‘Not exactly a loan, Carla,’ Frances put her two cents worth in. ‘Walt and I, we see it more as an investment in Sundown Crossing. We would expect that our injection of funds would entitle us to a partnership in your vineyard. It’s what Walt needs, don’t you see? A vineyard that he can become involved in again but not have sole responsibility for.’
‘Angie and I talked about bringing in a partner—Paul van Leeson would be our first choice but we decided against it. And, while my name might be on the title deed I already have a silent partner, Angie.’ Carla stared pointedly at both Conrads before continuing. ‘She’s invested capital in the vineyard and we have a fifty-fifty arrangement regarding profits.’
Walt’s features contorted into a displeased line. ‘My dear, do you have much choice in the matter?’ His gaze narrowing on her, he added, ‘Or have you completely lost faith in me and Frances because the shipment was lost?’
‘Walt, you’re being frank with me so I’ll return the favour. I’m not keen to have anyone else financially involved in my vineyard.’ She smiled at her partner. ‘Angie and I have a perfect arrangement, so bringing in a third party could upset that balance. While I appreciate the offer, I have to say no.’
‘How do you think you’re going to survive?’ Frances, clearly annoyed, asked. ‘You’ll be dead lucky if the bank gives you an extension. That Basil Coulthard’s a mean little so and so.’ She nodded knowingly at her husband. ‘We know that for a fact.’
Carla secretly agreed with Frances but wouldn’t admit it. ‘His is not the only bank in the Barossa.’
‘Maybe not,’ Walt conceded. ‘But are you aware that the Stenmarks have Coulthard in their pocket? Rumour has it that he passes on information regarding interesting loans to Luke Michaels,’ he said as he waggled a finger warningly. ‘Don’t think you’ll be able to keep your financial problems a secret. Good news in the Valley travels fast, bad news travels faster. And old Carl’s been waiting for something like this to happen to you. I know how he acts, he’ll move in for the kill as soon as he finds out that you can’t pay your bills.’
‘We are aware of that, Walt, and the fact that you’ve helped to give Rhein Schloss the ammunition they need,’ Angie pointed out, without malice.
Abruptly, his chair scraping on the timber floor, Walt stood, his fair skin turning florid with irritation because Carla hadn’t accepted his suggestion with due gratitude. ‘I came here with the best of intentions when, legally, I owe Sundown Crossing nothing. Clearly, both of you are still too upset to consider the proposal logically. I understand that.’ He gestured for Frances to get up. ‘Just think about my offer—it’s genuinely meant to help—and let me know one way or another.’
Carla was about to tell him what he could do with his offer but before she did she glanced at Angie who shook her head. She understood the gesture. Why burn bridges before she had to for, in reality, his offer might be the only one they could get. ‘We’ll do that, Walt,’ she promised as she saw them to the door.
As soon as the Conrads had gone and Carla had got Sam off to bed, she and Angie sat on the sofa and talked.
‘What do you think?’ Carla asked.
‘Gut feeling?’ Angie queried with a grimace. ‘I’m not sure. They both come over as well-meaning but…it’s all wonderfully convenient for them, isn’t it. The shipment gets ruined. Suddenly they find funds to see us through, and Frances makes a coy remark about Walt wanting to be actively involved with a vineyard again.’ Her eyebrows wiggled up and down. ‘That’s something I don’t need. Another party having access to everything, telling me, us, how to run the vineyard. Rolfe gave me carte blanche with the winemaking process, as you have. I don’t relish someone else wanting to influence my choices.’
‘I didn’t buy that either,’ Carla agreed. She leant into the sofa and rested her head against its back. ‘Still, at this point we can’t afford to close the door completely on their offer.’
‘I know,’ Angie sighed. ‘And to quote Shakespeare in Hamlet: “there’s the rub”.’
