Part One
© 1999 by J M Dragon
e-mail: jmdragon@jmdragon.net
Chapter One Catherine Warriorson looked over the lush green fields of her ranch 'Destiny' situated on the South Island in New Zealand, and smiled. Her expression invariably fierce without the softening of the odd smile she gave now and again. Although, that only occurred when she was in her own home and perhaps to her only friends, her housekeeper and the ranch foreman. She wasn't a native New Zealander. Being English by birth, with an English father and a Greek mother, she was quite the cosmopolitan. Her reserve to the locals in particular, often proved many a point in the local pub that all the English had a natural affinity to being aloof and stoic as it just came naturally to them and to this woman in particular.
Anyone looking at the woman would see a beauty without a doubt. A lean well trimmed body with a six-foot frame and long shining ebony hair, invariably pulled back into a ponytail. The most distinctive feature however, were her ice blue eyes which looked at people with bored tolerance or impatience. All who knew her in the neighbourhood held her in the highest esteem for her unfailing abilities as an astute ranch businesswoman but they never approached her on a friendly basis. She just never let anyone inside her kingdom. 'Destiny' was definitely the Warriorson kingdom!
Catherine once again looked over her domain and smiled briefly, giving her eyes a glowing effect, had there been anyone else around to see it! A hand loosely held the reins to a powerful grey mare, which looked equally regal and aloof as her mistress. Catherine shifted her gaze to the movement on the next ridge. Unable to obtain a clear picture of the activities going on around her, and on one part of her property in particular, she reached into the saddlebag on the mare.
"Well, well, well Tralargon, I wonder what we have here my friend? Nothing to the good if I haven't heard about it, that's for sure!" Catherine had a smirk on her face that told its own story she would be having words with the person involved that was certain. Pulling out small powerful binoculars, she proceeded to view the activities around her and a sneer came over her face as she evaluated what she had seen. Pushing the optical aide back into it's home in the saddlebag, she mounted the mare with graceful and athletic ease and pulled the reins towards the adjoining ridge.
~ ~ ~
Jace Bardley looked harassed! Well, she knew that filming a short documentary about the old and new landowners was never going to be easy; not when one of the most powerful of them refused to even talk about it.
'Zeus knew that there would always be one fly in the ointment, and her fly just happened to be the largest landowner in this part of New Zealand, C X Warriorson! Why had Hudson added this particular country to the schedule? It made very little sense really, but she was the boss.'
Jace pushed back a lock of her blonde hair and smiled in compassion with her young film crew colleagues. They had to carry all the camera equipment up the ridge, because their contact person, who provided them with the information about the comings and goings of a certain recluse landowner, just happened to have another appointment unexpectedly as they arrived. He had hastily departed unpredictably with the all terrain vehicle they had used to get the equipment here. Now, to make matters worse, it had started to rain and the predominantly Californian film crew looked in disgust at the gathering dark clouds.
Peter Adamson, the director moved closer to Jace and looked directly into her sparkling green eyes. They never ceased to amaze him in their open appreciation of the world around her. Not even after five years around the Hollywood sets where she was Personal Assistant in charge of Publicity for Producer Clarissa Hudson, who was also the head of the film company.
"So Jace, what wonderful stunt do you think our little go between will spring on us now, heh?" He smiled at the small blonde, who hovered little more than to his shoulders.
"Oh, come on Pete! Salamon was trying to make money out of our recluse here! And we went with it! In those circumstances, his going belly up on us is all part of the story, don't you think?" Her eyes sparkled with laughter at the picture of the rotund Salamon who seemed scared of his own shadow, he had appeared so vulnerable and her compassionate heart had responded to this, has she had invariably in the past in other situations.
"Maybe.... But what's the boss going to say?" Pete asked her and smiled as he recalled the numerous times he had tried to date the bubbly woman who stood inches from him. She never ceased to amaze him at her total lack of depravation from the society that she was affiliated with. Although, he'd tried, she'd rebuffed him on more than one occasion, never giving him more than her usual bright smile as she let him down gently at every offer.
"Hopefully nothing! Because I'm hoping you’re going to get your footage, and we are out of here and to Hades with the 'Warriorson Kingdom Recluse’! I'm not sure I want to meet him anyway; sounds a bit archaic to me. Anyone would think he was still running a ranch in the 1800's!" She spoke bravely and with a measure of conviction her size didn't always belie.
"Hate to say this Jace...!" Peter almost stuttered over the words as he saw a cloud of dust appear within a mile of them.
"What! What do you hate to say?" She looked at the rest of the crew and focused on what they had apparently seen a large cloud of dust gathering ever closer.
"I guess you’re going to get to meet the Warriorson recluse after all." Peter shook his head and his tousled brown hair drop over his angular boyish face.
'This was definitely all up to Jace, she was their Publicity machine. Now, she had to come up with the words and actions to get them their story. Or, all hell would break lose with Hudson, she was a mean producer, that was for sure.'
"Oh! Hades balls, am I ever in trouble here!" Jace looked at the approaching horseman made even more intimidating by the powerful grey that 'he' was riding.
All eyes moved from the approaching rider, then to Jace and then back to the ever-closer oncoming rider. Although, it was a very amusing sight on the faces of all the onlookers, when the rider vaulted off the horse in front of Peter and Jace with supreme command over their body movements.
Catherine Warriorson paced slowly round the two people who obviously looked as if they were in charge of the film crew. Her stance communicating the impression of barely suppressed anger. She gradually stopped her stalking of the two people in front of her and with a low growl asked them what they were doing on this property.
Peter Adamson looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and released a sigh of relief. 'Thank God, it's only a lackey, but a hell of a beautiful one, and she looks breathtaking when she's angry.' He couldn't keep the admiring smirk from his face as he looked directly at her.
'Oh! Gods, who ever is up in the heavens, thank you! Thank you for not sending Warriorson.' Jace looked discreetly at the woman who was visibly bristling with anger. 'Maybe that's what Salamon was afraid of, not Warriorson, but one of his employees, this particular employee looked like she could scare the Hades out of anyone?'
"I'm sorry, but who are you? And what gives you the right to ask?" Peter was the first to break the silence he smiled his most beguiling smile.
"If I were you Mr....? I would rephrase your answer!" Catherine wasn't used to being questioned and especially by someone who was trespassing on her property. Her anger now fuelled, she leveled him with a piecing gaze from ice blue eyes that looked ready to freeze the Arctic.
Jace watched the interchange between her friend and colleague and the very irritated woman in front of her. Marveling at her stature and her confident ease with every move she made, this was a woman you never, ever, misjudged or wanted to cross either if it came to that! Her eyes spoke volumes all on their own. ‘What must it feel like to have those eyes reflect back at you with warmth.’ ‘Did I really think that? Zeus I'm going crazy here, the woman wouldn't even notice me if she weren’t staring me in the face because she has too.' Although, something in Jace’s subconscious was telling her that wouldn't be true for some strange reason.
"I'm sorry, perhaps we can start again? My name is Jace Bardley and this is Peter Adamson. We represent Union City Pictures, I guess you've heard about us?" Jace looked up at the cold demeanour in front of her and tried another tactic.
"Then again, maybe you might not have! But, we have tried to get an interview with I assume your boss, C X Warriorson? Unfortunately, he's unavailable for comment, and we heard from a contact that it would be okay to film from here?" She smiled one of her most outgoing smiles and noticed the woman raise her left eyebrow virtually to the top of her forehead, if it hadn't been a serious conversation, Jace would have laughed.
'It was a start, she had listened at least to her plea.'
"Oh, you did, did you! I hope you won't mind me reminding you of ‘My Boss’s’ intolerance of trespassers on any of the properties, then will you?" Catherine snorted and glanced at the heavy clouds building in the sky, she wanted to be home before this storm raised its head. She had guests arriving for dinner, and she hated being late, or anyone being late for any appointment she was involved in. Although, she had been impressed by the way the young woman in front of her tried to wriggle out of the situation, those green eyes looked so innocent, it made her wonder just how innocent Jace Bardley was?
"Well, actually we kind of hoped that just this once, maybe we could get a couple of shots of the ranch area and get out of your hair. So to speak, that is?" Jace looked closely at the woman as she turned her head to the heavens and saw the darkening clouds, the rain already falling in persistent drizzle.
Catherine looked directly at the woman ignoring the man entirely and noted her strength of purpose and the friendliness in the green eyes that looked beseechingly at her.
"Ms Bradley, for your guile and hopefully fortitude, because sure as hell your going to need it. The weather is closing in, and you're on an exposed ridge with no protection. When you get your shots, by all means come and see the 'Boss' at the ranch house; I'm sure 'He' will have something to say to you too!" She turned around and strode towards her horse.
"Thanks, but hey, can't you help us get this equipment out of here...?" Jace didn't have time to finish the comment, never mind get an answer. The woman had vaulted back on her horse and was heading back in the direction she came without a backward glance.
Pete looked at Jace, who was looking at the very wet film crew and held her hands up in a gesture of triumph? Acceptance? Or was it just what the Hades was that all about?
"Okay people, let’s move our ass’s or this small concession we seem to have gained will be ruined." He moved away from Jace and went to talk to the crew.
Jace continued to look at the retreating figures of woman and horse and she sighed, not really knowing why? Something about the woman-triggered elements in her sub-conscious, she knew that she dreamed weird events from time to time, but it never became tangible in her mind after she woke up.
'Well, guess we are going to meet the recluse after all!' With that thought she watched the film crew set up and considered her options, getting soaked to the skin was about the best one offered as far as she could see. Shrugging her slight shoulders, she moved to a large boulder and sat down and contemplated the recent events.
With that a loud crack overhead brought down heavier rains and lightning.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Two
Catherine Warriorson led her beloved mare to the stables to be cosseted by one the ranch hands, she had to leave and prepare for her guests.
'The audacity of that film crew to assume she was a man! For god's sake didn't these people ever do any decent research? Obviously not! Mind you coming from that Production Company it would have been foolish to expect anyone from it to be professional. The guy was a waste of space that was for sure. The woman had something about her at least, she wasn't intimidated and that was always a good sign. Lord-a-Mighty she had the most wonderful and intriguing green eyes! Christ, I wonder where that thought came from? What will they think when they actually do meet C X Warriorson?' With that last thought came a fleeting smile as she walked away from the stables towards the large house, which was waiting with welcoming lights blazing and definitely drier than out in the open, especially up on Cutters Ridge.
Walking into the kitchen storage area at the back of the house, Catherine removed her boots and the leather jacket that had kept some of the driving rain from her inner clothes, but not much. She smirked as she thought of the outsiders up on the ridge getting totally drenched with each passing minute, no protection up there, that was certain.
Grace Thornton saw the approaching figure of her boss and friend, noticing her rain drenched clothes and the water literally dripping from her face.
She was a striking woman to behold and had circumstances been different in her life, maybe she would have looked happier too! Although, Catherine kept her private life very, very private!
