be able to make your gran see how important this complex really is to Sunrise Point’s future. Ben, you have no idea how many local people don’t have jobs. Especially amongst the young.’
‘My God, Amber, this new you is quite a stunning change from the old Amber. She wouldn’t have given a damn about Sunrise Point’s future. After all, she couldn’t get out of the old hometown fast enough. The Amber I came to know and love certainly wouldn’t have sounded so passionate about things local and economical. I’m sure I will find it fascinating to hear your selling spiel.
‘Be at the farm at four,’ he ordered brusquely. ‘But don’t bother bringing the Hollingsworth chequebook. Because we’re not selling. Not now. Not ever.’
He hung up, leaving Amber in a state of mounting fury. Who did that supercilious, sarcastic bastard think he was? No one had left town more quickly than he had. No one was more selfish—or less socially conscious.
As for his gran, it was her land still, wasn’t it? If Amber could persuade her to sell, then Ben Sinclair could just butt out.
She wouldn’t be at the farm at four. She’d get there at three, with a damned sight more than the Hollingsworth chequebook in hand. She’d have a few other subtle enticements up her sleeve which an old lady might appreciate.
Ben wanted war? Well, he’d get war!
‘Who was that?’ Beverly demanded to know. Amber replaced the receiver and turned to face her sour-faced stepmother. Beverly wanted war too, it seemed. Still, there was no point in lying to her.
‘Ben Sinclair,’ Amber said a touch aggressively. ‘Pearl Sinclair’s grandson.’
Beverly’s eyebrows lifted, then fell. ‘Your father said he’d be in touch. What did he want?’
‘To see me. Out at the farm. Tomorrow afternoon.’
‘So what’s he like, this Ben Sinclair?’
‘Tall, dark and handsome.’
‘Really! How old?’
‘Thirtyish,’ Amber guessed. He’d been about a year older than herself, and she was twenty-nine next birthday.
‘Smart?’
‘Super-smart, and sexy as hell.’
Beverly’s eyebrows lifted some more. ‘Really!’
‘He’s also a bastard of the first order!’
Beverly blinked. ‘Goodness, Amber, I’ve never heard you speak so passionately about a man before. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you’re not sexless after all. Maybe you just need the right male to bring out the fire in you. I’m intrigued. I think I shall invite this Ben Sinclair to dinner.’
‘Don’t you dare.’
‘Amber, this is my home. I will invite whom I please.’
‘I think Dad might have something to say about that.’
‘I think your father will approve wholeheartedly. He always says the best place for one’s enemies is under your own roof where you can see them. I’ll go ask him.’
She swanned off, leaving Amber to smoulder all by herself.
Oh, go and invite him to dinner, she thought at last with reckless anger. I don’t care. At least that way I’ll have all my current enemies present under the one roof as well!
CHAPTER FOUR
BEN cursed the Pacific Highway all the way home. Dangerous damned road. The government ought to be skinned alive for not spending the money and turning it into a dual highway from Sydney to Brisbane. It was no wonder he didn’t visit Gran as often as he should. You took your life in your hands every time you got behind a wheel and headed north along the coast road.
His watch said a quarter to three as he reached the top of Wingaroo Mountain then began the slow, winding descent which would take him down into the valley and the town of Sunrise.
Thank God he would arrive at the farm in plenty of time to be unwound and prepared for Amber’s arrival around four. And in plenty of time to have a good chat with Gran. He still hadn’t been able to contact her by telephone. Clearly she’d taken it permanently off the hook. He would have something to say about that when he got home—and her not telling him anything about the Hollingsworths’ offer.
Gran was an independent and stubborn old lady. Hadn’t she steadfastly refused his offers of money to make her life easier? She wouldn’t even let him pay to have the old farmhouse painted. Gran had never asked anybody for anything. And was proud of it!
But there were times when you should ask your family for help.
And he was her only family now. His mum had finally passed away last year, after spending endless years in and out of hospitals, her liver finally giving up the ghost. His uncle Jack, Gran’s eldest offspring, had been long gone, a victim of the Vietnam war. Gran had outlived all her own brothers and sisters, and her various nieces and nephews didn’t give a damn about their ornery old aunt Pearl.
So there was just him left to stand up for her. And to stop the likes of Amber Hollingsworth from spoiling the old lady’s last years. If Gran wanted to die on that decrepit old farm, then she had every right to, and that suddenly self-righteous bitch wasn’t going to make an old lady feel guilty for clinging to her memories.
Ben could hardly believe the conversation he’d had with Amber last night, or the way she’d trotted out all that bleeding heart stuff about the town’s future and unemployment and such. Saint Amber Hollingsworth! Not likely. Next thing she’d be running for Mayor, like her father had several years back.
Everyone in Sunrise knew Edward Hollingsworth had only run for local government to protect his business interests in the area, not because he was a civicminded soul. That was why he hadn’t won the town’s vote. Gran was right. You could never trust a Hollingsworth’s motivation, especially when they started spouting forth high-minded philosophies. Ben knew Amber Hollingsworth’s priorities. And they began and ended with Amber Hollingsworth! Leopards didn’t change their spots.
Ben carefully negotiated the roundabout at the bottom of the hill and headed for the town centre, slowing as he entered the wide but almost empty main street. For a Friday afternoon, it was certainly pretty dead. Only half a dozen cars were parked in the middle.
He slowed further and started to frown. Half the shops were vacant, he noted, with ‘For Lease’ signs in their bare windows. Groups of young people slouched on the corners and outside the Blue Gum Café, looking dejected. Most were smoking. Some were sitting in the gutters. All the males glared at him driving by as though he had no right to be driving such a great car. The girls just stared.
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