Inheritance (6 page)

Cassie smiled. ‘Yes, I’d like to come, thank you. I’ll have to check with Rosie, of course, but I don’t think she has any arrangements. It sounds like fun.’

‘Good. About eleven, then? I’ll look forward to seeing you both.’

‘Goodness, a pool. And didn’t you say something about fishing in the dam? You are doing a lot of work over there.’

Mark resumed his bantering manner. ‘Ah, comfort is important. And pleasure. I’m a great believer in both.’

‘I see.’ Cassie laughed. ‘Well, it sounds as if you’re going the right way about it.’

‘Work hard, play hard,’ came the light-hearted response. ‘The tennis court has just gone in. Do you play?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then we’ll have the first game on the court.’

‘With all these activities, when do you ever find time to run the station?’

‘I have an excellent manager, he sees to it that I have plenty of free time.’

‘And do you have other plans for Binbin to fill that free time? A gymnasium, perhaps, or even a golf course?’ She matched his jesting tone.

‘Both excellent ideas. And now you can see why I want extra land.’ He spoke lightly but she sensed a purpose to his words.

‘You are joking!’

No joking in his voice now as he tilted his head and gazed steadily at her. ‘I am serious about the extra land. My offer stands. Should you decide to sell I’d make you an excellent offer. Drought or not.’

Cassie wrinkled her brow, considering his words. ‘I haven’t decided yet if I’ll sell or not. Probably not, I think. But should I decide to, then I’ll let you know.’

‘You’d give me first option?’

‘Yes.’

‘Thank you.’ The corners of his eyes crinkled as he flashed a smile. ‘And thank you for an enjoyable and interesting ride. And you will keep your word and show me the caves and rock pool?’

‘Yes, if you want. We’ll have to go up on foot. It might be a warm climb,’ she warned.

‘Perhaps we could cool off in the pool up there?’

‘If there’s enough water. And, Mark…thank you. For what you did in there.’

‘Cassie, I’d hate anything to happen to you, and I’m glad we’re friends now.’ Leaning across, he kissed her cheek.

A delicious shiver ran down her spine. The kiss seemed light and friendly but the look in his eyes held more. Cassie couldn’t quite fathom the look. There was interest in it, but something more. Was it admiration? Or was it calculation?

‘I look forward to seeing you on Sunday. About eleven.’ With that, he wheeled his horse around and rode away.

Cassie sat quite still for several minutes watching him go. What had she seen in his eyes? Interest…yes, but interest in her or in Yallandoo?

***

Christ, Mark thought, as he rode away. What was he doing? Going all soft. It had been the perfect opportunity to pressure her to sell Yallandoo when she had been so worried about a mortgage. Why had he hated to see her upset and then yielded to the impulse to try and make her feel better? Why had he talked to her about Yallandoo’s potential attractions? Just because she’s beautiful and, well, somehow vulnerable. He wasn’t some callow youth to be bowled over by that. He knew all about beauty, didn’t he? And what had it brought him? Nothing but heartache and misery. You’re a bloody fool, he told himself angrily. But the memory of her in his arms remained strong.

The dark velvet tropical night had settled around Yallandoo when Cassie and Rosie carried their glasses of wine outside to sit on the verandah.

When Cassie switched on the lamp, it cast a pool of light that sent shadows from the railing tumbling across the lawn and lit up the poinciana trees and palms, sentinels standing nearby. From the rainforest, sounds of the nocturnal animals drifted across on the soft breeze.

It was good to be enjoying this quiet time together, catching up on their news, as they had so many friends and acquaintances in common.

During a lull in the conversation, Rosie sat forward with an enquiring expression. ‘I was surprised when you told me you weren’t seeing Jason anymore.’

‘Oh, him!’ Cassie scowled. Even the mention of the name made her angry.

‘You told me you’d had an argument.’ Rosie raised an eyebrow. ‘So what happened? I’m dying to know! You seemed to be getting on well when I saw you in Sydney last time.’

‘Sure. But only as friends.’ Cassie grimaced faintly. ‘But that’s ages ago. After a while, he wouldn’t accept that. He got terribly possessive, hated me seeing my other friends.’

‘So what happened?’ Rosie’s eyes gleamed. ‘Now come on, I want to know the whole story.’

Cassie knew Rosie would niggle at her until she told her. She didn’t mind her knowing; she just hated having to relive it all.