Later, in bed, Carla tossed and turned, thumped her pillow, threshed under the covers until they twisted annoyingly around her body. Was she crazy, or was she guilty of trying to make an impossible dream possible? Should she do what a small voice inside her head was suggesting? Give in, sell up, go back to Christchurch. No one could say she hadn’t done her darnedest to make the vineyard viable. She and Angie had worked their guts out to make the dream a reality but…how long could she go on telling herself that everything would be all right because, when they surmounted one hurdle, there was always another, and another…
How bad would it be to admit defeat? Bloody hard, she admitted. Not least of which was giving up on her father’s dream and being seen to give in to pressure from the Stenmarks. Well, not all the Stenmarks, just some of them. Thinking about her family turned her thoughts to Luke and Aunt Greta. If she went back to Christchurch she and Sam would lose contact with them. She could stay in South Australia but somewhere outside the Barossa, which would also mean she wouldn’t see Paul. As well, Sam would lose the friends he’d made at school and rugby and have to start over again.
Oh, things were a mess all right, thanks to Walt. She could cheerfully throttle him and his proposal. Pummelling the pillow again, she tried to will herself to fall asleep.
Basil Coulthard salivated with anticipation as he dialled Luke Michaels’s business line. What he had to tell Luke would surely earn him an extra case or two of Rhein Schloss’s delightful wines.
‘Luke, it’s Basil.’
Luke Michaels pulled a face on the other end of the line. He didn’t like the snivelling bank manager but in the past the man had proven his worth with timely information.
‘So, Basil, what’s happening?’
‘Carla Hunter’s been in. She wants to rewrite her loan. Says she needs more money and a longer term to pay it back. Thought you might be interested.’
Like others in the Valley Luke had heard of Sundown Crossing’s misfortune. He’d been unsure of what he could do to help, knowing Carla’s independent streak. Now there might be a way.
‘She’s a good risk, Basil. I mean, the bank can’t lose, can it? If you give her what she wants and she reneges, you’ll simply repossess the vineyard then sell it off, won’t you?’
‘Th-that’s the bank’s normal procedure,’ Basil said, a little put off by Luke’s irritated tone. ‘S-so…you think I should…I mean, remembering what you said when she first took out the loan, I thought Rhein Schloss would prefer me not to…you know!’ There was silence on the other end of the line for maybe seven seconds or so and the longer it went on the more his prominent Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
‘You’re the bank manager so I wouldn’t presume to tell you what to do. But, theoretically, as you can’t lose, why not give Carla what she wants and make the terms easy for her.’ Luke cleared his throat before adding, ‘I’d take it as a personal favour, if you know what I mean.’
‘Oh!’ For a moment or two a perplexed frown creased the bank manager’s bony forehead then it cleared as enlightenment came. ‘All right, Luke, I’ll get right on it.’
‘And you won’t mention our conversation to Carla, will you?’
‘Er, um. Of course not.’
‘Then we understand each other perfectly. You can expect a bonus delivery to your house in the not-too-distant future. Bye, Basil.’
Luke replaced the phone’s receiver, his expression thoughtful. The muscle in his jaw flexed up and down as he thought about how he was going to deliver his decision to the board meeting in an hour’s time. Mother, who wasn’t a board member anyway, would be pleased but she was the only one likely to approve. His features formed another grimace as he anticipated the response. He could expect it to be a fiery meeting.
A tense silence greeted Luke’s report about Sundown Crossing and his suggestion to Basil Coulthard that her loan be renegotiated.
‘Why did you do that?’ Lisel, instantly on
the attack, asked. ‘Due to Conrad’s stupidity we have Carla where we want her. Without funds it will be easy to squeeze her out of the Valley. We’ll be rid of her and her brat once and for all.’
Luke stared at his aunt stolidly for several seconds before he answered. ‘Once I would have agreed with you, but I’ve seen what she’s achieved in the time she’s been here and I think Sundown Crossing deserves to be part of the Valley. I suggested that Basil okay the loan.’
‘You’re joking, surely,’ Lisel threw back at him, glaring across the boardroom table at the man she’d championed since he was a small boy.
John Michaels interjected. ‘That wasn’t part of Rhein Schloss’s plan, Luke. You should have consulted us before you gave the bank manager the go-ahead.’
‘As president of the company I had to make an instant, executive decision. I made it. It’s that simple.’
‘Simple, my arse!’ Lisel retorted, ignoring her father’s disapproving scowl.