Waiting until she heard the door of the kitchen area open and the thud of boots being removed, Grace snatched up a large fluffy towel, which she'd had warming on the radiator and walked into the area with it.
Stopping on the threshold, she smiled briefly at the partially drowned woman.
"I didn't think you would have stayed out quite so long, knowing the storm was brewing Catherine," pointedly handing her the towel.Catherine looked up and briefly smiled at the woman in front of her, taking the proffered towel and releasing her hair, started to brusquely towel it dry.
"Thanks Grace."
Grace Thornton was in her late twenties and had joined Catherine's staff in the early days. Due to a car accident the year before she arrived on 'Destiny'; she had been unable to pursue the profession she had trained hard for, a policewoman. Her legs had been severely damaged and she now walked with a decided limp. No police force this side of hell was ever going to employ her, so she decided to get away from it all for a while, and took the job as housekeeper for the newly arrived Englishwoman, Catherine Warriorson. That had been five years ago and she had stayed. Although, she knew the reason she'd stayed, it was all to do with a tragedy, and lonely ice blue eyes that needed a friend.
"So, what makes you smile, if you can call it a smile?" Grace asked the woman.
"Actually it's more a smirk I think. If you think I stayed out so long, you should see the others that are still out there." Catherine smiled wickedly back at the woman.
Grace looked her over and heard the hidden cruelty in her tone. "Who, did you leave out in this weather? Must be a foreigner or they would have been prepared," she asked the woman, knowing that pushing for information from Catherine Warriorson wasn't always a smart thing to do.
Catherine looked at the brown haired, brown-eyed woman who was six years younger than she was and lifted an eyebrow in censure. Not expecting an answer after that expression, Grace turned away and headed back into the main kitchen area.
"Grace!" the voice spoke with authority and expected the woman to turn around and face her again.
"Yes." Grace dutifully turned and looked at the beautiful, but at times exceptionally intolerant woman, thus making her appear cruel to many people.
"I told you some film people wanted to carry out film footage here on the ranch and with me?' Not waiting for an answer, but seeing the faint nod of the head. “I declined. They arrived without permission, so now they’re getting wet. End of story!" To Catherine that was explanation enough.
Grace on the other hand thought that was typical of her boss's attitude to people.
Not sure if she should proceed, Catherine came up behind her and they went into the spacious kitchen, brightly lit and the smell of interesting recipes being worked on by Grace and another girl from the local town.
'What the hell she can only ignore me and I'm used to that!'
"Catherine, how many did you leave behind and where?" she tried to ask indifferently, but Catherine raised an eyebrow acknowledging her 'friend’s' concern.
"Oh, come on Grace, surely you can't be worried? Hell, it's only Californians and they deserve a touch of reality, especially those from LA!" Glancing at the worry in the woman's face, Catherine conceded the point, just this once!
"About a dozen of them, up on Cutters Ridge." Then she walked out of the kitchen to her room, never glancing back to gauge the reaction from the other woman.
Grace let out a heavy sigh as she contemplated the scene on the ridge. Of all the places to be caught in a heavy storm, Cutter's Ridge was potentially the worse in this area at least.
Looking out at the worsening weather, she made a decision and picked up the mobile and dialed a familiar number. ‘I wonder why she hates Californians and in particular those from Los Angeles.’ Grace mused as she waited for the call to be answered.
~ ~ ~
Jace was freezing and soaked to the skin, her clothes just literally dripped as she stood and watched an equally wet camera crew film in torrential rain and windy conditions.
Peter Adamson looked decidedly grim as he motioned the final scenes he wanted to capture.
'Got to hand it to the woman, she certainly wasn't kidding when she said they needed some fortitude; Hades it's a potential for pneumonia here!' Looking at the track they had taken to arrive at the ridge, she noticed that it looked like a mudslide now. 'What on earth would they do about the equipment? Hudson would have both hers and Peter’s hide, if something happened to the expensive kit.'
Then her thoughts drifted to the woman who had left them defenceless on the ridge.
'I bet she's now home, warm and dry. Nothing short of laughing at our predicament as she explains our presence to her boss. Please, please, please someone out there take pity on us and send decent weather!' Knowing the weather change wouldn't alter the mudslide predicament they had, she knew it was a tall order.
Suddenly, she heard a roaring sound. It seemed far into the distance.
'Could it be a vehicle? Maybe it could be two vehicles? Or is it just my over active positive imagination?' Looking over at Peter, who also appeared to have heard the noises and getting closer too!
"Hey Jace, think we could be getting the cavalry?" He smiled at the obviously cold and wet woman, she would be feeling worse than the rest of the crew, as she had to just stand around.
"Zeus knows, but if it's anything that can get us out of here, I'm first in line." she smiled through the driving rain.
One of the crew pointed towards a peak to Jace's left and he grinned.
Both Jace and Peter turned and looked in the direction of the finger pointed by their cameraman. Smiles radiated from them both as they saw what they hoped wouldn't be an apparition.
On the horizon they saw a large olive green all-terrain vehicle, but it was a monster, looking like a cross between a tank and bus. Following it was a Land Rover also in olive green.
"Hey Jace looks like I was right the cavalry is here." He waved to the crew to get their equipment ready nobody wanted to be last in this god-awful weather.
"I wonder who sent the cavalry is more to the point?" Jace spoke softly, it would seem to herself, as Peter wandered off to marshal the people and the kit together.
The vehicles finally arrived and two men came towards them. Both men looked weather worn, obviously worked the land. They certainly had the physique to go with it, tanned and lithe, with the token duster hat and jeans and denim shirts. They smiled as they approached the crew, seemingly not to notice the ravages of the weather or feeling it either.
"You folks lost?" The older of the two asked.
"Actually no, we are filming a short documentary. Seems we didn't predict the weather though." Jace smiled and held out her hand to the first man that spoke and then to his partner.
"Ah, well Miss, you have to watch the weather carefully this time of year, especially with winter approaching." He smiled back at the young woman with the sparkling green eyes.
"Does anyone care for a ride out of here?" He smiled as he saw the relief on the faces of everyone.
Jace suddenly remembered what the woman rider had said, never a better time she thought. "Can they all get in that giant?" Jace asked pointing to the larger vehicle.
Colin Montgomery the ranch foreman smiled as he replied. "Sure, Why?" He asked in interest.
"I need to pay a visit to your boss, I assume, he obviously must have sent you?" Jace looked directly at him for any reaction.
Colin looked a little pensive, he'd done what Grace wanted by picking up the strangers, expecting them to want to go back to their hotel. But this was something else again! Jesus, the boss had dinner guests, not only that, she didn't know about this rescue, and would be ticked off when she found out, if she ever did that is. Although, the odds had tipped in her favour with the comment from the pretty blonde.
"I think the boss would appreciate it if you got yourself some dry clothes before you walked in there. Besides the boss has guests for dinner," he was trying to put her off.
"Ah, what better way to see him, especially as the woman said once we had finished, we must go and see 'him'!" Jace supplied, even though she secretly wanted nothing more than a hot bath, a glass of good wine and some dry clothes.
"Now which woman would that be Miss?" Colin asked, already knowing full well who that would be.
"Why the woman on the grey mare, she's tall, ebony hair and the most fascinating blue eyes I've ever seen. You know who I mean?" Jace blushed a little as she realised what she'd said about the woman.
"Oh! Yeah, I know exactly who you mean. Well, in that case guess I have no choice." He looked at the ranch hand with him and indicated the large vehicle and to get the passengers on board.
Peter looked at Jace and smiled a weak smile. "Do you want me to go with you?"
Knowing that Peter wanted to get the film developed and look at it as soon as possible, she smiled back at him and said she would handle it.
"Guess I'm with you Mr........?" Jace asked him quietly.
"Colin Montgomery, and you?" He politely asked back as he led her to the Land Rover and out of the rain.
"Jace, Jace Bardley. Thanks for coming, I guess she must have sent you?" As the soaked blonde looked out of the window and wiped the rain droplets from her face, not really expecting a reply.
"Oh, well let’s just say you would be surprised." He smiled and engaged the gear and they pulled off towards the path leading out of the ridge. Jace glanced at him but didn't comment any further.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Three
Catherine reclined in her chair as she listened politely to the local Reverend extolling the virtues of the sanctity of friendship and love. Tonight was the only evening of the year that she invited the local dignitaries to her home. They included the mayor, doctor, and chief of police, the vicar and smallholders who held some of her land on lease.
'Don't know why I ever let Grace talk me into this years ago. Now, it's such a pain in the arse. Does this guy even know what he's talking about?' Looking around the room, it was the same old faces, and to be honest, she didn't so much hate them as she found them boring and uninteresting. Then her thoughts traveled to a blonde with green eyes, who at this moment was probably drenched from the torrential rain and cursing her very name. 'Well, if she had known her name of course, that would really be a slap in the face for the young woman when she found out.' Smiling at the thought, she turned to the Reverend, he was looking directly at her and obviously waiting for an answer to some ridiculous question!
"Yes, okay, no problem,” was all she could think of, her mind not on tonight's dinner but on the people on the ridge, well one person in particular.
The Reverend suddenly shouted to the rest of the room. "Ms. Warriorson has agreed in principle to join our battle to bring more love into the world!" Clarence Stott fairly beamed at his new recruit.
'Oh, God! This was something out of a Jane Austin novel. Jesus what the hell did he say? Grace! Grace! Where the hell is she? Surely she will know?'
Looking around at the interested and frankly astounded faces, she spied Grace lounging at the far end of the room talking to the local doctor.
"Grace, could you spare me a few minutes alone please?" Catherine barely forced the polite words from her mouth.
Grace looked over at her and winked, knowing Catherine would hate that, but what the hell! "Sure no problem, I need to check on something in the kitchen anyway. Excuse me Doctor Simpson, I will be back later."
Both women made a suitable and hasty retreat out into the hall and along the corridor to the kitchen. No one was around, as the dinner had been finished over an hour ago.
"For god's sake Grace, what the hell have I just accepted in there?" The force behind the words clearly underlined the woman's frustration.
Grace knew that for maybe the first time since she had met this woman, she might just have the upper hand. Although it would be interesting to find out why she hadn't been paying attention; that in it self was unusual, well unheard of really.
"Well, you know the vicar and his pet projects,' she noticed the other woman nod and grow even more agitated. ' It appears that he wants people to take on kids that have little or no chance due to circumstances in their life, and you my friend appear to have said yes to helping out." Grace looked at her boss and friend and couldn't help the smile that came across her face as she looked at the comprehension of her statement.
Thinking about the problem, Catherine suddenly smiled. "Oh, that's no problem then, only money. I can do that!" She replied smugly.
Grace didn't chuckle but she so wanted too. After four years of these dinners Catherine still didn't know how some of these people ticked, if she did any of them at all. "Well, actually it's time, not money that's the important thing about this project. You get the kid and it is a question of faith, love and friendship that gets the result! According to the good Reverend that is." Grace added hastily seeing the expression on Catherine's face.
