Her Outback Commander

Nadine Duval, an extremely rich woman, who had paid a fortune for arguably her father’s finest canvas in the showing, gave her an understanding little smile. “That will be Amanda, poor girl. We all feel so sorry for her, but I just bet she’s giving you a bad time. You have to get free of her, Sienna,” Nadine warned, not for the first time. “The girl is trouble.”

“Well she’s suffering now,” Sienna explained, beginning to walk Nadine down the spiral staircase.

“Of course she is.” Nadine’s response was vaguely ironic.

“I’ll have the painting delivered this afternoon,” Sienna promised, when they arrived at the bottom.

Nadine reached for her hand. “Thank you, my dear. Tell Lucien I want to see him. Maybe lunch?”

“Will do.”

They exchanged kisses.

Amanda looked far more fragile than the strength of her voice had suggested. Indeed she looked waif-like. She had lost weight when she couldn’t afford to do so. Her skin, her best feature, was so pale it was almost translucent. She had violet half-moons beneath her eyes, and the silky curls of her pretty blonde hair had lost their lustre and bounce.

“I really don’t like that woman,” she growled.

It was a mercy Nadine had gone through the door to her waiting limousine.

“Your loss, Mandy. Nadine has so much character.”

“And of course she loves you too.” Amanda was looking hung over, and haggard for her years.

“I hope you haven’t come here to make a scene, Amanda.” Sienna was worried that just might happen. It was fortunate that, with the exhibition over, all that remained was for her to have the paintings delivered to their clients. That meant fewer visitors to the gallery.

“Nothing matters. Nothing matters any more,” Amanda said, face and voice full of woe.

Sienna’s tender heart smote her. “Come through to the office. Would you like a cup of coffee? You don’t look good, Amanda. I know this is a terrible time, but you have to take care of yourself.”

“Why, exactly?” Amanda asked bitterly, sinking her fingers into the skin of her face and dragging her eyes down. “I know I look awful. No need to rub it in.”

“I hope I wasn’t doing that. I care about you, Mandy. We’ll all help you work through your grief.”

“Who’s all?” Amanda shot back, as if she had been fiercely rejected all her life instead of cosseted. “I hardly see Aunty Francine.”

“She works, Amanda, as well you know. But she does ring you often,” Sienna reminded her. Like the rest of them, Francine had tried hard to take to Mark, but found she couldn’t. Consequently, as often happened, it had put distance between them all. “The family are busy people with busy lives, Amanda. But we’re all there for you when we’re needed. Come and sit down,” she urged, putting out a sheltering arm. “I have things to tell you.”

Once seated in the office, Amanda began to gnaw on her nails. “It’s taking all my energy just to stay alive.”

Sienna risked another caution. “You have to stop drinking, Mandy.”

“I need something to get me through,’ Amanda maintained doggedly.

Sienna made coffee from her excellent little machine, adding cream from the refrigerator and two teaspoons of sugar. “I have some cookies if you want them?”

Amanda laughed shortly. “I can’t get a thing down my throat.’ She looked up, her blue eyes moist, her expression wretched. “What am I going to do, Sienna? What sort of a job am I going to get? I was never a good student. Not like you. I didn’t make university. Not only did you get all the looks, you got all the brains and a gift for painting.”

“From Lucien,” Sienna acknowledged, taking a seat behind her mahogany desk. “Drink up, and I’ll tell you what Blaine Kilcullen had to say.”

“It had better be good,” Amanda warned. “What a shocking lot those people are. How cruel they were to Mark.”

“There are two sides to a story, Amanda,” Sienna said quietly, not wanting to provoke her cousin. “Mark did his level best to put us off his family.”

“He had good reasons.” Wrath registered on Amanda’s white face.

Mark had seen himself as a victim. It struck Sienna that was the way Amanda saw herself too. It showed a link between them. All the bad things that happened in life were never their fault. The fault lay with others. Both had dark places.

“Oh, my God, Sienna!” Amanda cried, when Sienna had finished outlining Blaine Kilcullen’s proposal. “There’s money!” She gave a great cry of relief.

“The Kilcullens aren’t going to see you in financial trouble, Mandy.” So much for the Fleury family’s generosity! She recalled one of her father’s recent comments.

“She’s not you, my darling, frail little creature that she is!”

“I don’t know exactly how much, but I’d say a substantial sum. Blaine administers a family trust. After meeting him, I have to say I don’t see him as the ogre Mark made him out.”

“Lucifer, don’t you mean?” Amanda cried, not about to put all the things Mark had said behind her. “The fallen angel. Does he look like Mark?” she asked. “I don’t know if that would make me feel better or worse.”

Sienna shook her head. “You wouldn’t spot the relationship, but he is a half-brother. He’s dark, with the most remarkable light eyes.”

“So he got to you, did he?” Amanda shot her a look full of malice. “Did you get to him? That’s your speciality, isn’t it? Getting to guys, fascinating them.”

Sienna threw up her hands in defeat. “You’d use a sledgehammer on me if you could, Amanda. At the same time you use me—and I allow it. Not for much longer.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.” Amanda backed off when she saw her cousin really meant it. “I’m just so sick with worry and grief.” Tears oozed out of her eyes.

“I understand that.” Sienna relented, as usual, although she knew Amanda could turn tears on and off at will. “Would you consider going to Australia?”

Amanda quelled the tears. “I could never go without you,” she declared flatly. “You’ve looked after me since we were kids. I need you, Sienna. Only you could get me through.”

Sienna felt a rush of warmth. Not at what Amanda had said, but at the involuntary exhilaration she felt at the idea of going to Australia. “Time is of the essence,” she said. “He has to fly back home. He has a vast cattle station to look after, big responsibilities.”

“And he doesn’t feel guilty?” Amanda with one of her lightning changes of mood, banged the table. “He got through to you, all right, but I’m a different story. I’m Mark’s widow. Mark told me everything, how his brother ruined his life.”

“Half-brother,” Sienna corrected. “There was a tremendous amount of conflict in Mark.”

“It’s not the first time you’ve tried to malign Mark.” Amanda made it perfectly plain Sienna’s observations were unwelcome.

“I’m not maligning him, Mandy. I’m trying to point out some reason for all the discrepancies. He never told you about his twin. He never told you he was getting money from his mother. Mark’s account of his past life was all we had to go on up until I met Blaine Kilcullen. If you agree to meet him you can make up your own mind. It’s your decision, Amanda.”

“Why can’t he just give me the money?” Amanda suggested, looking hopeful. “I’m entitled to it.”

“And Mark’s mother and sister are entitled to meet you,” Sienna said, more sharply than she had intended. “You gave permission for his family to ship his body home. Surely you can find it within yourself to meet them and attend Mark’s funeral?”

“I don’t want to.” Amanda started to work herself into one of her rages. “I hate them. I hate Mark for the things he did to me.”

“What things?” Sienna trapped her cousin’s darting eyes. “What is it you’re keeping to yourself? The reason you wanted me at the ski resort? I thought it very odd, considering the number of times you’d warned me off.”

“I wanted to have it out with him. I wanted you there.”