Bride at Briar's Ridge Read online

  ‘Why didn’t you get one in town?’ he returned smartly.

  ‘Look, Linc.’ It was time to plead. ‘I want us to start over.’

  ‘Really?’

  He stared her down with those shimmering silvery green eyes. She had never, ever seen eyes that exact colour. ‘You must believe me. The last thing I want is to cause a rift in the family. Your father loves you. He misses you. Chuck does. So do I. We’re family! We should all be friends.’

  ‘So why didn’t you tell Dad and Chuck you were going to pay me a visit?’ He tossed his hat onto a planter’s chair.

  ‘A drink of cold water, then?’ she pleaded, putting a perfectly manicured hand to her temple. ‘The heat is making me a little sick.’

  ‘Not pregnant, are we?’ he asked satirically.

  ‘I like to think one day I will be.’ She gave him a valiant smile, though she had no intention of ever coming off the pill. She had heard that childbirth was a million times worse than root canal, never mind having a tooth capped.

  ‘Then you better get a move on,’ Linc returned harshly, having been exposed to Cheryl’s little games for too long. ‘Come in. I need to take a shower. I’ll show you the kitchen. Maybe you can make us both a cup of coffee?’

  She visibly relaxed. ‘Sure!’ She gave him a great big smile. She could well afford to. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but somehow she was going to get him to talk. Open up. After a while he might ease up on that spring-loaded tension which only served to make her desire him more. She was going to be a whole lot smarter this time. Jumping the gun had been her one big mistake. Usually men just rolled over when offered sex. Not Linc. She needed to get to him at a really weak moment. Maybe drunk? What she so desperately needed from him could wait a little while.

  Daniela planned to be at the restaurant until around five. She liked to be early, making sure everything was in order. Saturday was their biggest night, and they had a full house. She liked to run a relaxed kitchen. Not easy, but it could be done. The team she had under her had had years of experience in top restaurants. They were highly trained, with a passion for cooking and experimentation, and they had understood immediately what she was trying to do, passionately interested in getting the formula right.

  That note and the accompanying photograph had put a lot of pressure on her. She couldn’t get it out of her mind. Hating what she was doing—ashamed of it, really—she rang the top hotel in the valley to ask if a Mrs Cheryl Mastermann was staying there. Surprise, surprise! They said Mrs Mastermann most certainly was, with a fair bit of gush. Unfortunately they couldn’t put her through to Mrs Mastermann’s suite—though she hadn’t actually asked for them to do that—because the concierge had Mrs Mastermann’s car ready for her. Mrs Mastermann had told them she was going out for the afternoon.

  You bet she was going out for the afternoon, Daniela thought dismally. She’d have a plan. And she just bet the hotel staff had bent their heads together over that one. Mrs Cheryl Mastermann, and Linc Mastermann already making a name for himself in the valley. What was the connection? One thing was certain—their guest surely wasn’t his mum.

  By two o’clock Daniela knew what she was going to do. She was going to drive out to Briar’s Ridge and see Carl. No reason why she shouldn’t. With everything that was between them it was the normal thing to do. He wouldn’t know she was coming. Ordinarily she would ring, but today she didn’t.

  Why, Daniela? her inner voice asked. What’s the motivation here, girl?

  It isn’t a crime, is it, to be a little bit suspicious?

  The trouble was, she couldn’t help thinking it might be. She wanted—needed—to push her love for Carl to its outer limits. Love relied heavily on trust, didn’t it? Otherwise every wife in the country would be demanding her husband fill in a daily logbook to be pored over at his return. Carl had convinced her he trusted her over what had happened with Gerald. Why couldn’t she do the same for him? She could readily believe his stepmother—only a handful of years older—would be attracted to him. Carl had a powerful sexual aura. They had lived together in the same house. Probably they had gone for long rides together.

  It was all her fault. Just so had Adam rounded on Eve.

  Get out there to Briar’s Ridge! Her inner voice told her. Stop beating yourself up.

  The closer she drew to Briar’s Ridge, the worse Daniela felt. He would hate her checking up on him. She didn’t blame him. On the other hand, he didn’t know anything about the ‘anonymous’ letter sent to her by Violette Denby. Probably Violette thought anonymous letters were just quaint little customs. Something thought up by the do-gooders of this world. If his stepmother wasn’t there Daniela supposed she could say she was in the area to expand her knowledge on the valley’s hot air ballooning, for example—no harm done. And Carl would conclude she couldn’t wait until later tonight to see him.