"For god's sake why do these people even bother, the kids are probably way past any help, if I know anything about this sort of project!" Catherine was trying her damnedest to think herself out of this one.
"How would you know? It's not as if you have ever had to suffer any hardship!" Grace suddenly regretted her words at the changing pallor of her boss. "I'm sorry Catherine, that was uncalled for." Grace didn't know what to say to relieve the situation.
"What exactly did you mean?" Catherine said quietly, but with a tone bordering on savage as she pinned Grace with an icy stare from her blue eyes. There was no evidence of warmth there at all.
"I just meant..... Well..... I..... For god's sake Catherine it's a child were talking about, not an adult! Maybe it will help you get over your own personal tragedy!" Grace knew she had over stepped the line and waited for the venom to pour from the angry woman.
Catherine swung round and came very, very close to Grace and it would have been difficult to decide if there was any space between the two of them.
"Never, ever mention my family in any context do you hear me!" Catherine spoke in a tone that frightened Grace. She had never heard it before and never wanted to again.
"Yes," was all she could muster, shocked at the vicious tone with which Catherine delivered her message.
"Tell who ever you have too, that we will participate. But my dear Grace, you are the loving influence in this household; it's all yours. I'm going to my study, say goodnight for me!" She walked off towards the study, leaving a very demoralised and upset housekeeper in her wake.
A knocking on the door a few minutes after Catherine left the room brought Grace out of her revere. She opened the door and saw Colin and a petite woman, obviously weather worn, Grace motioned Colin inside with the visitor.
"Sorry to disturb you Grace, but the lady here says that 'The boss' is expecting her." He looked at the woman in front of him and saw the tears that she had tried to hide. "You okay Grace?" he asked, wanting to kick the hell out of who had made her cry.
Looking into the grey eyes of the ranch foreman and accepting his concern. "Yes, yes I'm fine Colin. So, who do we have here?" She indicated the woman.
Jace looked at the woman and the obvious concern of the man for her and speculated their relationship. Moving forward a little, she answered the question. "My name is Jace Bardley and I'm from Union City Productions, I would like to see C X Warriorson." Jace answered confidently. Although, she realised it must be difficult to take her seriously when she looked like a drowned rat.
Grace eyed her speculatively, had Catherine made an appointment with one of them? Impossible! Especially when she was entertaining. Tonight was sure turning out to be a trial, in more ways than one. "Hmm, I'm not sure it's a good time. There are guests here at the moment. I find it difficult to believe that tonight was a firm appointment." Grace looked at the woman with concern at her appearance and how she had started to shiver.
"Look, I know it's strange turning up like this out of the blue, but his employee did say once we had finished on the ridge we were to come and see him!" Jace answered desperately. Perhaps it hadn't been a good idea after all.
"How about you dry off a little and tell me about the employee that set up the meeting?" Grace said gently and handed Jace a thick towel to help the drying process. "Tell you what, I'll get you something to change into, just in case you do happen to see the boss." She smiled and went into the laundry and brought a white shirt belonging to Catherine and a pair of shorts of her own. Giving the items to Jace, she motioned her to change in the storage room and turned to Colin as she closed the door behind her.
"What the hell is she talking about Colin? Catherine never mentioned anyone else coming tonight!" Grace asked perplexed, not knowing what to do.
Colin looked at the toe of his boot and shrugged, and told her what Jace had said in the car. ‘So, Catherine is playing games is she? Wonder if she knows that some games backfire.’
Colin left shortly after and said he would see her in the morning over breakfast.
Jace returned as Colin left and looked sheepishly at the other woman who was probably a couple of years her senior.
Grace nodded approvingly at the dry condition of her unexpected guest. “Colin told me about the woman who said it was okay to come here to see the ‘boss’, seems she forgot to advise us here in the house.”
"Thanks for the change of clothes, guess I needed it. When can I meet the recluse?" She made the question appear like a joke, her green eyes alight with laughter.
"Oh, well I'd better check for you, give me a few minutes okay?" Grace left the room and went towards the study.
Jace looked around the well used but modern kitchen area obviously designed for convenience that was for sure. The smell of food was causing her to feel sick from lack of it. 'God I hope you’re in a good mood Mr. Recluse, because I don't think I can take much more today, it sure has been a long one.'
Grace walked back into the kitchen and motioned for the woman to follow her.
Now that had sure been interesting.
Catherine had started to bite her head off for coming back to see her. But once she explained why, the woman suddenly backed off and gave an odd look. An expression of interest passed over her stoic features, almost as if she couldn't believe it. "Better send her in Grace; she obviously wants to see me." Catherine finally spoke in a guarded voice.
"She thinks you're a man!" Grace said nonchalantly.
"Oh, I know that already, is she alone or with others?" Catherine asked quietly.
"She's alone, or at least that's how it appears." Grace replied as she went out the door.
Catherine smiled "Alone, well, well, things are looking up," she softly said to the closing door.
Grace led the woman to the study door and knocked waiting for instructions to enter. On hearing 'enter' from inside, which was muffled due to the heavy oak door, Grace opened the door and motioned for Jace to go inside.
Jace looked at her. "You're not coming in too?" For the first time feeling her bravado displaced by a feeling of trepidation.
"Sorry. It's your appointment. I have other guests that need attention, please excuse me." Grace smiled in encouragement and left the woman hovering at the door.
Jace managed a deep breath and walked through the doorway into a dimly lit room.
The surroundings reminded her of her father’s study, yet it had a distinctly un-masculine feel about it. Although, it did smell of polished wood and leather, very like her father’s, only there was a definite fresh cologne smell, which seemed vaguely familiar. A large desk dominated the room, along one wall was a bookcase, which covered the full length and every available space was filled with books. Jace starred in wonder at the books stretched out, and she wanted nothing more than to look through every shelf, forgetting for a moment that she was in fact meeting the recluse C X Warriorson.
A movement of a large leather swing chair being pivoted in her direction brought her out of her wayward thoughts. Turning quickly to look in that direction, her face immediately paled as she recognised the person sitting watching her with interest.
Catherine Warriorson had watched the small blonde slowly enter the study. She didn't immediately look for the occupier. Instead, she looked the room over and seemed to take in its’ very essence. Particularly the bookcase, which had brought pleasure and pain since she had moved here. The woman was a reader that was for sure, her face glowed and she could see the hand moving towards the books, itching to touch them. Catherine had seen that look before, the very same expression, someone that loved books, all books. That's when she had moved the chair to announce her presence in the room, the unwanted memories bringing their own pain.
"So Miss Bardley, you managed to get your shots. And off the ridge without too much hassle I see." Catherine spoke in a low soft voice.
"I'm, I'm...not sure what's going on, but you said I would see C X Warriorson!" She spoke accusingly at the dark haired woman sitting easily in the chair.
A deep throaty laugh came from Catherine, the audacity of this young woman. Didn't she have any idea what was happening? Surely she wasn't that dense? "Oh Miss Bardley, didn't anyone ever tell you assumptions can be very dangerous?" She smiled briefly, not transmitted to her eyes, which looked at her with sudden boredom. Maybe this woman didn't have the spark she thought she had seen earlier.
Jace looked at the confident woman and realised exactly what she meant.
'Oh, no! I can't believe we didn't get that information; what the hell must she think of us, of me particularly? Unable to articulate exactly what she felt, Jace looked at her feet, which wasn't exactly a good idea. She had decided to go bare foot and take off her sodden boots when she changed clothes.
Catherine glanced over at the spot the girl was nervously looking at, and noticed the bare feet and what was overtly a much larger shirt on the woman and shorts too. ‘Oh Grace had been doing her compassionate bit again it would seem.’ Looking at the blush and the obvious embarrassment of the young woman, she took pity on her state of undress and obvious discomfort. "I suggest you take a seat before you fall down, and we will discuss the matter of trespassing on 'MY' property as the opening gambit!"
Jace looked up with a start, and sat down heavily on the seat opposite the woman, now might be a good time to curl up and die. Wonder if the fates would be with her on that one. Already her head was beginning to pound and she was hungry, which was something she generally did not allow herself to forget, her meals!
~ ~ ~
Chapter Four
After some skirting of the main issues, it came down to just who had the audacity to let the film crew on Warriorson property.
"You must have had inside help on this escapade of yours. Did they do it for money, or just to get back at me? Not that it matters if you don't tell me I will find out soon enough. That sort of exploit you can't keep quiet for long in these smaller communities, a little like the States I should think." Catherine had been talking 'at' the girl for nearly an hour and they hadn't really resolved anything, mainly because the girl refused to tell who her contact had been. Yet she couldn't get angry with her, the young woman reminded her so much of Lucas....
Jace was tired. She was shivering from the combined cold of the day and the chill in the study, which wasn't affecting the other woman in any way. Coupled to that she was hungry and her stomach was growling impatiently at her. It was a wonder the other woman hadn't heard it over her softly spoken harsh words.
Suddenly Catherine moved around the desk and walked over to the young woman seated in the low-slung chair. She had noticed the continuing pallor of her visitor, and that she had suddenly started to shiver with the coolness of the room. Never complaining, it was now after ten in the evening and surely the woman hadn't eaten! "It looks to me that we will not resolve the matter today! You look like death Ms Bardley. Why didn't you say you were cold? Are you hungry?" Catherine spoke in a clipped voice as she looked down at Jace with little warmth in her eyes.
Jace couldn't believe the change in the conversation. Within minutes it had gone from a confrontation situation, neither giving an inch, to one with a little compassion. Maybe not with any real feeling, but at least Ms. Warriorson had noticed her deteriorating condition! Trying to get up she stumbled forward out of the chair and the tall woman quickly leaned forward and held onto her to stop a fall to the floor.
Catherine looked at the woman held in her arms and she felt a strange emotion that she couldn't quite fathom. For some reason Jace Bardley made her want to understand the younger woman to a greater extent. Looking into green eyes that held warmth in them even for her, it reminded her once again of someone she had lost and perhaps that was the connection? Whatever it was, she wanted to get to know this woman better. Only how did you do that when the only conversations they had, had been adversarial. 'Christ with my current record, I would be lucky to see the woman again after today.'
"Thanks," came the tentative overture from Jace as she acknowledged the woman's help in stopping her fall. Green eyes looked deep into ice blue and Jace attempted a smile, unsure that it would be returned. Suddenly she was given a look behind the stoic persona. A smile, however brief that went straight to the eyes and Jace felt a glow knowing she was responsible for that smile. Yeah, she sure was, and it made her feel good; making her forget that she was cold and hungry, well the cold at any rate.
"You’re welcome, let’s go and get you some food and warmer clothes." Catherine led the way back towards the kitchen, noting the silence in the rest of the house. 'Great,’ Grace had managed to get rid of the locals. Hell she hated that part of being the largest landowner in the area. But, Grace made her act sociable once a year, so it wasn't too bad, she would live!'
