Molly looked up at Jackson as if he might be trying to trick her. ‘How do you know?’
‘There was a dam on our property when I was a kid,’ he told her, taking in the look of strain around her eyes and puzzling a little over it. ‘I spent my holidays raising tadpoles.’ And escaping his parents. ‘Anything you need to know about frogs, ask me.’
‘It can heal?’
‘It can heal.’
She took a deep breath and some of the tension eased. ‘Then I’ll take him to the vet.’
‘I can splint it here, if you’ll let me. But I can’t fix your hand.’
‘I’ll take her to the hospital to fix that,’ Angela said, putting in her two bobs’ worth again and moving to hug her friend. ‘If you fix the frog, then I’ll fix Molly.’
‘Angela!’ Trevor’s voice was an angry whisper, but Angela directed him one of her very nicest smiles.
‘Mr Baird likes Molly’s frog,’ she said demurely. ‘And we’d hate to upset Mr Baird, now, wouldn’t we?’
At the look on her cousin’s face Molly almost choked. ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake…’ She took a deep breath and moved out of the protective circle of Angela’s arm. ‘Thank you all very much, but I’ll take my frog to the vet and my hand just needs a sticking plaster. That’s all. So I can take care of everything myself. And it doesn’t matter if I leave.’ She looked at her cousin and sighed. The man really was an idiot. Maybe it would be better if she walked away. ‘After all, I’m sacked anyway.’
‘You can’t be sacked,’ Jackson growled, and once again there was the stillness that his voice seemed to engender. He turned to Trevor, his finger lazily stroking Lionel’s green back as he spoke. His eyes fixed Molly’s cousin, impaling him like an insect on a pin.
‘I came here to find out about a property. The information I have is tantalising, but it’s scarcely detailed. I need more. And I need to see it. You say you’re busy over the weekend?’
Trevor was totally flummoxed. ‘Yes, but-’
‘I’ve an option on another property until Monday, so I’d like to come to a decision before then. And I leave the country on Tuesday. Seeing the place for the first time on Monday hardly leaves time for negotiation.’
Trevor thought this through and backtracked fast. Negotiation-a wonderful word. It meant the man was a serious buyer. ‘Of course. I’ll just have to reschedule-’
‘I don’t believe I’ll bother you,’ Jackson told him, his voice cool and direct. ‘I don’t need you to show me the place. One of your employees will do just as well-’
‘You still have time for another tour of the Blue Mountain property,’ his lawyer interrupted, and was shot a look of dislike for his pains.
‘Thanks, but I’m more interested in the Copeland place. Now, seeing as Miss Farr has just suffered an injury and a shock, what better way to help her recover than to take her away for the weekend? Mr Farr, I assume you weren’t serious about sacking an employee for something so minor as bringing a frog to work?’
‘No…’ Trevor thought it through, and for Trevor thinking was a chore. ‘Yes. But-’
But Jackson was no longer listening. ‘Miss Farr, I would very much appreciate it if you could escort me to the property. Mr Farr, if your employee was to make such a sale I feel sure you’d be in a position to offer her her job back.’
Trevor gasped, but he wasn’t completely stupid. Once again he could see a fortune in commission flying out of the window, and he grabbed at it with both hands.
‘Maybe not. But I’ve just remembered I can come after all.’
‘I don’t wish to bother you.’ Jackson’s eyes were chilling. He turned to his lawyer. ‘Or Mr Francis, for that matter. If the Copeland place is the farm I’m thinking of, then frogs are the least of the temptations for Mr Francis’s ruthless shoe. So I believe Miss Farr and I will dispense with the middle men. Miss Farr, can you escort me to the Copeland property at the weekend?’
Molly took a deep breath. She stared wildly around-at Trevor-at the lawyer-and then at the tiny green frog sitting pathetically in Jackson Baird’s big hand.
Jackson’s eyes were gentle-kind, even-and she had no choice. Obnoxious cousin or not, she needed this job, and Jackson was offering her a way to keep it.
‘It’ll be my pleasure,’ she told him. And she couldn’t believe that she’d done it.
