Marriage At Murraree

It fitted, Marian thought dismally. Jock had had no time for her when she was pregnant. Not with Darcy. Not with Courtney. She recalled his numerous city trips at those times.

“I’ve done a lot of research on Jock McIvor,” Casey was saying. “He was a serial adulterer. Sorry if I offend anybody.” She didn’t look sorry. In fact she looked like she’d desperately needed to say it.

“We don’t need the late Mr McIvor to prove paternity,” Adam said, scanning their visitor closely but with discretion. “We can compare your DNA with that of Darcy’s or Courtney’s. What is it you want, Ms McGuire?”

Casey turned her torso towards him. “My due. I’m well aware Jock McIvor was a rich man. I’ve read all about the McIvor heiresses. They can’t spend it all. Jock McIvor made it so hard for my mother to survive, she gave up on life. I’m not about to do the same. I want restitution for the sins of the past.”

“You’re nothing if not honest,” said Adam.

“Isn’t there a saying an honest lawyer is an oxymoron?” Casey shot back.

To his credit Adam laughed. “Touché. First Darcy and Courtney together with Curt and I as trustees would have to discuss the whole situation. Then we would suggest DNA testing. It could be arranged. It would take some time to get results of tests, say blood samples back. Tests would have to be sent to a lab in Brisbane.”

“I’m in no hurry!” Casey answered promptly. “After all I’ve waited all my life.” She looked across the table at Darcy, in some way deferring to her as did Courtney. “This is one magnificent homestead you’ve got here, Darcy. You could turn it into a hotel. I was wondering if I could stay a while before continuing on my way?”

Darcy stared back. This young woman who claimed to be their half sister had McIvor’s riveting sapphire eyes with their bright look of challenge. But Darcy recognised suffering when she saw it. Casey was covering it well, but there was a haunting in their brilliant depths. “Whether you prove to be our half sister or not, Casey, you can stay,” she said gently.

Casey smiled crookedly. “Tell you what, Darcy. You’ve got a heart.”

At Adam’s signal Courtney followed him out into the starry night on the pretext of reading the constellations in the desert sky.

“That’s an extraordinary story Casey had to tell.” Adam took her elbow as they walked down the short flight of steps to the home gardens. The palm of his hand only touched the point of her elbow, yet the thrill shocked her.

“You’re not sure if you believe it?” Why would he? He had doubted her when she had returned to Murraree at the bequest of her dying father. It was almost as though they were back to square one.

“Why do you say that?”

Her voice was ironic. “You’re a very careful man.”

“Courtney, I have to be. Ms McGuire on the surface appears to be who she says she is. But at this point we don’t know. It has to be checked out.”

She took a harsh breath. “Of course. But if what she’s saying is true, while Mum was pregnant with me my womanising father was busy impregnating her mother.”

“The story is far from new,” he answered sardonically.

“Then who knows how many more might turn up?” Courtney burst out, then quickly bit her tongue.

Adam shrugged. “I have to admit it’s a worry. The coverage of your father’s death would have a lot to do with Casey’s coming forward.”

“I do wish they’d stop calling Darcy and me the McIvor heiresses.” She made a little impatient gesture with her hand.

“Actually the label fits. You are heiresses.”

“And we’re so grateful we have you to look after us, Adam,” Courtney spoke with exaggerated sweetness that stopped just short of anger. “I hid a smile when she took a crack at you. What was it? An honest lawyer is an oxymoron?”

“Heard it before,” he said casually. “There are all kinds of jokes about lawyers. Here’s one. Two lawyers were lost in the woods when they were confronted by a dangerous bear. One quickly removed his running shoes from his bag and put them on. The other stared at him. ‘You can’t outrun that bear.’ The guy replied, ‘I don’t have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you.’”

Courtney laughed, but inside she was feeling decidedly on edge. Just when they were all settling down, an alleged long lost half sister turns up Adam’s reaction, adding fuel to her ingrained wariness of him. “There’s something very likeable about her, don’t you think?” she questioned. “Something brave and strong. I can understand the rage in her heart about Dad and what happened to her mother. How very tragic. Casey is very confrontational. I suppose she’d have to be, given her sad life, but I can’t help liking her. Darcy does, too.”

“Maybe the answer is blood,” Adam suggested. Casey McGuire was a very striking young woman but she wasn’t his cup of tea. His cup of tea was a blue eyed blonde who didn’t even come up to his shoulder. One, moreover, who didn’t trust him. “I’d say she’s a very tough, determined young woman. She could be hiding a lot.”

“Like me?” Heat burned in her cheeks, making her feel glad of the star spangled darkness.