Walking into the kitchen behind the taller woman, Jace saw Grace watching them approach and smiled at Jace and gave Catherine a curious look for any instructions.
"Grace, I see you managed the guests with your usual charm and tact?" She smiled at the woman.
Looking a little surprised at the good mood of her boss, never having seen a total stranger bring the woman out of her shell before.
"Well one of us has to be around here. After you hit them with the offer to help. I think it was all hands to the project to see who they can give us." Grace smiled briefly.
Jace looked at the two women and could feel the tension between them.
Catherine looked around the kitchen and started to go through cupboards and then managed to find the refrigerator, muttering as she did so.
The other two women in the room looked at each other and smiled.
Suddenly Grace went over to Catherine and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Looking up perplexed, Catherine raised an eyebrow in question."How about I look for the food. It is food for Ms. Bardley that you want, I presume?" Grace couldn't help the grin that crossed her lips at the concentration of her boss on a task so alien to her.
Catherine saw the smirk, was about to rebuke her for it, and then looked over at a gently smiling Jace Bardley and nothing else was important. "Yes, you presumed right Grace, guess I'm not much good in my own kitchen huh?" She allowed a small smile to play around her lips and then looked towards the laundry room. "Give me a minute." She left the room not waiting for any reply.
Jace looked in astonishment at the woman leaving the room and shook her head in astonishment. 'Was this the same woman who hours earlier had berated them on a cold and wet ridge and left them to fend for themselves and yet.... Now suddenly she was caring and dare she say the word...yeah, she dare 'friendly', which was the only word she could come up with for the current situation.’
"Uuh, I hate to ask this, but is she always like this?"
"Actually no!" Grace supplied her astonishment at the situation clearly imprinted on her face.
"It's something new, do you think it's catching?" Jace couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
Grace laughed along with this small green-eyed pretty young woman who had in the space of an hour cracked open the shell of one Catherine Warriorson, whatever next! "Oh, let’s hope if it is, she keeps catching it and we don't lose it overnight, that would be fine with me."
Suddenly the door opened quickly and the party of their thoughts came blustering into the kitchen with some clothes.
"I think these will do, that is if it's okay?" Catherine raised blue eyes towards her young visitor and they reflected a tentative glance.
Jace couldn’t help the tender smile that came to her lips as she observed the woman before her. "Thanks, I need to get warm before I go back to the hotel."
"You could stay here tonight if you wanted? It's still very wild out there!" Catherine responded quickly, unable to stop the words flowing from her lips.
Grace couldn't believe this was Catherine, no way! What the hell happened in that study? It was only an hour, right? "I can make up one of the spare rooms no problem."
Jace was tired, she could ring Peter and let him know and it would be an ideal opportunity to work on C X Warriorson for that interview. "I guess I'm tired. Sure, thanks for the hospitality. Can I make a phone call?"
Catherine gave a sigh of relief. She hadn't realised she was holding her breath for the answer. "Great, has Grace found you something to eat?" A smile clearly evident on her face.
Within an hour Jace was fed, a phone call made and a bed waiting in the ranch of the recluse C X Warriorson. Hudson was going to be so impressed with her. Nothing had changed, and yet in a subtle sort of way it appeared the recluse liked her. She didn't know why, but she wanted to find out. But what involvement did it have to do with her? And why, did it make the tall dark and quite simply beautiful woman change her total personality over it? Lots of questions and too late tonight to find any answers to any of them, except maybe one! "Hope you don't mind me asking, but what do the C X represent?"
Grace had gone to bed a few minutes before having to be up early for the breakfast routine, leaving the two women alone in the kitchen.
"Catherine," was the only reply she received.
"That lets me in on the C, but what about the X?"
Looking at her Catherine just shook her head. "If you ever get my complete trust, you get to know what the X means."
Jace smiled and shook her head in disbelief. "It must be on one of the public records, surely I could just go look it up?"
"You could try! Then again, maybe you can't get hold of it that easy. Are you afraid that you wont ever earn my complete trust?" Ice blue eyes bored into green ones.
The green eyes vied with blue and suddenly dropped to a spot on the far wall. "Oh, I think it could be enlightening to gain your trust."
"Perhaps in more ways than you think Jace Bardley," Catherine responded enigmatically.
The response made Jace look at the recluse closely, “What did she mean by that?’ She wondered. However, complete exhaustion had set in. Jace yawned and realised she was totally worn-out. The delicious food she had consumed, which had made the other women smile at the amount she had eaten at one sitting, didn't help the cause of staying awake.
"Time for bed I think."
Catherine glanced at the drooping eyes of the woman opposite her and smiled.
"Yes, I think it is time for you to turn in. Goodnight Jace Bardley. I'll see you in the morning." With that she motioned the young woman in the direction of the room Grace had prepared, and then turned in the direction of the study."Goodnight Catherine Warriorson." Jace spoke softly to the retreating back and headed for the door of her room.
. ~ ~ ~
Chapter Five
Catherine had too many questions buzzing in her head to contemplate, and sleep was the furthest thing from her mind at this moment.Here she was thirty-five years old, independently wealthy, passably good looking to the eye and single, well, widowed at any rate. Living in an adopted country, but missing her own roots from time to time, with few friends, and a whole lot of emotional baggage that didn't ever go away entirely. It just disappeared for a while and then came out to smack her between the eyes at the most inopportune moments.
Now here she was thinking a green-eyed stranger could somehow alleviate the pain she went through from time to time.
“Hell what am I thinking, she's just a girl!” She said aloud to herself.
Catherine wiped her brow with her left hand and looked out of the large window overlooking the ranch yard. It was dark and therefore little could be distinguished, but she knew what was out there: The large hanging tree as she called it, because of it's shape. The small herb garden to the right of the house, where Grace would spend the odd hour or two. The large drive, housing her Land Rover and the Jeep that belonged to Grace. Beyond the drive were the ranch foreman's house and then the bunkhouse for the single men that worked on the property. It was very much an old fashioned styled ranch, but with all the modern conveniences, and the pay was good, or so she was told.
People didn't mind working for the Warriorson holdings, mainly because the woman who owned them left the day to day running of the ranch to Colin Montgomery and that kept everyone happy. He was a very capable man and was well liked by the men and also respected by his boss. Somehow she had got lucky with Colin.
Then there was Grace! At times Grace would get on her nerves, almost to the point where she wanted to fire her, but always at the last minute, she stopped herself. Grace was all the things she wasn't, compassionate, happy and contented with her lot in life, or that's how Catherine viewed it from her standpoint. 'Is that really the case? Grace, are you happy here with me?' Sudden thoughts that came to her and she didn't have the answer, hadn't really considered how Grace felt. She knew that there had been times when the woman surely should have packed up and left.
'Maybe it's time I found out! But what will I do if she isn't happy here? Would I really care? YES.'
'Why now? What is it about the young woman that has me thinking on these lines? I haven’t been particularly nice to anyone in years! Is it because Jace Bardley had the look on her face when she saw the books in the study that reminded me of Adam? Is that the only reason? Or is it her gentle smile that radiated in a room and filled it with sunshine, even though it was dark and raining outside, just like Lucas my brother.' Shaking her head she tried to clear the thoughts of her family. It still didn't make sense to her. Why she had been left behind and the good part of her family had been tragically taken away. Every morning she woke up, she asked herself the same question.
'Why them, shouldn't it have been me?'
The day always mocked her and somewhere in her head a voice answered her. 'Your time will come. When it does, don't expect to meet them on the other side; they have gone to a better place. You need to find redemption before you can follow that path.'
Always the same answer and didn't she know it, and what had she done in the last five years about that redemption? NOTHING! 'Hell, if anything I have made things worse!'
As her fingers touched a leather bound novel that looked like it had been read on numerous occasions, she thought of her family and how everything had begun.
Her mother had been a descendant of a Greek gypsy line. She had believed in the after life and fortunes and the fates. Even down to premonitions, which had often amused her and her younger brother Lucas. Although there were times when it appeared their mother had been right! Elena Xianthos had been a singer in a nightclub in London, when she met Catherine's father Stewart Devonshire. He was a young publisher and had recently acquired the rights to a book by an upcoming author Adam Warriorson. Several months later Elena and Stewart married and Adam had been their best man. Two years later the book 'There Can Only Be One Soulmate,' was a best seller and making both men a lot of money."I'm sorry Adam, but how could you ever have been my soulmate, I never even loved you! Then again, I'm not even sure that I believe in the existence of one." Catherine closed her eyes and let a single tear roll slowly down her cheek.Catherine had been born earlier that year and five years later Lucas came along.
For the first ten years of her life Catherine had the love of both of her parents, but only the time of her mother, as their father was just so busy making the family fortune, or so he said!
Unexpectedly their mother contracted cancer and she died within six months. It wouldn't have appeared so hard except their father wouldn't or couldn't release his emotions over his wife's death. Instead he moved the publishing house to America and left the children in the care of his wife's sister Constantia in London.
For the next ten years Catherine went to all the best schools and received the finest education that the private system in England could offer. She was a very intelligent girl, but apt to be wayward and disruptive for no apparent reason. Unable to gather any true friends, she went through the University because she had to or her father would dispense with her allowance and that she wouldn't forego. It gave her the freedom to take drugs, alcohol and whatever else she could lay her hands on. She also moved around Europe in a daze most of the time, not caring much about anything except her brother, who had just started his final year at school before going to the University.
Lucas was a happy young man. He loved life, even if it hadn't been entirely easy in terms of parental love for him or his sister. He made the most of all the opportunities his father's money could offer him. He wanted to become a doctor and had the intelligence and compassion to make it happen.
When Catherine turned twenty-two, she ended up in jail. Not only had she been taking drugs, but she had been pushing them too. For a year Catherine was held in a medium term prison and alienated her self with not only the inmates but also the prison staff as well. It was a very long year, and one she wouldn't forget. She had the scars both emotional and bodily to prove it.
A month after she was released from prison in Germany, she was called home.
A drunk driver had killed Lucas in a car accident. He was only eighteen, on the brink of life. The driver had been to an all night party and was only twenty. He died two days later from injuries sustained in the accident.
Catherine was devastated and didn't know where to turn, her Aunt had disowned her and her father wanted nothing to do with her either.
Adam Warriorson came into her life. He was twenty-five years older than she was, a contemporary of her father, and also his close friend as well. He helped her kick the drugs and alcohol and made her look inside herself for a reason to live beyond the rage she felt. They drifted into marriage. He loved the beautiful young woman, who had a heart ready to give so much love, if only she could find it within her self to let it out. She wanted stability and security in her life, Adam offered her both. Love was never an option.
A year later Lucas was born, this event allowed Catherine to remove barriers she had set up within her heart to stop the anguish of loved one's leaving suddenly. The marriage was relatively happy, Catherine loved Adam, although she knew deep down she wasn't ‘in love’ with him. Adam was as ‘in love’ with her as any man could be, and he watched her give a part of her heart to their son, but never to him, it broke his heart.
