The Wedding Challenge

She went back to chopping onions. ‘Why did Georgie marry your brother if she wanted to be an actress?’ she asked. ‘She must have known there wouldn’t be much scope for her career out here.’

For a moment she thought Chase wasn’t going to reply. He was brooding over his beer, frowning down into it as if it held the answer to her question.

‘She was very young when she met Nick,’ he said eventually. ‘She was just out of drama school and the play she was in folded after a couple of weeks. It seemed then that her career wasn’t going anywhere, and Nick can be very persuasive. He swept her off her feet.’

When Bea glanced at him under her lashes, his face was stern and set. He obviously disapproved of his brother’s romance. It was hard to imagine Chase sweeping a girl off her feet, she thought. Tapping his watch and telling her to make up her mind would be more his style.

Unaware of her thoughts, Chase was still talking about his sister-in-law. ‘I think marriage for Georgie was just another role she could play. She saw herself as mistress of a famous cattle station, and was carried away by the romance of it all. She should have known better,’ he added drily. ‘She grew up on a property down south, but I guess she thought it would be different here. It wasn’t, of course. It was just more isolated.’

He looked at Bea, but she was busy chopping onions and it was impossible to tell what she thought.

‘Georgie did try,’ he went on, almost as if he had to convince her. ‘She used to love having parties, and the homestead was always full of her friends, but then we had a bad drought and things were a bit tight for while. Georgie decided that we should get into the tourist business, and spent a fortune we couldn’t afford on all this.’ He waved a hand at the gleaming array of kitchen equipment.

‘She redecorated the homestead, built a new wing with extra bedrooms, and insisted on employing a chef, all with the idea of taking paying guests who wanted to experience life on a station, but without getting their hands dirty or sacrificing home comforts.

‘It’s been popular, too,’ Chase had to acknowledge. ‘We’ve never advertised, but Georgie had so many friends that word of mouth was more than enough. And then a friend of a friend from her acting days turned up. He’d made it big in Hollywood and he decided Georgie was just the fresh face they needed. Before we quite knew what was happening, he’d persuaded her to fly out to LA and audition for a small part and the whole circus took off from there.’

‘Didn’t Nick want her to go?’

‘Have you ever seen a picture of Georgie?’ Chase countered.

‘Yes.’

‘Then you’ll know how beautiful she is.’

His voice softened imperceptibly, and Bea sent him a sharp look. He had sounded as if he disapproved of Georgie before, but now she wondered how he really felt about his beautiful sister-in-law.

‘Nick was jealous?’

‘Of course he was. Any man would have felt the same.’

Including him? Bea wondered.

‘He could see that she was getting bored out here, though,’ Chase was saying, unaware of her mental interruption. ‘He encouraged her to go back to acting at first, but none of us expected that her career would take off the way it has. Suddenly Georgie’s a star, and everything’s changed. When this new part came up, Nick didn’t want her to take it, and he told her she would have to choose between him and the movie.’

‘Oh, dear,’ said Bea. She could just imagine how that had gone down.

‘Quite. Georgie’s not the kind of person to give in to an ultimatum like that, and of course they had a huge argument which ended up with her demanding a divorce. She wanted to take Chloe with her, but Nick said that she wouldn’t be able to look after her properly while she was filming, and I think Georgie knew herself that she’d be better here until everything was sorted out.’

‘Is that why Nick’s gone to the States? To arrange the divorce?’

‘No, he wants Georgie back. He was devastated when she left, but a lot of hard things were said on both sides, and it won’t be easy. He didn’t even tell Georgie he was coming. I’m not sure he even knows exactly where to find her, but he was determined to track her down and persuade her to give him another chance.

‘He asked me if I would keep an eye on Chloe while he was gone, but it’s a busy time on the station, so I said I’d do it if he found someone to replace the cook and the governess who’d both left in a huff. They couldn’t cope with the rows. I told Nick we’d had enough prima donnas around here and to make sure that he got someone suitable.’

Chase looked at Bea. ‘So he gave the job to you and Emily,’ he said drily.

Bea bridled. ‘Is that what you think we are? Prima donnas?’

‘I don’t know about that, but you’re definitely not what I had in mind when I asked for someone suitable!’

She lifted a chin in what he already thought of as a familiar gesture. ‘How do you know?’

Chase finished his beer and set the bottle back down on the table. ‘I knew the moment I saw those shoes you were wearing,’ he said. ‘They didn’t look very suitable to me!’

‘Why do I let you talk me into these things?’ Bea threw back the sheet and climbed into bed. ‘“You’ll love it,” you said. “It’ll be an adventure,” you said.’

‘Well, it is,’ said Emily, still brushing her hair.

‘What’s adventurous about getting up at four-thirty tomorrow morning?’

‘Think of the romance, Bea! Feeding the men before they saddle up, waving them off to a hard day’s work as they ride into the dawn…it’ll be wonderful.’

‘If you think it’s so romantic, you can get up and cook breakfast for them!’

‘You know I can’t cook,’ said Emily, ‘and there’s no point in both of us getting up, is there?’

She put down the hairbrush and began slathering moisturiser into her face and neck. She was always very strict about her beauty regime. Bea often thought it was the only area in which Emily had any discipline.

‘I’m so glad we came, aren’t you?’ she was saying, rather muffled. ‘It’s even better than I thought it would be! You can practically feel the possibilities of romance buzzing in the air!’

Bea stared glumly at the ceiling. ‘The only possibility I can see is the chance of being heartily bored for the next month.’

‘You’re not looking in the right place.’

‘The stockmen’s quarters, I suppose?’

‘You’ve got to admit it looks promising!’

‘It?’

‘OK, he,’ Emily conceded with a grin. ‘Baz is to die for, isn’t he?’

Bea considered the matter. ‘I can see he’s good-looking,’ she said slowly, ‘but he hasn’t got a lot to say for himself, has he?’

Not that anyone round the table that night had had much to say much for themselves. Emily hadn’t given them a chance. Thrilled with everything, and especially with Baz, she had been on sparkling form, flashing her bright blue eyes at the shy young men who had trooped in at seven o’clock and stood around awkwardly, mumbling names. They had all been dazzled.

All except Chase, thought Bea. She had a feeling that it would take a lot to dazzle him.

‘Baz doesn’t need all that superficial chatter,’ Emily was saying as she got into bed. ‘He just needs to sit there and I go all squirmy inside.’ She heaved a dreamy sigh.

‘I thought the governess always had a passionate affair with the master,’ said Bea. ‘What happened to your plan to be mistress of a million acres?’

‘Oh, well, Nick’s off the market if he’s steamed off to Hollywood to fetch his wife, and that just leaves Chase, and I can’t imagine having an affair with him, can you?’

The worst thing was that Bea could. ‘Why not?’ was all she said.

‘He’s a bit of a cold fish, isn’t he?’ said Emily, settling herself in bed. ‘I tried to chat to him in the plane, but it was like trying to flirt with a brick wall. I don’t see him having a passionate affair with anyone. He doesn’t look like he knows what passion means!’