Inheritance (10 page)

‘Yes,’ Cassie walked back to the print she had recognised. ‘I have this one hanging in my hallway at Yallandoo. But I think mine’s the original.’

Stella raised her eyebrows. ‘Highly unlikely, I should think. Probably a print or something that looks similar.’

Cassie shrugged. She wasn’t going to argue. ‘You may be right,’ she said as Stella turned and walked away.

Cassie turned to Rosie and indicated the classy fittings. ‘Getting back to this, he certainly hasn’t spared any expense. How could I compete with all this?’

‘But you wouldn’t have to compete. That’s what Ian said.’

‘I’ll have to give it some more thought. Come on, let’s have this swim.’

As Cassie swam vigorously up and down the length of the pool, she felt her anger changing to determination. Mark Pierce would never get his hands on Yallandoo and its attractions.

Lunch at Binbin was a buffet meal set out on a long table inside the cabana. Cassie and Rosie filled their plates and carried them outside to join a group sitting at a table by the pool. They were young people from the district, all friends, most of whom Rosie knew. Talk centered largely on their whirl of social activities, who was dating who and scraps of gossip.

Cassie contributed little to the conversation. Her mind was busy with Mark’s duplicity. Why hadn’t he told her about his resort when they went riding? She found she had little appetite and toyed with her food, and was relieved when a waiter removed her plate.

She excused herself and rose from the table.

‘Rosie, you stay,’ she told her friend. ‘I’m going to have a look around. We’ll catch up a bit later.’

Mark appeared at her side before she had taken more than a few steps.

‘Cassie, I hope you’re enjoying yourself. I’ve been trying to catch up with you.’

‘Really? I would have thought you’d be far too busy to bother about me,’ she replied coolly.

‘Of course not. I’ve been looking forward to us having a chat. I’d have liked to have told you before what we’re doing here but it was a company decision to keep it as a surprise until today.’

‘It was certainly a surprise. Now I can see why you’re so anxious to buy Yallandoo. By the way, I have decided definitely not to sell. I’m sure you’ll be disappointed.’

‘I’d have been happy to have the extra land but I can manage without it. Does that mean you’ll be staying up here permanently?’

‘Possibly. I have some plans of my own for a small tourism venture. It’s quite overshadowed by this, however.’

Mark seemed not to notice her cool manner. ‘Ah. So is this why you need a builder? I’m keen to hear about it. What’ve you planned?’

‘I’m thinking of putting a few cabins in the rainforest and developing some of our attractions. As that’ll put us in competition, I suppose I shouldn’t say much more.’ Even as she spoke, she realised she sounded childish.

‘We won’t be in competition. I think it’s a wonderful idea.’ He sounded enthusiastic. ‘You have so much to offer. It’ll be totally different to what we have here. I think there’d be many ways that we could work together.’

‘What do you mean?’ In spite of herself, Cassie was interested.

‘Well, for instance, we could make an arrangement so your guests could use our facilities and our guests could take walks in your rainforest. I suppose you’ll be putting in boardwalks to minimise damage to the ecology?’

She hadn’t thought of this, but she wasn’t about to let Mark know. ‘Yes, of course. And we’ll be conducting guided walks, too.’

‘And what about the caves you were telling me about? You’ll have those open for viewing too, won’t you?’

Ah, the caves. She eyed him carefully. His manner seemed quite open but she still felt suspicious.

‘Do you think they’d be a big attraction?’

‘I’m sure they would be.’

‘I’ll think about it. How would we work this exchange of guests?’

‘We’d have a business agreement. There’d be payment on both sides for the use of each other’s facilities. I’m sure it could be a mutually profitable arrangement.’

‘I’m not sure it would work.’

‘I don’t see why not. Don’t you trust me, Cassie? Is that the problem?’ His voice hardened. ‘I may be tactless and arrogant, but I can assure you I’m quite trustworthy in business.’

‘That’s not what I was thinking.’

‘What then?’

She hesitated, her eyes on his face. ‘I’m not sure I really want to work with you. I mean…you’re big business. I have in mind a small enterprise that I can control easily myself. That I can run the way I want to run it.’