When Lucas was two, Stewart Devonshire died of a massive heart attack. Catherine knew she was his only living child, but had long since surrendered any thought of her father leaving the business to her. She hadn't exactly been his favourite child, after her prison term anyway.
Catherine Warriorson surprisingly became the new heir to the 'Xianthos Publishing Corporation' and all that entailed. It became the ultimate challenge her life as a wife and mother wasn’t.
Within six months she had left her London home, her husband and son and headed for New York and the lure of power!
Catherine became ruthless, devious and a down right bitch in the company she had inherited. It was obvious she derived great pleasure from seeing others fail and loved to bait them and if possible defeat her corporate enemies in bitter boardroom battles and takeovers.
Adam Warriorson waited for his wife to come to her senses--she never did. He had decided to buy a ranch in New Zealand, where his parents had been reared. Obviously, he wanted to raise their son away from the stories of his mother and her zealous dealings. He had everything ready, the house, furniture and his numerous books. All he needed was Catherine's permission to leave the country with Lucas.
Catherine had made noises about coming home more often, but it never happened, and now she wanted to see the new family home merely as a gesture. In Adam's eyes, Catherine was still the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and he loved her, but she now had a cold and calculated look. He never wanted his son to ever come into contact with that element of his mother’s personality. She gave her permission and as she left the ranch house, Adam passed her a book.
"Catherine, when you have time, please read this and let me know if our relationship ever felt this way to you?" he passed her a leather bound copy of his first novel 'There Can Only Be One Soulmate’.
"Fine Adam, I will, when I get time!" She told him curtly and left him looking at her back as she strode off to the waiting car.
A week later she flew back. Her husband and son had been killed in a light aircraft accident on their way to the ranch from Christchurch.
What had been left of Catherine Warriorson's heart died that day? She buried them on the ranch, overlooking a beautiful mountain pass with a steady stream winding along its path.
Adam had named the ranch 'Destiny'. For Catherine it was a most fitting possession for her to have. Love and happiness weren’t part of her deal in this life. She was destined to be denied the pleasures and feel only the pain that life had to offer. But hadn't she deserved it for her excesses?
She hadn't wanted to think about the past, but it had come to her waking this time, not in sleep as it usually did. Her finger stopped its spiraling movement over the leather bound book and she placed it on the desk. 'Wonder if Jace Bardley had bad dreams? No, how could she, she's only a kid and a happy looking one at that!'
Catherine turned off the light and left the study.
Moonlight streamed into the window of the study and bounced on the carved out title of the book resting on the desk, illuminating it as if in answer to a question crying out to be answered.
.~ ~ ~ Chapter Six
Catherine was up at her usual 5.30 a.m. and walked into the kitchen area, showing none of the traits of only having two hours sleep, but she had slept and that was unusual.Grace glanced up from her preparation of breakfast for Catherine, Colin and herself and this morning for a certain young guest also! Although she doubted Ms. Bardley would see the light of 6 a.m. Smiling she motioned Catherine to her seat at the head of the large oak dining table that was central to the room. Approaching Catherine with a fresh mug of tea for the strangely serene looking woman, "Our guest hasn't stirred I see." Grace said more as a statement than a question to her employer.
Catherine quirked her eyebrows and frowned, "Actually, I never told her our breakfast hour. Sorry."
Grace once again glanced back at her friend who had never apologised before for not doing something. "No problem, I'll feed her when she does get up. She kind of looked all worn out to me last night. Did you two stay up long after I left?" Not really expecting an answer from the other woman, she carried on with the breakfast preparations.
Catherine gathered her thoughts and softly said. "No, she went to bed a few minutes after you did. She was very tired."
Grace was astounded, this was the most communicative that Catherine had been in the five years they had lived under the same roof and shared this daily routine. ‘Wonder what else she's going to surprise us with today?’
"What about you, did you sleep well?" Both women knew that she didn’t sleep well; they just had never discussed it, after Catherine had nearly bounced her off the ranch for asking once in the early days.
Catherine wanted to snap at Grace for what she considered prying, but instead something overrode her usual privacy mode and she answered. "I had a lot on my mind, didn't go to bed until 3 a.m. But when I did, I slept."
Grace turned round to face her friend, "I'm glad," was all she said as she put the eggs on the griddle. Colin would be here soon.
Over breakfast Catherine would discuss the ranch and its smallholdings with Colin and Grace. If ever Catherine were away Grace would help Colin with any decisions. It had been a very good solution to running the ranch.
Although Catherine no longer lived in the city, she still held the reins of the Xianthos Publishing Corp. from afar via her computer, linked up several hours of the day to certain strategic world locations. Today she wanted to discuss a certain 'Union City Productions' with her New York Vice President, Paul Strong. He had taken over her figurehead role in the Corporation with ease and professionalism and he was doing a very fine job. Few people knew that she had the final decision on all the major policies. They had assumed she had just run away from it all after her personal tragedies. No one had cared if she was dead or alive, they were just glad that they didn't ever have to be confronted with her again! Ms. Devonshire had made an impression on people, but not a happy one.
Twice a year she would have a meeting in Sydney to discuss with the Vice Presidents of each of her global operations, problems and tactics for the coming months. Paul Strong was by far the most senior VP and he would be the ear for all the other VP's in the event of a crisis in their operations as Catherine wasn't available. Catherine was due at such a meeting in three days, and by then Paul would have all the information she needed.
"So Colin, how do you see the ranch progressing, now we have the livestock and the employees?"
Colin blushed a little, although he was sure of his abilities, the beautiful woman in front of him always made him self-conscious, so he looked at Grace for support. She smiled at him to continue. "I...I guess, it's just up to us now to get the profits you need to buy up more land and make this the biggest ranch in New Zealand," he stuttered.
Catherine smiled at him. She had a great respect for the man and his abilities and knew that she un-nerved him, although she hadn’t figured out why. "Good! Somehow I thought you and I would be working to the same ends. Although, 'Destiny' was never bought with that objective in mind," Catherine speculated absently.
Grace looked down into her mug of coffee, and Colin cleared his throat nervously. "What objective was it bought for, Ma'am?" Colin asked respectfully.
Catherine looked at the downcast head of Grace and the nervous movements of the man opposite her. Smiling briefly "Adam my husband bought it as a sanctuary for our son and himself." She spoke quietly.
Grace looked up at the last words spoken by her boss and she noticed the faint lines of strain around the eyes. "Whom did they need sanctuary from?" She couldn't help herself she just had to ask.
Catherine gave a weary laugh, and got up from her chair and walking by Grace, she put a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it. "Would you believe ME!" and walked out of the door to her study.
Colin looked at Grace; neither of them had any words to counter that statement, both deciding some things were better left unsaid, for the moment at any rate.
Grace decided when she glanced at the clock and realised it was 9 a.m. that maybe their guest would be a little hungry.
Walking towards the room they had given to Ms. Bardley the previous evening, Grace heard faint moans coming from within the room. Knocking on the door she opened it cautiously just in case the woman would be upset at the intrusion. Not hearing any protest from within just the louder moans coming from the bed, quickly Grace went over to the prone figure in the bed and pushed back the covers.
The first thing she noticed was the flushed face of the younger woman and the small moans coming from her. Slowly touching her forehead to check her temperature, Grace gasped at the heat and realised they needed a doctor; the woman was certainly ill. She gently patted Jace's cheek to get any response and the eyes fluttered open briefly but didn't focus at all on her. Making sure she was fully wrapped up, Grace left the room and literally ran down the hall to the study.
Without even knocking she pushed open the large oak door and was glared at by Catherine who was talking on the phone.
Noting the agitation of her housekeeper, she realised that something was terribly wrong. "Look Paul, it appears I have an emergency here, can you get the information for me, for the meeting?" She listened intently to the speaker on the other end, but her eyes never left Grace's face the whole time. 'Shit, what the hell could be wrong?'
"Great, knew I could trust you on this one. Have a good journey to Sydney and I'll see you there. Bye." Putting the phone back on its’ cradle she raised an eyebrow for Grace to continue.
"Ms. Bardley’s ill!" Grace shouted at the woman in front of her.
"I'm not deaf Grace! What's the matter with her?" Catherine spoke patiently, but her gut did a somersault and her eyes glazed with concern few had ever seen from her.
"I went to her room, it was getting late, thought she might want something to eat. Well, I heard moaning and she has a fever, her eyes are unfocused, she's got a high temperature, she...."
"Okay, okay Grace, I get the picture! Get hold of Doctor Simpson and I'll go and see her myself." Catherine said gently to the concerned woman.
"Yeah......yeah, I will." She turned to leave.
"Grace do it here." Walking towards the woman and the door, she lifted Grace's chin and looked into her brown eyes and smiled. "It's going to be okay Grace, hopefully this error of judgement I've made again, doesn't kill someone this time!" She left Grace to ponder that particular comment.
Catherine strode off in the direction of the room that her guest was staying in. 'Of all the stupid things to do, I've gone and done it again! My bloody pride and arrogance has had a detrimental effect on someone else again. Will I ever learn? Obviously not’.
Opening the door she saw the state of the younger woman immediately, the covers were strewn all over the floor obviously kicked off by the sick woman. Closing the distance between the door and the bed, she noted the sweat running down the small body and the fever she was held in. Picking up the covers she put them back over the body in front of her, although that only served to agitate the woman more.
Using her not in considerable strength, she placed her hands over the covers and held them over the small body on the bed and stopped the struggling woman from kicking them off. "Hey Jace Bardley, this is for your own good here. Come on now, help me out and let me tuck you in." Catherine softly said into the ear of the thrashing woman.
Something, somewhere, must have registered within Jace, because as the words were spoken she suddenly stopped moving around so much. "Hey, that's my girl." Catherine smiled at the woman she had pinned down.
From out of her fog of pain and fever, Jace tried to open her eyes. Looking into the ice blue eyes, she knew that they touched something deep within her soul. Just why she didn't know, but she wanted to stay like this forever. Whatever it would take to see those eyes looking at her with warmth. "I...I don't seem to remember you?" A distinctly fearful look in the green eyes peering into blue.
Catherine looked a little shaken by the remark, but smoothed the hair from her eyes. "I'm Catherine, you stayed the night! You have a fever, the doctor will be here shortly, just take it easy."
Jace knew she had a massive headache and was having difficulty breathing, her body felt heavy and ached in every bone she could think of and then some she couldn't. 'I stayed the night! Why?' "I'm very tired..." Jace closed her eyes to the pounding that was going on in her head, but wanted so much to open them, and see the concerned expression from those blue eyes again.
"Hey, go to sleep, I'm here, its going to be okay." Catherine meant every word.
Jace mumbled, "Please don't leave me?"
