Black Diamonds (19 page)

She needed that now. She needed it more than ever.

On the ground she spread out the patchwork quilt she’d brought with her, an old one she’d made at school from assorted purple patches, and buried her fingers in Rudy’s comforting fur. Leaning back against one of the tree trunks, she looked over to the west, where the sun would soon begin its downward journey across the sky. How many times had she sat here? She’d grown up with these trees, watered them, tended them, and witnessed the exciting moments when truffles were found at their roots. She’d stayed under their cool shelter for hours in the summertime, listening to the wind rustle their leaves. And after her father had died, it had been the first place she’d gone, running her fingers through the earth they’d dug and tended together, feeling him close.

Rudy licked her hand as she picked up some of the red earth and closed her fingers around its dustiness. It gave her no comfort, not this time.

Blinking, she stared up at the evening sky. Soon it would fade into purple, the twilight colour it had been shaded when Xavier Antoine had come to Paradise Truffle Farm. He’d been in Australia for such a short time, and yet he was imprinted on her landscape, as though he had always been part of it. She wasn’t going to be able to forget him.

A desolation so deep it threatened to swallow her up hovered at the pit of her stomach. She fought it down. She’d felt hollow all day, and it wasn’t just from jet lag and lack of sleep.

Her clenched fist turned the dusty earth into a solid mass under her curled fingers. Rammed earth, a compressed tight ball. That’s how she had been until Xavier came along. She heard the echo of his voice in her head yet again. “
You are—what do they say in English? You are too uptight
.”

The ball of earth dropped into an explosion of red dust at her feet as she stood up. Beside her Rudy clambered to his paws with a bark.

Brushing her hands on her shorts, she picked up the quilt. “Let’s go, Rudy,” she told him. “We’ve got a lot to do. Where there’s a Riley will; there’s a way.”

“Woof!” replied Rudy, giving her the first smile of her day.

A frown wiped away her smile as she headed back to the cottage. There was still so much to organise. When she’d told Mia her plans, Mia had reached out and hugged her close.

“You’re doing the right thing, Jackie. Of course we’ll help.” Her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Your dad would be so proud of you.”

How she hoped Mia was right. Her pa’s message had brought back the determination in her. She wouldn’t give up now.

A light breeze caught at her hair. She pulled the elastic from her braid and loosened it.

“Rudy!” she called, as the dog raced ahead of her with a bark. “Rudy, what is it?”

As she came around the corner she saw it. Parked dead centre of the driveway was the most amazing sports car she had ever seen; long, low and black, with tinted windows that you couldn’t see into.

An Alfa Romeo.

Rudy went crazy as the driver’s swung open.

Xavier stepped out. Time seemed to whirl backwards as Jackie remembered how he’d struck her when she first laid eyes on him, with the karri and gum trees behind him and the pale red pebbles at his feet. He ought to have looked out of place, with his tailored trousers and pristine white linen shirt, his expensive dark glasses, his leather loafers. But he hadn’t then, and he didn’t now. He was a man who didn’t look out of place anywhere.

Rudy bounced up and down, barking with joy, licking Xavier’s hand.

Jackie couldn’t speak. She could only stare.

He lifted off his sunglasses. His gaze travelled over her, taking in her hair, whipped by the breeze, her white t-shirt meeting her khaki shorts, and her legs, right down to her scuffed slides. She remembered how his lingering look had infuriated her when they first met. Now, all she wanted was for him to stare at her forever with those truffle dark eyes.

He glanced towards the cafe and gave a crooked smile, lifting his hands in surrender. “I know. You’re closed.”

Drinking him in with her eyes, she could only nod. Gauntness hung in his face, as though, like her, he’d barely slept. There were inky shadows under his eyes, and the lines seemed deeper around his mouth. Her fingers ached to smooth them.

He shrugged; an unmistakably Gallic movement of his shoulders. “I haven’t come to eat.”

Her heart cried out silently.
Then why have you come?

The spice of his aftershave cut through the eucalypts around her as he moved closer. As if responding to her unspoken question, he said, “I came to talk to you. I didn’t want to leave things the way they were in France. With this issue of the dam, we need to at least be on speaking terms. We are … neighbours … after all.”