‘And you think I’ll try to take over, tell you how to run things.’ He smiled ruefully, shaking his head. ‘You do have a bad opinion of me, don’t you? And here I’ve been thinking we’re friends. Or is it only where business is concerned? I can see…’

He was interrupted as a small girl, racing across the lawn from the direction of the car park, threw herself at him.

‘Daddy. Daddy. Can I go for a swim now? Grandy said it’s fine with her if it is with you.’

Mark laughed as he caught her and tossed her up into the air. A pretty child with long fair curls, wearing a wrap over the top of a swimsuit, Cassie guessed she was about five years old. So Mark had a daughter! She remembered he said he was divorced but he hadn’t mentioned children.

‘And where’s Grandy now?’ he asked.

‘She’s coming. I brought her over in the golf buggy. See, here she comes now.’ The girl pointed to a white-haired lady crossing the lawn at a more sedate pace. ‘She made me park in the car park. She said I wasn’t to bring it round here with all the people.’

‘Quite right, too.’ Mark stood her down on the lawn. ‘Now then, where’re your manners? That was no way to burst in. I was talking.’

‘Sorry, Daddy.’

‘Cassie, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Gemma. Gemma, this is Miss Taylor who owns Yallandoo Station next to us.’

‘How do you do, Miss Taylor?’ The child held out her hand in a surprisingly adult manner.

Cassie took it as she responded. ‘How do you do, Gemma? And please call me Cassie.’

‘Thank you, I will,’ she replied gravely. Suddenly she was all excitement again. ‘Daddy, can I swim now? Please, please!’

‘Yes. Off you go. Be careful not to get in the way of anyone else who’s swimming. And stay where I can see you.’

‘I will,’ and she was off running.

‘Mother, come and join us.’ Mark went to meet the newcomer, a sprightly lady of medium height. Her white hair waved softly around her face and her sharp eyes were a brilliant blue. Cassie realised she would have been a beauty in her younger days. Today she wore a deep blue crepe dress with a rope of pearls around her neck and she stood out amongst the casually dressed guests.

When she spoke, it was with a European accent, her manner of speech rather formal. ‘That child is so full of energy; she wears me out at times. What a big crowd you have here, Mark. So many smart-looking people.’

‘Mother, this is Cassie Taylor, from Yallandoo Station next door. My mother, Nadia.’

‘Ah, so we are neighbours, my dear.’ A welcoming smile lit her face as she extended her hand. ‘I am very pleased to meet you. Gemma and I came up from Sydney yesterday with my other son, Laurence. We are going to stay for a while, so perhaps we will see more of each other as we are neighbours.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nadia. I’m sure we’ll see each other again while you and Gemma are here.’ Cassie responded warmly to the other woman’s friendly approach.

‘Perhaps you will come and visit me. Gemma and I would like some young company.’

Mark interrupted. ‘Can I get you a drink, Mother?’

‘Yes. Champagne, thank you.’

‘And you, Cassie?’

‘No, thank you. It’s time I found Rosie and headed for home.’

Nadia placed her hand on Cassie’s arm. ‘Oh, please. Stay and have just one glass of champagne with me. I don’t have the opportunity to speak with agreeable young ladies very often these days.’

Cassie hesitated, then, as she decided she liked Nadia, gave a small laugh. ‘Very well. It’ll be a pleasure. Come, we’ll sit over here.’ She led the way to a table and chairs nearby as Mark moved away for their drinks.

‘My two sons are very good to me but sometimes their company is so boring,’ Nadia said when they were seated. ‘With them, it is always business, business. Their father was the same. It is good to have another woman to talk to. Now, tell me about yourself. You live next door, Mark said. Do you live there with your parents?’

‘No. My father died several years ago and my mother lives in Sydney.’

‘Then what do you do up here? Do you work on the station?’

‘No. Yallandoo’s our family property. My father and his brother Len grew up here.’

‘Ah, so you live with your uncle?’

‘No.’ Suddenly Cassie found herself telling Nadia the whole story. How she had spent much of her childhood here and of the tragic accident which meant she was now the owner of the property. Nadia listened sympathetically.

When Mark returned with their drinks, he found them deep in conversation. He placed the glasses on the table and moved away.

‘Ah, my dear, you are young to have such a big responsibility but you are sensible, I can tell that.’ She nodded her head. ‘Yes. You will always consider any move carefully before you make it, I am sure. That is good. And you have a good manager, you say?’