Catherine looked at the now sleeping woman and put a hand over her own tired eyes. 'Somehow I couldn't leave you Jace Bardley even if I wanted too! Now what would you think of that Adam, some slip of a girl has managed to get under my skin?' She sat down in the chair opposite the bed and waited for the doctor.
Doctor Simpson had never been called to the ranch house before. Previously it had been just the employees of 'Destiny' that he'd attended, but this summons was rare and he didn't want to miss the opportunity.
He was shown into Catherine's study.
"Take a seat Doctor." She indicated the large chair that Jace had occupied the previous night. 'Had it only been those few short hours ago?'
"Thanks." He sat in front of the woman who hid behind the recluse exterior she portrayed to everyone. Now she concentrated her ice blue eyes on him full of concern.
Blue eyes looked directly into his grey ones. He noted again what a beautiful woman she was and how the warmth in her eyes, made her almost glow. "Will she be okay?"
Doctor Andrew Simpson could have been as cold to her as she had portrayed to him and his fellow neighbours in all the years she had been in the area. But something had changed here, and he wasn't one to hold a grudge.
"She needs to be kept warm, have the medication in exactly the dosages I've said and rest for as long as it takes!"
Catherine raised her eyebrows at the statement. "Can she be moved?"
Andrew was taken aback by the remark; it wasn't something he had thought would be a problem. "Well, I wouldn't take that chance if I was you, she could develop pneumonia if she's not careful over the next few days. Is that a problem?" he enquired.
Catherine turned her back on him and gazed out of the window. "It's my fault she's in this state. When she's able, she might want to move back to town and her colleagues. I thought I'd better ask."
Andrew saw the tenseness of her body and shook his head and moved out of the chair towards the person standing very rigid at the window. "She didn't exactly want you to leave earlier as I recall." He spoke quietly to her, as they both looked out on the rain soaked drive.
Catherine thought about that. No, Jace had clung to her hand like a leech, when she moved to leave the room with the doctor. In fact, the girl had whimpered and Catherine had knelt beside the bed and whispered to her that she would be back as quickly as she could. It had for some unknown reason worked!
"I suppose she didn't, but she's suffering a fever at the moment. Jace said earlier that she didn't remember me! Guess that's a good thing in the circumstances, wouldn't you say Doc?"
For some strange reason Andrew Simpson recognised a need emanating from this woman, that she wanted the younger woman in the other room to want to stay. He again shook his head of the fanciful thoughts. This woman didn't need anyone, or did she?
"Oh, I don't know about that, I think you should wait and see what the next few days bring, before you think about moving her out." He walked back to the chair and picked up his bag and went on towards the door. Glancing back, he noticed Warriorson hadn't moved, but she did look as if her posture had relaxed a little.
"Thank you Doctor. Just let me know what the bill is and Grace she will take care of it immediately." Catherine spoke absently to the retreating figure.
"My pleasure. Ms. Thornton is one of my favourite neighbours, it will give me a chance to talk to her again." He smiled at the thought.
"Does she know that?" Catherine turned around suddenly.
"Does she know what?" He asked at her sudden attentiveness to their conversation.
"That you like her, maybe more than like?" Catherine turned her profile towards him her left eyebrow raised in question.
"No! No, she doesn't know that I like her and like her a lot." He smiled wryly at her.
"Guess, I'll be seeing more of you at 'Destiny' then Doctor?" Catherine replied, never taking her eyes of the blushing physician.
"If that's an invitation, you might never get rid of me." He chuckled.
"Oh, well at least you have a profession we can use around here. It wouldn't be a hardship, now would it," she flippantly replied.
Andrew Simpson was bowled over. This woman could charm a snake if she ever let herself go. It made him wonder just what kind of person could ever make her see anything other than this life of a recluse she obviously had adopted.
"I'll be seeing you again Ms. Warriorson." He nodded his head as he opened the door to let himself out of the study.
"It's Catherine. Yeah, I suppose you will." She turned back to her observation of the ranch yard.
Grace was walking back to the kitchen having taken away the bedding and now held the clothes of the young woman. The doctor arrived at that moment and she smiled.~ ~ ~ "How did it go?"
He looked at the vision in front of him. For more than four years he had tried unsuccessfully to get a date with Grace. Now he had a chance and as unbelievable as it might seem, the reclusive Catherine Warriorson had made it possible.
"Great! In fact, she's said I can come over any time and to cap it all I get to call her Catherine."
Grace looked at him, her expression one of astonishment and wonder. 'This was turning out to be quite a day!'
"Well, I guess that's good. Catherine huh, wonder what brought that on?"
"Ha! Well, I did say that I wanted to see a certain favourite neighbour of mine more often and she kind of agreed." He smiled openly at her.
"She did? Now who would that be, I wonder Doctor Simpson?" Grace asked him nonchalantly.
"Yeah, she did! You, my dear Grace are by far the most favourite neighbour I ever think about. Can I interest you in dinner one evening soon?" He waited with baited breath for her reaction.
Grace toyed with saying No! She liked Andrew Simpson; he had a good sense of humour and seemed to appreciate people around him. It would be good to go out for a change." Sure, it's a day for trying out new things around here I think. I would love to go."
He looked as if someone had handed him a million dollars.
"Excellent! You don't know what that means to me Grace. How about Friday?" He suddenly hugged her as they entered the kitchen as Colin Montgomery walked in from the side door.
Grace noticing Colin quickly disengaged from Andrew, but couldn't help the blush that stung her cheeks.
"Can I call you later to confirm?"
Andrew looked at her and smiled. "Sure, no worries, talk to you later." He breezed out of the side door, almost knocking over Colin in his exuberance.
Grace looked over as Colin came further into the kitchen.
"What was that about?" He couldn't keep the slight frown from his forehead.
"Oh that! Well, Ms. Bardley is ill, so the doctor was over checking up on her." Grace answered the question, but not really answering the underlying question that had been asked.
"I see." Colin looked back as the doctor pulled out of the ranch yard area.
"Do you?" Grace whispered.
Colin looked back at Grace and said he needed to see Catherine. Holding up his hand he strode past her and said he would go straight to the study.
Jace felt disorientated~ ~ ~ . Chapter Seven She looked around the room, which spun if she glanced around to fast.
'Hell my head hurts.'
The doctor had been nice as well as handsome also! Although not her type, he did have a very good bedside manner.
She remembered Catherine Warriorson now! Her current health crisis was in part her fault, but she couldn't find it in her heart to blame the woman.
All she wanted was her back here in the room and looking at her with those ice blue eyes that held warmth that she would gladly drown in.
'She'd said she would be back! Why hasn't she come back yet!' Jace was being impatient, it had only been minutes since Grace had helped her with clean clothes and washed her to make her more comfortable.
The doctor had given her an injection to help with the symptoms she was suffering from.
'Would Catherine want me to leave? She might. It isn’t pleasant having a sick person around the house, especially one you didn't even know! Oh god, I hope she doesn't! I need...I want...hell I don't know, but she holds all the keys.'
A deep shudder went through her body as she thought of Catherine rejecting her. Suddenly it was all too much and she broke down in tears, soaking the crisp freshly laundered pillow under her head. Her eyes dropped and she slept as the fever and the drugs rapidly gained control over her body.
Catherine watched her ranch foreman pace around the front of her desk. He was obviously distracted over some dilemma. He had discussed the problems he needed her approval on concerning the ranch. She had expected him to leave, He hadn't!
He was a tall man around six feet five she guessed, knowing herself to be six foot, so he had an advantage over her. Looking into his worried face, which looked tanned and a little weather worn. To be expected in his chosen career she supposed. He wasn't exactly handsome, but had more a rugged look about him. She'd heard that he was popular with the local women, but none had captured his heart.
"You going to tell me what else is bothering you? Or are you going to wear a track on the polished floor here?" Catherine finally asked him, knowing that she'd promised Jace she would be back shortly.
He looked at her and blushed at her regard and comment. "I...I need some advice! But I'm sorry Ma'am, I shouldn't be bothering you with my problems." He walked towards the door with a dejected look.
Catherine was wondering what else was going to get her to open up today, because sure as hell she was doing more talking in the last twelve hours than she'd done in years.
"Colin, before you tell me what advice you need, there's something you need to stop doing, okay?"
He looked at her stunned. "What would that be Ma'am?"
"Exactly that! Don't call me Ma'am, all right? I'm not the Queen of England and never bloody likely to be. My name is Catherine use it!" She didn't much care how that came out, it had been bugging her for years his subservient attitude and the man was better than that.
Colin Montgomery was totally floored by the remark. She had never said anything about it before; when in fact he could have sworn she hardly ever listened to him most of the time. "Yes, Ma... Catherine," he smiled shyly at her.
"Glad we got that settled then. So what advice do you need?" Catherine Warriorson looked at the man and saw him debate his reply.
"I'm not sure if I can say it." He looked around the room, his face carrying a hurt look.
"Do I have to guess then, because I'm not good at guessing games, I usually leave those to Grace, she's better..." Catherine noticed the hurt move to his eyes as she said Grace's name.
‘Ah, maybe I'm better at this than I thought.’ “Colin take a seat!" It wasn't a request it was an order.
Colin complied, due entirely to not knowing what else to do.
"So, you finally worked it out that you’re in love with our Miss Thornton?" She asked him gently.
He looked at her and noticed instead of the usual ice in the eyes, they held a warmth and compassion that literally made her glow. 'Hell, she was a beautiful woman, why didn't someone come in on their white charger and take her away from all this past she tied herself too! She was way too young to hide away forever. He would, had he not fallen head over heals for Grace.'
"Yeah, I guess I did."
"So, what you going to do about it?"
"What can I do? The good Doctor appears to have taken the opportunity to court her and I can't blame her, she gets lonely here at times." He looked over her shoulder out of the window.
Catherine noticed the tensing of his body as he spoke and that he looked out of the window as a way out of his problems. 'Guess we all look out of this window for inspiration.’
"Have you ever asked her out yourself?"
He looked aghast at her question.
"Colin it's something you have to do if you want her to know you're interested. How would she know any other way?"
"I guess she wouldn't,” as Colin laughed self-consciously.
"Is that all the advice you need Colin? Because I made a promise that I want to keep if possible, I need to get going."
Colin stood up and held out his hand; Catherine took it and chuckled silently. They shook hands and Colin disappeared through the door as quickly as he'd appeared. Smiling briefly she looked at the leather bound book on her desk and touched the title gently. 'Maybe for someone Adam, just maybe your sentiments might well work out,' she mused as she left the room to go and see her sick guest.
