Nigel Grosvenor was a widower who lived three doors down, and he’d had been courting Kate’s mother in an endearingly old-fashioned way for well over a year now.
Kate was genuinely smiling when she asked, ‘Did you have a nice evening?’
‘It was lovely, dear. But I want to hear about you. Have you been to the funeral?’
She explained what had happened, ending with her surprising news of her uncle’s legacy.
‘Good heavens. How extraordinary.’
‘It is, isn’t it?’
Slow seconds ticked by before her mother responded and, when she did speak, her voice sounded very high-pitched and quavery, as if she was close to tears. ‘Does this mean you’re suddenly very wealthy, Kate?’
‘Not exactly. There’s been a severe drought here, and I think there are problems with money. It’s still being sorted out.’
‘I can’t imagine what you’re going to do with half a cattle property in Australia.’
‘The mind boggles, doesn’t it? I have to work that out with Noah—Noah Carmody. He owns the other half.’
‘Oh, yes. I remember Angus named him as his heir. How strange that he changed his mind.’ Her mother paused briefly. ‘Kate, isn’t Noah the young man who turned your head the last time you went down there?’
‘Mum, that was nine years ago. I’m over it now. And you know very well that Noah married someone else. He has a daughter.’ Despite the niggling guilt aroused by her deception, Kate thought it prudent not to mention Noah’s divorce at this moment. He might as well still be married; it made no real difference. ‘Anyway,’ she added, ‘I have Derek now.’
‘Yes.’ Her mother sounded doubtful. Unfortunately, she’d never been very enthusiastic about Derek. ‘Have you heard from him lately, dear?’
‘Sure. He’s been busy, though. Travelling a bit, for work, I think.’
‘Are you sure? I ran into one of your old workmates—Sarah what’s-her-name.’
‘Sarah Marsden?’
‘Yes. She thought you must have been on holidays in Munich.’
‘Munich? Why on earth did she think that?’
‘She’d just flown back from a weekend there and she said she saw Derek. In Munich, at one of the festivals.’
Oh, God. Kate felt suddenly ill. What was going on?
She finished the phone call with promises to get back to her mother with more details as soon as she had a definite plan. Then, as she hurried to the far end of the house, she reached into her pocket for her mobile phone, and her hand was shaking as she pressed Derek’s number.
He took ages to answer. Kate was mentally preparing to leave a rather icy message when at last she heard his voice. He sounded very sleepy and grumpy.
‘I’m sorry, Derek, did I wake you?’
‘Yeah.’ He yawned noisily into the phone. ‘What the hell is the time?’
‘I—I’m not sure. But my mum just phoned me from London.’ Kate couldn’t help sounding chilly. She was sure she’d heard a woman’s voice in the background. ‘Derek, I can hear German again.’ She felt a shaft of white-hot panic. ‘Where are you?’
He coughed. ‘Actually, sweetheart, I’m in Switzerland.’ Hastily, he added, ‘It’s for work, of course.’
‘Of course.’ Tears clogged Kate’s throat, but she fought them. ‘How convenient for you to be sent on business the minute I’m out of the country.’
‘Kate.’
‘Derek, you’re in Munich, aren’t you, not Switzerland?’
This was greeted by silence.
‘I—I suppose you needed the help of a native German speaker. Preferably female.’
‘Don’t be like that.’
‘She’s in bed with you, Derek, isn’t she?’
He gave an aggravated sigh, while Kate struggled to hold back her tears.
She pressed her lips tightly together while she waited for Derek to protest that this was nothing more than a holiday fling, that he still loved her. She wouldn’t take him back, of course, but it might have helped her ego if he’d grovelled just a little.
But there wasn’t going to be any grovelling. Not even an apology. The sad truth that Kate had skilfully avoided was that Derek had never expressed more than lukewarm affection for her.
‘I guess I’ll be saving on long-distance phone calls from now on, Derek. Goodbye.’
