The Nanny and the Millionaire: Promoted: Nanny to Wife / The Italian Tycoon and the Nanny / The Millionaire's Nanny Arrangement

But Lois was in a foul temper, an unfortunate trait that appeared to run in the family. ‘I suggest you don’t go after Holt. Georgia has a beautiful room of her own. I was the one who refurbished it. Leave well alone.’

Please, God, help! Marissa stopped, then turned around. ‘I’m sure you’ve been a very good aunt to Georgia, Ms Aldridge, but I answer to Mr McMaster. He is my employer.’ She had to stand her ground, even in the light of Lois’s aggression. ‘I may have needed the job, but I would never have taken it if I wasn’t going to have a free hand.’

‘Free hand!’ Lois gave her a furious look. ‘Okay, have it your own way! But make an enemy of me and my sister and you’ll be sorry.’

That sounded like a threat. Marissa retraced her steps so she was standing only a foot away from Lois. ‘I wonder if you’re not overestimating your own power?’ she asked quietly, dismayed at inciting so much dislike. She could have pointed out Holt McMaster had already told Lois not to interfere, but she simply didn’t have the heart. Everything about Lois screamed here was a woman tearing herself to pieces over a forbidden man. Marissa wasn’t even sure if one could marry one’s sister’s ex-husband? Probably. Lots of things had changed.

Lois’s cheeks went from pink to crimson. ‘You’re certainly different from the other governesses we’ve had.’ Her voice shook with outrage. ‘How dare you speak to me like that. I’m family. You’re an employee. And not for long, I can assure you of that. I’m a tabby cat compared to my sister. She’s a tigress.’

Marissa didn’t doubt that for a moment. Holt McMaster wouldn’t have married a tabby cat. ‘Is that why she didn’t like the desert?’ she asked, before going on her way.

Marissa sought Olly’s advice before leaving the house. She found her in the kitchen, writing up menus.

‘Georgy wants to change bedrooms,’ she said, coming right to the point. ‘She wants to shift down to our wing. She appears to have taken a great fancy to Riley, praise the Lord!’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Olly said. ‘Take a seat. He’s a beautiful sunny-natured child, a great credit to you, Marissa.’

‘Thank you.’ Marissa felt besieged by mistaken assumptions, even from Olly. ‘What do you think?’ She slipped into a chair, studying Olly’s slightly worried expression.

‘Lois put a lot of money and time into refurbishing Georgy’s bedroom,’ Olly pointed out, looking at Marissa over the top of her glasses. ‘Very extravagant and much too grown-up for a little girl, if you ask me, but of course she didn’t. I don’t think she knows any other way. Tara was the same.’

‘Tara being the ex-Mrs McMaster?’

‘One and the same,’ Olly said, brushing away a bothersome insect. ‘It makes sense the child wanting to be near you. Certainly you can keep a better eye on her. She hasn’t for a while, but she used to sleepwalk.’

Sleepwalk? Marissa found herself drooping a bit. ‘Oh, that must have been a worry?’ She waited for Olly to say more.

‘It was, but that phase seems to be over.’

‘Thank God for that, but she would still need watching. I was planning on asking Mr McMaster for his permission, but I wanted to consult you first. If you don’t think it’s a good idea I won’t go ahead. Ms Aldridge—I haven’t been invited to call her Lois—’

‘And I don’t think you ever will be,’ Olly cut in, dryly.

Marissa nodded her agreement. ‘Ms Aldridge is very much against the idea.’

‘Well, she would be, wouldn’t she, love? By the way, in case you’ve missed it, Miss Lois is very fond of Holt.’

‘I have gathered that along the way,’ Marissa said, without expression. ‘She told me—warned me might be closer—not to do anything that would upset her sister.’

Olly made a clicking sound with her tongue. ‘Tara is the dominant one of the two,’ she confided. ‘Lois is a pale shadow of her older sister. In fact I don’t think I’d be exaggerating in saying she goes in awe of Tara, though she’s nearly thirty years old.’

Marissa propped her chin on her hand. ‘That’s sad. I did, however, receive a clear message. If I did anything to anger Georgy’s mother I’d be out of here like a shot.’