There was no disputing who was in charge. Ineffectual at the best of times, Trevor was completely overruled. Jackson was in organisational mode, and he hadn’t been declared Australia’s Businessman of the Year for nothing. The man exuded power.
‘I’ll meet you at Mascot Airport tomorrow at nine,’ he told her, and she blinked.
‘Um…we’re flying?’
‘I’ll charter a helicopter.’
Oh, of course.
‘You’ll have a Section Thirty-Two prepared?’
A Section Thirty-Two… It would be a miracle if their lawyer could finalise the title and bill of sale by tonight, Molly thought, but Jackson Baird was expecting expertise to match his. ‘Of course,’ she told him.
‘The house is set up so we can stay?’
‘I believe there’s a skeleton staff.’ Trevor was fighting to stay in charge of a situation he had no control over. ‘Mrs Copeland did say they’d welcome you, but I-’
Jackson wasn’t in the mood for buts. ‘Then that’s fine.’
‘I’m not happy about Molly going,’ Trevor blurted out, and Jackson raised a mobile eyebrow.
‘Isn’t she competent?’
‘She’s extremely competent,’ Angela shot at him, and received a look of approval from the millionaire for her pains.
‘Maybe you’re worried about the propriety of the situation?’ Jackson’s smile eased all before him. ‘I should have thought of that. Miss Farr, if you’re concerned about the propriety of escorting me to an unknown farm for the weekend I suggest you bring a chaperon. But no middle men. No cousin. An aunt, perhaps? Especially if she’s another frog-lover?’
He was laughing at her, Molly thought, but she was too stunned to react. A chaperon. Where on earth would she find one of those overnight?
But Jackson had moved on. ‘That’s all, then. Mascot airport, nine tomorrow, with or without a chaperon.’ His eyes glinted suddenly with wicked laughter. ‘Is that enough to take your mind off your sore hand and your frog?’
He thought it was, Molly thought numbly. He thought he just had to say jump and she’d put everything else aside and purr with pleasurable anticipation. And maybe normally she would. But there was still Lionel. Sam had trusted her with his frog. How was she going to tell him what had happened?
‘Fine,’ she said tonelessly, and his brows furrowed.
‘You’re still worried about your frog?’
‘Of course.’
‘You know, frogs do die.’
Damn the man, he was still laughing. ‘You said you can fix him.’
‘I did. And I can.’ He turned to Angela. ‘Will you take your friend to have her hand attended to now?’
But Molly wasn’t moving. ‘After Lionel is fixed.’
‘You know…’ His eyes were still puzzled. ‘I hate to seem callous, but he is just a frog.’
‘Just fix him,’ she said wearily. Her hand was starting to throb and the shock of the last half-hour had taken its toll. Sure, Lionel was just a frog, but to Sam he was everything. Lionel had produced the first flicker of an outside interest she’d seen in the child since his parents’ death, and that was so important.
‘Just fix him,’ she said again, and Jackson’s dark eyes probed hers with something akin to confusion. What he saw in her face didn’t help at all.
But he had a job to do.
‘Okay, Miss Farr, I’ll concede that your frog is important.’ He put out a hand and touched her cheek. A fleeting gesture of reassurance. Nothing more. ‘But so are you. If you won’t go and get your hand seen to straight away then I’ll do it for you. And then I’ll fix your frog.’
‘My frog first.’
‘Your hand first,’ he said in a voice that brooked no argument. ‘Lionel’s not dripping blood on the carpet. So sit and be cared for. Now!’
It was the strangest sensation.
Sit and be cared for… How long had it been since she’d done just that? Since her sister’s accident the caring had all been on her side, and the sensation of cares being lifted from her shoulders was almost overwhelming.
‘It’s not deep.’ Ignoring her protests, he was probing the abrasion on her knuckles, approving what he saw. ‘I’m sure it doesn’t need stitches.’ He’d sent Angela down to the nearby dispensary and she’d come back with his requirements-lint, antiseptic, bandages and a soft reed-then stayed on to watch.
As did the rest of their audience. The cleaners had departed, as had Sophia Cincotta, but Trevor and Jackson’s lawyer were going nowhere. Both of them, for different reasons, were bristling with disapproval.
