As WAS her habit, Isabella Valeri King took afternoon tea in the loggia by the fountain. The sound of flowing water was soothing. There was always a sea-breeze at this time of day to alleviate the heat. She liked being outside with so much of her world to view, its changing colours, changing light, the sense of being part of it, still alive, though not with as much life left to live as the young woman sitting with her.
Nicole Redman...
So different to Gina and Hannah both in looks and nature, yet she shared with them the quality Isabella most admired—the inner strength to make hard life decisions and follow them through. The book about her father had revealed much about herself—a child who had shouldered the responsibility of an adult, seeing the gain, setting aside the loss—a very mature view for one so young.
Though she had suffered loss. Just as Isabella had.
The past two hours in the library, reliving the years of the Second World War through old photographs and letters, had left her feeling heavy- hearted. She'd lost both her husband and only brother to that dreadful conflict in Europe, and there'd been other troubles, many of the Italian immigrants in far North Queensland interned because they had not taken out Australian citizenship as her parents had.
Her father had done his best to ease that pain in the Italian community, making a deal with the government, offering land he owned as a suitable camp for his people, then talking the forestry department into supplying the plants and trees to construct a rainforest park there, arguing the conservation of tropical species as well as keeping the internees occupied by the work. Better than useless imprisonment. Something good would come of it for everyone.
"After the war, you and Edward can build a home up there, Isabella," he'd told her.
But Edward hadn't come back from the war and Kauri King Park, as it came to be known, had never been her home. It was now Matteo's, and Nicole had not yet been there. Which brought Isabella's focus back to the young woman who had been with her for almost three weeks now.
Only the one meeting with Matteo.
A pity she had been unable to observe it.
Perhaps there would have been nothing to observe. The beauty she saw in Nicole may not have appealed to Matteo. He had made no attempt to pursue an acquaintance with her. Nor had Nicole made any comments that would have revealed a personal interest in him.
Isabella silently conceded the undeniable truth that one could not order mutual attraction. Physical chemistry was ordained by nature and no amount of wanting it to happen could make it happen. However, it was curious that Nicole had soaked in the background information from many of Matteo's bus tours, yet had not so far chosen to take the one tour which might bring her into contact with him. Since it was also the one tour most closely connected to the family history, why was she putting it off?
To Isabella's mind it smacked of avoidance. Which could mean something about Matteo moved Nicole out of her comfort zone. A negative reaction? Had Matteo offended her in some way?
Her youngest grandson was not normally an abrasive person. He had a happy, fun-loving personality, very agreeable company to most people. He carried his passions lightly although they ran every bit as deeply as his two older brothers'. The lightness was his way of carving a different niche in the family.
Alessandro...the strong pillar of responsibility. Antonio... the fierce competitor. Matteo...the nimble dancer between the other two, pretending to skate through life as though it was a game to be played, but he did care about his responsibilities and he was every bit as competitive as Antonio.
He just expressed it differently.
Maybe something had happened between Matteo and Nicole that neither of them wanted to acknowledge. An unexpected chemistry could be uncomfortable, disturbing their sense of control over their lives. Matteo liked to stir things along for other people but he was very much in charge of himself. As for Nicole... she sat with an air of tranquillity which was probably hard-won, given all she'd been through. A storm of feeling might tear at nerves that craved peace.
Wishful thinking, Isabella chided herself. Whatever the situation, the history project had to stay on track and it was time for Nicole to see what they had just been talking about.
"Tomorrow I must spend on the organisation of a wedding," she stated. "The bride and her mother are coming to decide on all the details for the reception in the ballroom."
Nicole smiled. "I can't imagine a more romantic setting, having a wedding here at the castle."
"In the old days we held dances and showed movies in the ballroom. I did not want it to fall into disuse so I turned it into a function centre many years ago. Weddings are so popular here, it is used for little else now."
"I'm sure it adds very much to the sense of occasion for the couples getting married."
