Marriage At a Price

by Miranda Lee

'Right.' Courtney started sipping her mug of steaming coffee. 'Did he say what he wanted me for?' she asked, and a tiny icicle of apprehension trickled down her spine.

  'No. But he didn't look all that happy.'

  'I wonder what he's doing down at the breeding barn? I mean...the season hasn't started yet.'

  .'Maybe the roof has sprung a leak,' Sarah piped up. 'It's pretty old, you know. Most of the buildings have leaky roofs, the office included.'

  'Yes, I know,' Courtney said grimly, her mind well and truly back on the problems at Crosswinds. She'd forgotten them for a while, there. 'Let's hope we can do something about that soon,' she added, and turned a matter-of-fact face Jack's way. 'How long do you think it will take to get the money, if your investor decides he's in?'

  'Barely any time at all. He might have to sell a few stocks and shares, but that only takes minutes.'

  'In that case, how long do you think before you'll be able to give him the go-ahead? And before you say it, yes, I know you'll want to be satisfied Crosswinds is a going concern with potential for future profits first. I'm assuming you'll be happy with what Sarah shows you. And what you see here in general. As I said before, shabby fences and leaky buildings mean nothing. They

  are not the value in a stud. It's the land itself, plus the brood mares and stallions. And ours are second to none.'

  'I appreciate that. Look, it shouldn't take me too long. After Sarah's input today, I'll need to speak to your accountant. Perhaps you could arrange an appointment for tomorrow? Then I'd like to spend the rest of the week just getting the feel of the place, seeing how things run on a more personal level. I often rely on my gut instinct, not just facts and figures, when it comes to an investment. I'd say by next weekend I should be satisfied, one way or another.'

  Courtney frowned and wondered if she was reading between the lines correctly here. What did he really mean by 'the feel of the place', and 'on a more personal level'? Exactly what kind of satisfaction was he referring to? Was he implying that if she kept him happy in bed all week he'd recommend the investment?

  Shock at this last thought held her speechless for a split second. She hadn't expected such scurrilous behaviour from a man who'd nobly paid off debts he hadn't personally incurred. But she supposed men could never be trusted when it came to matters of sex and ego.

  As for herself... She was a goner anyway when it came to resisting him sexually. So she might as well use that to secure her investor. But it put a nasty taste in her mouth. Hopefully, she was wrong about this. But if she wasn't?

  Courtney smothered a sigh. Who did she think she was kidding? She would still do whatever was necessary to save Crosswinds.

  A knock on the back door interrupted her troubled thoughts.

  It was Ned, looking more than a little worried.

  Although only forty-four, Ned's outdoor lifestyle in the Australian sun, plus his hatred of hats, had left him with a very lined face. But some of the lines at that moment were clearly coming from stress. Or distress.

  Serious alarm bells started ringing in Courtney's head. Ned was not a man easily rattled, or upset. He had a laid-back, laconic style which suited the handling of highly strung horses.

  'What is it, Ned?'

  'We have a serious problem with one of the stallions, boss.'

  Courtney liked it that he called her boss, the same as he'd called her mother. Not that she expected it from anyone else around Crosswinds. Most just called her Courtney.

  'Which one?'

  'Goldplated.'

  Oh, no...

  'He's not sick, is he?' she asked, feeling sick herself at such a prospect.

  'Nope. Nothing like that.'

  'What is it, then?'

  'Best come and see for yourself.'

  She heard a chair scrape back on the wooden floor behind her.

  'I'll come with you,' Jack said, materialising by her side.

  'Very well,' Courtney bit out. She could hardly refuse. There was also no point in keeping the reason for Jack's presence here a secret any longer, though Ned needn't know the fall extent of her debt. "This is Jack Falconer, Ned. He's a financial expert, up here from Sydney to look over Crosswinds with a view to finding me a business partner. You know how strapped for cash we are around

  here. So get used to seeing him around this week. Jack, this is Ned Meggitt, my stud foreman.'

  'Pleased to meet you, Ned,' Jack said, holding out his hand.

  Ned looked impressed with Jack's handshake.