But Molly was oblivious. She sat while this big man with the gentle eyes and the even gentler fingers knelt before her and probed and cleaned and carefully dressed her hand. It was unnerving, to say the least. It was…
Heck, she didn’t know what it was. This man had a reputation a mile long where women were concerned and she was starting to see how he’d acquired it. He just had to touch her and…
‘There. Okay?’ He looked up at her and smiled, and she felt her heart do a crazy shift beneath her ribcage. Oh, for heaven’s sake!
‘Yes. Thank you. Now-’
‘Now your frog.’ He was still smiling at her, and it was a killer smile.
Angela handed over Lionel’s box, where he’d been placed for safekeeping. She looked at her friend strangely as she did so. It wasn’t like Molly to be this flustered. Interesting…
But Molly was still oblivious to anyone but Jackson. He had her mesmerised. He placed Lionel into her good hand and proceeded to do exactly what he’d promised, whittling a tiny splint, adjusting the leg so it was straight against the reed and then tying it carefully in place.
‘It’s as if he knows you’re helping him,’ Molly said, awed, and Jackson cast her another curious glance.
‘Yes.’
‘How long does he need to wear it?’
‘Maybe a couple of weeks. You’ll see the leg heal over.’
‘I can’t thank you enough.’
‘My lawyer did the damage.’ He lifted Lionel’s box and seemed to approve of what he saw. Sam had lined the box with plastic and soggy plant litter for the frog’s bed. ‘This is a great little recuperation unit.’ He lowered Lionel in and closed the box. ‘All done.’
‘Fantastic.’
‘And now you. You’ve had a shock. Would you like Mr Francis and I to drop you home?’
But enough was enough. The man was starting to seriously unnerve her, and she had a business relationship to maintain.
‘Thank you, but I’ll be fine.’
‘She’d like you to take her,’ Angela volunteered, but got a glower from Molly. Molly took a deep breath and took hold of the situation. Somehow.
‘I’ll see you at nine tomorrow,’ she told him.
He paused and looked down at her, still with that trace of confusion in his eyes.
‘With a chaperon?’
There was only one answer to that. ‘Certainly with a chaperon.’
He smiled at that, and once again his hand came out and touched her cheek.
‘Very wise. Okay, Miss Farr. I’ll see you tomorrow at nine. Take care of your hand. And your frog.’
And with that he was gone, leaving everyone in the office staring after him.
‘Molly, can I come? Please, can I come? You’ll need help and I can help you. I won’t even cramp your style.’ Jackson was no sooner out of the door than Angela’s clutch on her arm intensified. ‘I’d make a great chaperon.’
‘Thanks, but I’ll find my own chaperon.’ Molly managed a smile, albeit a weak one.
‘I need to go with you,’ Trevor told her. ‘This is my real estate firm.’
It might be, but it didn’t seem like it. The family firm had been handed down to this, the third Trevor Farr, and under his expert guidance it showed every sign of heading for bankruptcy. Trevor’s father had spoken to Molly at her sister’s funeral and persuaded her to give the place a try.
‘If you need a job in the city then I’d be grateful if you could join the family firm. Work under Trevor for a while as you get used to the city. You can learn the city trade from him-and he can certainly learn things from you. You’re the best.’
Until then she’d worked selling farms from her base on the south coast. Selling city property was a very different thing, she’d discovered, and her cousin was proving to be a millstone around her neck. Weak and ineffectual, he’d resented her competence from the start.
‘I can cope on my own,’ she told him now. She gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘I have a strong feeling that Mr Baird doesn’t want you or Mr Francis involved, and if his preferences mean a sale… How much did you say Mrs Copeland has on the place?’
Trevor swallowed. ‘Three million.’
Molly practically gaped. Three million. Whew.
‘Don’t mess it up.’
‘I won’t.’
‘Do you have someone respectable to take as a chaperon?’ Trevor might be a dope but he wasn’t completely heartless. Or he knew he’d have his father to answer to if anything went wrong. ‘The man’s got a reputation a mile long. Angela’s not suitable.’
