"Just pretend I'm your surrogate mum and you won't have a problem. Now I will get back to work and catch up with you later."
"Thanks Jane."
Stacey worked for another hour before Jane popped her head in the door and insisted she go upstairs for a nap.
"I have someone coming over for an interview later. Do you want me to deal with it or should I wake you up?"
"You can take care of it if you want to. If I wake up I'll come down."
Stacey kicked off her shoes and lay down on her bed. Within seconds she was asleep.
Chapter 7
"This is none of your business Doc."
"I don't care what you think Morgan. I have been friends with Stacey since we were tiny. There is no way I'm standing around letting you treat her like this."
"What happened between the two of us is none of your business. When she finally decides to grace me with the opportunity to discuss our situation with her, I will try to sort something out." Morgan stood and walked out from behind his desk. "Until then, I would appreciate it if you would let me get back to work and keep your nose out of something that doesn't concern you."
"What do you mean, won't she talk to you?"
"Just that. She won't give me the time of day other than to place my meals in front of me. At the present stage of breaking ground on the mine I don't have time to beg for five spare minutes of her time. Now if you would excuse me."
Morgan showed Doc the door but he stood his ground.
"Look Morgan, I know her. She can be as stubborn as a mule and if you make any false accusations against her she will dig her toes in til the bitter end. Just so you know, I was called to see her today." Doc stepped up so he was in Morgan's face. "I don't give a damn about professional ethics in this case, she is putting herself and the baby at risk because of stress."
"Get out Doc before I have you removed."
Morgan watched the man leave his office and slammed the door behind him. If Stacey wanted him she knew where he was. The bitterness rose in his throat and he couldn't help the wave of disappointment that rose over him whenever he saw her.
When he left her bed in the early hours of the morning he had resisted the urge to make love to her one more time. She was breathtakingly beautiful laying against the pillows with her arms over her head. The dark pink of her nipple was peeking out from under the sheet and his resolve to leave before she woke almost cracked.
Taking his clothes from the floor Morgan had softly kissed her lips, loving the way she smiled in her sleep, before sneaking from the room. His bag was packed and sitting inside his room waiting. A quick shower and he was on the road for Sydney. It was a two day drive that he wasn't looking forward to. After spending the weekend with Stacey he had a different idea of how he wanted to run the new gold mine.
It would be up to him to convince is brother that sound community values could fit in with their management plan. Visions of Stacey's pristine waterfall turning a vivid blue green because of pollution frightened him. How that had gotten past the environment committee amazed him.
By the time he made it to town the traffic was clogging up as it always did in the early evening. Deciding to go straight to the office rather than home, he took the tunnel bridge and thought again how to sell this to his brother.
Once he had parked the car Morgan headed for the elevator, now tired and regretting the decision to come into the office. The doors pinged open and his PA looked up.
"Mr. Taylor, you should have warned me you would be in so late. I would have ordered a meal for you."
"I won't be here long Michelle. Is Bran in his office?"
"Yes sir, he is. Shall I buzz him for you?"
"No thanks. I won't need you until tomorrow Grace. Goodnight."
He walked down the hall way to his brothers office and pushed the door open. Bran was on the phone standing at the full length window looking down on the traffic.
"No, you know that's not what we discussed. Yes, you will. I'll check on it tomorrow. Thanks, bye." He threw the phone on the large imposing desk before coming toward Morgan with his arms wide.
"Bro, when did you get back?" He slapped Morgan on the back and pushed him into a seat on the couch sitting beside him. "Bit annoyed you didn't call with updates."
"Look everything is fine on the lease. No problems at all."
"So what is bothering you then. I thought all the gold mine was a green light too?"
Morgan ran his hand through his hair and laughed. "Yeah I did too."
"Who is she? Anyone I know?" Bran looked at him with a smirk.
"Definitely not. Small town country girl who has no idea who I am or why I was there."
Bran sat forward and leaned his elbows on his knees. "So what is wrong with you then? For a minute I thought you might have had another stalker after you."
"No but I think this might be worse. I met someone who made me look at the town differently and I guess it's thrown me."
"Want to discuss this over dinner. I'm sure Rachael would love to see you."
"Not really in the mood tonight, it was a long drive. Can we talk about it more in the morning?"
"Sure, I have a meeting first up and then some free time. Look, let me say this bro, it's your gig you know. So long as the mine goes ahead without costing us too much money, have a little fling with your country girl. Just don't stuff up the
