Beneath Outback Skies (14 page)

‘Are you sure?’ He reluctantly let go of her waist.

She nodded without looking at him. ‘See you in five minutes.’

He took hold of the tray handles to stop himself lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the en suite. The pain she was enduring was etched into every line of her face. But she didn’t complain or abandon her slow hobble across the room. With Paige there was no fuss, no dramatics, just determination, bravery and a quiet dignity. Paige Quinn really was one-of-a-kind.

Despite the cushions under her foot and the soft lambswool car seat cover beneath her, Paige failed to relax. The painkillers had taken the edge off her agony but it was the worry filling her hollow stomach that continued to bother her. How was she going to do everything that needed to be done? She didn’t require Dr Lee to confirm her toe was broken, but when he did Connor and Tait would have every excuse to cluck around her like broody hens. Between the two of them, she wouldn’t have a chance of sneaking away and getting things done. She looked at her bare legs that she only ever saw in jeans. There was no way she could get used to wearing shorts, let alone having to sit still. But at least one up-side of having a broken toe was she’d no longer be able to go to the ball.

Tait shot her a sideways glance. ‘You can wipe that smug expression off your face now, Paige Quinn. You’re still going to the ball.’

‘Oh please, how can I go if I can’t dance?’

‘You can hobble and still have fun.’

She arched a brow at him.

‘You’re going and that’s the end of it.’ The edge to his voice indicated he would carry her to the ball if need be.

‘Has anyone told you you’re very bossy?’

‘Yes, many times, and they’ve also called me a few other things.’

‘I think I might know what some of those things are.’

He grinned. ‘Witty, handsome, a great catch.’

‘Try stubborn, caffeine-addicted and obsessive.’

‘And those are my good points.’ He pressed a button on the mobile that rested in the handset between them. ‘And speaking of being obsessive, do you mind if I take my phone off silent? I’m expecting a call.’

‘Bronte?’

The name slipped out before Paige could apply her inner editor. She flushed. She didn’t want Tait to think she was prying again.

‘No, I spoke to her last Friday. What a difference a week can make. It seems she’s been consoling herself in a work colleague’s arms.’

‘And you don’t mind?’ Paige asked, still unsure.

‘Not at all. Her work mate is a single dad, and I suspect has been waiting for a chance to make his move for a while. He was always calling her over work matters. He also knows Bronte has a child, so let’s hope they can make a go of it. For Bronte as well as her daughter’s sake.’

‘So your visit here has been a success?’

‘In some respects.’

The phone rang before she could ponder the sudden tension in his words.

He read the name on the screen and pressed a button to silence the mobile. ‘My stepmother.’

‘Not the call you were expecting?’

‘Nor will the next call be.’

The phone rang again, and again Tait silenced it. ‘We should be safe now.’

The phone rang again. ‘Maybe not.’ He sent the caller through to message bank.

‘Is your phone always this busy? I haven’t noticed it ring so much at the house.’

‘That’s because I leave it on silent. I deal with my voicemail at night.’

The phone beeped, indicating a message had been left. ‘Well, you’ll be reading a very long message from your stepmother. She must really want to talk to you.’

‘Don’t mistake call frequency for any cosy mother-stepson relationship. She only rings when she wants something and I suspect she’s still trying to get me to finance her personal trainer into a gym franchise.’ There was no missing the derision in Tait’s voice. ‘Pester-power won’t make me throw money her toy-boy’s way.’

‘Toy-boy? You don’t mean …?’

‘I do. Sophia’s latest lover.’

‘Does your stepfather know?’

Tait shook his head. ‘Perhaps I’m not doing the right thing by not telling Bruce, but his health isn’t good. He might suspect Sophia is warming someone else’s bed, but her affair is still a complication he shouldn’t have to deal with at the moment.’

‘It must be hard keeping such a big secret, let alone any secret at all.’

Tait passed a hand around the base of his neck. ‘You have no idea.’

‘As a child I couldn’t even keep Dad’s Father’s Day present a surprise. And even now, it eats away at me that I’m not telling him the whole story of what is happening in the paddocks, but I promised Mum I’d look out for him.’

‘All secrets aren’t created equal, you know. Some aren’t designed to hurt, just protect, and some, like your Father’s Day presents, only bring happiness.’

‘After Chris and all his half-truths, honesty just seems so incredibly important.’ Paige pursed her lips. ‘But I guess in the big picture keeping things from Dad, like how many cattle we have left, isn’t such a bad secret. It’s not as if I’m hiding something major, like planning to run off to town with the postman.’