  'Same here,' he replied. 'Know anything about horses?'

  'They kick one end and bite the other?'

  Ned glanced at Courtney. 'He doesn't look like a city-slicker, but he sure sounds like one. Which is perhaps just as well...'

  With this last cryptic remark, Ned turned away abruptly to start walking down the back path which led past the rose garden and down towards the stud proper.

  'After you,' Jack said, waving Courtney ahead of him through the wire-screen door.

  'Looks like breakfast will have to wait, Agnes.' She dumped her coffee and snatched up the fawn Akubra which was hanging on a peg near the back door. Planting it firmly on her head, she set off after the rapidly disappearing Ned.

  Jack caught up quickly to stride out beside her.

  'You look like a cowgirl in that hat,' he said, slanting her an admiring glance. 'A very sexy cowgirl.'

  She ground to a brief but very necessary halt. 'Let's get one thing straight, Jack. Keep the flattery for the bedroom. It'll work very well there. Out here, however, I'm nothing to you but a business client. I told you this before. Have I made myself perfectly clear this time?'

  'Crystal,' he bit out, not looking pleased at all. Which was just too bad. He couldn't have everything his way.

  'Good,' she snapped, then marched on after Ned, leaving Jack in her wake.

  It was quite some distance from the house to the breeding barn. The wide gravel path wound its way down between the large brood-mare yards on the left and grazing pastures on the right. Overhead, it was another sunny day, but not exactly warm at this hour in the morning.

  Nights in the valley were colder than in Sydney and the air on clear winter days always stayed crisp till after lunch.

  Courtney didn't feel at all cold, however, as she hurried along. She was too preoccupied to feel anything as mundane as cold. Guilt was worming its way into her head and heart. Yet why should she feel guilty about putting Jack back into his place? He knew the score. Just now he'd been deliberately trying to cross the line she'd drawn for him. And she just wouldn't have it!

  Being in love with him made it all the more crucial she not let him take advantage of that fact. Of course, he didn't know she was in love with him, but he knew she fancied him: fancied him so much that all he'd had to do last night was start kissing her again and all her will had dissolved.

  Courtney groaned at the memory, and strode out all the faster, her head down, her thoughts in a whirl. She didn't realise Ned wasn't alone outside the breeding barn doors till she practically ran into the stranger standing next to him.

  'Oh!' she gasped, stepping back, then staring at the man with startled eyes. He stared right back at her, his appraisal as curious and as thorough as the one she gave him.

  He was of average height and an elegant build, with jet-black eyes, deeply tanned skin and close-cropped iron-grey hair. Though obviously middle-aged, he had the air of one much younger, possibly because he was dressed in tight black jeans and a black leather jacket. If he'd been less handsome, he might have looked stupid wearing such gear, like some aging biker who didn't know when to quit. As it was, he looked interesting and quite sexy, if you liked that type.

  Courtney immediately thought of Lois. If these were her stables and this fellow was looking for a job, he'd be hired on the spot.

  'And who are you?' she asked brusquely. 'Ned, you know we can't hire any more grooms at the moment.'

  'The name's Sean, ma'am.' He had the most attractively lilting Irish acc
ent. 'Sean O'Hannery.'

  'Courtney Cross,' she returned as she took his hand and shook it.

  'Yes, ma'am. I know who you are. And no, I haven't come here for a job. I wanted to see you.'

  'See me?'

  'He's got some information you're not going to like,' Ned said gruffly. 'About Goldplated.'

  Courtney glanced over her shoulder to see where Jack had got to. He was leaning on the fence just behind her, watching and listening.

  Her gaze swung back to her visitor. 'Not good news, I take it?' she said.

  'Not the best.'

  'Out with it, then.'

  The man's eyes moved in Jack's direction. 'I don't think this is news you'll want spread around.'

  'Don't worry about Jack. He'll have to know, sooner or later,' she added drily.

  'Fine. Look, I'm really sorry to have to tell you this, but all the mares supposedly serviced by Goldplated at his first season were artificially inseminated. He didn't cover a single one. He refused to.'

  Courtney went cold all over. My God, if this was true...

