by Cathryn Hein
Naturally, the promised riches never came. Only a slow siphoning of the farm’s income and equity until, in desperation, Teagan was asked to loan her preciously saved cash. Like a fool she’d handed it over, not for one moment guessing the real situation. She’d thought they were having a bad run. It seemed unfathomable, but without access to the books, she’d had to take Graham Bliss’s word for it. One loan followed another until, after a year of unbelievable stress and anxiety, of fights, lies and secrets, the worst happened. He lost it all.
And so did she.
If it hadn’t gone on for so long, if her parents hadn’t manipulated and used her and duped her so badly, perhaps she could have forgiven them, but the betrayal, when it came, was simply too overwhelming. They’d gambled her home, all that she’d loved, and lost it. Forgiveness would be long coming, if ever.
She finished her drink and reached for the margarita jug, ice cubes clunking as they hit the tumbler.
Ness settled back into her seat. Teagan expected her to pass on some message, but her aunt remained quiet, her head tilted slightly as though listening for a signal. A smile flickered. ‘Here they come.’
The sound of a car had Teagan turning back towards the drive. A pale-blue Ford Falcon rattled into view. A man waved from behind the windscreen and braked next to Teagan’s LandCruiser. He bent to gather something from his seat and pushed open the door.
Ness stood and placed one hand on a verandah post. ‘Col, how lovely to see you.’
Col shuffled up the concrete path towards the house, a carton of eggs tucked under one arm. The fading sun glinted off a skull devoid of hair and covered with age spots. His washed-out stubbies were so brief that with each step he exposed a slither of scarlet jocks. ‘Had some spare eggs. Thought you might like some.’
‘You know I always welcome your eggs, Col.’ Ness reached down to take the carton. ‘They’re so much better than supermarket ones.’
‘Don’t know why you don’t get yourself some chooks. I could source you some bantams. No trouble.’
‘That’s very kind, but I think I have more than enough animals. And I’m not sure if Blanche would cope.’
Col suddenly noticed Teagan in the shadows. His bushy grey eyebrows shot up. ‘Hello.’
‘How rude of me. Colin Walker, this is my niece, Teagan, up from South Australia.’
He gave Teagan a nod before turning glowing grey eyes back on Ness. ‘Your niece? You could be sisters!’
Teagan’s polite smile fell, but Col didn’t seem to notice the insult.
‘You’re too sweet. Oh,’ said Ness, glancing towards the drive, ‘here’s Antonio.’
Col’s expression turned vinegary as he watched an aging white van with a faded Australia Post symbol on the side pull up next to his Ford. ‘What’s he doing here?’
A curly-haired, well-built man with olive skin emerged and strode to the verandah. ‘Bella!’ He grinned widely at Ness, before shooting Col a distasteful look. ‘Colin.’
‘Tony.’
Antonio looked across at Teagan, and the grin returned in force. ‘Due bella donne!’
Teagan twinkled her fingers. The margaritas were making her feel silly. ‘Hi.’
‘My niece, Teagan,’ said Ness. ‘From South Australia.’
Antonio nodded in approval. ‘Come to visit your aunt? She’ll keep you entertained.’ From his broad Australian accent, the Italian Stallion routine was over.
‘I’m sure she will.’ She already was. Entertained and more than a little pissed on tasty margaritas.
Antonio turned back to Ness and passed her a wad of stapled paper. ‘The Falls Express, hot off the press.’
‘You didn’t have to. I could’ve picked it up tomorrow.’
Antonio shrugged. ‘It was on my way.’ He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, and gave Col a meaningful stare that was returned with one just as meaning-filled back.
Ness shot Teagan a sly wink. ‘Can I offer you gentlemen a drink?’
The two men regarded one another, each clearly wanting the other to leave. When neither budged, they both shook their heads.
‘Best be off,’ said Antonio.
‘Maggie’ll be waiting,’ muttered Col.
Ness smiled and waved them farewell, observing the duo as they walked back to their cars, swaggers aggressive, heads butted as they argued quietly.
‘What was all that about?’ asked Teagan.
‘That,’ said Ness, her voice cheery with humour, ‘was just the start.’