‘Hey, now!’ Olly moved her head closer to Marissa’s. ‘The ex-Mrs McMaster carries no clout around here, love. Don’t let Lois fool you. She wouldn’t be so angry if you were on the plain side. But let’s face it, love, you’re not! That’s what’s putting her nose out of joint. You turn up here, out of nowhere, looking like the Rose of Tralee. I suppose it’s natural for Lois to feel threatened.’

Marissa gave a moan of dismay. ‘Oh, Olly, I’m here as Georgy’s governess. That’s the only way I should be regarded. I’m no threat to anyone, I assure you. I’ve got quite enough on my plate.’

‘Sure you have!’ Olly agreed. ‘But there’s no denying beauty wields a lot of power. Besides, the fact you’ve got so much on your plate, is exactly why a rich husband wouldn’t go astray.’

‘I’m not even tempted, Olly,’ Marissa said, aghast at what Olly might be implying.

‘Righto!’ Olly answered.

‘The last governess fell in love with Mr McMaster, didn’t she?’

‘And the one before that! Both of them, head over heels. Holt is in no hurry to remarry—who could blame him—but he could have his pick of a dozen eligible young women this very day. And those are just the ones I know about.’

Probably the rest could form a queue to Alice Springs. ‘How did he meet Tara?’ Marissa dared to ask. ‘Are the Aldridges a landed family?’

Olly shook a head covered in short, soft grey curls. ‘Things might have worked out if they were. No, Holt met Tara at some big society party in Sydney, where the family live. The father is a prominent businessman. He always makes The Rich List anyway. The wedding was huge! By the time Holt got back from the honeymoon in Europe I think he was having second thoughts.’

‘Lordy!’ Marissa exclaimed. Might it not then be a good idea to have a trial run? ‘He doesn’t seem the sort of man to make mistakes?’ And having made one, live comfortably with it.

‘We all make mistakes, love.’ Olly reached over and patted Marissa’s hand consolingly.

She had a long way to go before she could convince anyone Riley wasn’t her love child.

The utility rattled across the open plains that ran out to the horizons, flat as a board. No wonder the countryside was inundated in times of flood, Marissa thought. She drove with her arm out of the window, enjoying the breeze and the amazing spectacle of thousands of birds taking flight as the ute approached; the many coloured mulga parrots, the cheeky white cockatoos, big pale grey galahs with their purplish-pink breasts and to her intense delight one of the great sights of the Outback she had heard about, the massed squadrons of budgerigar on manoeuvres. She watched in fascination as they wheeled, twisted, turned in perfectly co-ordinated formation. Over the years she had seen caged budgies of many different and often exquisite colours, but in the wild they had only one colour form: green with fine dark stripes across the head and back with a bright yellow face. She could even see blue bands on the top of the bills. How absolutely lovely all these wonderful birds! Not in small numbers but thousands upon thousands. The Outback, especially the Channel Country she was finding was swarming with a rich and hugely varied bird life.

One thing to admire the V formations in the sky, another to avoid trouble on the ground. ‘Oh, my gosh!’ She braked hard, her heart jumping into her mouth. A group of wallabies reared up out of a patch of long golden grass, startling her as much as the sound of the utility had startled them. They stared at her with mild curiosity but no sign of alarm when she could have ploughed into them, then losing interest, bounded away towards the silver glitter of water.

She drove on, deciding safety lay in keeping her eyes in what lay in front of her, no matter what magnificent birds took to the air. Those dusty 4WDs were fitted with bull bars for a good reason. According to directions from Georgy and Olly, essentially the same, she was to follow the course of a long shallow billabong overhung with great River Red Gums. It meandered away to her right where the wallabies had headed. She drove in closer until she could see the labyrinth of roots they were sending out towards the water.

What she had to look for was clouds of red dust that would mark the holding yard where the men were working that day. She drove steadily, revelling in the peace and freedom. To her city eyes, the sweeping landscape looked wild and untamed. She had no difficulty understanding how appallingly easy it would be to get lost, dreadful prospect! Not that far off, billows of red dust began spiralling in great puffs into the amazingly blue sky. She felt quite pleased with herself, finding the camp so easily, when she had never prided herself on her sense of direction. It was great to have her own vehicle to transport herself. Holt had promised her she wouldn’t be tied to the homestead or the home compound like the children. She couldn’t wait to explore.

