It was mostly introductions as the South Pacific back-ground enchanted many of the guests and obviously melted a lot of constraints. So it was a success, the opening cocktail party, a lively throng that was a blend of Chinese businessmen and the top management echelon from Goodwin Minerals, also, in many cases, accompanied by their stylish wives.But as the last guests departed Alex looked wordlessly at Max Goodwin and drew a deep breath she let out very, very slowly.His eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘That was quite a performance, Ms Hill. I salute you. But would I be right in thinking you’re exhausted?’‘I feel as if I’ve been through a wringer,’ she said candidly.‘Then go through to the green room,’ he instructed. ‘I’ll bring a restorative.’Alex hesitated. ‘I should be going home.’‘In a while. Here we go.’ He scooped two glasses of champagne from a passing waitress. ‘After you.’She hesitated a moment longer, then did as she was told. This time, her second visit to the gr
The woman he’d called Cathy raised her voice in emotional frustration. ‘Max, you know as well as I do, if there’s anything we like to do better than love each other, it’s hate each other.’‘That didn’t alter my right to know,’ he said savagely. ‘And now you want to leave him with me, a complete stranger! How’s that going to affect him? Surely you must have some other back-up!’‘My mother’s always been my back-up, she’s been wonderful, but she’s going into hospital so I need to be with her and my nanny’s walked out on me. But, Max—’ Cathy’s voice changed again, to husky with strain ‘— somehow—somehow—we had to break the ice, you had to meet him. And Nicky’s, well, he’s a very well-adjusted child and I’ve always told him his father is a wonderful person. Anyway, he’s got Nemo.’Alex shook her head as she absorbed all this and the words started to make sense. Then she flew up as she heard Max Goodwin sweargraphically, and, without bothering about her shoes, ran out of the green room
THE Sovereign Islands sat in the Gold Coast Broadwater and were, Alex knew, arguably one of its most prestigious addresses. Houses that weren’t mansions only fell short of it by a small margin; the rest were. All of them had waterfront access either directly onto the Broadwater or linked to it by a series of canals.The Broadwater itself was protected from the might of the ocean by South Stradbroke Island and was a boating paradise. It shared its bounty, its white beaches, its slate-green mangroves and darker casuarinas, not only with sailors and fishermen, but a rich tapestry of bird life from pelicans and oystercatchers to migratory whimbrels. To Brahminy kites, sea eagles and even, although rarely, the black and white, long red- legged jabiru, big birds that looked as if they were dancing through the shallows as they fished.There were dolphins in the waters and wild wallabies on shore on South Stradbroke.The City of the Gold Coast to the south was a high-rise Mecca of sophisti
Alex absorbed this and thought a little more charitably about Nicky’s mother. ‘And … now?’ she queried quietly.‘Now? It was like being punched in the guts. The first words he said to me last night were, “Are you really my father? I didn’t actually believe I had one.” Now?’ he repeated with a nerve flickering in his jaw. ‘I won’t rest until he knows he has a father he can rely on.’It had all been said quietly, but Alex could see the intensity behind it and the resolution. She looked away and blinked back a tear.‘So that’s why,’ Max Goodwin said as he resumed massaging her ankle, ‘I’m prepared to go to quite some lengths to make this work out. And you—’ he gazed at her thoughtfully for a moment ‘—seem to have an intrinsic way with kids. How come?’She explained. ‘We used to get kids from way out west, boarders from Dirranbandi, Thargomindah and so on who were terribly homesick at first—it just seemed to come naturally to me.’‘Would it be so difficult for you to help me out at le
But there was also the concern she’d seen twice now in Paul O’Hara’s gaze; something seemed to tell her it was concern for her. Yes, possibly over a twisted ankle today, but yesterday there’d been that question mark, the definite question mark, about her relationship with Max Goodwin. She went still as it occurred to her that, as part of the family, Max’s cousin probably knew better than most that Max and Cathy would never get over each other. But they’d been apart for siX years, hadn’t they? And not that long ago he’d claimed he hadn’t even thought about her for a long time. She stared out of the window unseeingly. On the other hand, he hadn’t married anyone else in siX years and, surely, if there was a significant woman in his life she’d be part of these social functions for the Chinese consortium delegation? She shook her head and forced herself to concentrate on what was the cruX of the matter for her—if Max Goodwin was not for her, she’d learnt one thing in life painfully we
THE next three days were mostly peaceful.Both Jake Frost and Max had gone back to Brisbane and the household relaxed a little.Alex and Nicky explored the islands with Nemo, they swam, they walked to the nearest shopping village of Paradise Point with its pleasant beach and they fished off the jetty.The pool area of the Tuscan villa was especially beautiful. Enclosed in a walled garden, the pool was surrounded by thick emerald lawn and the walls were smothered in a variety of creepers; honeysuckle and jasmine scented the air and the starry little flowers of port-wine magnolia studded the dark green of its foliage. There were beds of creamy-white gardenias and glossy-leaved camellia bushes.In one corner sat a quaint gazebo with a cupola roof. It looked faintly oriental or, Alex thought, like someone’s ‘folly', but Nicky loved it. He had a toy gun and it gave him a lot of pleasure to clamber around the gazebo or hide under its benches or behind its lattice screens and ambush imag
He smiled and watched her for a moment, and thought how young, troubled and essentially innocent she looked. She was also probably the least vain female he knew, yet it was only human to resent being told she was ‘quite safe’ in that context, and curiously lovable.As for wine, women and song, not that she’d ever know it, but it might not have been so far off the mark. Well, a nightcap maybe, somefavourite music in the den, a girl in his arms on the wide, comfortable settee, to relax him from his high-pressure business life.This girl?Especially this girl, he thought with an indrawn breath. How sweet would it be to initiate her into the rituals of love-making? To make her gasp with desire and focus those beautiful eyes solely on him, to very slowly bring alive all her most sensitive erogenous zones. To possess that slender figure, those stunning legs and to be the one to meld the different elements of her personality, her sense of humour, that keen intellect and the scholarly sid
‘You live and learn,’ Max Goodwin commented. ‘But I would have thought, if anything would do it, it would be a fright.’‘It can be, or it can be underlying stress or it can have nothing to do with what’s going on around you at the time,’ she told him.‘So you’ve taken medical advice, Alex?’‘Yes.’ She swallowed. ‘I really thought I was over them,’ she said again and added unthinkingly, ‘I guess there’s more stress in my life at the moment than I’m accustomed to.’He let go of her hand and turned to look at her with his elbow propped on the back of the settee. ‘Why? Interpreting?’She looked into his eyes and could have kicked herself because interpreting was a breeze compared to what she was going through on his account. But he was not to know that.‘Uh—it’s not as easy as it looks.’His lips twisted. ‘I never for one moment imagined it was. So that’s all?’ He raised his eyebrows and she noticed the little scar at the outer edge of his left eyebrow again.She looked away and