As soon as Col and Antonio disappeared, another car arrived, quickly followed by another. Again, both callers were men, one bearing news that could have easily been delivered by phone, the other carrying a box of vegetables.
Ness greeted them both with delight, careful to introduce Teagan, but they weren’t interested in Teagan, only her aunt, and with each visitor Teagan’s already fragile ego crumbled a little bit further. Taking the contents of the margarita jug down with it.
*
‘Oh dear,’ said Vanessa, observing her niece as Teagan wove her way inside for the loo. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have mixed that third jug.’
‘You didn’t tell me she was coming.’
Vanessa turned back to Domenic Ashe. He leaned casually against a verandah post dressed in his usual expensively tailored suit and handcrafted shoes. His tie was loose and a shadow of stubble was forming around his jaw. She wasn’t fooled by the relaxed pose or the end-of-day slackening of deportment. Dom had the edginess of a man who wanted something. At least he’d scared off all the others. Her admirers were all incredibly sweet, but the attention didn’t make life easy in the village.
‘I only found out myself two days ago.’ She winced as a crash sounded from the house. ‘Poor thing was so uptight on her arrival I thought a few drinks would do her good.’
‘No fat to absorb the alcohol.’
‘She is thin, isn’t she?’ Teagan’s appearance had been a shock. Her fractious manner even more so. ‘I’ll have to fatten her up.’
‘Give the girl some womanly curves like you? You’ll have all the young bucks on your doorstep, as well as the old.’
She rolled the ice cubes in her drink and took a sip, assessing him over the rim. ‘And which category do you fit into?’
His blue eyes held hers. ‘Not young, not old. Just right.’
‘Ah, a Goldilocks man.’ She deliberately broke eye contact and checked the yard. ‘Speaking of golden locks, where’s my stinky dog? Saffy!’
On cue, the labradoodle bounded out from the thick scrub to the right of the house. Her coat was matted with more of whatever she’d discovered to roll in. The reek could be smelt from the verandah.
‘Jesus,’ said Dom, turning away.
Vanessa sighed. ‘A job for tomorrow. I really can’t face that right now.’
The screen door creaked open. Teagan stumbled through before collapsing back onto her wicker armchair.
‘Are you okay, darling?’
‘Fine,’ said Teagan, reaching for her margarita glass. Vanessa had laid out bowls of dips, warmed homemade focaccia, marinated olives, tangy giardiniera, cheese and shaved Parma ham, but her niece had shown no interest in food.
‘How long do you plan to stay in The Falls, Teagan?’ asked Dom, spreading pesto on a piece of bread.
She shrugged. ‘Depends.’
‘You should try this,’ he said, raising the bread before tucking it into his mouth and chewing.
Vanessa watched his jaw work. He had one of those chiselled manly faces that fascinated. ‘On what?’
Teagan shrugged again and stared blankly across the yard with the sort of hollowed-out look you’d expect from a trauma victim. Vanessa’s heart wrenched for her. The poor darling really was in a state. Completely on edge and horribly thin. Penny’s rotten husband had a lot to answer for.
Dom exchanged a look with her, but Vanessa could only shake her head. Teagan would need time and patience. Poking an olive with a toothpick, Dom st
epped to Vanessa’s side. When he spoke again his voice was low. ‘You know that plan I’ve been considering?’
Vanessa nodded. Dom’s plan to expand The Falls Wellness Centre, his exclusive and highly profitable health retreat on the other side of town favoured by the rich, famous, burnt out and addicted, wasn’t new. He’d been contemplating it for months.
‘I’ve decided to go ahead. Lodged the development application with the council this afternoon.’
‘I hope you’re prepared for a battle then.’
‘It might not turn out that way. With your help.’
Her mouth thinned. She had no influence over the people who mattered in The Falls. In fact, there were wives in the area who would gleefully oppose anything Vanessa supported, purely on principle.
‘You flatter me,’ she said, sauntering to the table to refill her glass before Teagan scoffed the entire jug. Goodness, the girl could drink. Although, looking at her owlish eyes, she doubted her niece would last much longer.