Grace couldn't believe it, now she was in a dilemma. 'For the past six months she'd been toying with leaving 'Destiny'. Things had been okay, but she wasn't exactly challenged. Now suddenly things had gone from the old boring routine to nothing being sacred anymore. Guests turning up uninvited, Catherine's complete change in attitude, the doctor asking her out with permission from Catherine! Then there was Colin! Oh, yeah Colin, he'd looked so upset when he went to see Catherine, wonder what was wrong there? Now she didn't know what to think, going out with Andrew Simpson was a good idea, she liked him. Catherine was finally thawing or was she? Ms. Jace Bardley had brought that about, she was positive! How? Was a question that she wouldn't mind getting an answer to in the near future? Time would tell that's for sure and in this household at the moment it was being turned upside down and who knew when it would right itself.'~ ~ ~ She looked around the large kitchen, her domain!
'She loved living at 'Destiny' it was home. She hadn't felt like she'd had a home for years until she came here, and then it hadn't been immediately. The place just kind of grew on you and the people too! What would she do if anything happened to Catherine? She loved Catherine as a friend, if only the woman would let her in and maybe together they could heal some of her pain. Although it looked like it wasn't something she could do for her friend, but could Jace Bardley? Would she want to more to the point! ‘I hope you know what you're getting into Catherine, because I get the feeling that you haven't opened up to anyone in years, if you ever truly have!’
She walked out of the kitchen and sat on the bench overlooking her garden and drank deeply from her coffee cup. 'Wonder what's up with Colin?' She looked over her garden and a peaceful look gave way to a pensive one as she thought about her friend.
Catherine walked quietly over to the bed that held the sleeping, if a little fitfully Jace Bardley. Looking down at her flushed face and the obvious discomfort of the fever, she pushed away a stray lock of damp hair from the girl's forehead.~ ~ ~ "I wonder why you hold my fascination Jace Bardley? It's not as if you would ever have been part of my usual crowd of so-called friends, even back when I was a student. Hell, you would have cursed me no doubt for my activities way back then. Though wouldn't you have cursed me when I took over from my father, I was even more of a devious devil than he had become. You don't look the insensitive type at all, you have such wonderfully expressive green eyes, and I wonder if you know that? Would you have wanted to meet me back then? Or would you have looked at my many vices and given up as so many have done! Except one! Yes, there had been one, and eventually two people in my life who cared about me, but I turned them away from me in the end."
Catherine noticed the heavy breathing of the younger woman and moved closer to her and noticed the pallor, but she appeared to be stable. 'Hell, had she just spoken all that crap aloud, just as well the girl was asleep, she would wonder what was going on, some demented recluse, huh?’
Her thoughts went to another person who this girl reminded her.
'I understand in my heart why you didn't want our son ever to be involved with me Adam. I applaud your courage in standing up to me. You were never the strongest man I ever met, but you had a heart that had the courage of a lion. I never gave you the opportunity to show that side of your personality to me, until it was way too late for both of us.'
Catherine Warriorson stood up from her cramped position by the bed and wandered around the room, noting the books and the pictures on the walls. It was simply decorated, but held a welcome to anyone staying in the room. 'I have Grace to thank for that!’ All the rooms had been decorated over the past three years.
All except the study, that had been left the way it had been taken over, as Adam had wanted it to look, Catherine didn't mind, somehow it gave her a link to her late husband that she hadn't had in life. The only thing she had never really resolved was her pain over their son, who had been nearly five years old when he'd died.
She hadn't even seen him the last time she saw Adam, he hadn't thought it a good idea and she'd been too busy trying to get away, back to New York and her schedule. All she had now were pictures Adam had sent her of Lucas when he had turned four from the last birthday party at their home in London. He had been a happy child, bestowed with his father's personality, but definitely her looks. He would have broken so many hearts had he lived. He was such a charmer, even then. Had she been too busy again? Yeah another take over, another boardroom brawl another WIN! Now where had that been? There had been so many, it was impossible to remember them all.'
Yet her mind mulled over the time as she sat and watched the young woman in front of her, breathing heavily with the infection Jace had contracted. Her mind suddenly recalled the place. 'Santa Barbara! California had been hot that time of year; it had been a push over really, the local publisher being ousted by the large corporation, just another take over. Can't remember the name of the guy who owned it, it hadn't been an issue to her; she needed a place close to LA, but not in LA. She got it, simple as that! What about all those take-overs, now she had no one with whom to leave the extensive business. She was never likely to have another family. Adam had shown her that much about her self, she wasn't someone that could turn off the emotional cripple she had become over the years. Subjecting anyone to that now was out of the question! No matter if they did love her, she didn't have the capacity to return anyone's love, there again where the hell would she ever find anyone that gutsy enough to even try?'
Grace looked in at that moment and noticed the pensive look crossing over Catherine's face. "Do you need a coffee?" She asked tentatively.
"I'd love a cappuccino, if you don't mind making me one Grace?" Looking at her friend in gratitude, her thoughts were haunting her badly today.
Grace smiled at the request. It would usually have been given as an order. "Sure, do you want some company for a while before I start lunch?"
"I'd like that Grace, more than you know," Catherine replied softly.
"Okay then, two cappuccinos coming up, heavy on the milk if I remember rightly?" Grace went out of the door smiling, Catherine’s idea of a cappuccino more like a café latte, but she never questioned the terminology. Although Grace often speculated what Catherine thought when she tasted external cappuccinos.
Catherine smiled at the retreating back. 'Maybe it isn’t so bad to talk once in a while.' She then sat back down in the chair and gazed at the fevered face of Jace Bardley.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Eight
Grace had been good company for the hour they had been chatting, mainly about her visit to Sydney and what to do about Jace Bardley should she want to leave earlier than the doctor ordered!
“It’s entirely up to her if she wants to leave before I return Grace.”
“Yes, I know, but she would be foolish to do so, it’s bad enough she’s fallen ill because of the weather here!”
“Aren’t you forgetting something Grace?” Catherine raised that ever-formidable eyebrow.
“No, I don’t think so! What do you mean?” Grace asked the woman who sat closely observing their feverish guest.
“It’s not because of the weather, although in a way it is. It’s because I left them out there on an exposed ridge in bloody terrible conditions. God only knows if there are others feeling the same way?”
Grace knew that plagued the woman sitting only a foot away from her. She looked so dejected, which was not something you associated with Catherine Warriorson.
“Well, I don’t think she will blame you for leaving them Catherine. She did come back to see you after you laid down the challenge, didn’t she? Does that sound like someone who is blaming you for her predicament?”
Catherine looked up at Grace and noticed her frown slightly.
“You know something Grace, for the first time in years, it’s important for me to put this situation right. Though just how I’m going to do that is beyond me at the moment.”
Grace once again looked at the small woman in the bed, totally ignorant to the conversation going on around her, and the restless woman who was gently pushing back the soaked tendrils of hair from her forehead.
“Maybe if you just do what you’ve been doing in the last few hours, it will work itself out. Ms. Bardley will still be here Catherine, trust me.”
“I’m going to hold you to that Grace.” Catherine got up from her seat by the bed, and moved towards the door. “I need to make a couple of calls, will you stay here for a little while longer?”
“Sure, it’s no hardship.” Grace smiled at her boss.
Catherine left the room and Grace turned her attention back to their guest.
‘What hold do you have on her, Jace Bardley? As sure as the sun goes down everyday, something in you has awakened some powerful emotions. I sure hope you can handle it, and she lets you!’
~ ~ ~
Jace woke up from a very haunting dream. It was elusive to say the least, but she was sure it held someone with the most hypnotic blue eyes she'd ever seen in her life.
Opening her eyes, she noticed a small bedside light switched on at a table close to the bed. A tall woman was seated close by and was reading a book, a leather bound volume that looked like it had been well read over a number of years.
With the little movement in the bed, the woman looked up from her reading and Jace held her breath as she gazed into the hypnotic blue eyes from her dream.
“Hey, how do you feel?” A low gravely voice asked, the eyes never leaving her face.
Jace couldn’t answer. She was trying to decide if it was the fact that her throat hurt and felt dry, or the concern in those eyes that held her captive.
Catherine noticed Jace had difficulty answering and suddenly realised she might need a drink. “Do you want a drink?” She went over to the tray that held water and the pills the doctor had prescribed.
Taking a glass and a couple of the pills she walked back over to Jace and knelt beside the bed. Never taking her eyes from the small vulnerable woman huddled in the bed, she gently motioned for Jace to take the glass.
Unsuccessfully Jace tried to sit up, but the room spun and almost made her sick. Noticing the sudden change of pallor in the younger woman, Catherine put down the glass on the floor and reached for the woman in support.
“Hey, it’s okay, I’ve got you!” Catherine spoke softly into the nearest ear.
Jace starred into the beautiful chiseled features of her host and smiled briefly as a wave of nausea came over her again.
Catherine held the slight woman in her arms with Jace’s head gently lying on her broad shoulder. Noticing that Jace was shivering again, she gently laid her back in the bed.
“I’m going to help you drink this Jace. It might be uncomfortable, but you need to get some fluids back into your body and the medication the doctor left. Okay, you ready?”
Jace’s green eyes looked trustingly into warm ice blue ones. Nodding her head, she waited to be pulled back into that strong embrace.
Catherine held Jace securely on her right side and put her head on her shoulder again, balancing the weak and weary woman as she put out her left hand to retrieve the glass of water.
‘Damn how am I going to get the pills, they’re in my right hand?’
Gently placing the glass next to Jace’s lips she tipped the glass back slowly and saw Jace take her first sip. Eventually, with care, she drank enough to satisfy Catherine. Placing the glass back on the floor, she removed the pills from her right hand and looked back at the drowsing face held close to her shoulder.
“Sorry Jace, but you need to take these pills too!”
Jace grimaced but opened her mouth a little for Catherine to pop them into her mouth, and then reaching for the glass of water she placed it back to Jace’s lips for her to take another drink. “Hey that’s my girl. You did well.” Catherine smiled as she congratulated Jace on getting the pills and water down without difficulty.
“How about we both did well?” Jace replied quietly, looking back into the blue eyes, which she never wanted to stop looking into.
“Oh, I don’t know about that! But, let’s lay you back down, get you comfortable, then let you get more sleep. You will feel better for it.”
Catherine smiled back at Jace, something was definitely pulling her towards this woman and for the life of her she didn’t understand it at all.
Jace pulled a face as Catherine laid her gently down and replaced the covers back around the slight form.
Noticing the change in Jace’s face, she couldn’t help herself; she needed to know what the woman was thinking. “Hey, what’s the face for?”
Jace blushed as she tried to look away from the piercing glance.
‘Christ I don’t know how to answer that! I know what I’d love to say, but she definitely wouldn’t be expecting that.’
Catherine saw the blush and that puzzled her. “You going to answer me?”
“I guess I was more comfortable in your arms than laying here in the bed.” Jace closed her eyes as she spoke.
Catherine almost choked as she spluttered, “What....what do you mean?”
Jace opened her eyes and saw that Catherine Warriorson looked really uncomfortable and wasn’t that a blush seeping over her face?
“I.... I was having dreams when I slept earlier, but when you held me, I felt safe and secure. Weird I know, I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you.”
Catherine digested this piece of information and briefly smiled.
“Are they bad dreams?”