She was proud of how coldly and calmly she said this, but as soon as she disconnected she hurried down the passage to her bedroom. Carefully, she closed the door behind her, then threw herself onto the bed and stifled her sobs with her pillow, and hoped no one in the house could hear her.
Derek was a liar and a low-down cheat. He’d deliberately told her lies—about Birmingham, about Switzerland.
No wonder he’d been so jolly and understanding when she’d needed to hurry off to Australia. She’d handed him the perfect opportunity to sneak away with his other woman. He’d probably been deceiving her for ages—with that new German girl in his office.
The toad. How dared he?
* * *
It was only later, when Kate was washing her face, that she realised her tears were an outpouring of anger rather than heartbreak. She stopped splashing and stared at her splotch-faced reflection.
Why wasn’t she devastated? A girl who’d just lost her boyfriend should feel completely and inconsolably gutted. But all Kate felt was hurt pride and disappointment that she’d been such a poor judge of character.
And here was a funny thing—money-hungry Derek was going to be enormously upset when he discovered he’d missed a chance to hook up with a woman who owned property equal in area to several English counties.
It was a strangely comforting thought.
Kate looked pale and strained at dinner, and Noah wondered if the heat had taken its toll. Or perhaps she was homesick after talking to her mother. He hoped she felt strong enough to talk about business tonight. He’d had a phone call too—from Alan Davidson—and he and Kate had to make decisions.
He stood on the back veranda, listening to the fading hum of cicadas and the chatter and laughter coming from the kitchen where Kate was helping Ellen with the dishes.
He’d left the veranda lights off to avoid attracting insects, and in the shadows beside him, Flynn, Angus’s elderly cattle-dog, settled his arthritic bones into a comfortable sprawl and thumped his tail against the floorboards.
They both missed Angus terribly. Under Angus’s fatherly guidance, Noah had grown from a small boy to manhood, learning almost everything Angus had known about life and the ways of the Outback.
Many, many evenings the two of them had sat here, with the dogs for company, content to be quiet and to absorb the sounds of the bush. Noah had always found it a comforting ritual and tonight, for the first time since Angus had died, he began to relax.
But it was dangerous to let go.
Too easily, the memories came flooding back—memories of Angus, and then disturbing memories of Kate, and that other time she’d visited Radnor… When he’d fallen head over heels.
He’d been barely twenty at the time, and despite Angus’s warnings he’d been utterly enchanted by Kate, bewitched by her porcelain complexion, her fiery hair, and her pretty, lilting English accent.
Angus had him warned him again.
‘I can see how it is, son. You and young Kate only have to look at each other and the bells and whistles start up. But this lass is not for you. Her mother didn’t want her to come here in the first place, and she’ll be beside herself if her daughter goes home with romantic notions about an Australian cattleman. It’s my job to send the girl home safe and sound. Uncontaminated, if you get my drift.’
It had killed Noah to obey.
He’d done his best to avoid Kate, had found all kinds of jobs that kept him away from the homestead. But there’d been an afternoon when Kate had found him in the stables.
‘I was hoping you might be here, Noah,’ she’d said, all innocent smiles and dimples. ‘I wondered if you cou
ld take a look at my horse. I’m worried he might have a stone or something nasty in his hoof.’
He’d checked the hoof diligently, and he hadn’t been able to find anything wrong. But Kate had been so grateful and serious, and she’d asked such intelligent questions about horses and about Radnor, that somehow they’d ended up leaning against the railing of the horse’s stall while they talked on and on, without ever taking their eyes from each other.
Their conversation had flown easily, fed by their eagerness to know each other, but the whole time he’d been distracted by Kate’s lips, her eyes, her hair, her skin. Kate had told him how much she loved this place. Then she’d stopped talking and dropped her gaze. She’d folded her arms on the timber railing and let her chin rest on her hands.
Her shoulder-length hair had swung in a bright arc, framing her face, and her slender body had curved slightly, like the stem of a wildflower. He’d almost groaned aloud with his need to touch her.
He’d spoken her name in a kind of thick-voiced desperation. ‘Kate.’