‘Oh, all right, if you’re so interested. Well, one night he came to see me and told me he’d found a flat for us to move in together. When I told him no way, I’d never felt that way about him, he started yelling at me.’ Her heart quickened at the memory. ‘Said I’d been leading him on. We had a terrible argument. He flew into a rage; I thought he was going to hit me!’

Rosie’s eyes opened wide. ‘Shit! What did you do?’

Cassie drew a deep breath. ‘Well, fortunately, Mum came home then and he left. But next day he rang me. I told him I didn’t want to talk to him, then or ever. But he was waiting for me when I left work. Told me how much he loved me. Ugh! Can you imagine?’

How she loathed him now; how could she have ever liked him? ‘Said I must love him too or I wouldn’t have gone out with him for six months. I told him I never said I loved him and I wasn’t going out with him again, ever. He was fuming. I didn’t realise he had such a bad temper, the bastard!’

Rosie frowned. ‘Wow! What a good thing you didn’t move in together!’

Cassie shook her head. ‘It’d never got to that stage. I was fond of him, sure. I enjoyed his company. But I was never in love with him. I thought he felt the same, it was always just friendly. We’d never discussed moving in together.’

‘Was that the last you saw of him?’

‘No.’ Cassie swallowed, trying to push down her distress as it all came back. ‘He stalked me. All the time. One night I was going out and he got on the train and sat opposite me.’ Her
skin crawled at the memory. ‘Then he started raising his voice. Told me he had a gun and he was going to shoot me and then kill himself if I didn’t come back to him. In the end he was shouting. It was terrible.’

Cassie shuddered, clasping her arms around herself as she remembered her fear.

Rosie’s brows drew together, her face fierce. ‘That prick! I wish I’d been with you. What did you do?’

‘No one in the carriage interfered, they just stared. But someone must’ve gone for the security guard because a pair of them came in together. They suggested I get off at the next station while they kept him on board. So I did.’

‘What on earth did you do then?’

‘I took a taxi straight home. Mum was home, thank goodness. She gave me some warm milk and put me to bed.’ Raising a shaking hand, she picked up her glass and took a large gulp. ‘Next day I went to see a solicitor and he arranged for a restraining order to be taken out against Jason.’

‘When did all this happen?’

‘About four months ago.’

‘So, have you seen him since?’

‘No. That must have brought him to his senses.’

‘What a bloody horrible experience. It sounds as if he’ll leave you alone now, though.’

‘I certainly hope so. The last thing I heard, he was going out with a girl from his office.’

Cassie took a deep breath as she looked around at the tranquil surroundings of Yallandoo, her pulses slowly quietening.

Rosie shook her head. ‘What a bastard he turned out to be. I never would’ve believed it. He’s obviously psycho. Pity the new girlfriend!’

‘Yes. But I just want to forget all about it now. You can see why I don’t like to talk about it. I never want to see him again. I know he hates me now, I’d never feel safe with him around. You just don’t know with people, do you? I thought I knew him well.’

Rosie brightened. ‘What you need is a new man in your life to help you forget it.’

Cassie gave a wry laugh. ‘I don’t know that I’m quite ready for that yet.’

‘Best thing in the world for you.’

‘What I learnt from all this is to be wary. I’ll be very careful before I become involved with anyone again, believe me.’ Cassie shook her head. ‘Now, let’s talk about something else, can we? I’m really more interested in Yallandoo and what’s happening up here. I am concerned about our financial position, you know.’

‘It’s not really so terrible, though, is it?’ Rosie asked, biting a nail. ‘We’ve gone through droughts before. We’ll survive, won’t we?’

‘Yes, of course we’ll survive, and if there’s a mortgage, well, we’ll pay it off. But I’m thinking of finding some way to bring in an extra cash-flow for times like this, to help out a bit.’

‘So you’ve decided to stay, then?’

‘Not definitely, no. But I’m…exploring all avenues, let’s say.’

‘I see. Hmm. So what sort of thing could we do? Something like your mother did after your father died? Are you thinking of catering or something?’

‘No,’ Cassie’s voice became thoughtful as she spoke. ‘I’m actually thinking of something to do with tourism. It’s big business up here now. And I think it’s going to grow even bigger. But what, exactly?’

Rosie looked surprised. ‘Tourism? Like, turn us into a B&B or something?’

‘Not a B&B, no. I wouldn’t want strangers in the house.’ She frowned. ‘But Mark Pierce said something today about developing interest in our rainforest and the caves. I’ve been thinking about that. He said we could make it so people would pay to see it. I couldn’t stand having people roaming all over the place, but it is special. Maybe…just a few people at a time…I don’t know…’ her voice trailed away.