It was certainly very hot but she wasn’t finding it hard to bear. The high humidity of the tropics was worse she thought. There was no guarantee Holt would say yes to Georgia’s wish to change bedrooms, but she had to try for the child. She had been expecting a difficult settling in period, but Riley’s presence had worked like a charm. Despite predictions to the contrary the children had joined forces. That filled her with gratitude.

The closeness of the spiralling dust cloud was an illusion she found. The holding yard was farther off than she thought. She accelerated towards her destination, noticing the banks of the billabong, at this stretch more a chain of rocky gullies, were rising more steeply. The scrub, too, was becoming denser, the giant river gums spreading their canopies over the water. Now she could hear noises carrying on the wind; lowing cattle, dogs barking, the crack of whips. In mustering time she supposed the place would be alive with men on horseback and motorbikes, choppers whirring overhead.

A movement in a patch of chest high yellow grass attracted her attention. The bright red track was badly rutted in places, slowing her down. More wallabies? A full grown kangaroo? A dingo, camouflaged by the scorched grasses the same colour as its coat, a wild pig? A few tremors moved through her. What did she know about the vast Inland? Absolutely nothing. It could hold terrors she had never even thought of. The shape was moving stealthily. Every movement further disturbed its cover. She prayed it would be a lone wallaby. A kangaroo would have to be too tall, so would an emu.

In the next instant, almost turning her to stone, a fearsome dragon, dark brown, almost black, strikingly marked with yellow spots lumbered out onto the track, turning its head towards her.

For God’s sake! She braked right away. It had to be a perentie, surely the biggest one around. King of all lizards, it was at least seven feet long and if that weren’t frightening enough, it was emitting a fierce hiss along its extended neck pouch and out of its fork tongued mouth. She had read these lizards could be aggressive. She’d never seen one bigger than a frilled neck or a blue tongue in her entire life. She couldn’t risk provoking it. She brought the ute to a halt, more than happy to give the beast right of way. She was even prepared to sit there half the day if needs be, until this relic from prehistoric times thundered across the track.

There was a whole wilderness for it to run around in. Why squat there staring balefully at her? Was it possible it was protecting a nearby nest? They were close to water. She knew these huge goannas could swim. Its powerful tail was swishing from side to side, giving her the dismal impression it was about ready to lash out. Should she take off like a bat out of hell? Surely the ute could outrun a perentie? Her hands on the wheel shook as the dragon like creature suddenly reared up on its back legs—something she didn’t even know it could do—surveying her like a victim at its mercy. To her horror, it was standing as tall as a man.

Go away, please, she begged silently.

The creature didn’t back off an inch.

She couldn’t afford to sit there waiting for it to charge her and maybe bound onto the hood? A crocodile could scarcely have intimidated her more. Where was her backbone? She was showing her inexperience. Marissa thumped the wheel, then took off, jaw locked, nerves popping with strain, taking a sharp right and accelerating away towards the line of gullies. She almost expected the perentie to be flying alongside like something out of Prehistoric Park. She was sure she had read somewhere they had an amazing turn of speed.

Off the beaten track the going was really rough. She had to hold tight to the wheel, risking quick looks in the rear vision. Nothing. She must have worn it down. There was no dinosaur galloping after her, but she was bouncing around in her seat like a clown in a pantomime.

A mile off Holt lifted his head at the sound of a speeding vehicle. He had been intending to drive to another site instead he reached into the Jeep for his binoculars, training them over the landscape. One sweep and he caught a red ute in a screen of dust. It was swerving all over the place. Then it straightened out, heading straight for the chain of gullies.

What the hell was going on? Anxiety not unmixed with anger flared. This was rough country. Why hadn’t she kept to the track? Surely she wasn’t just fooling around? One thing was certain: She was driving much too fast. She had him worried. He threw the binoculars onto the backseat, then with undisguised irritation jumped behind the wheel, slewing the Jeep around and driving off in the direction of the speeding utility. It was fast disappearing into the thicket of scrub.