  'How do you know this?' she demanded to know.

  'I was working there at the time. I was Gold Fever's personal groom last season.'

  'Goldplated's full brother?'

  He nodded.

  Courtney's mind whirled with all sorts of dreadful possibilities. 'They used his sperm instead of Goldplated's?'

  'No. Goldplated's progeny are all genetically his, all right. But unless there's been a radical change in your new stallion's behaviour since last year, he won't willingly perform this year, either.'

  'Oh, my God.'

  'You can say that again,' Ned growled. 'When Sean told me all this, I couldn't believe it. So I thought I'd give the horse a trial run, so to speak. I got one of the stock mares who's in season and tied her up in the breeding barn. Then I went and got Goldplated out of his yard. He was like a lamb till I took him inside the barn. He got one sniff of the mare and just went berserk. I've never seen anything like it. Frightened the poor mare to death. Frightened me to death too. I was lucky to get her out of there before any damage was done. I left Goldplated in there till he calmed down and saw there wasn't anything to fear in the barn itself.'

  Courtney could only shake her head in despair. No , wonder her mother had bought the horse at that bargain price. Whatever was she going to do now? Crosswinds always provided a photo of the actual service with any outside booking, a guarantee for owners that they were getting what they paid for.

  Jack tapped her on the shoulder. 'Can you sue the people who sold you the horse?' he asked.

  'Maybe. But suing takes lots of money and time. And it's always dicey, especially when the other party is so rich. The owners of Gold Fever are billionaires.' .

  'So why on earth would they do something as dishonest as this?'

  "They didn't know,' Sean revealed. 'It was the stud master's doing. Plus his fault in the first place.'

  Courtney frowned. 'What do you mean?'

  "That's the right word. Mean. Mean and stupid. When Goldplated first arrived at stud he was still a very young horse, all hyped up from the track. The stud master didn't give him enough time to let down, and calm down. I gather Goldplated kicked him the first time they tried to get him to cover a mare. Probably more out of excitement than anything. It was just an accident. But the stupid fella lost his temper and lashed out with a whip.'

  'You're joking!' Courtney was appalled.

  'Unfortunately, no.' Sean looked totally disgusted as well. 'As if you can teach a young horse stud duties with a whip! It's no wonder the poor animal goes off his brain when he's brought near a mare in heat. He's probably expecting his handler to turn on him at any moment. If you look, you'll find two deep scars across his forehead. They're quite high, under his forelock.'

  Courtney groaned. "They said he'd done that rearing up in the starting gates.'

  'Yeah, they would. But that's not the case. You've got yourself a fine young stallion in Goldplated, Ms Cross, but he's been badly mishandled. Personally, I believe he, could still come good, but it'll take patience and some lateral thinking.'

  'Why did you decide to tell me this?' she asked, puzzled. 'You didn't have to.'

  'I felt badly when I heard your mother had been the one who bought Goldplated. She has a fine reputation in the horse world. I didn't like to think of her being cheated like that'

  Courtney looked at him thoughtfully. He'd taken his time coming to tell her, then. It had been months since her mother had bought the horse. Maybe he'd come because he did want a job.

  'I gather you're no longer Gold Fever's groom?'

  'No. I usually move on pretty regularly. I get bored staying in one place for long.'

  'How good are you with stallions, Sean?'

  His smile was wry. 'Damned good. Even if I say so myself.'

  'Do you think you might be able to do something with Goldplated by exercising some of that patience and lateral thinking you spoke of?'

  'I'd sure like to try.' His smile widened.

  Darn, but he was a good-looking man for his age. Lois would go ape, if she ever saw him. Which she just might. She was due up soon.

  'You're hired, then,' Courtney said, and smiled.

  'But boss,' Ned protested, 'you just said we couldn't afford to hire any more staff.'

  'One more isn't going to make much difference.' She wouldn't draw any salary herself for a while. She didn't need anything, anyway. Courtney turned to face Jack. 'Besides, if we don't get Goldplated serving mares the natural way this season, there might not be jobs for anyone at Cross winds before long. Isn't that right, Jack?'

