that evening before Gina got to bed, but she was up early the following morning and was not surprised to find her father and brother drinking coffee in the kitchen at that early hour.

  'Why are you up this early?' her father demanded.

  'I thought I'd take Jupiter out for some exercise,' she said, helping herself to a cup of coffee, and drinking it quickly.

  'I'd be careful of that black devil, if I were you,' Raymond warned gravely. 'He's been stabled for two weeks without sufficient exercise, and he's been temperamental lately.'

  'Gina should have settled for an even-tempered horse like Star,' Clifford intervened, turning to Gina with brotherly concern. 'You're going to break your neck on that horse one day if you're not careful.'

  'Riding a horse like Star is like sitting astride a lifeless log, so I'll stick to Jupiter,' Gina laughed carelessly. 'See you both later.'

  The sun had not yet risen when she strode out to the stables. Her father was right. The black Arab stallion's magnificent body had not had sufficient exercise, and he was extremely temperamental. Jupiter's ears flipped back when she approached his box, a sure sign of bad temper, but Gina spoke to him in a calm, soothing voice. He snorted, lifting his head arrogantly, and pricked his ears as a signal that he recognised her.

  'Please bring me my saddle, Solomon,' Gina asked the stablehand who had approached her, keeping her voice lowered and calm for Jupiter's sake. Solomon did so at once, even though his eyes widened with alarm.

  Gina rubbed Jupiter's black nose, and slid her hand in a light caress along his neck while she continued to speak quietly to him. She felt him quiver with suppressed energy, and he stepped about restlessly, eager for his freedom. She shot back the bolts on the stable door when Solomon arrived, and he helped her to saddle the spirited animal she had begged her father to buy a year ago.

  'He's a devil this morning, Miss Gina,' Solomon warned when they were leading Jupiter out into the yard.

  'I can handle him,' Gina answered confidently, her hands sliding along the quivering horse's neck, and with no effort at all she was in the saddle.

  Jupiter reared, his front legs clawing the air when he felt her weight on his back, and Solomon leapt back hastily with a jaundiced look on his face.

  He shouted a warning, but Gina was not listening. She was still firmly in the saddle despite the stallion's efforts to dislodge her and, leaning forward, she shouted close to his ear, 'Let's go, Jupiter!'

  The stallion needed no further encouragement. He sped across the yard and out through the open gate, hooves thundering on the soft earth, and the wind whipping through his mane as it whipped through Gina's red-gold hair. Sheep scattered in various directions when horse and rider raced across the veld, and pheasants fluttered noisily from their nests in the tall grass, but the cattle stood chewing their cud and seemed to view this wild escapade with such disdain that Gina's laughter rang out above the thudding of Jupiter's hooves.

  She did not attempt to rein him in. She leaned forward in the saddle, her body moving in perfect unison with the rhythm of the horse, her hands on the reins acting simply as a gentle guide. The smell of the dew-wet earth mingled with that of horseflesh and creaking leather to add to the exhilaration of this exercise, and she revelled in her own freedom as much as Jupiter did in his.

  Jupiter and Gina were in harmony with each other, and it was almost a joint decision to stop eventually on the crest of a hill to enjoy the silence and the beauty of nature at that early hour of the morning. Gina's gaze went beyond the neat rows of mealies to where the sun was rising behind the distant hills, and a predatory hawk had already begun to circle lazily in the sky, its keen eyes seeking a defenceless prey. Jupiter snorted, pawing the ground with renewed impatience, and Gina touched his sides lightly with her heels as an indication that she was ready to go.

  The ride home was accomplished with less vigour but with equal enjoyment, and the early morning sun was climbing swiftly into the sky when they entered the yard at a slow trot.

  A silver Jaguar was parked beside the house next to her Alfa, and a frown creased Gina's smooth brow. She knew no one who had a car like that, and a vague uneasiness stole through her when she reached the stables. She slid off Jupiter's back in a graceful, fluid movement, and gently patted the animal's neck, praising him absently in her soft, husky voice. Who on earth could be visiting them at this early hour of the morning? she wondered, as Jupiter responded to her praise with a whinny and a nudge against her shoulder before Solomon led him away.

  The outer door slammed shut behind Gina when she entered the kitchen where Susan was supervising the breakfast preparations.

  'We have a visitor,' Susan told her.

  'So I've gathered.' Gina surveyed the activities in the kitchen with curiosity. 'Who is it?'

  'Jarvis Cain.'

  'Oh, lord!' groaned Gina, pushing her fingers through her windblown hair. She should have known! Something should have warned her that it would be Jarvis Cain!

  CHAPTER TWO

  Gina felt curiously faint as she stood staring at her sister-in-law. 'What the devil is Jarvis Cain doing here?'

  'I understand he is here at your father's invitation, and I think he's quite devastatingly handsome.' Susan pretended to swoon, but her glance sharpened the next instant at Gina's taut features. 'Don't you like him?'

  'Let's just say I don't dislike him.' Gina evaded Susan's query. 'When did he arrive?'

  'About half an hour ago.' Susan scrutinised everything on the trolley before she turned back to Gina who stood hovering with indecision and uncertainty in the kitchen. 'Would you be an angel and tell the men that breakfast is about to be served in the dining-room?'

  Nervous repugnance seemed to make Gina's insides coil into an uncomfortable knot. 'Do I have to?'

  'There's no sense in hiding from him, is there, Gina?' Susan laughed
but at that moment Gina could see no humour in the situation.

  'I suppose you're right,' she agreed, attempting to hide her nervousness behind an outwardly casual appearance.

  She walked out of the kitchen, and could feel her heart beating somewhere in the region of her throat when she followed the sound of male voices into the lounge. Jarvis rose from his chair when she entered the room, presenting an imposing figure despite the casualness of his cream slacks and sweater. His dark hair was brushed back severely from his broad fore-head, and steel-grey eyes flicked over her in a swift, unflattering appraisal that made her embarrassingly aware of how she was dressed. Her riding boots were dusty, her blue denims old and faded at the knees and around her posterior, and there was a tear in the sleeve of her blue checked shirt which she had not bothered to mend when the collar had long since become frayed in the wash. She felt an annoying warmth steal into her cheeks, but there was a hint of defiance in her green eyes that withstood Jarvis's steady appraisal.

  'Good morning, Georgina,' he acknowledged her politely, his deep, well-modulated voice sending a not unfamiliar tremor racing up her spine.

  'Hello, Jarvis,' she responded with a calmness that did not betray the turmoil inside her, but her mouth felt curiously dry when she turned from him hastily to confront her father and brother. 'I was told to tell you that breakfast is about to be served in the dining-room.'

  'Ah, come along, then, Jarvis,' her father smiled at their guest as he and Clifford rose from their armchairs.

  Gina led the way across the carpeted hall into the dining-room, uncomfortably aware of Jarvis's eyes lingering on her body.

  'You smell like a horse,' Clifford teased her tactlessly, heightening her embarrassment, and she turned on him with eyes that sparked green fire.

  'How would you expect me to smell when I've just come in from a ride?' she demanded icily, and a look of surprise flashed across Clifford's rugged face. 'At any rate, I wasn't aware that we would have a distinguished visitor joining us for breakfast this morning,' she added acidly.