Australia's Maverick Millionaire

by Margaret Way

  “Bear with me, Clio.” Lyle shook his head. “You won’t accept I have a right. What about duty?”

  “Ah, duty calls. Then you’d better explain. But I think I know where you’re going with this. You have something else that is damning to tell me about Josh, is that it?”

  Lyle looked down at his tidy desktop. “Clio, you don’t know this man. You only think you do. Mind you, even I can see everything about him is compelling. He’s extremely handsome, clever, well spoken, thanks to Leo, sending him to the right school, then on to university.”

  “Come to the point, Dad,” Clio warned in a tight voice.

  “You were at his apartment the other night?” Lyle said at last, watching his daughter react with horror.

  “Are you having me watched, Dad?” It was like a knife turning in her heart.

  “Not me.” He shook his handsome head. “No, no. It was your stepmother. As an older and far more experienced woman, she can see you’re terribly vulnerable to Hart.”

  Clio let out her breath in one angry rush. “Just how gullible are you, Dad? I thought you and Keeley were divorcing.”

  Lyle looked uncomfortable. “We are, of course. But Keeley said she wanted to do me one last good turn.”

  “I’ve got to go.” Clio sprang up so fast she nearly knocked over her chair. “You really should examine Keeley’s motivation, Dad.” She could have said a great deal more, but she didn’t.

  “Clio, I’ve come face to face with a young woman Hart assaulted some years back,” Lyle forced himself up from his desk to say. “You’ve only got to look at him to realize he’d be a frightening man in a temper. No way could I have him turning his temper on my daughter. Leo would turn in his grave.”

  Clio felt the anger welling up inside her. “Leo can do somersaults for all I care.” Her heart was a deadweight in her breast. “You saw this mystery woman in this office?”

  “Of course not.” Kyle waved a trembling hand, shocked to see his lovely, dutiful daughter turning genuinely formidable. “I met her one evening.”

  Clio spoke with as much compassion as anger. “Dad, Keeley is an inveterate liar.”

  Lyle resumed his black leather swivel armchair, straightening what few papers were on his desk. “Her name is Philippa Jones. Flip, Flippa, something like that.”

  “And you believed her story?’

  Lyle rocked back in his chair. “I have good instincts too, Clio. Maybe you should remember that.”

  “Not when your instincts are muddied by jealousy. I don’t give a damn what this Flippa Jones was paid to say. I am totally convinced Josh would never lift a hand in violence against a woman. He might knock a few male heads together as required, but women and children for him would definitely be a protected species.”

  The rupture in their always harmonious relationship was upsetting Lyle greatly. He blamed Hart.

  “Now I have work to do,” Clio said, “so please excuse me.”

  Kyle stared at his daughter’s slender back. “Why don’t you acknowledge you’re madly in love with him? That you wouldn’t care what he’d done?” he cried, his face flushed.

  It was a struggle for Clio to stay calm. “Josh Hart as a child was badly wounded by life. He carries scars. You wouldn’t have wanted to trade places with him, Dad. Josh is to be applauded, not condemned because he didn’t come from a good family, like ours,” she said with heavy sarcasm. “If you want to hold on to what we have, you’ll lay off Josh. And to answer your question, I do love him. I’ve loved him for most of my life.”

  Venom burned in Lyle’s eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. You were a child.”

  Clio gave a painful laugh. “It might surprise you to know that Josh is the one who’s holding off. Leo did quite a job on him. Brutal, when you think about it.”

  Here father didn’t respond. He remained at his desk, head in hands.

  Lyle remained in town, having dinner with his friend Dr Tim Maxwell, best man at his wedding to Allegra. Tim was now a specialist physician at the hospital. It was a regular once-a-month thing. Lyle didn’t want to go home anyway. He didn’t think he could bear the sight of his soon-to-be ex-wife. Keeley had done much of her packing. She intended to buy a luxury apartment on the Queensland Gold Coast. Plenty of millionaires there. He didn’t have the slightest doubt Keeley would find yet another sucker. But had she lied about Philippa Jones? The young woman had presented as well brought up with a sad story to tell. Of course, everything could be arranged, providing you paid. The sad thing was he had wanted to believe Keeley. He wanted his daughter back.