  If Cheryl Mastermann was there, what was she doing to do? She was too civilised to give in to primitive urges like pulling hair. She had a certain view of herself. Was there such a thing as an innocent visit? Of course there was.

  You’re talking about a blond bombshell here, girl!

  Innocent herself, Daniela felt very guilty.

  It was a brilliantly fine day. Too fine and too hot, with a north-westerly blowing up. People in rural areas in times of drought feared the north and north-westerlies, she had been told. The deep blue sky had an odd metallic glint, the sun beating down like an anvil. Daniela drove down the cool avenue of trees, then turned into the circular drive, the gravel almost blindingly white.

  Push off again. Don’t stop.

  A very expensive-looking car was parked in the coolest spot beneath the overhanging grevilleas so brilliant with golden and dark pink colour.

  Her inner voice suddenly chipped in. Fight for your man. Don’t you think you should?

  Daniela switched off the ignition and lifted her knuckles to her mouth. Restraint was what she did best. For all her Italian heritage, she was no simmering volcano.

  This man is worth everything you’ve got. You want him, don’t you?

  She wanted him all right. Him and his children. Mere seconds later Daniela had transported herself to the verandah, knocking on the open door. ‘Carl?’

  There was a long silence. Where were they? She didn’t feel up to barging in. She couldn’t believe Carl might be double-crossing her, but if she found them together she might well throw up. She called out again, louder this time. Was there any such thing as lasting love, lasting fidelity?

  Of course there is, girl! Think of your parents, your grandparents.

  True, they had been blessed in that way. But they had been essentially good people, who’d held family very close. Carl had been brought up in a highly dysfunctional family. Sometimes people in that situation turned out very differently. His dad didn’t sound like much of a role model.

  What the hell? She might as well go and get it over. She was ready to marry him. She had even been thinking about her wedding gown. It would be glorious. She had just the style in mind. And she had begun thinking about bridesmaids. Alana, who had been so warm and welcoming, would be matron of honour, and then her first cousin Sarina, and Lyndsey, her long-time friend from their schooldays and lovely Sondra in California if she could make it. If she were honest, she would have to admit she was well into the whole wedding thing, like a woman who had finally found her way.

  Just as she was moving purposefully into the living room a blond woman suddenly appeared from the rear of the house. On sighting Daniela she frowned in apparent shock, and with more than a touch of indignation. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked sharply, regarding Daniela from head to toe.

  Indeed, to Daniela’s eyes it looked very much as if she was shortly to be asked to provide ID. ‘I’m sorry if I startled you,’ she said pleasantly. ‘You didn’t hear my knock?’ Best to answer question with question. ‘I called out a couple of times. I’m Daniela Adami. I’m a friend of Carl’s. Would he be at home?’

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nbsp; The woman replied with great reluctance. ‘He’s not right now,’ she said, with an upward toss of her platinum head. She was dressed in a beautiful pink chiffon shirt with a ruby sequin trim, and a figure-hugging skirt with tiny ruby-coloured spots. Not normal dress for the country, but then she was the sort of woman who could cause city traffic jams, Daniela thought. Glitzy as they come.

  ‘So where is he?’ Daniela asked, still keeping her tone non-confrontational. Wasn’t the best way to get through life to be civil? Oh, quit being so damned polite, Daniela, the voice in her head broke in disgustedly. ‘And you are?’ she responded to that voice, her tone picking up a brisk notch.

  ‘I’m Cheryl Mastermann,’ the woman replied, as though it was none of Daniela’s damned business.

  ‘Ah, yes.’ Daniela nodded gently. ‘You’re Carl’s stepmother. I do hope you’re going to tell me his father is here? I’m so looking forward to meeting him.’

  ‘My husband is in China,’ Cheryl clipped off, not at all happy with this turn of events. The last thing she had expected was another blonde to blow her out of the water. Not that Cheryl was a blonde, actually. But it hadn’t been until she’d turned blonde that her love life had really taken off. The fact that Linc’s visitor was a true blonde as opposed to bleached blonde, with contrasting large velvety dark eyes, only compounded her chagrin.

