Her Cattleman Boss

Olivia beamed at her joyously. ‘This one’s so handsome; I want to call him Baby Prince Charming.’

Kate laughed. ‘Why not? I couldn’t imagine a better name for him.’

The pig squealed and snuffled, and Olivia made oinking noises back at him. But eventually she grew heavy, and Kate set her back on the footpath.

She half-expected the child to protest, but Olivia took her hand in a gesture of such innocent trust that Kate felt a lump in her throat. ‘Are— are pigs your favourite animal?’ she asked.

‘Probably.’ A wistful expression came over her little face. ‘When I lived with Daddy, we had lots and lots of animals—piglets and chickens and ducklings and calves.’

‘And puppies?’

‘Lots of puppies.’ Her bottom lip drooped. ‘I can’t have pets any more.’

‘Because you live in the city?’

She nodded. ‘Mummy said we’re not allowed to have any pets in our apartment. Not even a goldfish.’

Kate understood Olivia’s disappointment. Her own mother had never been fond of animals, and she felt a rush of sympathy for the child. After the rustic casualness of life in an Outback homestead, where sticky fingers posed no threat and a puppy on the couch were the norm, it would be very hard to get used to a slick and shiny city apartment.

‘But you must have all kinds of exciting things to do in the city,’ she suggested diplomatically.

‘Not really. Sydney’s boring.’

Before Kate could respond, Liane’s voice sounded shrilly behind them. She turned to see the child’s mother and James Calloway charging down the footpath.

Completely ignoring Kate, Liane thrust her hand towards her daughter. ‘Come along now,’ she ordered with an imperious tilt of her chin.

A fleeting expression that might have been fear flickered over the little girl’s face, but it was gone so quickly Kate decided that she must have imagined it.

‘We’ve found a pig,’ Olivia told her mother.

‘Good God.’ Liane’s lips curled in an expression of distaste. She gave another impatient shake of her outstretched hand. ‘Now, come on, Olivia. We’ve got to get back to the motel. We have a lot of important phone calls to make.’

The little girl hesitated and chewed her lip. ‘Can I stay tonight with Daddy?’

‘No, of course you can’t.’ Her mother rolled her eyes. ‘First thing in the morning we’re getting out of this dump and back home to Sydney.’ She grabbed the little girl’s hand. ‘Come on, now. No nonsense.’

Rising quickly onto tiptoes, Olivia whispered to Kate, ‘Can you say goodbye to Baby Prince Charming for me?’

‘Of course,’ Kate whispered back. ‘I promise.’

Her smile faltered as she watched the trio—mother, daughter and sharp Sydney lawyer—hurry away down the dusty footpath. As they rounded a corner, Olivia looked back, just once, over her shoulder, and lifted her hand to send Kate a quick wave. ‘Say goodbye to Daddy too,’ she called.

Kate was surprised by how flat she felt as she went back inside. The door to Alan Davidson’s office was open, and she could see both men in there, still busy talking and looking extremely solemn.

When she knocked, Noah turned, and her heart seemed to slip a little; he looked incredibly handsome in spite of the bleakness of his expression.

‘Am I intruding?’ she asked.

‘No, of course not. You have a stake in this. Come on in.’ Noah stood, and with a gentlemanly gesture she couldn’t ever remember her boyfriend using he drew out a chair for her.

‘Thank you.’

‘How’s Olivia?’ Noah’s eyes gleamed with a bright warmth that sent a tremor through Kate as she sat.

‘She’s fine. She was very excited because there’s a pig in the street outside. In the back of a ute.’

‘A pig?’ Noah’s smile lit up his face.

‘A baby pig. Very cute.’

He laughed briefly. ‘She’d love that.’

Kate watched the way his eyes sparkled, then almost immediately turned misty. Clearly, joy and pain were part and parcel of his relationship with his daughter. She wondered how often he saw Olivia, how much time they had together. Somehow, she couldn’t imagine Liane going out of her way to make access easy.

Rubbing a hand over his face, as if to clear his thoughts, Noah sobered and returned to business. ‘I was just telling Alan I had no idea this inheritance could be so complicated,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid I’m still trying to get my head around it.’

‘So nothing’s settled?’

Alan Davidson took his spectacles off and offered Kate a teeth-gritted version of a smile. ‘I’ve explained to Noah that, with a firm like Calloway and Brandon behind her, Liane has a very good chance of pushing her claim for a half-share through the courts.’

‘But I thought—?’ Kate wasn’t quite sure how to put her question. ‘I assumed everything about the divorce had been finalised.’

Alan nodded. ‘That’s right. But Liane has twelve months after the decree absolute to file for property settlement. She can mount a case about her involvement at Radnor during her marriage, citing her contribution during the five-and-a-half years that she lived there, and her input into the running of the place.’

Kate could see why the courts would allow this. She knew nothing about the reasons for Noah and Liane’s divorce, but it made sense that a woman might need protection in certain circumstances.

She frowned. ‘But if Liane claims her half of Noah’s share, or half of his half-share, does that mean that Noah will end up with only a quarter of the estate?’

The solicitor nodded grimly. ‘A quarter of a drought-stricken estate at that.’

What a shock for Noah! Kate knew he’d expected to inherit Radnor intact, and now even his half-share would be whittled away. After he’d worked so hard on Radnor all his life, it seemed terribly unfair.

‘I don’t understand,’ she said, unable to keep a lid on her thoughts. ‘Why on earth has Uncle Angus given half of Radnor to me? It just doesn’t make any kind of sense.’

The men seemed unwilling or unable to answer her and, in the silence, the ceiling fan creaked as it circled slowly.

At last, Alan said, ‘Perhaps your uncle was being canny. It’s no secret that he never got on with Liane, and he may have anticipated that she could put in her claim for a half-share. He might have done this to frustrate her.’

Kate gave a helpless shake of her head. ‘You mean Angus didn’t want Liane to inherit half his property? But couldn’t Noah have bought her out?’

The two men exchanged a silent glance.

Noah said, ‘Given the drought, the banks aren’t very generous with their loans. I might have been forced to sell up the lot to meet Liane’s claims.’

‘Oh.’

He shrugged. ‘Now, with this new will, whatever happens half of Radnor stays in the family.’ His cool, faintly amused glance flickered over Kate.