"I think so. The feeling of longevity is good. It makes something solid of the passage of time. As you'll see when you visit Kauri King Park.
Tomorrow would be a good day for you to do that tour, Nicole, since I've just been telling you how it came to be."
The tour that would take her to Matteo's home.
There were instant signs of tension—Nicole's shoulders jerking into a straighter line, hands clenching in her lap, chin jutting slightly, and most interesting of all, a tide of heat rushing up her neck and flooding her cheeks. It could not be the prospect of walking through a rainforest park and an exotic fruit plantation causing such a reaction. If it was the prospect of encountering Matteo...well, perhaps more meetings should be planned.
Isabella waited for Nicole's response. A fine hand had to be played here.
But her heart was already lifting with hope.
"Tomorrow..." Nicole struggled to hold back a protest against the proposed arrangement. None was justifiable. She had delayed the inevitable as long as she could. There simply was no acceptable excuse for getting out of going to Matt King's territory this time, but everything within her recoiled from being near him again. "Yes," she forced herself to say, then clutched at a dubious lifeline. "Though the tour could be all booked up. It's late to be calling."
"If so, you could drive up and join it at the gate. It's not far. Just above Mossman. A half hour drive at most. You won't miss much of the background chat from the bus driver," came the dismissal of any possible objection.
Nicole's stomach contracted. She had to do it. No escape. All she could hope for was Matt King's absence.
"Tomorrow is a good day," Mrs. King ran on. "Matteo is always there on Thursdays. He can help out with anything you'd like to know."
It was the worst possible day and she'd now been trapped into it. Her own stupid fault for not going before when she could have avoided meeting him. She knew he was in the tour company office on Mondays and Fridays. The problem was, she hadn't felt safe about going on any day.
If Matt King checked the tour bookings—and she'd had an uneasy feeling he would check on what she was up to—he could waylay her on his home ground whenever she went. Why, she wasn't sure, but everything about him put her on edge. And he knew it, played on it, getting under her skin. She didn't like it, didn't want it.
"I wouldn't want to take him away from his work, Mrs. King," she said quickly, trying to quell the panicky sense of being cornered. "I'm sure the tour guide..."
"Matteo can make the time to oblige you with his more intimate family knowledge of the park."
Intimate. A convulsive little shiver ran down Nicole's spine. Matt King literally radiated male sexuality. Even at that one brief meeting in his office she'd been sucked in by it twice, her whole body mesmerised by the attraction of his, wanting the most primitive of intimacies. She'd never felt anything so physical. It even messed up her mind, making it impossible to hang on to any logical thought.
"I'll call him tonight and tell him you're coming so he can watch out for you,'' her employer said decisively, sealing a totally unavoidable meeting.
The only question left was bus or car. Nicole didn't know which was better; trying to cling to a tour group which might diffuse Matt King's impact on her, or having her car handy so she could leave at a time of her choosing. Either way, she couldn't ignore her job which entailed gathering all the historical information she could from this trip. Somehow she would have to keep her focus on that.
"I'll go and call the tour office and see if there's a seat available on the bus," she said, rising from her chair.
Isabella Valeri King smiled her satisfaction as she nodded approval of the move. Apart from that regal nod, she didn't move herself, remaining where she sat with the quiet dignity which Nicole associated with an inner discipline that would never crack.
There was something about the smile that made her look more sharply at her rather aristocratic employer before going. She had an eerie impression of power shimmering from her...a soft but indomitable power that would not be thwarted by time or circumstance.
Again a little shiver ran down her spine. Dark shiny eyes... almost black...like Matt's.
This family...she'd known from the beginning it wasn't ordinary... but how extraordinary was it... and where did the power come from?
She walked towards the great entrance doors to the castle, knowing she was entering their world, and finally acknowledging that running away from it wasn't really an option she wanted to take. It intrigued her. It fascinated her. Even what frightened her was also compelling.
Matt King...tomorrow.