by Margaret Way
“I suppose we’d better go back before I start to tell you how lovely you are.”
His tone seemed to taunt her. Of course he was testing her in some way. Setting little traps. She took a moment to answer. “I expect I’ll be hearing a lot of that from now on. After all, I’m an heiress, aren’t I?”
“Absolutely,” he assured her suavely. “Unless you stick to your vow to renounce your inheritance. Or have you forgotten?”
“I have the good sense to know you’re baiting me,” Courtney said. “What I would suggest is you trust me.”
It was clear from his dark brooding gaze he did not.
CHAPTER SEVEN
COURTNEY moved into the kitchen looking around the huge room which had been sadly neglected. Except for a few token gestures towards modernity it looked pretty much as it must have looked in her grandfather’s day. The old kitchen block built in colonial times was a little distance from the main house across a very pleasant courtyard. That was the custom then, offering insulation against possible fire damage, heat and the activities of the servants. She and Darcy had played in the old kitchen block when they were little. When the new kitchen had been installed the massive range and the bread oven had been salvaged and brought into the house. It was still in splendid working order. In fact it would be ideal for cooking huge quantities of food say for an army, Courtney thought. As it was there was only McIvor and Darcy rattling around a huge house. McIvor had fired Mrs. Andersen who had been Murraree’s housekeeper in their childhood because Mrs. Andersen had been loyal to their mother and foolish enough to show it.
There had been no housekeeper since. The homestead desperately needed one and other staff possibly two or three girls living on the station who would be grateful for the training and the money. Darcy must have had a rugged time of it, Courtney considered with a great pang of guilt. She must have taken over the cooking and all the domestic duties except for the years she had been sent away to boarding school. McIvor probably had his women visit then to look after him. Multimillionaire he might have been but he obviously loathed spending money on what he considered inessentials. The entire homestead was desperately in need of renovation and refurbishing. It struck her she would love to do it.
She was examining all the old cupboards and shelves when Darcy pranced into the room like a high stepping filly. To Courtney it reaffirmed her sister’s childhood athleticism. And of course there was the outdoor life style.
“There you are!” Darcy’s eyes. her most remarkable feature, were like aquamarine chips.
“I was just thinking the kitchen could do with some updating,” Courtney ventured. “Those shelves for instance could look very attractive if they were painted and lined with some of the beautiful china that’s been stashed away.”
For some reason Darcy felt hurt. “I’ve wanted to do lots of things, Courtney, but Dad had to think long and hard about spending money on the homestead. I couldn’t nag him.”
“Goodness, I know you couldn’t,” Courtney well remembered her father’s aggressive nature. “But he’s left us now.”
“And doesn’t the house feel empty,” Darcy moaned, pulling out a kitchen chair and slumping into it. “Why did I love him so, Courtney?” she asked as though she desperately needed someone to explain it to her. “I see now he didn’t really concern himself with me. Love was just another four letter word to Dad.”
There was a good deal of evidence for that. “Then he missed out on so much,” Courtney said with real sadness. “For us women, love is the focus of our lives. Father was all you had.” Courtney dearly wanted to give comfort, but she knew Darcy demanded her own space.
“You were gone a while with Adam?” Abruptly Darcy lifted her head. Something about her sister’s exquisite appearance had decided Darcy against her habitual plait. She wore her hair caught at the nape with a distinctive gold clasp she’d found tucked away in a drawer. Probably one of her grandmother’s. “What do you think of him?” she asked, aware there was a charge in the atmosphere around Adam and her sister. Hostility might have been wrong. But it was something not far from it.
Courtney hesitated a moment. “To be honest, I don’t know what to think of him. He’s a very challenging man. A complex one too. What I do think however is, he will look after our interests well.”
“Our interests!” Darcy scoffed, eyes flashing. “They’re both waiting for me to settle down before they start giving it to us straight. Probably after dinner. They’ve had their heads together most of the afternoon. I hope you realize we’re more or less at their mercy?”