  ‘So is that why you waited to visit Carl?’ Daniela asked.

  It was a totally unexpected broadside. This woman didn’t look remotely as if she got into broadsides. ‘What?’ Cheryl placed her hands belligerently on her curvy hips. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘I suppose it means exactly what you think it means, Mrs Mastermann,’ Daniela said. ‘Where is Carl?’

  ‘Don’t you mean Linc? Everyone calls him Linc.’ Cheryl eyed Daniela with a mixture of outrage and perplexity.

  ‘Yes, I understand that,’ Daniela said. ‘It’s just that Carl came more naturally to me.’

  ‘You’re saying you have to be different?’ Cheryl glared.

  ‘No. I’m saying I have to be myself. Are you staying or are you going straight back into town, Mrs Mastermann?’

  Cheryl looked taken aback. In fact she was genuinely perplexed. ‘That’s up to Linc,’ she said. ‘I’ve only just arrived.’

  ‘You were planning to stay the night?’

  ‘Look, my dear, why don’t you shut the hell up?’ Cheryl suddenly snapped. ‘What Linc and I do is our business. This has gone far enough. I have to tell you Linc has never mentioned you.’

  ‘I know someone who has!’ was Daniela’s instant retort. ‘Violette Denby. She must have spotted you in town.’

  ‘We had lunch, as a matter of fact,’ Cheryl freely admitted. ‘I liked her. She’s very clued up on what’s happening in the district.’

  ‘And you told her the reason you were in the valley?’

  ‘Of course. Listen, this is getting ridiculous. I don’t have to answer to you.’ That Cheryl was fast losing confidence, despite herself.

  ‘You’ve made a mistake there, Mrs Mastermann,’ Daniela told her quietly. ‘Carl and I are on the point of getting engaged. Matrimony not too far behind. Neither of us can wait.’

  Cheryl was poleaxed. Linc getting married? Hell, he hadn’t even had time to settle in, let alone find a bride. Cheryl dropped all pretence of a feminine pose, even her carefully cultivated accent. ‘What are you saying?’ she yelled, her clear skin blotching fiercely. ‘I don’t believe it!’

  ‘True.’ Daniela confirmed, inclining her head. ‘Surely you didn’t cast yourself as in with a chance? I understand your husband is a very aggressive man. Wouldn’t you find it a tad difficult trying to get away from him, even if Carl had been thinking along your lines? Death by shooting your husband might find too tame.’

  Cheryl abruptly bent over, as if pain was jack-knifing through her body. Here she was thinking divorce, when Linc was thinking marriage. It couldn’t be true.

  Daniela made a quick move towards her. ‘Mrs Mastermann, are you all right?’ she asked in automatic concern.

  Cheryl snapped bolt upright, eyes afire. ‘You’re sleeping together?’ she gritted through perfect white teeth.

  ‘Does that shock you?’ Daniela spoke almost kindly.

  ‘You realise he was sleeping with me?’

  Here it is, girl. Your trust in the man you love is on the line.

  ‘Then you’ll know all about the unusual birthmark on his left flank?’ Daniela said.

  Cheryl hooted, surveying Daniela with scorn. ‘Of course I do. For your information, I didn’t mean to fall in love with Linc. I dedicated myself to acting with the utmost propriety. You’ve no idea how difficult it has been, trying to cauterise my emotions. It tortured me, living in the same house.’

  ‘So Linc made the first move?’ Daniela pressed her for an answer.

  Cheryl’s hard blue eyes suddenly swam with tears. ‘Do you think he didn’t fight it?’

  ‘It must have been a very grim situation,’ Daniela said, implying sympathy. ‘So what brought it to a head? What happened to drive him away to seek a new life?’

  ‘What do you think?’ Cheryl cried with magnificent abandon. ‘He was trying to do the honourable thing. So was I.’

  ‘But you still want him?’

  ‘And he stills wants me.’ Cheryl pressed the back of her hand against her hot cheek. Her colour had come up so fast it looked near life-threatening. ‘If you’re telling the truth about an engagement, it will never work. Linc is trying to forget me, but I’m in his blood.’

  ‘Why don’t we sort that out right now?’ Daniela suggested. ‘Just tell me where he went. If he truly loves you, it stands to reason I can’t marry him.’