So far Carl hadn’t said a word, he was letting others attack Luke, taking in the reactions, and listening closely to his grandson’s responses. He had taught Luke to be a decision-maker because the time wasn’t far off when he would be the company’s CEO. Everyone sitting around the boardroom table knew that. Lisel’s response was to be expected because she hated Carla, every word Lisel said about Rolfe’s daughter told him that. And John, while he might be Luke’s father, was a company man through and through. With him the good of the company transcended all else.
Josh Aldrich, who’d recently been elevated to the management position of plant production and despatch manager, and now oversaw the process from harvesting to shipment of orders, had begun to sit in on monthly board meetings. He shook his head in disbelief and said, ‘It’s pretty obvious why Luke did what he did.’
Lisel swivelled the upper part of her body around to face Josh. ‘Then perhaps you’ll enlighten us.’
Josh nodded. ‘Luke probably won’t like me saying this, but I think members of the board should know that Luke’s been seeing quite a lot of Carla lately. He’s fallen in love with her.’
‘What?’ Lisel shrieked like a banshee. ‘No, no!’ She stared at Josh then at Luke. ‘You can’t have. Tell me Josh has it wrong.’ She began to wring her hands and fidget with the paperwork—a revamped advertising program—in front of her. ‘Not Carla, anyone but her.’
‘My personal feelings had nothing to do with my decision. I think we all know that Carla’s vineyard is small fry in relationship to our holdings. I believe it’s just too much trouble, from a business point of view, to continue agitating to acquire it.’
Carl listened to his grandson’s words, then checked the expressions of the others at the table. No one believed Luke. Carl became conscious of a tightening in his chest when he took a deep breath. Luke hadn’t denied Josh’s accusation, he noted, that in itself was telling. Luke, in love with Carla! That wasn’t something he wanted to hear; it would complicate things. An invisible weight, as if something heavy was sitting on his chest, got worse, making his muscles tighten and his breathing become more shallow. He tried to ignore the discomfort; he was upset, that’s all it was. A mutiny of sorts was taking place in his boardroom and he had to stop it from escalating.
‘Bullshit,’ Josh said quietly, then, ‘I’m sorry, Mr Stenmark,’ he apologised to Carl.
‘Is what Josh says true?’ Carl spoke for the first time. ‘Luke, are you in love with Carla?’
‘Would that be such a bad thing, Grandfather?’ Luke answered evasively.
‘I told all of you she’d worm her way into Stenhaus somehow, but even I didn’t think she would stoop to ensnare Luke,’ Lisel snarled, almost beside herself with rage.
‘Be quiet, Lisel,’ Carl ordered. He stared at his grandson. ‘You have not answered my question.’
‘I…I don’t know. Maybe.’ For the first time a note of uncertainty crept into Luke’s voice. ‘I know that I admire her, very much. She makes me laugh, she challenges me. I enjoy being with her and I want to be with her more often.’ He smiled tentatively at his grandfather. ‘I’ve never been in love before so I have no yardstick to judge by but…’ he left the sentence unfinished.
‘And does Carla reciprocate?’ Carl asked as he watched his grandson carefully. A frightening sense of déjà vu came over him. In a distorted way history was repeating itself though the circumstances were different. Rolfe…the pain in his chest worsened suddenly, making him catch his breath. He put his hand to his chest hoping to contain the pain. Something was very wrong. It was getting harder to breathe and was more painful by the second. Now the room was starting to spin. A clammy kind of sweat, not the sweat due to hard work, was forming on his forehead yet he wasn’t hot, he was cold. The sweating made no sense.
The pain strengthened, became unbearable and with a moan Carl slumped forward in the chair, hitting his head on the table. His world went black as the pain in his chest and down his left arm drew him into a dark void.
‘Papa! Oh, God. He’s having a stroke,’ Lisel screamed. She jumped up from her chair and rushed towards him, at the same time glaring at Luke. ‘It’s your fault. You’ve caused this, disappointed him with your stupid attachment to Carla.’ Then, to Josh she shouted an order, ‘Call an ambulance.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
News of Carl Stenmark’s heart attack spread with the rapidity of an out-of-control bushfire. Kim Loong passed the information onto Carla, Angie and Paul that same afternoon. Carl’s condition had been stabilised at the War Memorial Hospital in Tanunda after which the air ambulance had flown him to a major hospital in Adelaide, one with a coronary intensive care ward. At the time Kim delivered the news, the three had been discussing Walt Conrad’s offer of partnership in Sundown Crossing. Carl’s heart attack pushed that topic onto the back burner.