  He and Tim parted company around ten o’clock. Both of them had stuck to a little under a bottle of Shiraz between them with their peppered steaks and salads. He was turning onto the main road, intermittent wipers on against the light rain, when he spotted Josh Hart in his silver Porsche. It was hard to miss. He still didn’t trust Hart. Probably never would. But he could maybe talk to him. Face him down. He had a daughter to protect. Clio mightn’t listen but he wanted answers. It was high time he asserted himself.

  Go after him, said the voice in his head.

  Instead of turning towards home, Lyle pulled out onto the road in pursuit of Josh. There weren’t many cars on the road. There were lights up ahead and they were ready to turn red so Hart would have to stop. He would be right behind him. Maybe nudge the Porsche’s taillight so that Hart would get out of his car to remonstrate. Or Hart could take off and leave him behind. Either way, he wasn’t going to let this dangerous young man get away.

  All he wanted to do was talk. Surely a father was entitled to do everything in his power to protect his daughter. Allegra would have expected him to act.

  Clio had found bringing home work was one solution to her problems. Work occupied at least some part of her troubled mind. She wasn’t sleeping anywhere near as well as she used to but finally, around eleven o’clock, she closed the case file she was working on, leaning forward to turn off the lovely Art Nouveau desk light that had belonged to her mother. She continued to work in her own study. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to use Leo’s. Leo had loved her but he had also betrayed her in his own way. He had gone about shaping a motherless girl into the woman he had wanted her to become. Full realization felt very strange.

  She was almost at the door when the phone on her desk rang, thoroughly startling her. Who would be ringing at this hour? Instantly her already jangling nerves were on edge.

  “Clio Templeton.” Her voice registered her unease.

  It was her father’s lifelong friend, Tim Maxwell, on the other end of the line. He sounded so distressed she had to calm him. While she remained silent he told her that her father had been involved in an accident near the Banksia Close estate. “They’re doing an MRI to determine any back injuries.”

  Clio spun her armchair around and sank into it. “How bad is it, Tim? What do you know at this stage?”

  “It’s not dire, my dear. I should have said that at the outset. Lyle’s not going to die. I was on the way home after our dinner together when I saw the ambulance and the fire engine going the other way, so I followed them in case there was something I could do. Also I had this bad feeling. Lyle seemed very upset this evening. Didn’t say why and I didn’t like to push him. It could have been very much worse, Clio. The car caught fire. Gasoline escaped from a ruptured fuel line apparently. Your father owes his life to Josh Hart. It was a godsend Hart was in the vicinity. He pulled your father clear before the car blew up. He’s in the emergency room, having burns attended to.”

  “Burns?” Clio cried, before her voice cut out. She felt nauseated.

  “Second degree, love,” Tim reassured her. “But burns need instant attention to reduce the chance of infection or possible scarring.”

  Clio felt so completely off balance she wasn’t even sure she could stand up. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  A few minutes later Clio was out on the road with fear keeping her company. She just knew there was a whole lot mo
re to this. Her father and Josh on the road together at that time of night? Josh passed Banksia Close Estate on his way back to the apartment. Her father’s house was in the opposite direction. Was it possible there had been some kind of altercation? Tim hadn’t mentioned whiplash or neck injuries, which led her to believe it was Josh’s Porsche that had been the car in front. It seemed incredible to even consider that her father might have tried to ram Josh? Did her father make the first move? Josh was in a totally different category from her father when it came to driving skills. Josh would have known how to take evasive action. But had he turned on her father given sufficient provocation?

  No, no! Josh had saved him. Josh had been no risk to her father. It was her father who was the risk to Josh. She had seen the veins in her father’s neck bulging when he denounced Josh. This was a no-win situation for her. Josh would look elsewhere and he wouldn’t have to look far. Any number of young women would give their all to have Josh. Why continue to bother about someone as problematic as Clio Templeton?