‘Oh yes, excellent.’

‘Then I think that you will manage very well.’ She paused. ‘But will you be happy running a cattle station? Is that what you really want to do, perhaps for the rest of your life?’

‘I’ve asked myself that question so many times. And the answer is…’ Cassie shook her head, ‘I don’t think so. I think I need more stimulation than that. But I love it up here and I have decided definitely not to sell the property. I…I do have something in mind that may be what I need. I’m working on it.’

‘Very good. And what does your mother think about you staying up here?’

‘I know she’ll miss me. I’ll miss her, too.’

‘Of course. To have your daughter move away from you is sad. I remember my mother was very sad when I left my home to come out here to Australia.’

‘So, did you come here when you were a young girl, Nadia?’

‘I came here as a bride when I was twenty. That was in the fifties.’

‘After the war?’

‘Yes, like so many others. We lived in Hungary. Things were not good there in the years after the war. My husband, Paul, heard about the opportunities waiting for people like us in Australia. It beckoned as the land of opportunity. I was afraid to leave my home and family and come so far away but he had no such fears. He was full of enthusiasm. He said it would be a wonderful new life for us.’

‘And was it?’

‘At first it was very hard. We came on a ship with many other people just like us. We were all put into a camp with big huts and we all lived together. I was homesick and missed my family terribly.’ Nadia sighed. ‘Yes, it was hard. Paul had an engineering degree but it was not recognised here. He had to work as a labourer. He didn’t mind that but I had to remain in the camp with the other women and children. We were in the mountains and there was little to do. There were many families there and the other women had their children to look after but I only had Paul.’ She stopped. ‘But you don’t want to hear all this old history. I am boring you. You must forgive an old woman.’

‘No, please go on. I’m really interested. What happened then?’

‘Well, eventually we were able to leave the camp and we moved to Sydney. Work was easy to find if you didn’t mind hard work, and Paul took a job as a bricklayer’s labourer. I wanted a child but Paul wanted to wait until we were better off. We rented a house and, to earn extra money, I worked as a manicurist. I had learnt this in Hungary. I took my case and I went to some of the wealthier houses and knocked on doors. I soon built up a clientele and we saved the extra money.’

A waiter came to their table and refilled their glasses, which they had sipped as they talked.

Cassie thanked him. She could see Mark standing talking to Rosie.

‘Go on,’ Cassie prompted Nadia.

‘Paul was very ambitious. He loved Australia and everything Australian and he was determined to become successful. He learned everything he could about building and soon he was a bricklayer himself. He worked long hours and when we had enough money saved, he built a small house and sold it for a profit.’ Nadia smiled at the memory. ‘Ah! That was a proud moment for him.

‘Then he agreed that it was time to start our family. By the time Laurence was born, he was running his own building company. Oh, very small, but it was the start. That is when he changed our names from Perz to Pierce. More Australian, you know! They were boom years. Everyone wanted houses and other buildings as well. Because of his engineering background, he knew how to build big commercial buildings and there was no stopping him. Oh, yes. Life here has been very good to us. It is truly a land of opportunity.’

‘Of course,’ Cassie spoke with surprise. ‘I realise now. Pierce Constructions. The name on so many of the big building projects in Sydney. He certainly succeeded. You must be very proud of him.’

‘He did all he wanted to do. But the hard work killed him early.’ Nadia’s face clouded. ‘He should still be here today, but he died six years ago. I tell my sons, don’t let it happen to you. How much money do you want? Take life a little easy!’

‘Mark is going in a different direction now, with this resort. Would you sooner see him do this?’

‘This is a company project but, yes, it was Mark’s idea. But who knows what he will do once it is finished. Laurence is like his father. Business is everything. He will never listen to me, but I am hopeful for Mark. I would like him to stay up here where life is a bit slower.’

‘Surely he’ll have to stay up here now he has the resort to run?’

Nadia shrugged. ‘Maybe he will decide to put in a manager. We will have to see.’

Mark materialised by the table. ‘Mother, you’ve monopolised Cassie for long enough. I hope you haven’t been boring her with some of your family stories.’

‘She is a very sweet girl to listen to me. Now I am going to take Gemma back to the house and leave Cassie to enjoy some young company. Thank you, my dear, please come to visit me before too long.’