‘Poor Greta, she must be so upset. Luke too.’ Carla’s voice cracked with emotion. She knew her aunt was very close to her father and, who would have thought it? Her grandfather might have been in his eighties but he looked so fit. Then she remembered that her own father, Rolfe, had appeared to be physically fit, up to the day of his death.
‘It’ll throw everyone at Rhein Schloss into a spin,’ was Paul’s comment. ‘Carl’s been the dominant force in the company for a good forty years.’
‘Mr Stenmark is at the Royal Adelaide Hospital,’ Kim vouched the information. ‘Everyone in the family has driven to the city to be with him.’
Carla made a decision. ‘I’m going too. Kim, find Sam for me, please. I’ll take him with me.’
Angie gave Carla a sideways glance. ‘Are you sure that’s wise? The Stenmarks will be there in force. It, they, could make things unpleasant for you.’
Carla’s chin set stubbornly, the glint in her blue eyes becoming determined. ‘He’s my grandfather too. I have as much right to be there as they do.’
‘Lisel in particular mightn’t see it that way. She can be a nasty piece when she wants to be,’ Paul voiced his thoughts, his expression betraying that he knew his employee would not be diverted from her decision. ‘Would you like me to drive you? It’s late afternoon so it will take a couple of hours to get there.’
She smiled at him. ‘I’d appreciate that.’ She didn’t know Adelaide well, having spent almost all her time since her arrival in Australia in the Barossa. Glancing at her clothes, she deemed them unsuitable. ‘I’ll change into something more appropriate.’
Angie shook her head as Carla raced off down the hallway to her bedroom. ‘Thanks.’ She put her hand on Paul’s arm. ‘I’m glad you’re going with her.’
‘Not a problem,’ he said in his usual congenial way. ‘It might give me time to talk to her about the Conrads.’
‘Carla has rejected it but if the bank doesn’t give us an extension and allow us to borrow more, she may not have a choice,’ Angie informed him.
He pulled a face in obvious puzzlement. ‘I can’t think of a reason why, yet, but somehow I smell a rat regarding Walt’s o
ffer. The man has a reputation in the Valley for only being interested in helping himself. I’m going to make a few subtle inquiries when I come back, see what I can dig up on his seemingly magnanimous offer.’
The proverbial penny dropped because, finally, Angie understood the reason behind his questioning of the Conrads’s offer—concern about Carla. For some time she had suspected that Paul had feelings for Carla. She could no longer put his eagerness to help, his close contact with them and the occasional unguarded look he’d given Carla down to him just being a nice bloke. She thought she also knew why he hadn’t declared himself. Carla had said often enough that she had no time for romance even though she was seeing Luke Michaels! Most likely Paul thought he wouldn’t stand a chance against the affable and wealthy Luke, especially with his connection to the Stenmarks.
Smiling her approval, she said, ‘I think that’s a very good idea.’
The Royal Adelaide Hospital’s waiting room near the intensive care ward was almost full with members of the Stenmark family. As Paul, Carla and Sam walked into the room, Luke impulsively went up to Carla and gave her a welcoming hug. She responded by kissing him on the cheek before moving away. ‘I’m so sorry about…Grandfather.’
Sharp-eyed Lisel took in the tableau, her features contorting into a venomous look. ‘What are you doing here?’ she said straight out. Getting out of the chair she had been sitting in she came and stood, hands aggressively on her hips, in front of her niece.
Carla decided that if Lisel wanted a fight she could have one. ‘As Carl Stenmark’s granddaughter I’ve as much right to be here as any of you.’
‘Bitch! We don’t want you or your brat here. Papa doesn’t want you here,’ Lisel shot back. Hours of sitting around waiting for news from the doctors attending her father had made her very tense. ‘And if you think that turning up like this is going to guarantee you a mention in Papa’s will, think again.’
Sundown Crossing Page 25