“Surely you trust Curt?” Courtney asked, wondering what the exact relationship was between Curt Berenger and her sister. Both seemed to rank very high on the other’s agenda. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” She felt like one herself.
“Yes, thanks.” Darcy nodded absently. “I trust him. Of course I do but I have lots of feelings of anger.”
“Are you angry at me?” Courtney paused in what she was doing, knowing she would be terribly distressed if Darcy said, yes.
Darcy gave a deep sigh. “I was, Courtney, but I have a huge struggle trying to overcome the love I had for you when we were kids. It’s not easy for me to hate. But for years I’ve felt utterly alienated. But now you’re here!” She threw up a helpless hand. A hand which Courtney reached out to catch, thinking physical contact was important.
“We’re sisters, Darcy. We’re family. However much we’ve both been hurt I never stopped loving you. Nor did Mum.”
Instantly Darcy withdrew her hand. “My feelings for you don’t extend to our mother,” she said bluntly. “She saved herself at my expense. And what am I now? I’ll tell you. I’m a tall thin woman who doesn’t spend enough time looking after herself. This is a tough environment, Courtney. I’ve worked very hard. Dad thought it perfectly natural, so I did too. I’ve neglected the house, I know. I couldn’t get around it all. I might be waging a war against Curt at the moment—he thinks simply for the hell of it—but he’s right, I can’t run Murraree on my own. It needs a man.”
“A man like Curt,” Courtney supplied, placed a cup of coffee at her sister’s hand.
“You like him, don’t you?” Darcy made herself search her sister’s guileless blue eyes.
“Sure I do!” Courtney smiled. “To me he’s a prince. I wouldn’t let him get away if I were you.”
Darcy didn’t shift her gaze. “What’s to stop you going after him?” she asked.
“You’re kidding!” Courtney made a little jeering sound. “Do you have any idea how unlikely that is? I’m not the McIvor woman Curt is interested in. I never was. I never will be. But I’d love him for a brother-in-law.”
“That’s not about to happen.” Darcy felt almost lightheaded with relief.
“Why not? Why can’t you deal with it? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I’m a mess, Courtney,” Darcy said, wishing she knew her sister better so she could confide in her.
“No you’re not.” Courtney’s tender heart twisted with pain. “Don’t lose him, Darcy. What ever is in the way, I have a feeling you’re the one who has to kick down the barrier.”
Except in doing so she could find herself alienated again. It was all so sad. In retrospect Darcy realized she should have had it out with Curt at the time, only then she had found it impossible. “Have you ever been in love?” she asked her sister wistfully.
Courtney stared at her for a moment. “I thought I was once. It didn’t last.”
“Do you know how many marriages end in divorce?” Darcy finished off her coffee. “It’s at least half.”
“Divorce, ugly divorce is always in my mind too, Darcy. It’s because of Mum and Dad. Not all marriages turn out like that. Mum is happily married to Peter. Most of my friend’s parents are happily married.”
“Would they tell you if they weren’t?” Darcy challenged, her tone suddenly cynical. “McIvor must have been in love with our mother at the beginning.”
&nbs
p; “She would have been very very, pretty,” Courtney said. “Still is. McIvor attached a lot of importance to a woman’s looks. But being in love isn’t a strong enough anchor. They didn’t share or grow together. They didn’t even laugh together. Mum couldn’t handle all his philandering. Come to that, I couldn’t handle a husband’s philandering either, though many women do. Before I marry I want to be very, very sure.”
“Even then it’s a risk.” Darcy sounded as though she felt unable to attempt it herself.
“You must take lots of risks around the station,” Courtney said bracingly. “I know you’ve got your pilot’s licence and you can fly a helicopter. Some people would consider that a risky accomplishment.”
Darcy nodded, focusing on what her sister was saying. “You know Curt’s father was killed when a chopper came down on Sunset? They’d been out on muster. Mr. Berenger was a passenger. The pilot was a very experienced man.”
“I heard about it,” Courtney said. “That must have been terrible.”