‘Just as well,’ Tait chuckled. ‘I’ve seen your postman. He must be at least ninety in the shade.’

Tait’s mobile rang again. This time he frowned as he hit the silence button. ‘Angelica, my stepsister.’

‘She must be missing you?’

‘Not exactly. She is her mother’s daughter. She only calls when she needs something.’

‘You mentioned chauffeuring her to her school formal. What is she? About eighteen?’

‘Yes, eighteen going on twenty-five. I shouldn’t have worn my big-brother hat and driven her and her friends around to make sure they’d stay out of trouble.’

‘Why?’ Paige cast him a curious look. ‘It was a nice thing to do.’

‘Have you met her friends?’ He grimaced. ‘I think the only word in their vocabulary is “hot”.’

She giggled.

‘Why are you laughing?’

‘No reason, I’m just imagining you chauffeuring around a group of girls fluttering their false eyelashes at you.’

‘It wasn’t anything to laugh about. It now seems the blonde with the very high heels and very short dress thinks all eighteen-year-old boys are “uncool”.’

‘And, let me guess, Angelica is playing matchmaker with her very “hot” stepbrother.’

He groaned. ‘If it isn’t both of them turning up on my doorstep, or asking me to take them places, Angelica is calling to put a good word in for her friend.’

Paige leaned over and squeezed his forearm. ‘Poor Tait. You have a big, red lipstick target drawn on your back.’

‘You’d better believe it.’ He glanced down at her hand. ‘I might need rescuing, you know.’

She pulled her hand away. ‘As I’ve said before there’ll be no shortage of female rescuers queuing to help you at the ball.’

Tait’s phone rang yet again. This time he pressed the talk button and inserted an ear piece. It must be the call he’d been expecting.

‘Hi, Cheryl. Yes, am on the way to Glenalla.’ He looked at Paige. ‘Yes, the puppy did find a home. And no, I don’t need to bring him to Sydney.’

Paige gritted her teeth. So much for Tait’s sob story about Bundy desperately needing a home. Tait had been prepared to give the orphan pup one all along. However for a blue heeler bred to herd cattle, and who’d mature into an intelligent, independent dog, Bundy had ended up at the best place for him.

‘I know, you’re always telling me I need a dog, but put it this way, now I get to keep all my shoes.’ Tait’s tone deepened. ‘No luck with the Three-M Pastoral Company?’ His mouth firmed. ‘I know whoever owns it has covered their tracks so I’ll take it from here. I might catch a break. I’ll talk to you tonight.’ He disconnected the call.

‘Bad day in the office?’

‘Yes, more like a bad six months. There’s a company I need to make a proposition to, but it seems to be surrounded by a strange code of silence.’

‘You said you like mysteries.’

‘Yes, I do.’ But his lingering frown communicated that whatever the mystery connected to the Three-M company was, Tait could do without it.

He checked the clock on his phone. ‘Do you mind if I make a quick call?’

‘Go ahead.’

Paige looked out the window to offer Tait some privacy. He greeted his stepfather in an affectionate tone that she’d never heard him use before.

‘Hi, Bruce. Yes, Paige’s with me. It’s a long story but she’s hurt her foot. Yes, I will. Now are you right for this morning?’ He paused. ‘Good. I’ve already sent a copy of your reports to the specialist. This will be a routine visit. Nothing to worry about.’ He again paused. ‘Okay, I’ll call you at lunch.’

She stared unseeing at the colours that sped past. The care and warmth threading Tait’s words were unmistakable. How could she have ever believed he’d be shallow and superficial like Chris? He shouldered the burden of his stepmother’s infidelity, he chauffeured his stepsister to her formal to make sure she’d be safe, he’d been prepared to adopt an orphaned pup and he’d called to reassure Bruce that his specialist appointment would be okay.

The flash of the countryside blurred. Emotion ached in her throat. Tait’s stepfather wasn’t the only good man. The city pretty-boy beside her was too.

After seeing Dr Lee, Paige was officially diagnosed with a broken third toe. As she’d suspected there wasn’t much that could be done, other than to rest and stay off her foot. Yeah right. As soon as she returned home she’d find a way to make sure she could be mobile again. She knew without looking up that Anne would be keeping a close watch on her. Tait had issued strict instructions when he’d dropped Paige at the library that she was to stay sitting down. So here she sat in a comfy chair, her elevated foot strapped in a Velcro, toeless black boot, a hot chocolate and salad wrap beside her and a laptop on a small table before her.

