Chapter 8
In the shower, Morgan scrubbed the dust and dirt away and wished he knew what he was doing. He was not ready to settle down let alone have a family. His life at the moment was this mine and sorting out the rest of the crap his father had left behind when he died. There were years ahead of him out here and that was where he was going to stay, but the tug on his heart when he looked into her eyes was throwing him off his normal straight and narrow path.
In the morning he would call his lawyer and have him draft up an agreement between him and Stacey. Knowing full well he couldn't deny her some sort of payment even if he wanted to, he was prepared to offer her a monthly figure higher than she could possibly earn here and hope she would sign it.
The last thing he could deal with was another court case, dragging his family through the public circus like the last one. It had been too much of a strain on everyone involved and Morgan doubted his mother would take a back seat if it happened again.
He'd have to tell her the news eventually because if Bran paid a visit as he threatened, his big brother would find out all the details. His nose for a scandal was incredible and since the changes to the mine lease were made known to the board and approved, he would come sniffing around for sure. Especially since Morgan left without telling him anything about the mystery woman Bran had questioned him about.
* * *
The next morning Stacey was down in her office when Morgan was ready to leave for the mine site after breakfast. He paused at her open door.
"Okay if I come in for a minute?"
"Sure." She put down her pen and clasped her hands together on the desk and watched him approach.
"Look, I didn't really get to say what I wanted to yesterday, what with you fainting. I've thought about things overnight and I think I owe you an apology."
Stacey stared at him, her face blank.
"I'll contact my lawyer today and get him to draw up an agreement. I'll support you and the baby. You don't have to do this alone."
"But I am doing it alone. No matter how much money you throw at me Morgan, it won't change anything. I will be doing this by myself so I would prefer you didn't make that phone call. Let's just keep to the business side of things, shall we?"
He clenched his jaw. Her words sounded as though they were said in earnest but having been bitten before, it was hard to trust a woman that had you by the balls.
"Fine, if that is how you want it. As I said last night, I need more rooms. There has been a hold up with my accommodation plans and we may not get them for quite some time. Do you think you can handle the work? I have twenty four coming in next week and we will be slowly building up over the next few months."
"Sure we can handle it. When it gets too much you might have to see if you can open one of the old boarding houses in town but for now I can cope. Was there anything else?"
"No, my office will be in touch."
He walked out, heading to the mine.
* * *
Stacey was loading fresh clean towels on the cleaners trolley when she heard a voice called her from downstairs.
"Stacey, where are you girl?"
Looking over the railing down into the hallway she saw Sid standing by the reception desk, a frown on his craggy old face.
"Coming."
She walked carefully down the stairs holding onto the railing with one hand and the other protectively over her stomach. He was holding a hat in his hands twisting the brim and lines of tension tightened his mouth.
"What is it Sid, what's wrong?" Stacey reached out a hand slipping it through his arm and walked him to her office. She guided him into a chair before shutting the door to give them privacy.
"My gold, the nugget. It's been stolen." Dark worried eyes were huge and threatened to overspill with tears.
"No, surely not. Are you sure you haven't forgotten where you put it? Have you checked every hiding place?"
"Over and over again. I discovered it yesterday after I got back from hunting. Soon as I walked in the door I knew something was out of place." He sniffed and covered the noise with a brusque cough. "I've been up all night searching but it's gone."
"Have you called the police?"
"Are you kidding me? They are two hours away in Mt Isa. What are they going to do?" He looked over the desk at her, his whole body slumped in dejection. "That was my retirement Stacey. What am I going to do now?"
She thought for a moment. "Let me take you home and check for myself. Come on."
Walking out of the office she popped her head in kitchen door. "I have to go out for a bit Nigel. Won't be too long. Call me on my mobile if you need anything."
"Sure, take care."
"I'll follow you home Sid. Don't worry, we can sort this out. A hunk of gold that big won't go far without being noticed by someone." She rubbed his shoulders and walked over to her car.
Following at a slow pace behind him, thoughts went through her mind. Who on earth knew about the gold apart from the two of them? Morgan! No, surely not. Even if he was being a prick to her, there was no reason why he would steal Sid's nugget. He doesn't need the money.
Stacey pulled up behind Sid's beat up old Toyota Landcruiser ute and got out of her car. She looked around for anything out of the ordinary and waited for him to join her.
"Did you