‘You’re very flatterable,’ said Dom, catching her eye and holding it in a way that made her stomach flutter and consider, for the thousandth time, whether she should just say to hell with it and sleep with him. But that way lay heartache. Her days of being a rich man’s toy were over.
Teagan flopped her head drunkenly to the side and narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you coming on to my aunt?’
‘Not at all,’ answered Dom smoothly. ‘I’m simply trying to enlist her help with a project of mine.’
‘Sure you are.’
‘Dom’s looking to expand his health retreat,’ said Vanessa. ‘Apparently there’s a shortage of places for celebs to get clean.’
‘Not all of the centre’s clients are addicts,’ explained Dom, swapping to the persuasive businessman’s voice that Vanessa secretly disliked for all that it reminded her of. ‘We treat a range of disorders, with a focus on healing our client’s bodies, minds and spirits, through a holistic approach.’
Teagan’s eyes began to cross. Or perhaps she was trying to roll them, Vanessa wasn’t sure. As Dom continued, Teagan slid further down her chair.
‘We’re looking to upgrade the spa and treatment rooms. But increased privacy is my number-one priority. The centre’s international clients demand complete anonymity, which means more specialised accommodation and upgraded security.’
With his last word, Teagan slid completely onto the floor.
Vanessa tried not to laugh at Dom’s expression. ‘I don’t think Teagan is your target market.’
‘So it appears.’
Vanessa sighed and grabbed one of Teagan’s arms. For a thin girl she was surprisingly muscled and weighty. ‘Where’s Lucas when I need him?’
Dom draped Teagan’s other arm over his shoulder and hoisted. ‘Are you casting aspersions on my manliness?’
‘Darling, no one is as manly as that boy.’
Together, they carted a jelly-legged and mumbling Teagan off to bed.
‘She’s very pretty,’ said Dom from the door as Vanessa tucked Teagan in and placed a plastic glass of water on the bedside table and a bucket by the bed.
Vanessa regarded her niece with a mixture of fondness and worry. ‘I get the feeling no one has told her that for a long time, least of all herself. Isn’t that sad?’ She kissed Teagan’s forehead and left the door ajar in case she woke in the night and needed help. ‘Not that she’d believe it anyway. She’s very down, poor love.’
‘She’s come to the right place then.’
‘I hope so.’ She left Teagan to her snuffles and headed out to the verandah. ‘Otherwise the centre might have another patient.’
He threw her a sharp glance. ‘That bad?’
‘I don’t know.’ Vanessa looked back over her shoulder, frowning. ‘She worries me.’
‘If you need help, Nessie, I’m here. So is the centre.’
She began clearing food. Dom would do anything if he thought it would get her into his bed, but she had no inclination to put herself in a position where she owed him, unless left with no choice. Rich men called in their debts, as she knew too well.
‘Things could get ugly in the village, Dom,’ she said, changing topic to the expansion. ‘I don’t want to take sides.’
‘You know this is good for The Falls.’
‘No. I know this is good for you.’
He stopped her as she tried to slide past him into the house. His hand felt hot on her waist and drove another heat lower. He tilted his head until their mouths were close, the air sizzling with their attraction. In the warm colours of dusk his voice sounded like honey. His eyes were alight with hunger. ‘Don’t you trust me?’
For three husky breaths Vanessa felt her want surge against her will. Then self-preservation had her laughing and twisting away.
‘Not a scrap, Domenic Ashe. Not a scrap.’
Teagan sniffed. Screwing up her nose, she squeezed her eyes even more tightly closed. The stink kept coming. Gingerly, she eased one eyelid open. A pair of evil-looking, iceberg-blue eyes with narrow inhuman pupils stared back at her. She opened the other eye. And screeched as her brain finally registered that there was a hairless alien thing sitting on her bed blowing fish breath into her face.
In a flurry of sheets and doona she backpedalled up the bed like an Olympic cyclist. Jammed against the wall, she panted and stared. The thing meowed and attempted to crawl closer but Teagan wasn’t having any of it. With a lurch she threw herself out of bed and rolled with a thump onto the floorboards.
