by Margaret Way
Gideon didn’t have time to think about the woman’s abrupt leavetaking. He would straighten things out with her when he returned to Melbourne.
For now, he turned to Callie. ‘I just spoke with my finance manager.’ How did he explain that he had ignored all reports on the guest house’s progress, preferring not to let himself think about the waif of a girl who had tempted him almost beyond his commitment to marry Dianna? That marriage had foundered two years ago, but that was hardly the point.
Gideon couldn’t explain it—other than to put that night down to an unexpected burst of sexual attraction on his part, and a sweet but childish foolishness on Callie’s. Yet he still felt it now—that edge of consciousness of Callie that had been birthed when she’d set out so naïvely to try and seduce him.
Being attracted to her was the last thing he’d wanted to feel. Back then Callie had been too young, and he’d been about to get married. Now he was divorced. Dianna had taken her nice tidy financial settlement and moved in with the even tidier minor prince of a struggling principality on the other side of the world. A social step upwards. Given his own family’s attitude, and their expectations in relation to social standing, how could he blame Dianna for that?
After their separation Gideon had got on with his life without much of a ripple. Callie, on the other hand, was a ripples kind of girl. A girl who would fall madly in love—not want to see financial statements and a family tree back five generations before she committed herself. Gideon wasn’t a ripples man. And he’d been taught from the cradle that financial statements, and the content thereof, were right up there with the Holy Grail.
‘The management position here is yours, Callie, for as long as you want it and as long as it’s working out.’ That was what he needed to say. Callie’s secure future was all he needed to think about. ‘I only needed to know you weren’t being left out in the cold, and since you’re not—’
‘I’m nicely tidied away once again?’ Her words were flippant, throwaway. The expression in her eyes before she glanced away belied that flippancy, but then a burst of noise came from inside the guest house and she turned her head.
Gideon followed the direction of her gaze just in time to see a middle-aged man step out through the front doors. He walked straight towards them.
‘Callie?’ The man had a deep voice, and a face that was somehow familiar to Gideon. ‘Is this Mary’s nephew? He’s made it for the wedding after all?’
‘Yes, actually. Isn’t that wonderful?’ Callie stepped forward with a strained smile.
Because of her conversation with Gideon? He’d let the replacement manager go. Callie’s job was secure. So what was worrying her?
Gideon examined the tall, middle-aged man with blond hair and grey eyes and plenty of life stamped into the deep grooves of his face. Puzzle pieces began to click into place.
Callie paused and drew a deep breath. ‘MacKay Jones, I’d like you to meet Gideon Deveraux. Gideon, this is Mary’s fiancé.’
Gideon’s brows snapped down. There might be more than one MacKay Jones in Australia, of course, but Gideon now understood the sense of familiarity. He’d seen this man’s face splashed across the newspapers and on the TV news. It had been years ago. MacKay was the head of a well-known family—and not in a good way…
Gideon’s gaze swung to Callie’s face.
Her chin lifted and she directed a stare at him. One that warned him.
What? Not to ask what his aunt was doing, marrying a notorious white-collar criminal? The eldest of a family of four brothers who’d cost Australia’s economy enormous amounts of money because of the crimes they’d committed? They’d got away with it over decades, until they were finally caught. They had all been incarcerated for those crimes in the 1990s. MacKay would have been behind bars for at least a decade.
And Mary wanted to marry this man? Marry into that history? Put herself in the hands of someone like that?
‘I recognise the name.’ From the corner of his eye Gideon caught movement across the guest house’s garden grounds. A guest, no doubt. A MacKay guest? Were there a lot of MacKay guests here? Even more potential for trouble? ‘Not that I saw it on the invitation,’ Gideon murmured, while his mind examined the possibilities and he tried to comprehend why Mary would have aligned herself with this man. ‘Mary hand-scribbled it on a piece of pink paper and conveniently left out—’
‘Mary invited her favourite nephew to her wedding because she wanted you to be present for an occasion that means a lot to her.’ MacKay Jones spoke mildly, but his eyes narrowed. ‘As far as I’m concerned, that’s the only fact that’s relevant here.’