That was all it had taken—her name—and she’d turned, and her beautiful eyes had widened, her lips parted… her arms left the railing, and…
It just…
Happened.
In a super-heated second, she’d been in his arms and he’d been kissing her, drinking her, inhaling her, embracing her, touching her soft, soft skin with trembling fingers.
Never before, or since, had he experienced anything close to the blazing passion of that kiss. Kate had tasted of flowers and honey, and the sweetest temptation ever known to man. And she’d returned his kisses with such heart-stopping eagerness he’d lost all sense of time and place.
He’d wanted to kiss every inch of her and he’d been sinking so fast, anything might have happened if she hadn’t taken a step away.
With one step back, she’d gained enough space to haul her shirt over her head, and she’d stood there before him, her breath coming in soft gasps, her green eyes burning and defiant, and she’d been naked from the waist up.
She’d been exquisite. Delicate perfection. As pink and white as the inside of a seashell.
She was seventeen.
And he’d been warned. Several times.
He’d given his word.
Noah had stammered something. God knew what he’d said. An apology and something about Kate’s mother and Angus. In turmoil, he’d picked up her shirt from the floor. He could still remember the fabric—soft and white with tiny blue flowers—and there’d been pieces of hay stuck to it. Clumsily, he’d removed the hay, and Kate had begun to cry.
Silently, making no noise at all, she’d cried while he’d undone the buttons that she hadn’t bothered to undo, and he’d rearranged the shirt around her shoulders, pulling it forward over her arms. His heart had shattered at the sight of those shiny tears slipping down her cheeks. He’d kissed her forehead, and his throat had burned and ached as he hugged her to him, gently, as if she might break.
For the life of him, he hadn’t known what to say. Truth was, he’d been terrified that he might start bawling too.
Eventually he’d mumbled something, probably something lame about having to get back to work, or even worse that he hoped she had a good trip home.
Many times in the months that had followed, he’d cursed himself for not saying anything to ease Kate’s embarrassment. If only he’d told her how brave and honest she’d been, and how much he’d admired and applauded her courage. Loved her for it.
But perhaps it was best that he’d remained silent. Why add fuel to a prohibited fire? He’d forced himself to walk away from her that day, and he’d left a brief message with another stockman, then ridden hell for leather to the western boundary and had stayed there for a week till Kate had gone home.
‘Noah?’
He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard her voice close behind him.
‘I was hoping we could talk,’ she said as he scrambled to his feet.
In the moonlight she looked ethereal. She was wearing a pale cotton dress and she was slender, pale and touchable.
‘Yes, we should talk.’ He had to force the words past the sudden logjam in his throat. ‘Would you like to go inside, into my study, perhaps?’
‘Thank you.’ She sounded nervous.
And suddenly, absurdly, he was nervous too.
CHAPTER FIVE
KATE SAT IN a brown leather chair in the untidy lamplit study, clutching a tumbler of whisky that Noah had given her, waiting while he removed a pile of cattlemen’s journals from another chair.
Still holding the journals, he turned abruptly and frowned at her. ‘Alan Davidson phoned just before dinner. He’s heard from James Calloway.’
‘Already?’
Noah nodded. ‘Apparently, Calloway’s old boys’ network has come up trumps. They’re confident Liane has a watertight claim for half of my share, and they can push it through the courts as a high priority.’
‘So now the pressure’s really on?’
His response was a faintly bitter smile.
Kate decided to lay her cards straight on the table. ‘I’d like to help you, Noah. And I’m prepared to stay on.’
To her dismay, he frowned at this news. ‘There’s no need for you to stay. I can manage.’
Ouch. Coming so soon after Derek’s low blow, Noah’s quick rejection almost flattened her. She felt like a flyweight boxer knocked to the floor by the first punch from a heavyweight. But she had no choice—she had to put up a fight. This might be her only chance to let Noah see how much Radnor meant to her. She needed him to understand that.
He set the journals on the floor and retrieved his whisky glass from a side table, but he didn’t take his seat. Instead, he remained standing, towering over Kate, his penetrating grey eyes challenging her. She resisted the urge to lower her gaze, but she wished he didn’t look quite so formidable.