  'I'm afraid so. I couldn't possibly advise anyone to invest here with a cloud hanging over Goldplated's ability to perform.'

  Her chin rose; 'In that case, we'll just have to make sure he does perform. Sean, do you think you might be able to work a major miracle in less than a month?'

  He didn't bat an eyelid. 'No sweat, Ms Cross. I already have a plan in mind.'

  Courtney was surprised by his cool confidence, yet for some reason she had faith in the man. Maybe it was his eyes. He had clever eyes. "That's wonderful,' she said, smiling up at him. 'And it's Courtney, please. Not Ms Cross or ma'am. We don't stand on ceremony here. Ned, show him up to the office and get Sarah to sign him on as a casual. Now, Sean, you have the option of bed and board here or perhaps finding a place in Queenswood. A lot of my staff are locals anyway, but some do live in.'

  'I'll live in.'

  'In that case I'll apologise in advance for the staffs quarters. They're in urgent need of a make over.'

  'Well, I'm a dab hand with a paintbrush,' he offered. 'Fact is, I'm a bit of a jack of all trades. So don't hesitate to ask if you need anything else done around the place.'

  "That's a very generous offer, Sean,' she said. 'I'll certainly keep it in mind, but your first priority is Goldplated. Perhaps we might have a chat later this afternoon over what you have in mind for him. Okay?'

  'Fine by me.'

  'See you later, then. Oh, and take Jack with you, Ned,' she added sharply. 'He has business with Sarah.'

  'What about you?' Jack retorted.

  'I have breakfast to eat, an accountant to ring up and a million and one other jobs to do. I'll see you tonight at dinner, Jack. Have a good day.'

  Courtney turned her back on him and marched off. But not before she'd seen the stiffening in his jaw muscles, and the harsh resolve in his narrowed eyes.

  Till tonight, honey, they seemed to say. Then we'll see who's boss...

  IT WAS a long, long day.

  Courtney skipped lunch, partly because she was avoiding Jack and partly because she didn't have much of an appetite. She wasn't sure if it was the problem with Goldplated causing her to feel so churned up, or the thought of the night ahead, with Jack.

  Whatever, she went from job to job, frantic to keep busy. She did some trackwork on a horse they were trying to get fit after a long spell, the one Lois would be comin
g to pick up soon. She delivered and spread out fresh straw in the outdoor stables. She checked all the water troughs in the yards. She helped mix up feed. She also had a long and interesting chat with the new man, and thought his plan to cure Goldplated was so stunningly simple it just might work.

  But even after that she felt no calmer inside, despite now having some real hope that Crosswinds might avert this new crisis.

  So the problem had to be Jack.

  Her problem was always going to be Jack from now on, wasn't it? Courtney conceded.

  The sun had set by the time she gave in and returned to the house, the darkness of night rapidly descending as she kicked off her dusty boots at the veranda, then hung her equally dusty hat on the peg beside the front door.

  A light was shining in the window of the main living room, which suggested that Jack and Agnes were already in there, sipping pre-dinner cream sherry and chatting away like old friends, a fact confirmed when Courtney popped her head in the door.

  'I'm home,' she said.

  'We were just going to send a search party out for you,' Jack said, looking relaxed in the big chintz armchair by the fire. Biggs was lying asleep at his feet, and didn't even raise an eyelid at his mistress's voice.

  Miserable traitor, Courtney thought, before remembering Biggs was a boy dog. Never trust a male, her mother had always said. They have no sense of loyalty. Their only priority in life is their own pleasure.

  And wasn't that the truth!

  'Dinner is in fifteen minutes on the dot,' Agnes warned. 'But you don't have to set the table. Jack and I did it together.'

  'Thanks,' she said, throwing Jack a sickly sweet smile. 'Won't be long. Just have to grab a shower and change.'

  She trudged upstairs, muttering away to herself. Why it should bother her if Jack was nice to Agnes, she had no idea. It wasn't jealousy. Perhaps it was resentment that he might not be being sincere, that he was playing with Agnes, as he was playing with her. She hated the thought that this was all a game to him, whereas her feelings for him were dead serious. She loved the man to distraction.