A Millionaire For Molly

‘I wish I could say I was looking forward to it,’ Jackson replied bitterly.

‘Cara?’

‘Jackson?’

‘Cara, this love thing…’

‘Mmm?’

‘Cara, if your Raoul was engaged to be married to another woman-if you thought that engagement might be a disaster-would you just walk away?’

‘Jackson…’

‘What would you do, Cara?’

‘We’re not talking about Diane, here, I hope?’

‘No. We’re not talking about Diane.’

‘Then who are we talking about?’

‘Someone called Molly.’

‘Is she special?’

‘So special I won’t stand in her way-if she’s engaged to someone else and that’s what she wants.’

‘Are you sure she’s engaged to someone else?’

‘Maybe.’

‘But you’ll find out?’

‘Yes.’ He thought it through. ‘I’ll find out. And then I guess it’s up to her.’

‘Oh, Jackson…’

‘Don’t get your hopes up,’ he said bleakly. ‘Because I haven’t.’

‘Angela?’

‘Molly?’

‘Yeah. It’s me. And I’m sorry it’s so late…’

‘Heck, it’s one in the morning, Moll. What’s wrong?’

‘I think you need to come around. And I think you need to bring some more of that ice cream. And Tim Tams. A truckload of Tim Tams.’

‘Um…any particular reason?’

‘Yes. Because I don’t know what the heck is going on and I don’t know what on earth I’m going to do.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE farm looked even more splendid than it had three weeks ago. Jackson’s helicopter circled the boundaries to allow him to check every inch of his prospective purchase before landing. It really was the loveliest place on earth. All he had to do was talk Hannah around, sign a contract and it was his.

But why was he buying it?

Because it’s paradise, he thought. But that wasn’t a good enough reason. Not now. Could he use it?

I will, he told himself. I can work from here. With telecommuting and teleconferencing I can spend most of my time here.

Yeah, with Mr and Mrs Gray-and a thousand frogs.

And maybe with Molly.

And that was the crux of the deal, he thought. That was the half-formed desire. He just needed to see…

Hell, he should have more sense.

Isolation was what he did best, he told himself over and over. Had he learned nothing? Nannies and boarding school and distant parents were tools for survival. If he hadn’t distanced himself from emotion-from any emotion-he would have gone under as a kid. His parents’ love had come close to suffocating him and he hadn’t been able to escape.

Then he’d made that one huge mistake. He’d fallen for Diane. He’d been young and he’d been foolish-and he’d let himself love. Or he’d thought he loved.

Then she was pregnant. ‘Great,’ he’d said, and he’d meant it. A family… For the first time in his life he’d conceded such a thing was possible, and the feelings he’d had for the unborn child had threatened to overwhelm him.

But a week before the wedding there’d been a note from someone warning him that he wasn’t the father. Say a name, the note had said, and see how Diane reacts.

He shouldn’t have done it. He should have trusted. But…

‘Have you heard of…?’ he’d asked-and all hell had broken loose. Stunned, he’d watched as the woman he’d thought he loved turned into a raging virago. How dared he question her? How dared he imply the baby wasn’t his?

But he hadn’t implied any such thing. All he’d said was the name.

The next morning she was gone. It had been a lying, cheating con, devised to steal money from a wealthy adolescent.

And that, with the history of his parents’ failed relationship, had left him determinedly single for ever. Cara was the only person he trusted.

The farm was to have been a place where they could base themselves when life got tough. Now the farm would be only his, and the thought made him feel unbearably alone.

Which was stupid. After all, he’d constructed his life so he’d be happy alone. It had taken him thirty-three years to get this far-he didn’t intend to regret it now.

But if Molly was here, waiting…

Molly would be with Michael.

Roger Francis had phoned just before Jackson left New York and told him they’d be arriving separately. Roger was driving himself, Miss Copeland was being driven by her chauffeur, and Molly and Sam and Michael were coming together.

Great!

Hell, he’d helped orchestrate her reconciliation with Michael, he thought savagely. He should be pleased.

He was pleased, he forced himself to decide. Sam would have a secure base. A secure family.

But with a man who’d been prepared to rob Molly blind…

It was none of his business! Hadn’t he learned anything from the past?

He looked out of the chopper and saw the eager faces of Doreen and Gregor waiting to greet him. They were his future. No one else. With a sigh he summoned up a matching smile.

This was a great buy. He should get on with it.

‘Michael, the road to Birraginbil’s to the north. You should have turned off back there.’

‘Are we going to Birraginbil?’

‘Of course we are.’

‘Look in the glove compartment, sweetheart. I have a surprise for you.’

‘A surprise?’

‘An engagement ring. And plans for a wedding.’

Things weren’t going to plan.

Hannah Copeland was receiving in state, seated formally in the vast front parlour, and her displeasure was obvious the moment Jackson walked in.

‘So you’re alone,’ she snapped. ‘What have you done with your fiancee, young man?’

‘I thought I told you,’ he said quietly, crossing to shake her hand, ‘Cara’s not my fiancee.’

Where was Molly?