There was a protectiveness in this man towards his future bride that Gideon couldn’t miss, and he didn’t quite know what to make of that other than its meaning that if Gideon felt he needed to pull Mary out of this situation—even with his power and his money—doing so could potentially a) be difficult, and b) have ramifications. What sort of man was he dealing with?
Gideon wanted information—knowledge so he could work out how best to manage this unexpected turn of events. He hefted his travel bag in his hand.
‘Perhaps I could dump this somewhere and we could have a chat, Callandra? Catch up about a few things.’ They needed to do that now even more than before. When Mary returned Gideon would need to speak with her as well. But for now, he had questions for Callie. ‘In the manager’s office?’
‘I have responsibilities—things I need to do.’
The old familiar gleam of defiance was in Callie’s eyes. A mixture of anger and…and feeling trapped, as though her power over making her own decisions was under threat. Why hadn’t he seen that in her before?
‘Callie—’
‘There’s nothing to speak about anyway, Gideon.’ She glanced at MacKay Jones, and this time, despite the worry in the backs of her eyes, it was clear that she, too, felt affection for this man his aunt must obviously love.
A daughterly kind of affection.
The sort that might blind her to keeping herself safe?
‘Please.’ Gideon glanced at MacKay and then locked his gaze with Callie’s big green eyes. ‘I really don’t feel I can take no for an answer on this right now.’
Callie dithered for several seconds before she finally gave in. ‘Fine. It’ll be a waste of time, but we’ll talk. At least by doing that I can pave the way, so Mary doesn’t have to—’
She stopped herself, but the same thoughts were in Gideon’s mind. Mary had disappeared today in case he’d decided to show up. That way she wouldn’t have to be the one to confront her nephew when he arrived and discovered just who she intended to marry.
Callie glanced at MacKay once more. ‘Mac, will you keep going with the wedding preparations for me? This won’t take long.’
The man hesitated. Not because he didn’t want to do the work, Gideon imagined, but because he wasn’t sure he wanted Callie fighting any battles on his behalf.
MacKay frowned in Gideon’s direction. ‘It might be better if Gideon and I speak.’
‘Not this time.’ Callie said it gently, before Gideon could say anything at all. She rested a hand on the older man’s wiry arm and gently met his gaze. ‘Please, Mac?’
After a moment MacKay dipped his head. ‘All right. But I’ll be here if you need me.’
‘I know you will.’ Callie touched his arm again as she passed him.
Gideon followed her as she veered not towards any office area but outside.
They got as far as the beach before he broke the silence. ‘Do you have some kind of objection to speaking inside? In the office?’ The sand beneath their feet made soft crunching sounds as he asked his question.
Callie shrugged one shoulder. ‘Mary always says things discussed in the outdoors are easier to resolve. I thought you’d like it. You had a beach wedding…’
‘Dianna’s idea. It made her look good in the society pages.’
‘I’m sorry she left you, Gideon.’ Her expression held empathy
, concern for him, and questions he could read as clearly as if she had spoken them aloud.
Had he managed to fall for Dianna during their marriage? Or had he still seen her as an accessory to his life and goals, nothing more?
If the former, Callie would be disappointed in him. If the latter…he wasn’t sure what she would think.
She went on. ‘I hope that it didn’t hurt you too much when it happened?’
This much was clear. Her sincerity was obvious. The almost wounded expression that quickly came and went in the backs of her eyes was less so.
She dropped her gaze away from his. ‘Sorry. I forgot for a moment that it was never about that for you. It was only about suitability.’
‘That’s right.’ He hadn’t been hurt, and yet, looking into her eyes, now he ached in ways he couldn’t explain.
Callie kicked at a clump of damp sand with her foot.
He thought she murmured, ‘So why did it hurt me so much at the time?’ but he wasn’t certain.
Gideon wondered how the conversation had turned into this territory anyway. He forced it back—because that was better for both of them. ‘We need to speak about Mary and this man.’