‘Angela’s definitely not suitable,’ she agreed, managing a twinkle at her friend.
‘You have someone in mind?’
‘I do.’
Trevor paused, baffled at her lack of communication. ‘I suppose it’s all right, then.’
‘I suppose it is.’
‘Your hand’s not too sore to keep working? You’d better get moving if you want a Section Thirty-Two prepared.’
‘I’ll do it now.’ She flexed her fingers and winced, but Trevor was the only other person here capable of sorting the paperwork for such a property, and help from Trevor was the last thing she’d get.
‘Right,’ she said. ‘Let’s get on with selling Mr Baird a farm.’
CHAPTER TWO
THANK heaven Lionel wasn’t dead.
Sam was stoic, as Molly had known he would be. He’d been stoic for six months now. He’d taken every bit of dreadful news on the chin. Now his face was pinched, but blank, and when Molly tried to hug him he held back. As always.
‘I shouldn’t have kept him in the first place,’ he said miserably.
No. But then there was a no pets rule in their highrise apartment, so Sam had had nothing. They’d found the frog while they’d been crossing a busy Sydney street. It had been raining, there had been traffic everywhere, and Lionel had been sitting right in the middle of the road. He was a suicidal frog if ever there was one, and when Sam had pocketed him Molly hadn’t protested. Where he’d been, the frog would have been doomed.
May he not be doomed now, she thought, looking at the intricate arrangement of ponds Sam had rigged up on the bathroom floor.
‘I’ll have to clean all this up when he dies.’ The little boy put his hands in his pockets and tucked his chin into his chest. Molly knew there were tears waiting to get out. They’d wait a while. Molly cried. Sam didn’t.
‘He won’t die. Mr Baird said so.’
‘I guess frogs don’t live very long anyway.’
Darn, it was so unfair. If Molly had her way, frogs would live for ever. But she had to be truthful. ‘I guess they don’t,’ she agreed, and laid a hand tentatively on his arm. But, as always, he pulled away. He was such an isolated child. It was as if losing his parents had made him afraid to trust.
And why should he trust? Molly thought bitterly. She couldn’t even keep a frog safe.
‘We’ve been asked to go to a farm for the weekend,’ she said, trying to divert him. ‘We’ll take Lionel. It can be a convalescent fa
rm.’
‘A farm?’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t like farms.’
‘Have you ever been to one?’
‘No.’
‘Then-’
‘I don’t like them. I want to stay here.’
Sure. And lie on his bed and stare at the ceiling as he did in every spare minute. ‘Sam, Mr Baird has invited both of us.’
‘He doesn’t want me.’
‘I’m very sure he does.’
‘I don’t want to go.’
‘You’re going,’ Molly said with more determination than she felt. ‘We’re both going and we’ll enjoy it very much.’
A weekend with Jackson Baird. Could she enjoy it?
There was a dangerous part of her mind that was telling her she could enjoy it very much indeed.
‘Cara?’
‘Jackson. How nice.’ Cara might be on the other side of the Atlantic but her pleasure was tangible. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’
‘I think I might have found a property that could suit both our needs.’
‘Really?’
‘Really. It’s been used as a horse stud in the past. It’s in a magnificent location and it sounds wonderful. Do you want to get on a plane and come and see it?’
Silence. Then, ‘Darling, I’m so busy.’
When was she not? Jackson grinned. ‘You mean you’ll leave it to me?’
‘That’s the one.’
‘And if I buy it and you don’t like it?’
‘Then you’ll just have to buy me another one.’
‘Oh, right. Cara-?’
‘Darling, I really can’t come. There’s something… Well, there’s something happening that’s taking all my attention, and I daren’t say anything about it yet in case it evaporates in the mist. But I trust you.’
He grinned again. Another scheme. His half-sister always had schemes, but he trusted her implicitly, as he knew she trusted him. ‘Millions wouldn’t,’ he told her.
‘But you’re one in a million. And don’t you know it?’
‘Yeah, and I love you, too.’
A chuckle and the line went dead, leaving Jackson staring down at the receiver.
A Millionaire For Molly Page 2