“No, not like you,” he said.

“Goodness knows you were suspicious enough of me,” Courtney continued as though he hadn’t spoken. “For all I know you still are.”

“You can’t let that lie, can you?” He looked down at her halo of curls that managed to shine even at night.

“Sometimes I can, but now and again the memory peeks out. How you thought I unduly influenced Dad. The way you were ready to believe my ex-work mate’s story of how I boasted I was going to twist a dying man around my little finger?”

“Ah, Courtney,” he sighed. “The truth is whether you wanted to or not, you did.”

Courtney tried hard to check her anger. After all, she had started this herself. “Typical lawyer’s response. Now you have Casey’s story to contend with. She covers up well but I think she’s been dreadfully hurt.”

“Which says a great deal for her survival skills. That’s if her story’s right,” he cautioned. “If it is, there can be no doubt she’s suffered. The nightmare of her mother’s death and state homes aren’t fun places. The question is did your father know of her mother’s pregnancy? Did she contact him?”

“Maybe she felt she couldn’t,” Courtney, always tender-hearted, answered painfully. “Nobody there for her. Wanting to hide. She could have known he was married with a child. Who knows what he told her. Maybe he waited until she was entirely in his power before he told her and by then it was too late. He could even have told her he was single or let her assume he was. Casey didn’t say.”

“Casey was deliberately vague.” Adam said, holding a palm frond up and away from her face. “Or she couldn’t bear to speak about it. Your father could be ruthless but I don’t think he would have abandoned Casey’s mother because she was pregnant. He could have come to her aid in some shape or form. He could very easily have given her money to see her through.”

“Maybe she didn’t want money?” Courtney suggested, part of her thinking that might have been the answer. “She wanted him. She must have been madly in love with him. After all, she cut all her ties with her family for some kind of half life he promised her. She was young and she must have been a very vulnerable, needy person. Dad tired of her early.”

“There’s plenty of evidence that was his way,” Adam said tonelessly.

“So it all started out very badly for Casey. She must have had an awful time at school. Born and raised in a little town where everyone knew everyone else’s business. Her mother wasn’t married and that carried a social stigma. No money. Then her extraordinary stand out looks. She’s even taller than Darcy.”

“But very female,” Adam said dryly. “At this stage, Courtney, it would be a fatal mistake to swallow every word she’s said. As remarkably as Casey resembles your father, such chance resemblances aren’t unheard of. We’ve all seen people who could be someone else’s double.”

“Except she’d realise we would want proof?”

“Not necessarily.” He led her towards a stone garden bench. “Women are notorious for plucking the heartstrings. Her story is just bad enough to earn her a lot of sympathy and possibly a reluctance to press her further.”

“Well not sympathy from you,” she said sharply. “You have ice in your veins.”

“I could change that opinion if you want.”

She listened for derision. Heard none. Instead the sensual note in his voice caused a sudden flush of heat that coursed through her body. “I don’t want, Adam. I don’t want any complications.”

A half smile lifted a corner of his chiselled mouth. “My sentiments as well, Courtney,” he said suavely, pulling out a handkerchief and dusting off the area of bench where she intended to sit in her very pretty dress. “I wouldn’t like it to be said I took advantage of an heiress. After all, it’s what your father most feared.”

Sweet smelling desert plants were flowering nearby. They filled the air with their fragrance. This area of the garden was secluded and still, full of shadows, with deep pockets of darkness. It was moonless but the stars were out in all their powerful brilliance, as beautiful as she had ever seen. Diamonds in a black-velvet sky. Beautiful, beautiful precious gems. She searched for the familiar clusters. Crux Australis, the Southern Cross, Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle, Corona Australis, the Southern Crown. They hung so low in the sky she felt like putting up a hand and pulling one down.

Catch a falling star. Make a wish.

What would it be? To find the man she wanted to share her life with? Was he already beside her? A cooling breeze had sprung up ruffling her hair. Little nocturnal creatures were scuttling about the garden. She felt all sensation. He made her that way. Presently to break the electric silence that had fallen between them she said, “My father showed compassion at the end, though, didn’t he? He wanted to see me. He wanted to provide for me. I just can’t go on believing there was no good in him. That he was totally without conscience or genuine feeling.”

“Don’t fret, Courtney.” Gently he touched her shoulder. His arm had been leaning on the back of the bench behind her. “He wasn’t. At the same time he turned the tables on Darcy who had devoted her life to him. Curt and I have become good friends. Curt makes no bones about the fact McIvor did everything in his power to keep Darcy tied to him and away from Curt, who’s always loved her.”