‘About a wedding that’s going to make two people very much in love even happier?’ Callie’s chin tipped up to a challenging angle.
‘Will my aunt be happy if her safety is in danger with MacKay Jones?’ Maybe it hadn’t been all that wise to put Callie into Mary’s hands. At the time he’d thought it would be best for Callie.
It had been best. Callie was happy here. That was what mattered. Mary did check in and make sure you knew that, even if you didn’t often respond to her messages.
Yes, but what about now?
‘Mary adores Mac.’ Callie spoke the words to Gideon with conviction. She had to make Gideon see this and accept it. The sooner the better. Yes, Mac had a criminal record. Yes, he’d done some dubious things in his past. But the Mac she and Mary knew was a wonderful man, and Gideon was going to have to accept that.
Callie searched Gideon’s face and her heart ached. He didn’t understand about Mac and Mary’s love. Because he’s not capable of loving like that, and he was certainly never going to love a young girl like that.
It had hurt so much when Gideon married Dianna. Callie had spent that day wandering all over the island and trying not to think about him—about how he had rejected the offer of her heart and chosen an emotionless match with Dianna instead.
Callie cut off the thoughts. They were the height of silliness anyway. She’d been a baby—hadn’t known her mind, let alone her heart!
Crush. It had been a crush.
‘MacKay Jones has spent years of his life in jail.’ Gideon’s brows drew down.
Callie forced her attention back to the conversation. This was about Mac and Mary, not her and Gideon. Not that there was any ‘her and Gideon’. There never had been.
And there she went again. Thinking about things she didn’t need to think about.
‘Mac has spent years since then being integrated into society. Quietly, it’s true, but he’s a well-adjusted model citizen.’
‘Maybe that’s true in terms of how the public sees him, but what about his private life? Jail is a hard place, Callie. Even if he went in there a gentleman, I don’t believe it would have been possible for him to remain one over that period of time.’
Enough of his concern came through that Callie softened a little and joined the dots on what Gideon wasn’t saying.
‘You think he might harm Mary?’ This was something that had crossed Callie’s mind, too—but only until she knew Mac. ‘It won’t happen. He adores her, and he is still a gentleman. In all the ways that count.’
Gideon searched her gaze for a long moment. ‘I wish I could put my faith in that.’
‘You can.’ Callie brushed sand off the cuffs of her dungarees. They were too long, and she should probably have rolled them up a little before she started walking.
Better still, she should get back to work now, and put all these silly resurrected thoughts about Gideon right out of her mind.
‘All the rest of this aside, the guest house is busy at the moment. MacKay has almost fifty of his relatives here for the wedding, and though they’re all working to help prepare everything I’m still needed for all sorts of things. I don’t have a lot of spare time right now. There’s nothing really to discuss. The wedding is happening. End of story. And it’s not your place to investigate him, either—just in case you had that in mind.’
Oh, yes, she had worked out Gideon would want to do that, and the expression in his eyes right now confirmed her suspicion.
‘It’s my place to protect my aunt if she needs to be protected.’ Gideon sucked up a slow breath and blew it out again. ‘And please tell me none of those guests are MacKay Jones’s notorious brothers.’
‘Of course they’re his brothers. And his cousins and his uncles, and all their partners, wives and significant others. None of them are that notorious. Not any more, anyway.’
Callie clamped her teeth together. She lifted her face and let the sea wind blow through her hair and across her cheeks, whip at her clothing and blow some of her stress away.
‘Mac’s family have come from all over Australia to be here for this wedding.’ That had to count for something.
‘A wedding I am truly not at all convinced is in Mary’s best interests—whether you feel resolved about it, or not. What is my aunt doing, Callandra?’ His tone sharpened. ‘And what were you thinking, to let things come to this and not tell me?’
‘How do you know it was me? Just because I introduced—’ She cut the words off.
