Miranda Lee - Marriage At A Price

He had to force the girl to do something now, or all might be lost in the future.

‘It’ll be the first of August this Saturday,’ he said. ‘I’d say you might have till the end of the year.’

‘But that isn’t enough time!’ she protested. ‘You’ll have to talk to the bank, Bill, explain to them that in another couple of years I’m going to have a fantastic lot of yearlings to sell. Mum might have been foolish in some things but she was a great judge of horseflesh. Goldplated is going to be a success. I just know it. Within three years, Crosswinds will have money to burn.’

William sighed. He’d heard that one before. From Hilary. Over the years, he’d learnt that there was no such thing as a sure thing regarding racehorses, either on the track or in breeding.

‘Courtney,’ he said sternly, ‘you must find a way to pay back that loan. And soon.’

‘Well, don’t go telling me to sell my horses again,’ she threw at him, her face set into a mutinous expression, ‘because I’m not going to. And that’s final! There has to be some other way.’

‘I can think of only two other solutions to your problem. Although, come to think of it, only one is viable,’ he added drily.

What multi-millionaire would want to actually marry this difficult, stubborn, bossy girl? Beauty alone would not cut it, especially her kind of beauty which was of the wild and natural kind. Wealthy men wanted glamorous, well-groomed wives who stroked their egos and hosted perfect dinner parties, not independent, prickly creatures with an attitude, as well as a money problem.

‘What?’ Courtney’s right foot hit the ground as she hunched forward on the chair, all ears. ‘Tell me.’

‘You’ll have to find yourself a business partner, someone who’ll pay cash for a share in Crosswinds.’

Pulling a face, Courtney straightened up in the chair. ‘Nope. That won’t work, Bill. No horseman would buy a share in Crosswinds and keep his hands off the running of the place. Mum would turn in her grave. And I wouldn’t like it, either.’

‘I wasn’t talking about a horseman,’ William explained. ‘I was talking about a professional businessman. A city man. He would be a silent partner.’

‘Oh, well, now that’s the kind of partner I could just about tolerate. So how would I go about finding such a stooge?’

William winced at the word ‘stooge’. But it probably described any potential partner of Courtney’s to a tee.

‘I was thinking that you could ask Lois’s help. She’s a clever woman, not just at training horses but in public relations. She’s a whiz at getting money out of people for her racing syndicates. She also has some very wealthy clients and a wide range of contacts in the business world. I would think Lois knows quite a few likely candidates with more money than sense.’

William saw the girl’s nostrils flare indignantly. ‘Are you saying that a man would have to be stupid to go into partnership with me?’

His smile was wry. ‘Not you personally. But a wise old accountant once told me never to invest money into anything that had to be fed or watered.’

Courtney sighed. ‘You’re right. Breeding racehorses is a risky investment. This businessman is going to have to be one hell of a rich businessman.’

‘Businessmen who get mixed up with racehorses in any aspect usually are, aren’t they?’

‘True, Bill. True. Look, I can’t say I fancy taking a partner, even a silent one, but what must be must be. Better than selling any of the horses. I’ll give Lois a ring as soon as I get home. I could hitch a ride down in the horse float this Friday. I’m sending down a couple of young horses she’s agreed to syndicate out and train for me. Darned good types, too, but obviously Crosswinds can’t afford to pay for them to be trained right now.’

‘I’m afraid not,’ William confirmed, relieved that Courtney was taking it all so well. Still, he wouldn’t have expected Hilary’s daughter to fall apart.

‘I can’t stay away too long, you know. Come this weekend, foals will start arriving.’

‘You have staff to handle that. Finding a partner is more important, Courtney.’

‘Mmm. Before I go, what about insurance? I don’t want to make the same mistake Mum did.’

‘I insured everything after your mother died,’ William confessed. ‘I didn’t want to bother you at the time for permission. I hope you don’t mind.’

Courtney smiled as she rose to her feet, extending her hand across the desk. ‘Not at all. Thanks, Bill. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

He flinched at the steely strength in her handshake. No wonder the horses she rode did as they were told.

‘There’s no trouble with our general running expenses, is there?’ she asked.

‘No. Cash input is matching output at the moment. Of course, the place could do with some money spent on it. It’s beginning to look run down. So if you and Lois are going to sting some city fool for three million, you might as well try for four, and be done with it.’

She grinned at him. ‘Bill! You shock me.’

‘I doubt that very much,’ he remarked drily. ‘By the way, if Lois can’t come up with anyone suitable, I suggest you approach a financial consultancy which specialises in handling country-based investments. But that’s a last resort. Middlemen always want their cut. A personal contact deal would be much better all round.’

‘I agree. If I have to have a partner, then I’d like to have some control over who it is. Now, I’d better get moving. Friday will be here before I know it.’

‘Good luck, Courtney.’

‘See you, Bill.’

She spun on the heels of her elastic-sided boots and had taken three strides towards the door when she stopped and threw a puzzled glance back over her shoulder at him. ‘What was the other one?’ she asked.

‘What other one?’

‘The other solution to my money problems.’

‘Oh, that. It was a stupid idea. Not worth mentioning.’

She turned right round again with that stubborn set to her face he knew so well. ‘I’d still like to know.’

William let out a resigned sigh. ‘I was thinking of what impoverished aristocratic women used to do in the old days when their castles were crumbling around them.’

‘What’s that?’

‘They married for money.’

Courtney crowed with laughter. ‘You’re right, Bill. That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard of. I think the world has moved on since the days when young ladies went round sacrificing themselves in marriage to aging pot-bellied counts, simply to save the family jewels.’

Actually, William wasn’t too sure of that.

‘If and when I marry,’ Courtney announced as she planted the dusty Akubra hat firmly on her head, ‘it won’t be for money.’

‘Ah-h-h.’ William smiled his approval. ‘For love, eh, girl?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Bill. Love won’t have anything to do with it. It’ll be strictly for the sex.’ And, smiling a truly wicked smile, she whirled and strode from the room.

‘EVERYONE’S very dressed up,’ Courtney said, glancing around at the crowd of racegoers.

All the men were in suits and ties, and most of the women were wearing hats. Lois herself was in a rather flamboyant floral suit and matching hat which might have looked over-the-top on anyone less slender and vivacious. But she carried the outfit off with great panache, looking a lot younger than the forty she admitted to.

‘I did warn you, darling,’ Lois replied. ‘Randwick is a far cry from a country racetrack.’

‘You can say that again. Thanks heaps for lending me these clothes, Lois. Sorry I was stubborn about it.’

Lois rolled her eyes. She’d had the devil of a time persuading the girl out of the jeans and checked shirt she’d been wearing this morning, and into the stylish black pants and matching cropped jacket she now had on. This minor miracle had only been achieved by her firmly telling Courtney that the members’ section at Randwick had a dress code that definitely didn’t allow jeans.