The cat jumped lithely down to join her, skinny body creepily sinuous, as if it possessed bones made of gelatine. Teagan shuddered and stared at it, fighting an urge to hold two fingers up in a makeshift cross. She had never seen an animal so ugly, or so demonic. And its breath reeked.
She opened and closed her mouth, tasting fur and sourness. People in glass houses . . .
A knock sounded at the door. Ness called out and, after a pause, carefully pushed the door open.
She peered around the edge with a worried expression. ‘I heard a thump.’ She spied Teagan on the floor. ‘Teagan, darling, are you all right?’
‘Fine.’ Notwithstanding a pounding head and mouth like a century-old septic tank. ‘But I think your cat has some sort of disease.’ She regarded it with distaste. God, what a horror.
Normally she didn’t mind cats. She was rather fond of most animals, except this was a spooky huge-eyed mutant with disgusting breath, ears that stuck up like a gremlin’s and a frown to match, and skin like a newborn extra-terrestrial.
‘Oh,’ said Ness, coming in to scoop up the cat, ‘this is Blanche. I can assure you she’s completely healthy. She’s a sphinx cat. They look like this, which, I have to admit, is a bit of an acquired taste, but she’s wonderfully friendly and curious.’ She tickled the cat’s chin. ‘I’m sorry she disturbed you. She was just saying hello.’
‘With fish breath.’
Ness arched a single eyebrow at her.
Teagan rubbed her face. ‘I know, I know.’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Average.’
‘Panadol?’
Teagan nodded. ‘And coffee. But I’ll make it.’
‘Go and have a shower and brush your teeth first. I promise you’ll feel much better. Then we can have a nice cuppa and you and I can sit on the verandah and discuss what we’re going to do with you.’
‘Shoot me?’
‘No guns on Falls Farm and a tad drastic. Plus Penny would kill me if I let anything happen to you.’ She smiled. ‘Nothing is ever that bad, Teagan. Believe me.’
She left Teagan with instructions that there was plenty of shampoo and conditioner and body wash in the shower, a new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste on the vanity, and a fluffy towel hanging up in readiness. Kindness that only made Teagan shed tears of hungover misery for five solid minutes the moment the door closed.
A shower and clean teeth did indeed do wonders. Teagan almost felt normal when she padded out of the bedroom
dressed in a pair of fresh jeans and a thin wool jumper, both of which had seen better days. No point dressing up. She wasn’t about to go parading about the village, or anywhere else. And, bar a few ‘best’ outfits, most of her clothes were in the same state. Ragged and worn out, like her.
Ness was busy with an impressively sleek espresso machine when Teagan reached the kitchen. She looked up from her milk frothing and nodded towards the granite bench. ‘Panadol and water all ready for you.’
Teagan sank down onto a squishy leather-topped chrome stool and took her medicine. The headache was only at the edges of her mind now but still strong enough to be unpleasant. ‘I’m sorry about last night.’ She winced as a memory surfaced. ‘I was rude, wasn’t I? To your friend. The good-looking blond one.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about Domenic. He’s unoffendable.’
‘Is he your . . .’ Teagan took a breath to think of the right word for a male friend who might also come with benefits. She may have been drunk last night, but even she hadn’t missed the way Domenic had looked at her aunt.
‘Boyfriend?’ Laughing, Ness pushed a large, beautifully frothed latte towards her. ‘No, darling. Dom is not my boyfriend.’
‘Just another member of your fan club then,’ said Teagan, inhaling the delicious scent of good coffee. A girl could get used to this. All she ever had at home was instant or tea. Proper coffee was relegated to very rare cafe outings in Levenham or when she visited her friend, Emily Wallace-Jones, at Rocking Horse Hill.
Ness joined her at the bench. Even crossing the kitchen she sashayed with siren sexiness, and Teagan once again wondered where her aunt’s genes had come from. Teagan certainly hadn’t inherited any of the good ones.
‘Dom would be horrified to hear you put him in the same category as Col.’
Teagan grinned. ‘You mean he doesn’t wear red jocks?’
‘I suspect Dom is more a Hugo Boss or Armani trunks man, don’t you?’
‘You could always find out. He’s very good-looking.’
