when they came were brusque, very explicit. It was obvious to everyone seated around the table he was well acquainted with big business, Money Business. They all knew it was conducted in a certain way, bland enough on the surface, underneath extremely tough. He wasn’t relying on his advisors. He was managing his own negotiations. While the team was taking the fifth Baron Wyndham’s measure he was taking theirs. In the course of the meeting it was revealed he had substantial investments in the mining sector of Chile and Canada. Although the vast State of Western Australia was the usual target for their investors, Cate suggested Queensland as an excellent alternative. Mining drove the Queensland economy just as it did W.A. The traditional bases of wealth created over several generations were being overtaken by mining magnates, some of them surprisingly young. These men were fast rising to the top of the Rich List, rubbing shoulders with the multibillionaires.
Eventually the meeting broke up. Discussions had been intense. A follow-up meeting was scheduled for midweek.
Cate was still concerned he was going to expose her. As what, for God’s sake? No one on the planet outside Stella knew Lord Wyndham was the father of her child. Not a single soul since dear Arnold had passed away after two very painful years of battling lung cancer. Her adoptive father always had smoked too much.
Hugh’s up mood was infectious. They were moving out of the boardroom, when he suddenly brought up Wyndham’s other interest. Buying land on some beautiful Whitsunday island.
“Just a moment, Cate.” For some reason Cate was moving away too fast.
“Yes, sir.” She turned back.
“Cate here might very well have the answer to your Barrier Reef island retreat,” he told Wyndham.
“No.” Wyndham responded suavely.
“Cate works hard at everything she does,” said Hugh. “She has managed to build a very good relationship with a lady, Lady McCready actually, now in her mid-eighties, who owns a small but fabulous Whitsunday island called Isla Bella.”
“After one of Italy’s great gardens perhaps or simply a beautiful island?” he asked without looking at Cate.
“Lady McCready did confide she and her husband named their island after a trip to Italy,” Cate said. “They loved Italy and the wonderful gardens.”
Now he looked down his blade of a nose at her. “The island is for sale?”
“Could be. Could be,” Hugh broke in, somewhat puzzled by a certain tension in the atmosphere. He had an instinct for such things.
“You have doubts, Ms Hamilton?” Wyndham asked, his tone faintly brittle.
“Up to a point, yes. Lady McCready is very much against exploitation of her island. No boutique hotels for the rich and their … friends. Certainly no tourist destination. The island has been her home since the death of her husband. She would never be budged on an investment.”
Before Hugh could intervene Wyndham pre-empted him. “Let me make it quite clear, Ms Hamilton. It’s a private home I wish to build. A tropical retreat for me and my family. Hopefully a few friends will be allowed. I’m a very busy man. Occasionally I like getting away from it all. This is the first trip I’ve been able to make to Australia. I very much like what I see. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the great wonders of the world. I intend to see it while I’m here.”
“Wonderful!” Hugh said, giving Cate the beginnings of a sharpish look. “If you are seriously interested, perhaps Cate could contact Lady McCready. She trusts Cate, you see.”
For a fleeting instant Wyndham looked as though he wouldn’t trust her for a minute. “Perhaps we could discuss it over dinner this evening,” he suggested, as though formalising the matter, making it a business call.
“Cate?” Hugh prompted, his grey gaze turning faintly steely.
Hugh was as near to perturbed as she had seen him. Her behaviour, she knew, wasn’t being consistent. She always did what was expected. The intelligent, indeed the only, thing to do.
Her training took over. “Certainly, Lord Wyndham,” she said, demonstrating her loyalty to the firm. “That would be lovely. I could in the meantime see if I can contact Lady McCready.”
“With that happy thought in mind,” he said smoothly, “perhaps you can recommend a restaurant. You know Sydney. I don’t.”
“C’est Bon!” Cate and Hugh said together.
“I could pick you up at your hotel,” Cate said, trying hard to be charming for Hugh’s sake. “Shall we say eight o’clock?”
“Are you sure I couldn’t pick you up at your home?” Wyndham asked, a glitter in his sapphire eyes. “A limo has been put at my disposal.”
“It’s quite a drive,” said Cate quite untruthfully. “Really, Lord Wyndham, it suits me perfectly to pick you up. No trouble at all.”
“Well, that’s settled!” Hugh made the emphatic announcement while wondering at the same time what was going on. The fact Cate and Lord Wyndham were antagonistic hadn’t been lost on him. It wasn’t as though Wyndham didn’t approve of career women. He had caught the gleam of respect in his razor-sharp glance as Cate demonstrated her expertise. Perhaps they would settle down over dinner. He sincerely hoped so. This was a big deal for Inter-Austral. Wyndham was prepared to invest a heap of money. Obviously the man was massively rich. Cate was right: Queensland was emerging as the hot spot. The state had huge potential expanding on the back of the resources sector. Australia for that matter had one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the world: one super-rich individual per eight thousand or so as opposed to around thirty-seven thousand globally. Lord Wyndham had come to the right place.
Stella, an exceedingly observant woman, saw the upset in Cate’s face the moment she walked through the door. It was as still as a marble carving. “Cate, what’s up? Are you going to tell me?” Stella, whose whole background had been a gigantic puzzle, perversely demanded she know everything in Cate’s life. It had taken Cate many long years to realise Stella in her own quiet way was very controlling.
Cate put her expensive leather handbag down on the marble-topped console in the entrance hall, wondering how best to break the momentous news.
Stella took her silence for refusal and began to walk away, obviously offended.
Cate followed Stella, taking hold of her arm. “Where’s Jules?” she asked urgently.
Stella turned to stare at her. “Why, he’s in his bedroom playing the video game you bought him. He’s done his homework. Never have to tell him. He really is a remarkable child.”
“Come into the living room.” Cate kept her voice significantly lower. It was their favourite room, furnished with a mix of Asian and Western antiques. Three plush white leather sofas faced the magnificent view across the sparkling blue satin water to the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The wide covered deck to the rear was the only major structural change they had made. It had been worth every penny.
“So what is it, then?” Stella set a silk cushion aside as she continued to study the face of her adopted daughter. Both of them had kept Annabel’s secret and agreed they would continue to. Cate, however, had stopped calling Stella Mum. Whether she was aware of it or not she had never really thought of Stella as her mum. Jules called Stella Nan. Maybe it wasn’t