‘I don’t mean to sound inhospitable,’ he said, ‘but you weren’t planning to stay for long, and I don’t expect you to alter your plans.’
‘But I made those plans before I knew Uncle Angus had left me a share in this property. Surely that changes everything?’
He frowned. ‘Angus wouldn’t have expected you to make sacrifices.’
Kate sighed. Was Noah being deliberately evasive, or had he simply missed the point that she actually liked it here? ‘Is this a roundabout way of telling me that you don’t want me to stay?’
‘It’s not a matter of what I want, Kate.’
She tried again, taking a slightly different tack. ‘Look—I don’t know if you even remember how I behaved last time I was here. I was a silly schoolgirl, and I’ll admit I had a crush on you.’
She didn’t dare to look at him, and when he made no comment she hurried on. ‘I can put your mind at rest, Noah. I—I’ve put all that behind me now.’
She chanced a quick glance in Noah’s direction. He stood very still, his mouth flattened into a grim line.
‘Whether you like it or not, we’re already partners,’ she said. ‘We’re in this together.’
His eyes met hers, looked away, met hers again.
Kate went on bravely. ‘You want to keep Radnor, which means buying Liane out, but you don’t have ready cash. You want to save your cattle, and that means shifting them to better grazing land, but that’s too hard to do alone. You want to be a great father, but you’re afraid you’ll let Olivia down because you have so many other worries and responsibilities. I’m telling you, Noah Carmody, you need help.’
Clearly surprised, he slid slowly into his chair. His long legs stretched in front of him, and he settled his shoulders into the deeply cushioned leather and took a deep swig from his whisky. The soft glow of the lamplight enhanced the rugged lines of his face. His cheekbones, his nose and his mouth looked more wildly attractive than ever.
He smiled slowly. ‘You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?’
‘It was the least I could do, now that I’m a shareho
lder.’ Kate wished she didn’t sound so defensive, but for the past couple of hours she’d had a choice—to think about Radnor’s future, or to think about Derek in Germany. No contest.
Leaning forward, she said, ‘I’ve been trying to understand why Uncle Angus included me in his will. He had to have a good reason.’
Noah shrugged. ‘Perhaps he wanted to heal the family rift.’
‘That might have been part of it. But I think there was more.’ She circled the rim of her whisky tumbler with her finger. ‘I admit, I have no idea what he was thinking, but he certainly knew how interested I was in everything about Radnor. We exchanged letters for a few years after my visit.’
Noah nodded. ‘I remember. His eyes used to light up when mail arrived with an English postmark.’
Kate blushed as she remembered one particular item that would have arrived at Radnor with an English postmark—the Valentine’s card addressed to Noah Carmody. Oh cringe, she’d actually been silly enough to sign it.
‘The thing is,’ she said hurriedly, trying to push that regrettable memory aside, ‘I have flexibility as a freelance photographer, so there’s no pressure for me to rush back.’
His eyes speared her. ‘But what about your boyfriend? Won’t he be desperate to have you safely home again?’
Kate’s heart fluttered wildly. ‘Actually, that—that’s all sorted.’ She took a swift, fiery gulp of whisky, then set her glass down quickly before Noah saw that she was shaking.
No way would she admit to Noah Carmody that her boyfriend was currently in Munich, in bed with another woman. ‘I’ve spoken to Derek and explained that I might need to stay on here for a bit, and it’s—actually—fine.’
Noah’s right eyebrow hiked to a sceptical angle, but he didn’t comment. Kate hoped to high heaven that he didn’t challenge her lie.
‘So that’s settled,’ she said to cover the awkward moment.
Noah didn’t answer at first. He sat very still, apparently lost in thought.
‘Do you agree, Noah?’
He looked up, eyes narrowed. ‘This is very good of you, Kate. Very kind to offer to help. But I’m wondering what you get out of staying on. I would have thought you’d want to try to sell your share, so you could scoot back to England with some ready money.’
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