‘Actually, I didn’t mean that, but I might have known you’d have brought them together. Let me guess. You picked MacKay up as a stray, somehow, and thought he needed to be loved and accepted. Next thing he and Mary were interested in each other.’ He turned his head to stare out to sea, as though he might find calm in the tossing of the waves.
Callie felt more like the tossing itself. ‘Mac is a nice man.’ In Callie’s opinion he was one of the best. ‘And he’s not a stray.’
Were strays so bad, anyway? She’d been one—handed to an uncle who hadn’t been quite sure what to do with her when her mother died. ‘I got talking to Mac on a tram in Melbourne one day and he offered me a coffee. Since I was meeting Mary after we did our separate shopping, I agreed.’
‘I didn’t know—were you in Melbourne often?’
Apparently he hadn’t ever imagined her there. Callie wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She had certainly thought of him there—had always watched and wondered if their paths would cross. Though she had refused to do anything to try to instigate that.
He’d banished her, after all. She had to have some pride.
‘As surprising as it might be to you, I do have a social life that includes trips to Melbourne. Dates, outings.’
Mary had always insisted Callie take time off at weekends on a rotational basis for this reason. But Callie gave up on that topic now. Something told her she really didn’t want to go there with Gideon, who was suddenly looking quite fierce and disapproving.
Whatever was that all about?
‘Mary and Mac love each other.’ This was what she needed to focus on. ‘Whatever his past, he is a good and kind man now and as far as I’m concerned if he makes her happy that’s all that matters.’
Gideon stopped on the crunchy sand, turning to face her so she had to stop, too. ‘You can’t tell me he’s some run-of-the-mill, mild, trustworthy nice guy, Callie.’
‘A conventional good guy? Does he have to be perfect to love Mary and be all that she needs?’
She opened her mouth to try to explain that it didn’t matter. That when a man loved a woman, or a woman loved a man, it just was. Callie somehow knew this, deep inside her soul. She hadn’t ever loved like that, of course. No doubt she’d merely sensed it, as a result of her observation of others—like Mary and Mac.
A little rush of emotion clogged her throat and she had to swallow it back.
You’re just getting overly sentimental because there’s a wedding in the air, Callie. And that’s perfectly normal and to be expected.
‘Mary got to know Mac. And he loves her. He’s very sincere.’ Callie forced the words out over that stubborn lump in her throat. It wasn’t about her and Gideon. It was not! ‘For Mary, any possible perils don’t matter anyway, because she loves Mac that much.’
‘And what about the rest of the family? How can you know they’re all trustworthy?’ Gideon’s words were all about the current situation, and yet his gaze lingered on her with a focus that was about more than that.
Why did he have to do that? Look at her as though she was the only person he wanted to look at? It wasn’t fair. Anything else aside, it didn’t help her equilibrium at all!
‘I’m sure MacKay and Mary are perfectly—’
‘What if one of them harmed you?’
He bit down on the words but his gaze didn’t lose its concerned, protective edge. And whether it was old-fashioned of her or not, Callie softened to the concept of him wanting to protect her.
That’s a dangerous way to respond, Callie Humbold.
Gideon went on. ‘What if they harmed you or Mary, I mean? The possibilities are endless. Attempts to extort money from the Deveraux family, bad press, bad behaviour, bad associations any of them have formed—’
‘We’ve taken care to keep their marriage plans secret.’ Callie could at least assure him of this. ‘We gave most of the guest house staff this weekend off the island. The family all understand the need for discretion, and the remaining staff are completely trustworthy.’ Callie hesitated. ‘I assume Heather Stiller—?’
‘She’s gone.’ On a boat back to the mainland by now. Or, if not, his skipper would collect her soon. Gideon hadn’t thought to watch for the boat’s arrival. ‘She doesn’t know the bridegroom’s identity anyway.’ He frowned. ‘That’s not the point. You’re vulnerable here if anything ever—’
‘It won’t.’ Callie hadn’t found it entirely easy to have the MacKay brothers and all their extended family arrive en masse. But they seemed like reasonable people, mostly. If somewhat rough and ready at times…