“It was.” A shiver passed through Darcy’s slender body. “Philip Berenger was a wonderful man. The family and all their many friends were devastated. Even Dad was terribly upset. He looked on Mr. Berenger as a man of integrity. That’s why he hit on Curt as executor and trustee of his will. There are many risks in our way of life. No getting away from it. But risks of the heart are something else again. As we discovered when parents make mistakes the children pay.”
Courtney put out a hand. “Would you see, Mum, some time, Darcy?” she pleaded. “She’s desperate to see you.”
Darcy’s eyes glinted. “I don’t share your love and loyalty, Courtney. I’m not ready to resume any relationship with her. Please don’t ask again.”
Courtney’s fair skin coloured. “I’m sorry. I respect your feelings.”
“I don’t think you do. Why didn’t you tell me you’d seen Curt and his mother over the years?”
Now Courtney paled. “So you know about that?”
“I confronted Curt with it,” Darcy explained, her voice edgy. “You and he simply didn’t greet one another like long lost friends. I had it out with him.”
“Try to forgive us,” Courtney begged. “Mum was too fearful of what Father would do. Being very rich can give a person authority over others. Mum anticipated turmoil if you were brought back into our world. She was frightened you’d rebel, even run away. She was convinced Dad would come after you. It’s a course of action that fits the man. Even Mrs Berenger thought telling you would create more problems than it would solve. Aggression was part of our father’s personality.”
Darcy couldn’t deny it. She had seen many instances of that. Mercifully never directed against herself but active with station staff or anyone who angered him. McIvor’s identity was all tied up with being a law unto himself.
She sighed deeply. “Well it’s a defence I suppose, Courtney, but it doesn’t disguise the fact you all lied to me. Just how many lies am I supposed to survive?”
Courtney’s eyes shimmered with tears. “I solemnly swear I’ll never mislead you again. You’re back in my life, Darcy. I can’t lose you. I want to give support to you in every way. The path our parents took wasn’t of our choosing.”
“Okay, okay!” Darcy held up a restraining hand, though she was deeply affected by her sister’s tears. “Let’s get off such a painful subject. What are we going to give the men for dinner?”
Courtney dashed a hand across her eyes. She stood up and went to the refrigerator, putting her head into it. “Steak and salad?” she suggested, huskily. “The steak’s superb.”
“It certainly is.” Darcy smiled with satisfaction. “Murraree beef.”
Courtney opened the freezer door. “And there’s plenty of ice cream.”
“Tinned peaches, pears, plums, fruit salad you name it in the pantry. I loathe cooking. I never learned to be domesticated.”
“I’d loathe it too if I had to work in this kitchen.” Courtney pulled a little face. “Actually I love cooking. Mum and I used to go along to classes.” As soon as she said it she could have bitten her tongue.
“How nice for you.” Sarcasm rose off Darcy like heat waves. “Like I said, Courtney, she might have been a first class mother to you, but she threw me to the lions.”
Darcy was amazed at how attractive Courtney had made what she and her father had called The Breakfast Room. Not that they’d breakfasted there. They had always eaten a quick breakfast at the huge kitchen table. The Breakfast Room was right off the kitchen allowing Courtney to go to and fro with ease.
From somewhere she had found a crisply starched white linen and lace tablecloth, matching napkins, an elegant white bone china dinner set with a gold rim and a gold medallion in the centre of the plates, silver cutlery, two beautiful silver candlesticks complete with candles, and to top it all off, assembled a centre arrangement comprising very simple things; a froth of cerise bouganvillea offset by some shiny dark green leaves. The low ceramic container had an attractive gold feature. Darcy was sure she had never seen it before in her life.
There was an eye catching arrangement on the sideboard as well. Cactus leaves of all things and a magnificent banksias in yet another unusual container. She would have to ask Courtney where she had found them. Not that there weren’t innumerable unopened cupboards. Courtney was just so clever! In comparison Darcy felt a positive hick.