  When Clio got to the hospital she wasn’t able to see her father, but she had the comfort of knowing he was in excellent hands. She had to wait outside the emergency room while Josh gave the police a statement. She just hoped it would hold up. The last thing anyone would want was a scandal. The police could well believe this hadn’t been an accident. There had been no witnesses to the crash. Or no one had come forward so far. Tim had told her there were skid marks on the road where her father had left it. Of course there would be. But there were also skid marks on the opposite side of the road. Could they have been caused by the Porsche? It would be a simple matter for the police to confirm.

  Ten minutes later Bart McMannus, senior police officer for the town, emerged from behind the curtain. He acknowledged her with a small salute, before saying he was very glad things had turned out so well, given the situation.

  Given the situation?

  Clio didn’t wait for permission. She rushed to Josh’s cubicle, pulling the curtain aside. The young doctor who was standing there gave Clio a startled nod, then prepared to walk out. A nurse stayed put, all but glaring at Clio, but the doctor gestured to her to follow him, leaving them alone.

  “Josh, Josh!” Her eyes moved frantically over every visible inch of him. If anything had happened to Josh, her last hope for happiness would have run out.

  “I’m doing fine,” he said, calming her anxiety. “They’ve ruined my jeans. Designer label too. But don’t let’s dwell on that.” His tanned left leg was bare from the knee down, the fabric having been cut away, and the lower section was covered by a sterile dressing.

  “You’re not in pain?” She couldn’t wait for him to tell her what had happened at his own pace. She had to know now.

  “Not to the point where I’m cracking up. It’s okay, Clio, really.”

  She gave an odd laugh. “Not in my book. What happened? What did you tell the police?”

  “Excuse me?” There was a decided pallor to his golden skin, but his eyes blazed.

  “I just want you to explain it to me, Josh,” she begged.

  He gave her a long, considering look. “I intend to, but not here. Any news of your father?”

  Clio swallowed. “He’s having an MRI. Tim Maxwell thinks he’s going to be okay.”

  “What more can you ask? Maxwell is a great bloke.”

  “He thinks well of you,” Clio said. “From the skid marks on the road, the fact Dad was going the wrong way! I mean, what am I to make of it?”

  “You’re suspecting foul play already?” he mocked.

  “Don’t be silly. Bear with me, Josh.”

  “Clio, I never laid a finger on your father,” he said wearily, “except to pull him out of a car that had caught fire and threatened to explode at any minute.”

  Momentarily she covered her eyes with her hands as though visualizing a great fireball. “You could have been killed. Both of you.”

  “I guess you could say that. Goodnight, nurse! So what’s next?”

  She stared at him, hoping she wasn’t making a mess of this. “I don’t know what you mean, Josh.”

  “What is it with people who hate you like they need to?” He searched her beautiful drowning eyes.

  “Dad needs help,” she said.

  “You’re right. There’s not a guy alive who’s good enough for you, Clio. What your father did tonight was incredibly reckless. Is he quite sane?”

  Clio sank down on the only hard chair. “Are any of us?”

  Josh laugh came from deep in his chest. “Well, I’m ninety percent sure. I told McMannus I’d spoken to your father about the Aquarius development some weeks earlier. Leo’s death threw us all. He didn’t have a chance to get back to me. Your father spotted my car and decided to have a word with me right there and then. What really happened was that he was so keen to get it on, he nudged my rear bumper just to get my attention. I’m not into road rage so I took off. Your father followed. He’s a lousy driver. He lost control of the wheel. It would have been end of story only a merciful God put me at the scene. How does that go down?”

  Her dark eyes were huge in her pale face. “As a heap of trouble. What did Bart say?”

  “I think noncommittal might cover it. But I’m sure he’ll pop around and see me again. After all, your dad put about the rumour I was somehow responsible for Leo’s heart attack. Isn’t there a commandment that says you can’t bear false witness?” he asked sardonically.