  ‘Well put! I can readily understand that,’ Cheryl said, at once part of the sisterhood. ‘Why demean yourself by asking him, though? Why don’t you simply break up with him?’

  ‘I would like to give a reason,’ Daniela said. ‘Where did he go?’

  Cheryl became agitated. ‘I have no idea!’ Her face beneath the immaculate make-up turned abruptly from scarlet to pale as paper. ‘Some rough-head, a leathery yokel called George, came to the door. They talked a while, then Linc took off.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll find him,’ Daniela said.

  Walking back to the homestead with one eye on the sky—it looked as though another dry storm was not too far off—Linc thought how fortunate he was having George. It was George’s day to visit his sister in town, but he had opted to stay put. Like Linc and the rest of the valley, the north-westerlies had made George uneasy.

  Rounding the side of the house, he saw to his surprise Daniela’s little runabout parked a few feet from Cheryl’s car. An uncontrollable anger flared through him. Cheryl was the sort of woman who believed she could have any man she wanted if only she schemed hard enough. She had landed his dad, and his dad wouldn’t have been a push-over. He didn’t have the slightest doubt that on meeting Daniela Cheryl would be hell-bent on convincing her the two of them had shared an illicit relationship. It might be a fantasy played out in Cheryl’s head, but did Cheryl care about that?

  Amazing things happened to people who thought positive. He had been hoping Cheryl would be gone by the time he arrived back. He had certainly told her that was the way to go. But Cheryl, the inveterate schemer, had held on. He hadn’t been expecting Daniela until late that night, when she had finished at the restaurant. Ordinarily he would have been thrilled she had called in to see him—only Cheryl was a dangerous as a hammerhead shark.

  Linc picked up pace, near running up the front steps just as Daniela was coming out of the house. ‘Hi! This is a surprise.’ His eyes embraced her, even as they sought to detect her mood.

  ‘I was just coming to find you.’ She sounded just the faintest bit shaken out of her natural calm. ‘I’ve met Cheryl.’

  Linc held up a darkly tanned callused hand. ‘Then I have only one thing to say. It’s all lies. Cheryl is having a mid-life crisis.’r />
  Overhearing such a charge, Cheryl stalked onto the verandah, striking a familiar pose, hands on hips. ‘What the hell are you talking about, Linc? Mid-life crisis? I’m only thirty-two.’

  Linc slammed a hand down on the railing. ‘Some people’s birthdays go up. Others go down.’ He turned his face to Daniela, his whole body thrumming with tension. ‘She told you we were having an affair, right?’

  Daniela could see the look in his glittering eyes ‘It’s all right, Carl, settle down. We just had a quiet talk. Cheryl was about to leave. Weren’t you, Cheryl?’ She offered the woman a way out, at least with some dignity.

  Cheryl decided not to take it. ‘Why shouldn’t she know about us?’ she cried angrily. ‘She tells me the two of you are getting married. Don’t you think you should level with her, Linc? If you don’t you’re running the risk she will find out about us from someone else.’

  Linc made a sudden move, looking so tall and daunting both women jumped back. Cheryl into the entrance hall, Daniela barring Linc’s way. ‘Don’t—don’t.’ Daniela shook her head vehemently. ‘Just let her go.’

  ‘I’d prefer to throw her out,’ Linc gritted. ‘God, however was my dad fool enough to marry you, Cheryl? If I told him about you, your marriage would be over.’

  ‘Only you daren’t tell him,’ Cheryl cried, breathing hard. She had reached the stage where she thought if she couldn’t have Linc she’d be damned if another woman could.

  Daniela acted fast. She seized the towering, magnificently fit Linc by his two arms, applying maximum force. It was pitiful under the circumstances—he was unbelievably strong—but a symbolic gesture. ‘Get your bag and go, Cheryl,’ she threw over her shoulder. ‘And you’d better hurry!’

  ‘Go!’ Linc bellowed, so loudly Cheryl yelped.

  Moments later Cheryl took off, optimising all her powerful car’s horse power, tyres momentarily loose in the gravel, spraying it everywhere.

  ‘So what was the long talk about?’ Linc asked, his eyes searching, grave. Cheryl’s car had long since disappeared into the tunnel of trees.