‘Need anything?’ Anne asked with a smile from behind the library counter.

‘Only a new foot. This is so ridiculous. You know I can’t go home and sit around all
day.’

‘You must rest, Paige. I know you hate sitting still but if you push yourself too hard you’ll only end up doing more damage. You heard what Dr Lee said.’

‘I know.’ Anxiety hunched her shoulders. ‘But how am I going to get everything done at home?’

Anne smiled. ‘Tait’s around and he’s more than happy to help out.’

‘But he goes on Sunday.’

A strange expression crossed Anne’s face. ‘Is that when he’s leaving?’

‘Yes, he’s only booked in for the two weeks, and by the way his phone went off on the drive here, they can’t wait to have him home.’

Paige ignored the sudden feeling of sadness that tugged at her. What was with her today? Sleep deprivation and whatever medication Dr Lee had prescribed were messing with her emotions.

A phone rang. Anne bent to collect her mobile from the handbag Paige knew she kept behind the counter. Paige took a sip of her hot chocolate and pressed a few keys on the laptop. If she was stuck here for the next hour while Tait had ‘secret men’s business’ to complete, then she may as well make the most of the free internet. She looked out the large glass window to the street where his car was. She needn’t worry about giving him directions, he knew his way around Glenalla as though he’d been born here.

Snippets of Anne’s hushed conversation drifted to her. ‘Under no circumstances will such information be made available. May I remind you we didn’t go to all the trouble we did fifteen years ago to now fold under pressure. Hold firm. The timing’s not right to proceed.’

Paige turned her attention to the internet weather page. One of Anne’s Sydney business interests must be giving her grief. She clicked on the weekly forecast and sighed. Zero chance of rain. She went on to check the cattle market, commodity prices and did a little web-surfing
on broken toes. Her restless fingers drummed on the keyboard. Tait’s ‘secret men’s business’ was taking a while. She needed to get home. Hyperactive Bundy would be driving her father nuts.

She took another sip of her hot chocolate and munched on her salad wrap. Every so often she’d think of a webpage to look up. She placed her almost finished wrap beside her as she remembered she should be checking Banora Downs’ web presence. She still didn’t quite know how Tait’s PA had heard about them. But as she entered different key words into the search engine she couldn’t find anything about Banora Downs operating as a farm stay. Sure there were plenty of historical references, photos of the house and even of the old church in tourist blogs, but nothing to indicate Banora Downs was available for accommodation.

She chewed on the last of her lunch. Behind her Anne was busy lending out books to tiny, hard-of-hearing Mrs Jones. Paige typed the letter ‘t’ into the search engine and then deleted it. She couldn’t enter Tait’s name, could she? That would be the same as cyber snooping. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. But how could she not? If he was lying about how he found out about them – there was no way his PA had done so on the internet as he claimed – what else could he be telling them that wasn’t true? Before her conscience could veto such a rash idea, she typed in his full name and held her breath.

The computer screen lit up like a Christmas tree. Images of Tait with various blondes were followed by newspaper and social page links touting his charitable contributions to the Brain Aneurism Foundation. She opened the top link and read the first line.

Tait Cavanaugh, CEO of AgriViz, an agricultural consultancy firm …

She stopped reading. A chill raced through her and despite the day’s heat she shivered. CEO? Agricultural consultancy?

She remembered Tait’s words from the Balgarry schoolhouse.
I own three companies
.

Fingers unsteady, she typed AgriViz into the search engine. A website flashed onto the
screen.

She sat back in her chair, arms crossed, heart stampeding. She didn’t need to read more than the brief website blurb to know once again she’d been duped by a smooth-talking city boy.

‘So do either of you have something to say to me?’ Paige asked from the kitchen doorway in a tone that was sharp enough to cut glass. Tait glanced across the breakfast table at Connor. Just as well he’d given Connor the heads-up last night that Paige was onto them. When he’d picked her up from the library there’d been a fire in her eyes he couldn’t put down to her injury. The open laptop and the compressed line of her lips left him in no doubt she knew an investment company wasn’t all that he controlled. She’d sat stiff and silent in his car until, thankfully, whatever medication Dr Lee had given her had knocked her out. She hadn’t woken when they’d arrived home so he’d carried her to her room. When he’d then taken her a dinner tray she’d still been asleep.