“Neighbours.” The word sank in her stomach like a stone. Neighbours, yes, that’s all they were to each other now.
Neighbours.

Sending the red pebbles flying, she stepped forward. “Xavier, about the dam water …”

In an imperious gesture he held up his hand. “Let me finish, if you will. I didn’t get the opportunity previously.”

Falling silent, she bit her lip as she recalled how she’d shouted him down at the chateau.

“It’s not easy for me to say this. It’s not the Antoine way. But I was too harsh with you in France. It must have been a shock finding that email, and it appeared damning enough. You were already upset about your truffle farm’s financial situation, I knew that. I flew here to tell you what actually happened.” Folding his arms, he formed a tense barrier between them. “Do you remember when we first met, Jacaranda?”

His voice sent a familiar tremor through her when he said her name, with the French roll on the ‘r’. “Yes, I remember.”

“It’s true that I’d been looking into buying your land when we bought next door. We knew we would need more room to do what we wanted to do. Paradise Truffle Farm seemed the right place to expand. You’ve got good land here.” He glanced beyond the courtyard towards where the hazel trees grew.

“Go on.” She was begging him now, but she didn’t care.

He gave a wry smile. “Ready to listen to me now, are you?”

“Please. Tell me what happened.”

“I’ll tell you what happened.” A muscle worked in his jaw. “I met you.”

Her breath caught in her throat as his words sank in. “You—met me?”

“
Oui
. When I met you, when I understood what had happened with your father, and that he had left you this property—I knew you would never sell it, and that I would never ask you to. I saw how much it meant to you.”

“But the email …” she stammered.

“Ah,
oui
. I’ll admit that I asked my lawyers to keep looking in to Paradise Truffle Farm’s operations. When they had suggested there were some issues about the water use I knew I had to get all the facts. But I wasn’t going to cheat you. I was going to discuss it with you.”

“Discuss with Jacaranda Riley.” Feeling sick, she remembered what had been scrawled at the bottom of the paper.

“My lawyers were still under the impression that I wanted to buy Paradise Truffle Farm. That’s why the email read as it did. I know it looked bad. I’ve read it again, more than once. But the arm twisting they suggested—I wouldn’t have been part of that.”

Regret swept over her like a rush of wind. She could never take back all the hurtful, angry words she’d flung at him. “I was so upset about the business, about my pa, I wasn’t thinking straight. Seeing that email—it was the last straw.”

His eyes raked her, sending shivers down her body. “I realised that, but …”

His words held a finality that made her tense with fear.

“But …” she prompted, in a ragged whisper.

“But I wanted a relationship with you, for you alone, not for your truffle farm. You couldn’t trust that. You jump to conclusions and you always conclude the worst. Your constant suspicion of me … when I told you I’d been married, you assumed I was cheating. You read an email—that wasn’t meant for your eyes, I should add—and you assumed I was about to shut your truffle farm down. I know you find it hard to trust people. But I thought you trusted me.”

“I do trust you! I do!”

“It didn’t sound like it at the chateau, Jacaranda. The things you accused me of.” Suddenly he sent her a sharp glance, his eyes raking over her white t-shirt and faded khaki shorts. “Where is your colour?”

“My colour?” she asked, confused.

“The colour you always wear.
Violette
. Purple. Jacaranda.”

“I … I couldn’t wear it today.” Never before had she not worn purple. But that morning she’d been unable to put it on.

His dark eyes gripped hers for a moment. Then he broke their hold. He stared over her shoulder towards the rammed earth buildings behind her. “Paradise Truffle Farm. You told me not to set foot on the premises again, didn’t you? Well, you don’t need to worry. There’ll be no repercussions; I wanted you to know that at least. I’m not going to buy it.” His smile seemed almost mocking. “I won’t spoil Paradise.”

“Xavier, please.”

Jacaranda twisted her hands together. They were trembling, he noted, as he stared at her, at the loose red braid over her shoulder, the freckles on her nose, the wide, pink mouth, the deep blue eyes in which he’d read so many different emotions. Unable to look at her any longer he turned away, staring into the eucalyptus trees.