The food was just as good. In fact it was the best meal Darcy had had in quite a while. For a starter Courtney had concocted a stack of tomato, mozzarella and basil with a great vinaigrette. Balsamic vinegar and lime? There were limes and lemons in a basket in the kitchen. The steaks were pan seared accompanied by vegetables from the refrigerator, rounds of yellow and green courgettes garnished with cherry tomatoes and spring onions. For dessert she had assembled a colourful tropical fruit salad from the selection of tins in the pantry, spiked it with something, cointreau? serving it with whipped cream and ice cream. It was quite a coup given there hadn’t been a great deal of anything to work with.
Except the wine. A wine connoisseur would have been on cloud nine. McIvor hadn’t worried where the pennies went when it came to stocking the cellar. Down beneath the house, there were rows and rows of vintage reds, chardonnays and rieslings, champagnes, dessert wines label to label. Gallons of spirits especially the finest Scotch whisky of which McIvor had been inordinately fond.
Such an excellent meal with splendid wines gave the conversation a kick start. It flourished. Not much of a drinker, as if McIvor would have allowed such a thing, Darcy rolled the stem of her wineglass between two fingers as she watched her sister interact with the two men. Courtney’s golden hair gleamed like a halo, her cheeks were flushed with rose accentuating the perfection of her skin and the blue of her eyes. She wore a very pretty halter necked dress in a pinky mauve and as the neckline dipped you could see the upward swell of her creamy breasts. Courtney looked, her sister considered, good enough to eat.
The men obviously thought so too. They were looking very happy with their lot, all praise and attention. As well they might be. It seemed to Darcy as she continued to observe, Courtney had more than a little of not her mother’s but her father’s sexual magnetism.
At a momentary lull in the conversation Curt turned his wide shoulders and looked full into Darcy’s face. “You’ve gone quiet?”
“Preparing myself for what lies ahead,” she said dryly. “That was a beautiful meal, Courtney,” she said sincerely. “Thank you so much.”
“Hear, hear!” Both men raised their glasses to salute the domestic goddess.
“Now you sit here and I’ll take care of the rest.” Darcy who had been pleased to have been kept out of the kitchen thought it was squarely her turn.
“I won’t hear of it.” Courtney smiled.
Darcy was firm. “I insist.”
“Didn’t you promise I could help, Darcy?” Curt sat back smiling.
“I don’t need help, thank you,” Darcy returned sweetly.
“As if!” Darcy muttered, thinking of her wayward father.
“Have it your own way. Let’s just do it.” Curt began to load plates onto the three tiered timber and steel trolley. “Courtney and Adam can enjoy the night air. The stars are out in all their glory.”
“We have to stop meeting like this,” he joked, when they were behind the closed kitchen door. “I think I’m falling in love with Courtney. She’s a good inventive cook and she knows how to present things.”
Darcy shot a quick sideways glance at him, forced to consider Curt was a free man. “Not to mention herself. She’s lovely. Could you be interested?” She didn’t think Courtney would stand a chance if Curt turned his attention on her.
He laughed, looking genuinely amused. “Darcy, to me she’s still a little kid in a way. A very pretty little kid. Your sister.” His expression was indulgent.
“And she’s witty and charming,” Darcy persisted, all sorts of ideas circulating in her head.
“What else does a woman need?” Curt responded nonchalantly. “I’ll wipe. You wash. Why in tarnation don’t you have a dish washer? I thought everyone—but everyone—had one.”
“I can manage dishes you know,” Darcy said feeling she had to defend herself in some way. “I tried to give Dad the right foods but in the last few years he swore off fruit and vegetables. He was a beef, bacon, and potatoes man washed down with a couple of bottles of red wine. It just struck me he used to get bitterly sarcastic afterwards.”
“I do recall,” Curt said dryly. “I’m sure if you had a proper medical they’d find rocks in your head.”
“Thank you,” said Darcy. She gave a deep sigh. “I’ve been a terrible fool haven’t I, Curt?”
He didn’t answer but started to whistle tunelessly. He took out a couple of clean tea towels. “One day if you’re a very good girl you’re going to find Mr. Right, so you mustn’t get maudlin. By the way I love you in a dress. How many have you actually got?” She was wearing a simple summer dress which her delicate height managed to turn into elegance.