Beresford's Bride

She nodded, dappled sunshine playing over her hair and face. “There is a strong bond between us. The silver cord that can’t be severed. There’s nothing nasty about Zoe. She might astonish us all with the things she does, but she just has to do them. She’s like a woman caught in a fantasy world.”

“And you’re talking about going back?” He sounded amazed. “There’s nothing more you can do for her, surely? Obviously she gave you no guidance. Do you need her for all the little extras? I realise neither you nor Kerry got much out of your father’s estate except the property.”

“I can look after myself, Byrne.” She pressed her soft lips together.

“Doing what? You never did tell me.”

“I was always in demand tutoring English. I gained my degree.”

He looked at her in quick surprise. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“You can’t know everything, Byrne,” she said, not holding back on the sarcasm. “I’ve worked very hard.”

“Well, good for you.” His glance was full of approval. “I know you and Kerry did very well at school.”

“But you thought I was only enjoying myself?”

“Something like that,” he admitted dryly. Hell, they all had.

“Zoe didn’t want me to continue my studies. She thought, as a woman, I had no need of higher education, but I made my choice. I wasn’t going to bother Zoe with any demands for money.”

His eyes moved sharply to her face. “For the life of me I can’t figure out why. You were entitled. She got away with enough.” In fact, Zoe Streeton had taken her husband to the cleaners.

“I told you. Zoe made a few bad investments.” She didn’t say how bad they really were.

His handsome features tightened, but he remained silent.

“She hasn’t a head for business,” Toni said defensively. “Kerry didn’t write. And when I rang he sounded very remote.”

“That’s crazy,” he disagreed flatly. “All he wanted was for you to come home.”

“If he did, he never said so.” Toni had gotten the strong impression her brother preferred to cope alone. And then he had Cate.

Byrne’s scrutiny was intense, cutting through layers of her skin. “I’m not understanding this at all, Toni. Kerry was seriously concerned about you. He was under the impression you and your mother were leading a very giddy life.”

Toni shifted in her seat. Kerry hadn’t been wrong. It was an empty life Zoe had chosen for herself. A life involving self-indulgence, promiscuity, guile, suffering. A dreadful life, Toni thought, but she had tried very hard to protect Zoe and her interests while Zoe went around wondering aloud what was wrong with her daughter. It would have been funny, only the situations Zoe got herself into often landed her in trouble.

“All I can say is, I was there for my mother. What was I supposed to do, abandon her? I can’t renounce my responsibilities as her daughter. As I see it, it’s two-way traffic. She’s Kerry’s mother, as well, I might point out.”

His handsome features were thoughtful. “I should warn you he doesn’t want her at the wedding.”

“She’s coming anyway. It’s important to her.”

“Is she still as beautiful as ever?” he asked, getting a clear picture of Zoe with the prettiest little girl he had ever seen in her arms.

“Sometimes I think her beauty is indestructible.” Toni’s smile was soft. “She’s forty-seven but she looks thirty-five. She has wonderful skin.”

“Which you’ve inherited.” His eyes brushed her, triggering that telltale warmth.

“That part I like.”

They were quiet for a while, each seemingly lost in thought. He was such a competent, experienced pilot it was like riding a luxury limousine in the sky. Eventually he spoke. “I’ll be putting down on Nowra, as arranged. You’ll want time with Kerry to settle in. But we’re hoping you’ll both come to us for the weekend. My mother thought she’d throw a little party to welcome you back. We’ll be having a few houseguests, as well.”

“How very kind of her.” Toni was a little wary. “But I really don’t need a party, Byrne.”

“You’re dam well going to get it,” he drawled. “You’ll need to try on your gown. See if it’s just right.”

“I’m sure it will be lovely.”

He gave her a glance that, had she been standing, would have made her legs buckle. “In your case, an understatement. The gowns are in one of the upstairs rooms swathed in muslin, outrageously expensive.”

“Bridesmaids usually pay for their own gowns.”

“Who would put such a cost on you? No, it’s going to be Cate’s perfect day, and I’m delighted to make sure it will happen. I’m also delighted she’s marrying Kerry. Apart from the fact he loves her so much, our families have always been close. He’s a fine young man. Rock solid.”

“You’re making him sound the least bit dull,” Toni protested.

“He is a trifle earnest at the moment. Nothing Cate won’t put straight. Kerry’s had it hard. He felt his mother betrayed you all. He’s missing his father. Both as a parent and Nowra’s boss. Kerry’s young to take on so much responsibility.”

“No younger than you were when your father was killed,” she pointed out.

He frowned as if at some remembrance. “My father put me into training at a very early age. I knew what was ahead of me. I knew my obligations. I was mature enough.”

“And tough. Unless Kerry has changed a good deal he was never tough. He’s more sensitive than anyone knows, except Cate.”

“Well, Cate’s taking him on now.” He smiled at her, a smile that left her shaken. “They’ll be together for the rest of their lives. Kerry is now family.”

“And he can turn to you when he wants help?” she said quietly.

“I very much hope so. He comes to me now, as it happens.”

“I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful brother-in-law.” Toni couldn’t keep the irony from her tone.

“That help applies to you, too.”

“I’m not asking for it, Byrne,” she said with edgy defiance.

“No, you’re not, but it’s there all the same.”

CHAPTER TWO

THE farther west they flew the more emotional she became. She was home. Really home. She loved Paris with all its wonderful buildings, its bridges, the trees, the restaurants, galleries, museums, the fashion houses, the effortlessly chic women, the charming men, the whole atmosphere that made Paris the most beautiful and evocative city on earth, but this was something else again. Unique.

This was Australia, the great island continent of eight million square kilometres with vast areas of precious wilderness changed little in thousands of years. Here in a land separated for so long from the rest of a war-torn world, peace, freedom and a wonderful sense of the wide-open spaces were inherent in the landscape, in the people. They had passed over sheep country. Now they were heading into the southwest, the fabled home of the cattle kings, descendants of the pioneering fathers, hugely brave and enterprising men who had left their safe, settled homes in the British Isles to make their own fortunes and found their own dynasties.

Like the Beresfords.

It wasn’t until after the first World War, in which he had served, that her own great-grandfather took up his huge section. The Beresfords had arrived some sixty years before, every last one of them, despite family tragedies, with the Midas touch. It was the Beresfords who had diversified early, shoring up wealth against the hard times on the land. Where others had gone under despite the fact Australia was the biggest beef exporter in the world, the Beresfords had managed to ride out the storms. Toni knew their portfolio of interests was large. They also did a lucrative trade in polo ponies as the sport gained huge popularity.