Her hand on his arm brought him wheeling back to face her. The scent of her assailed him, her natural essence, and the smell of wildflowers he still couldn’t name.

“Xavier, I need to tell you something.” She took a deep breath, as if gathering her courage. “I … I’ve found out the dam does belong to you.” Falteringly, she explained the situation.

“I see.” He kept his voice glacial as something like acid ripped his guts apart, knowing how little she had trusted him. It had hurt him more than he’d ever imagined possible. “So you were prepared to believe what your friends Dean and Mia have told you, but you weren’t prepared to believe me.”

Her face flamed as scarlet as one of her Australian sunsets. “I guess I deserved that.”

Lifting her chin, she went on, “You’ve got every reason to be angry with me. I know I don’t deserve anything from you, not after everything that’s happened. But there’s something else I need to say to you, something important. That’s why I was coming back to France.”

In astonishment his head reared back. “What?”

“All the arrangements are made.” She nodded towards the Truffle Tucker Cafe. Through the glass doors he could see her distinctive purple hard shelled suitcase. The sight of it made him wince. From the mullioned windows of the chateau, he’d watched as Henri had carried that same suitcase out to the limousine, before driving Jacaranda away to the airport.

“Mia and Dean said they would look after Paradise again for me,” she continued. “My flight goes late tonight. I was just about to leave for the airport.”

So, she’d booked a flight back to the Dordogne, to return to his chateau. It was hard to take it in. He hadn’t anticipated her doing that. But she always surprised him. “If you’re still concerned about the dam, and having access to a water supply for your trees, you don’t need to worry. If the previous arrangement still suits Paradise Truffle Farm, it also suits Antoine Estate. Neighbours need to get along. I told you, I won’t spoil Paradise.”

“Xavier!” Beside her Rudy let out a bark as his mistress raised her voice. “Please, you have to listen to me.”

Taking a deep breath, she said rapidly, “The misunderstanding about the water, that’s not why I was coming back. The business arrangements between us aren’t important, not anymore. I wanted to apologise to you. I’m so sorry for all those terrible accusations I made when I found the lawyer’s email. I … I lost my temper.”

There could be no doubting her sincerity as she met his gaze.

“I’m familiar with your red-headed temper, Jacaranda,” he drawled. “I believe it was right here on this spot I first discovered it.”

In a glorious clash with her hair, her face flamed pink again. “You were right about me. I guess I do have some trust issues.”

In France he’d tried to cure her of those, dropping wine like nectar into her waiting mouth. “My trust tests weren’t successful then.”

“But they were!” Rudy let out another bark as again she cried out. “Please, you’ve got to believe me. Last night, I finally realised the truth. I do trust you. No one else has ever understood me, believed in me, the way you do. You understand about Paradise Truffle Farm. You understand what it means to me.”

“Truffles are an obsession I know only too well. Paradise can have a black diamond Year. I’m sure of that, though perhaps I shouldn’t have pushed you quite the way I did.” It had been bothering him, whether he’d forced her to move on too fast after her father’s death. “I believe in you as a truffle cultivator. I want you to be all you can be, not settle for second best.”

“I don’t want second best, Xavier. I want you.” Like a sapling in the wind, she trembled as she stepped forward. “I love you.”

Silence flared between them, with a heat as powerful as the setting Australian sun.

“So that’s why you were coming to France? To tell me that?”

Her head bowed as if waiting for a guillotine to fall. “Yes.”

All the way on the long flight he’d been preparing what to say to her in his mind. Never before had he indulged in behaviour so impulsive. Reason had told him he was a fool to follow her half way around the world, while his body yearned for her like a hungry man who’d never eaten a square meal.

Now at last, he found the right words. “You’ve been craving black diamonds,
non
?”

Her head snapped up. “Black diamonds?”

“
Oui.
” Reaching into his pocket for his car keys, he pressed a button. The lights on the Alfa Romeo flared into life as he pulled open the car door and slid into the driver’s seat.

“Xavier!” Jacaranda clutched the door, as if with her fingers she could hold the car back from moving. “Wait! Please, don’t go. Didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I heard you, Jacaranda.” Leaning away from her, Xavier clicked open the glove compartment and reached inside. “I just thought you’d want some truffles.”