Master Of Maramba

James snorted in disgust. “I don’t want to be unkind but Melissa is very much like her mother or she’s rapidly becoming that way. I think a shift might be best for all. Where would you like to go? You know you can come to Liz and me. We’d love to have you. Not blessed with children of our own, you’ve been everything to us.”

“And you’ve been wonderful to me. Liz has been far more of a mother figure than Glenda could ever have hoped to be, but it’s time I struck out on my own, Jamie. You know I’m right.”

“Your father would buy you an apartment, surely? He’s a wealthy man.”

“I’m not going to ask him, Jamie. Glenda would bitterly resent that. I bought my own car. I’ll rent my own flat.”

Protective James didn’t like the sound of that at all. “What about if I bought you one? I can afford it. Of course I wouldn’t like to go against your father. Add to the…” He almost said, chip on his shoulder.

“List of resentments,” Carrie supplied. “Bless you for everything, Jamie, but I’m ready and able to stand on my own two feet. Lord knows I spent long enough as a student. I suppose I should undertake a doctorate. I may not be able to make the grade as a concert artist but music has been my life. I worked so hard. All those years of practice! I guess I’m stuck with a teaching career so I’ll need all the qualifications I can get.”

“Agreed. But how can you support yourself if you won’t allow help?” There was worry in Jamie’s voice. “Part-time work won’t be enough. Lessons here and there.”

“I still have Grandma’s money.” Carrie referred to her inheritance from her maternal grandmother who had pined away from grief at the loss of Carrie’s mother, her only daughter. “It’ll see me through. The thing is, Jamie, I want to get away. I need to find a bolthole. At least for a while. I have to get away from the whole music scene until I can come to terms with what has happened to me.”

There was deep feeling in her uncle’s answering tone. “I can understand that, darling. The funny thing is I have a client, our most valuable client I should add, who’s looking for a governess for his little daughter. Not that you’re governess material,” he quickly considered.

“Who said?”

“Sweetheart.” James gave a fond laugh. “You’re not. Take it from me. You’re so gifted. So beautiful. A young woman to show off not hide in the wilds.”

“The wilds?” Carrie’s arched brows shot up. “Tell me more.” She fought down a very sharp ache inside.

“I’m sorry I started this,” James paused as a tap came on his door. A young female office worker entered wheeling a trolley set with what looked like a mini-banquet. James Halliday had a sweet tooth but showed not an extra ounce for it.

“Over there, thanks, Ann.” He gave the girl his charming smile. “Looks good.”

“All lovely and fresh, Mr. Halliday,” Ann smiled, turning her pretty face to Carrie who returned her pleasant greeting.

“How you don’t get fat!” Carrie wondered affectionately, after Ann had departed. “Just as well you have your sailing.” She got up from her chair to pour.

“I’m going out on the bay this weekend. Want to come?”

“Yes, please!” Carrie’s golden-brown eyes brightened. She loved boats. Loved the water. She had sailed with her uncle since she was a child right up to the Whitsundays in the glorious Great Barrier Reef.

When they were both seated, coffee in hand, three delicious little pastries to James’ left, Carrie picked up where he had left off. “I take it the governess job is on an Outback property.”

“Property doesn’t say it, love.” James stirred his coffee with vigour. “More like a private kingdom. The family are big operators. They control over four million hectares spread across ten stations around the state. My client is one of the nation’s largest private land barons. Queensland remains home to the country’s biggest cattle kings, as you know.”

“So we’re talking the Channel Country in the far southwest,” Carrie concluded. “Couldn’t get farther away.” Well over a thousand miles.

“No.” James shook his thickly thatched head. “The chain does extend to the Cattle Country but the family base is in North Queensland. It’s the linchpin in the whole operation. Not their biggest holding but perhaps the best. A marine flood plain that provides pretty well constant lush green feed. Cattle from all over their holdings can be fattened there. It’s a Brahmin stud.”

“Called?” Carrie savoured her coffee. As usual it was very good.

“Maramba Downs. Maramba.”

“I’m sure I’ve heard of it.”

“Very likely,” James answered complacently selecting a mouth-watering patty. “Royce is often in the news.”

“Royce who? Come on, you’re being very cagey.”

“Carrie, love, this job wouldn’t suit you,” James said, wondering why he had even mentioned it.

“The fact is I’m becoming more interested by the minute.”

“It’s not going to happen. I understand the little girl is…difficult. Other governesses haven’t lasted long.”

“What does the little terror do?” Carrie asked, having a special soft spot for “little terrors.” She had been one herself.

James laughed. “I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t Glenda complain a lot about you? Royce sees it differently of course. The governesses are at fault.”

“Aaaaah! Does the dragon have a surname?”

“Royce McQuillan. Splendid fellow. One of the finest young men I’ve ever met. Hasn’t had an easy life, either. He lost his father and mother a few years back. They were killed in a plane crash holidaying overseas. Then his marriage broke up.”

“Oh, dear!” Carrie slumped, knowing what heartache meant. “The mother didn’t take the child? That’s unusual.”

“Didn’t want her, it appears.” James’ kind eyes grew soulful. “I don’t know the full story in that area, Royce doesn’t explain much. You’d have to know of her, though she’d be some years older than you. Thirty, maybe thirty-one. Very glamorous woman. Almost a beauty but too brittle. Sharon Rowlands, that was. Hugh Rowlands heads the Standford Pastoral Company. Ruth Rowlands and her daughter spend most of their time following the social scene. You see them in all the magazines.”

“Except I’ve been too busy to read them. The little girl must have been devastated when her parents split up. How old is she?”

“A very precocious six going on seven,” James said.

“So they were married young?” Carrie observed, making calculations.

“According to Liz the marriage was arranged while they were both in the cradle.”

“That’s how it works in some families. It didn’t take them long to grow apart.”

“No.” James truly, genuinely, felt very sorry for his client. “Royce has very big responsibilities, big commitments. The talk is Sharon got bored.”

“Bored?” Carrie was stunned. What sort of life did this Sharon want? “So you’ve met her?”

“A few times,” James said.

“What did you think of her as a person?”

“Too shallow for Royce. Liz thought so, too. She’s an excellent judge of character.”

“Yes, she is.” Carrie had turned very serious. “The mother must have a heart of stone if she could bear to leave her child.”

James stared into his coffee cup. “I hate to say it but the word is the little one might interfere with her pleasure. I expect she’ll remarry though Liz thinks she’ll never get over Royce, let alone find another man like him.”

“Maybe if she still cares about him they could get back together,” Carrie said reasonably. “Make a go of it for their child. They can’t have any of the financial worries that put a strain on most couples.”

“Money doesn’t ensure happiness, my darling,” James said heavily, thinking of any number of his wealthy clients who had finished up in the divorce courts. “I thank God for my marriage every day of my life.”