  “Number 8. Bart wouldn’t have believed it for a moment. I’m so sorry, Josh.”

  “Handy to be a Templeton, isn’t it?’ he offered dryly. Josh shook his blond head, remembering those moments when he had battled the deadweight of Lyle up the embankment, wondering at every step if they would be overtaken by the blast. “You know, I could do with a cup of tea and I hate tea. Plenty of sugar.”

  “I’ll see to it.” Clio jumped up, grateful to be doing anything for him. “You will stay with me, Josh?”

  Josh looked up at her lovely, pleading face. “I think I’ve earned the right,” he said.

  As it turned out, Lyle rallied quickly. The night that could have ended in horror and tragedy had been averted in the first instance by the tank-like construction of his car with it brilliant safety features, which nevertheless had not prevented a fuel line rupturing, then the incredible circumstance of Joshua Hart braving great danger to save his life. Lyle remained three days in hospital until his vital signs stabilized. No Keeley to sit at his bedside, quietly stroking his hand. Once she had ascertained with an old-fashioned phone call that all was well, Keeley had taken off for a good time in Sydney.

  In the following days Josh didn’t budge from his story. It had been an accident. There had been a late afternoon shower. They were coming into the Wet season with plenty of tropical storms ahead. Lyle wasn’t the best of drivers. Understandably he was under a lot of stress following the death of his father. Alcohol wasn’t involved. Lyle was under the limit, fit to drive. In his efforts to catch up with Josh for a conversation that had been deferred, he had momentarily lost control of the wheel, left the rain-slicked road and ploughed down the bank into a tree. Such things happened. The car was a write-off.

  Alls well that ends well.

  That was the word anyway. Bart McMannus turned his attention back to solving who had broken into the Hudson-Smyth luxury home when they were away in Phuket.

  Clio insisted her father recuperate at the house, where Meg could look after him when she was at work. Although she and her father had got Josh’s story down pat, Josh had made no attempt to call at the hospital to see her father, let alone pay a visit to the house. Josh had made a clean exit. Not that Clio blamed him. The so-called accident had clearly been her father’s fault. Clio felt very bad about it. What was most amazing was that her father actually thought Josh would call in not only to check on his progress but to allow him the opportunity to thank Josh for saving his life. Clio had to fight the urge to ask her father if he had gone to live in cloud-cu
ckoo-land. She was holding hard to the belief Josh simply needed a breathing space.

  When Clio was leaving for the office that Friday morning, her father saw her off. “I really do regret the bad things I said about Josh.”

  “I should think so, Dad.” Clio gave a short nod of her head.

  “Oddly enough, my accident has given me a good shake-up in more ways than one. I’m even thinking about joining Tim and Anne on an upcoming trip to Auckland. It’s to celebrate the big 5-0 of an old university friend, Louise Cartwright.”

  “Good idea. Go to Auckland, Dad. Enjoy yourself. Josh won’t come here. We’re not his favourite people at the moment.”

  Midmorning, unable to bring her usual strong focus to bear on her work, she decided to track Josh down. Her father might have been feeling a lightening of the load, but she was feeling destabilized. It was as though with Josh she had taken a quantum leap only to find herself falling back into limbo.

  She rang his office, only to be told Mr Hart was out at the Sandalwood Estate. Clio rose from her desk at once. He wasn’t about to come to her. She would go to him. What man needed chaos in his life when he could have peace? Josh could have decided he was well out of Templeton affairs.

  Twenty minutes later she was turning into the Sandalwood Estate. Josh had much to be proud of, she thought. The development had a parklike setting with beautiful mature trees left in place and lots of green spaces. Kerbing and channelling had been completed. There was streetlighting overhead. People would enjoy living here. A dozen houses were already completed, at least four more under construction. She had only just pulled up when a workman in a hard hat came towards her.

  “Good morning, can I help you?” The foreman thought he had never seen a more beautiful young woman in his life.

  “I’m hoping you can. Clio Templeton.” She dazzled him with a smile. “I’d like to speak to Mr Hart if I could. His office told me he was here.”