“Not sure, they are sort of elusive when I wake up, but they sure tire me out. I don’t feel rested at all.”
“Do you often have dreams?” Catherine continued.
“Sometimes, but last night and today they just seem so persistent.” Jace wanted to say that they all had one thing in common ‘hypnotic blue eyes’ Catherine Warriorson’s eyes!
Smiling briefly and looking away from Jace towards the window and the darkness outside, “Well, if you have any more dreams and I can help out, you just tell me okay?”
Jace smiled tiredly and closed her eyes at the pleasant thoughts that drifted through her mind.
“Thanks Catherine, I might just take you up on that offer.”
Catherine looked out of the window and noticed Colin Montgomery pacing outside he looked none too happy.
Turning back she noticed that Jace had fallen back into a somewhat more restful sleep pattern.
‘Let’s hope she stays like that! Not sure what Grace would make of me being used as a pillow for the young woman. There again, when did I care what people think about me! Must be getting soft all of a sudden.’
She quietly left the room to find a mug of tea.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Nine
It was close to midnight and Grace had gone to bed, the house had been secured for the night and only a light shone under the door of the guestroom inhabited by Jace Bardley.
Anyone looking into the room would notice the outline of a small person in the double bed, which was the centrepiece of the room. To the left of the bed was a bedside table with a small lamp illuminating the room with a soft glow. Beside that a large comfortable chair was tucked next to the bed, residing on the chair was a tall figure, reading a book. The room was peaceful and anyone not knowing otherwise would think it a fairly normal scene it looked so comfortable.
An hour earlier Grace had said she would spend the night looking out for Jace, as Catherine had to leave later in the day to travel to Sydney and she needed to get some rest, not having much the previous evening.
“It’s okay Grace, I don’t sleep for long anyway. What’s the difference if I sleep those short hours in a chair? Better one of us gets some rest, and you will have to take the watch once I’m gone.”
Looking at Catherine and knowing the logic behind the statement she backed off. “I’ll get breakfast for the usual time then?”
“Yeah, sounds good to me, I need to leave by nine in the morning, so it will be ideal. Hopefully, our patient will be sufficiently improved by then.”
“I hope so, guess it will be a day or two before she feels well enough to cause you too much hassle around here.”
Catherine laughed at the comment from her housekeeper and friend. “Oh, I think Jace Bardley attracts trouble Grace, it’s a feeling I have about her.”
“Is that good trouble or bad?” Grace laughed along with her boss.
“Depends who goes to her defense I guess.”
“Would you?” Grace looked directly at Catherine and noticed she blushed slightly at the comment.
“Maybe, then that would be bad trouble wouldn’t you think?” Catherine grinned wickedly at Grace.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, I get the feeling you two together would make quite a team!”
“You do huh? Now, why would that be exactly?”
Grace smiled wryly at her and walked towards her tall employer, who in the space of twenty-four hours had willingly let down some of her defenses. Placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder she gently squeezed it.
“Because I think you have found a friend Catherine, however remarkable that may be. It might just be your destiny, don’t define it; just let it happen. Maybe it will bring you some measure of happiness.” Without waiting for a reply she left the room.
Catherine was stunned at the comment.
‘My destiny! A friend! Yes. Maybe, I could in time call Jace Bardley a friend. We sure seem to have rapport. Happiness isn’t in my realm of things to look forward to; but, a small piece of my heart is reaching out to touch the tender thought, a need so overwhelming it hurts.’
Suddenly Jace started to thrash around in the bed and Catherine moved quickly and silently to the small body, obviously in distress. Pulling the covers aside she noticed that Jace was soaked with perspiration and her clothes really should be changed.
Walking over to the dressing table, she opened the first draw and noticed nothing that would be useful. The next draw proved equally as unsuccessful. So she quickly arranged the sheet over the woman and left for her own room. Rummaging around she found an Old University T-shirt and a pair of toweling shorts.
Getting back to the other room as quickly as possible she noticed the sheet on the floor of the room, having been kicked off by Jace and her thrashing around the bed.
‘Hell, she’s going to hurt herself if she doesn’t calm down.’
Gently taking Jace’s shoulder she tried to wake the woman from her restless slumber, noting the fever had begun to take hold again.
“Hey Jace, I need you wake up for a little while. What do you say?”
Not really expecting a response, she thought that maybe she would have to wake Grace to help her with the younger woman.
‘God, Grace will be asleep now, it’s not fair to her. Surely I can do this alone!’
Taking the bottom of the shirt Jace was wearing she gently eased it over her head and carefully wrapped the sheet around her as she picked up the T-shirt and shorts she had dropped on the table when she came back in the room.
This woman was so slight in her arms Catherine felt a slight tremor in her hands as she removed the sheet and noted the all over tan that Jace had acquired, obviously in California. It certainly enhanced the beauty of the woman she held. Closing those thoughts she carefully pulled the shirt over her head and down her body, it was so big it covered to her knees.
Not sure if she should bother with the shorts, she placed them at the end of the bed and gently laid Jace back down. The thrashing didn’t stop and Catherine pondered that problem.
Only one thing for it!
Taking off her shoes and her jeans she climbed onto the bed and took Jace back into her arms. Her left hand gently stroked the blonde hair falling over her eyes, and her right arm snaked round her waist and held her tightly.
“I’ve got you Jace, just hang in there. Tomorrow it’s going to be better, wait and see,” Catherine whispered into her ear.
Jace feeling the comforting arms around her, put her head down on Catherine’s shoulder and the thrashing ceased, arms that had been pulling the bedclothes apart, suddenly moved to clasp the tall woman closer and a sigh came from the laboured breathing of the smaller woman.
Catherine hadn’t really known if her action would be welcome, but it sure seemed to be working. Being a very private woman, she wasn’t particularly comfortable with the closeness of Jace. It was something she’d always had difficulty with, especially after her mother had died. Now here she was with a near stranger, in her home, in her guest bed and being used as a giant pillow. Within minutes her eyes started to close and she felt very tired, she had become in a short space of time, comfortable! Giving in to her body’s craving for sleep, she closed her eyes and dropped off into her own dreamscape.
~ ~ ~
Jace woke up and felt rested and secure, her senses telling her she was in a safe haven and that hadn’t happened before.
Her head although still rather fuzzy, didn’t have the percussion instruments doing a warm up in her head, well for the moment at any rate. She then glanced at the warm pillow she was nestled into and almost jumped out of her skin.
‘Hades, how did this happen?’ she thought as she noticed the even breathing of the sleeping Catherine Warriorson. Her face looked younger somehow in sleep. Although the tension she seemed to carry around with her in her waking hours, wasn’t far away; Jace felt it as she lay still against this beautiful woman.
‘God’s this is a nightmare!’
Then a voice inside her head told her she was being foolish.
‘You’re right, it’s a dream and a wonderful dream, if I never ever get to experience this again, I will always cherish this moment. She is so lovely and so lonely.’ Jace couldn’t help the final thought filtering through.
Moving her right hand she gently pushed the ebony hair away from her lips, its length making Catherine almost eat it, as it had broken away from its usually restrained ponytail.
That gentle brush of her hand across Catherine’s mouth woke the woman up. Looking around her, distracted for the moment, she then realised her position and looked into Jace Bardley’s tender green eyes.
Smiling briefly, the blue eyes warming as she locked her gaze with the green one. “Hey, how you doing?” Catherine’s voice was almost a growl, and to Jace, whose senses had slipped into an almost sensual haze, sexy was the only word for it.
Jace swallowed several times and smiled. “A little better thanks.”
“Great, do you need anything?”
Jace knew then and there that she was in love! Her heart was telling her and her head for once wasn’t overriding the emotions.
“I would love some water.”
“Okay, wait right there I’ll get it.” Catherine slipped out of the bed, walked with fluid movements to the water jug and she filled the glass, bringing along a couple of the pills.
Jace had a chance to watch this spectacle and it had her heart pumping ten to the dozen.
‘If I die now, looking at those legs and that toned body, I know I’ll be in heaven.’
Catherine turned around suddenly and saw a look on Jace’s face that under normal circumstances, she would have said held desire. But the woman was ill, so the flush and the glazed expression in her eyes were probably more fever induced than anything else, although it made Catherine’s stomach tighten a little at the thought. ‘Christ I must be more tired than I thought, this kid is getting to me.’
Walking back to the bed, she held the glass for Jace to take a drink and then passed her the pills. Taking them and then another drink, Catherine placed the glass back on the tray and went towards the chair, picking up a blanket along the way.
Jace was gutted, she thought that Catherine would come back too bed. A tear slowly rolled down her cheek at the loss, her heart tightened in her chest and all she could feel was pain.
Catherine suddenly looked at Jace and noticed the tears now tracking down the pale face.
“Jace, what’s wrong?” Catherine went quickly towards the bed and touched the trail of tears on her cheek.
“Nothing, nothing I’m just tired I guess.” Jace said tearfully.
“Is there anything I can do?” Catherine asked tentatively, not knowing really what to do. Sensitive stuff was way beyond her. It had always been that way. Even Adam had been the one to talk to their son when he had hurt himself or something had upset him.
Jace just looked wearily at her and something in her eyes must have given a message to the concerned blue ones above. “How about I get back into the bed, and you use me as a giant pillow and get some rest, you need it Jace.”
Had the gods been smiling on her this trip or what!
“I’d appreciate that, but are you okay with this?”
“Sure, would you believe it’s the best night’s sleep I’ve had in years. But don’t you go telling anyone that I’m the next best thing to a giant teddy bear okay?” Catherine winked at the young woman and chuckled at the thought.
Jace grinned at her and the tears stopped flowing.
“I promise you that no one will hear it from me.” Jace was so happy she wanted to burst with the sheer joy of having this woman close to her. Settling back down on Catherine’s shoulder she let out a deep sigh.
“Hope that’s a good sigh Ms. Bardley. Can’t be letting me think that my powers as a human pillow are waning now can we?” she laughed softly.
“Oh, it was happy.” Jace silently thought, ‘I’m so happy Catherine Warriorson, you have no idea how happy you make me, now to find a way to get you to stay in my life.’ With that Jace closed her eyes and fell into a deep healing sleep.
Catherine looked down at the head resting on her shoulder and wondered about this woman. ‘Has it only been a little more than twenty-four hours since we met? For some reason I feel that the small blonde in my arms has been in my life so much longer than that! Yet how could that be?’ Nothing had ever felt this good to her before, caring for this woman was something she was happy to do and her heart welcomed the challenge.
Yet....her life couldn’t be complicated by this friendship. ‘What had Grace said? It was my destiny. Don’t define it! I guess only time will tell on this one, but will I have the time?’
Closing her eyes as sleep once again claimed her from her thoughts, she considered that what she’d said to Jace was true. ‘It had been years since she’d slept that well, and no bad dreams either!’
Both women slept peacefully held in each other’s arms.
~ ~ ~
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