Marion Lennox: A Millionaire For Molly

And he bent and kissed her-hard on the mouth-a swift, demanding kiss that asked no questions and required no response.

It was a kiss goodbye.

And then he was gone, striding along the corridor and out of sight. Gone.

‘MOLLY?’

‘Yes.’ Sigh. ‘What is it, Angela?’

There was a long pause as Angela absorbed the inflection in Molly’s voice. ‘Then you’re really mad at me, right?’

‘Let’s just say relations are strained.’

‘Because I was honest with Jackson? Oh, come on, Moll, give me a break. Did I do real damage? Was the guy going to fall for you if I hadn’t stuffed it up?’

‘No. Of course he wasn’t.’

‘There you go, then.’

‘But telling the man we were made for each other was unfair.’

‘I thought he should see things as they really are.’

‘Thanks, Angie. I do have some pride.’

‘My mum says pride and love don’t go together.’

‘No. Me and millionaires don’t go together. Honestly, Angie, I could have crawled under the table!’

‘You haven’t heard from him?’

‘Of course I haven’t heard from him.’

‘It would have been nice.’

‘It would have been…ridiculous.’

‘Cara?’

‘Jackson. Lovely. Where are you, darling?’

‘New York. Where I’m supposed to be. I thought you’d be here as well.’

‘I meant to be.’ She hesitated. ‘But I’ve met this man…’

Silence. ‘Someone special?’ Jackson asked cautiously.

‘It seems like it.’ She gave a slightly embarrassed laugh. ‘Now, you’re not to laugh. I know I’ve always sworn off men. After our mother’s tragic example…well, I was never interested. But Raoul is so different.’

‘Raoul?’

‘He’s French, darling. And he’s just lovely. He’s everything our mother and your father wasn’t. He…oh, I can’t explain. It’s just everything I sort of planned has flown out the window.’

Jackson sat down heavily on the desk chair. To say he was stunned was an understatement. His half-sister. In love.

‘That’s great,’ he managed. ‘Can I meet him?’

‘I’m aching for you to meet him. Oh, Jackson, he’s so special.’

She was lit up, he thought. She was…in love.

‘I just wish… I just wish that dreadful Diane-’

‘Cara, don’t.’

‘Yes, but I only had our appalling parents to get over. It’s been so much worse for you,’ she said bluntly. ‘The parents were enough. Like you, I thought I could never marry-I never wanted to go down that road. But then along comes Raoul…’

‘And sweeps you off your feet?’

‘Well, yes.’ She gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘He’s as different from any man I’ve ever met as he can be. Jackson, do you think you can possibly learn to forget Diane?’

‘No!’

‘Just because our mother and your father…’

‘There’s also Diane. I trusted her.’

‘And she was out for your money.’ Cara sighed. ‘You were just lucky you discovered in time that the child wasn’t yours. But you were so young, Jackson. There are some really nice people in the world. I hadn’t realised. Just because we haven’t met them until now…’

There were, Jackson thought. There was Molly.

But how the hell could he trust after what had happened to him? It was asking far too much.

‘I guess this means you’re not interested in settling in Australia?’ he asked, pushing his thoughts firmly back to business.

‘Well, no. It made sense to have a base when we didn’t have anyone. But, Jackson, Raoul has an apartment in Paris and a property in the north of France. I don’t think I need…’

‘A half-brother?’

‘I didn’t mean that. I’ll always want my brother.’

‘But you’ll want your Raoul more.’

‘Yes. And I hope… Jackson, I so hope you can find someone. Jackson, I’m so happy.’ He could feel her smile coming down the line. ‘So-will you still buy the farm?’

He thought it through. There was still the farm. There was only the farm. ‘Yes. If I can.’

‘It’s a great idea. Raoul and I intend to have children, so we can come and visit. And, hey, you can always leave it to your nieces and nephews in your will. After all, you can hardly leave your fortune to a lost dogs’ home.’

How about a lost frogs’ home? he thought inconsequentially.

And then he didn’t know what to think at all.

Molly?

Maybe. Maybe he could…

‘Molly? Are you okay?’

‘Hi, Angie. Sure.’

‘It was just you were so distant in the office today. Every time there weren’t any clients you seemed to be out of the office. It seemed like you were avoiding me.’

Yeah. She was avoiding everyone.

‘Is Sam okay?’

‘Yes. He’s fine.’

‘Have you heard from Jackson?’

She let out her breath in anger. ‘For heaven’s sake, Angie, will you get off your soapbox? Why would I have heard from Jackson?’ It had been a week. An interminable week.

‘The man is buying a property from you.’

‘He’s dealing through his lawyer. He’s only coming back to sign.’

‘You’re seeing his lawyer? The frog-squashing Roger? Oh, great. How cosy.’

‘Angie, don’t.’

‘So I’m worrying about you. I have a right to worry about you. Stay away from Francis.’

‘The man’s offered to help me get some money back from Michael. Courtesy of Jackson.’

Silence. Then, ‘So the lawyer’s doing you a favour? I don’t believe it.’

‘Jackson’s paying him,’ Molly said quietly.

‘But this is Michael we’re talking of! Does Jackson’s lawyer think he can get blood out of stone?’

‘It’s unlikely,’ Molly admitted. ‘At first I didn’t want anything to do with it, but Mr Francis has convinced me that Michael has something to say.’

‘Yeah. Like sorry, sorry, sorry. Don’t trust him until you see the colour of his money.’ She considered. ‘Come to that, don’t trust Roger Francis, either.’

‘I don’t trust either of them.’

‘Then why do this?’

‘I need the money for Sam.’

‘You really think you might get it back?’

‘I don’t know what’s going on,’ Molly confessed. ‘I’m as bewildered as you are. But it’s Sam’s future we’re speaking of. At the moment I can’t even afford to move him to a decent school. So I can listen.’

‘But you won’t trust.’

‘No. I promise.’

‘And you’re accepting Jackson’s help?’

‘In this, yes. It seems sensible.’

‘Well, at least that’s something,’ Angie conceded. ‘The man owes you heaps.’

‘How do you figure that out?’

‘He broke your heart.’

‘Michael broke my heart.’

‘No. Michael broke your pride and your bank balance, but not your heart. You didn’t look like this after you broke off with Michael,’ Angie said.

‘Like what?’

‘Like…’ Pause for thought, then, ‘Like a hearth without a fire.’

That brought a reluctant chuckle. ‘Oh, very poetic.’

‘I read it somewhere,’ Angie admitted. ‘But it’s apt. Molly, you must do something.’

‘I am doing something. I’m working. I’m caring for Sam. I’m dealing with Jackson’s lawyer to see if I can get some money back from Michael.’

‘I mean about Jackson.’

‘You already laid my heart on a plate for him. I don’t know what else can be done.’

Angie had an answer for that. ‘Get on a plane and go find him?’

‘Oh, come on. Even you know that’s a really stupid idea.’

‘Yeah, well.’ Angie retreated, baffled. ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures. He who dares, wins. In for a penny, in for a pound.’