‘And how could you do that?’

‘Well, mm, perhaps…what about cabins, maybe?’

‘Cabins. Hmm. So people wouldn’t have to stay in the house. And you could take them to the forest and up to the caves and all. You know all about that sort of stuff, don’t you? The plants and the birds and animals. Even the aboriginal legends, I bet you still remember those.’

‘Of course. At least, a lot of them. Don’t you? Sam used to tell us both when we were kids.’

‘Yes, but I’m not clever like you. I don’t remember all that stuff. Anyway, it could be all right.’ Rosie nodded. ‘Yeah. Sounds a good idea, actually. But wouldn’t it cost a lot? Where would you get the money?’

‘I have some money of my own. Dad left me some and Mum invested it for me. But I don’t know if I’d have enough. I don’t know how much it’d cost. I’ll have to think about it, make some enquiries. Hmm.’ Cassie rested her chin in her hand as she thought about her investments, wondering how much money she could raise.

‘Anyhow, when did you see Mark Pierce?’ Rosie asked suddenly.

‘Oh. This afternoon.’ Cassie spoke carelessly. ‘He came over just as I was setting out for a ride. He was interested to see the rainforest, so I showed him.’

‘But I thought you hated him?’

‘Well, he apologised for his behaviour yesterday. And he was certainly well mannered enough today. He’s not so bad, I suppose.’ She paused before asking, ‘How well do you know him?’

‘He used to come over to see Len a lot. They’d often both be here for morning tea. He still comes sometimes to see Dad. He’s always nice to me. And very polite to Mum. They both think he’s great. Why?’ She gave Cassie a sharp look. ‘You’re not interested in him, are you?’

Cassie raised a shoulder dismissively. ‘Of course not. Anyway, he’s asked us both to a pool party at his place on Sunday. I said we’d come. All right?’

‘Sure. I’m keen to see what he’s done. Spent heaps on the place, I believe. He’s filthy rich, they say. Got big business interests down in Sydney.’ She laughed. ‘He’s set plenty of hearts fluttering since he’s been here, too. He seems to share himself round, though. He has quite a string of conquests, I believe. He’s been seen with quite a few different girls hanging on his arm. All glamour pusses.’

‘Really. Anyone special?’

‘Well, he’s been seen a fair bit with Stella Hardwick, she owns the Hardwick Gallery in Cairns, you know. Their photo was in the Cairns Post a couple of weeks ago at some flash do in
the ballroom at the Reef Casino. According to Katie, who works for her, she’s got the hots for him. Thinks no one knows, of course, but apparently she hangs on his every word.’

Cassie glared. ‘Rosie, that’s terrible gossip.’

‘Well now, so that upsets you, does it?’ Rosie laughed. ‘I wonder why? Couldn’t be that we fancy the rich and handsome Mark, could it?’

Cassie looked around to find something to shy at her friend. A bowl of nuts stood on the table. She grabbed a handful and threw them at her friend.

‘Shut up!’

Rosie laughed again as she picked a few stray nuts off her lap and threw them back at Cassie.

Cassie’s mind slid back to their water fights as children and soon they were both laughing as nuts flew backwards and forwards across the table. When the bowl was empty they both sat back, giggling.

‘Oh, shit. Now look what you’ve done. All over the clean floor. Mum’ll be mad.’ Rosie chuckled. ‘So you are interested in Mark! I won’t tell anyone your secret.’ She tossed her head. ‘Trust me!’

‘I don’t fancy him!’ Cassie tried to regain her dignity. ‘I was just curious.’

‘Okay, okay. I believe you.’ Her amused face belied her words. ‘Anyway, I’m keen to go on Sunday. I wonder if it’ll be a posh affair. You know waiters in white jackets and all that stuff.’

‘I really don’t know.’ Cassie sounded offhanded. ‘He seems quite unassuming. If he really is that well-off.’

‘He is, believe me. I wonder why he came up here.’

‘I really have no idea.’ Cassie yawned loudly. ‘I’m rather tired. I think I’ll go to bed. See you in the morning.’

‘Okay. Good night. Sweet dreams. I hope they’re good ones.’ Rosie laughed as she stood up and went to her room.

Cassie sat enjoying the solitude for a few moments longer. There was no way she would admit to Rosie that she found Mark attractive. Or that he seemed to find her attractive too. Or that she’d arranged to meet him alone again to see the caves and the pool. Remembering his arms around her as he held her after Tango reared, and the look in his eyes, her heart quickened.