what up?” he demanded coldly.
“This day. You’re older than she is. And God knows you’ve had enough experience of women to handle the situation with finesse. She’s nervous. She’s afraid…”
“Afraid?” His eyes flashed derision. “Sam’s never been afraid of anything.”
“You think I’m a fool, Tommy? You think I’m just talking to hear myself speak?”
He glanced away, breath hissing out between his teeth.
“I’m telling you she doesn’t have her usual armour today,” Elizabeth drove on. “I’m telling you she’s vulnerable. And if you hurt her, Tommy…it would be very, very wrong.”
“I have no intention of hurting Sam,” he grated.
She reached out and squeezed his arm. “I hope you take very great care not to. For your sake. And hers,” she said quietly.
His gaze swung back, eyes blazing a fierce challenge. “You think it’s all my fault?”
The banked passion behind those words told Elizabeth more than Tommy had ever told her…the long-burning frustration of his relationship with Samantha Connelly. But there was nothing to be gained by placing blame anywhere. Raking over the past wouldn’t help. She had to appeal to the man he was now, the man who still wanted what could be…if the ground was shifted.
“No,” she answered, her eyes holding his with love and understanding. “I simply trust you’re big enough…and I know you are, Tommy…to rise above it today. To give of yourself without asking or expecting a return or a reward. Just to give…because giving is what today is about.”
His mouth twisted into a wry smile. “Okay. You have a deal. For what it’s worth.” His eyes gently mocked as he added, “But you must know Sam’s bound to make tatters of any gift from me.”
“Then the fault will indeed be all hers. Thank you, Tommy.”
“Oh, I’ll be having the pleasure of being a martyred saint,” he rolled out in an Irish lilt, a resurgence of devilment in his eyes.
She smiled. “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
His face softened. “You don’t have to. You’ve always been on my side when I’ve needed you. And to simply say thank you is totally inadequate. But thanks all the same, Mum.”
Elizabeth had never had any hesitation in throwing family money behind Tommy’s enterprises, the small planes and helicopter charter business which he’d called KingAir, the wilderness resort that bore the same name as the cattle station, King’s Eden, since it had once been a part of it.
He’d had a great need to prove himself, away from Nathan’s big shadow, Nathan who was born to be the cattle King and wear his father’s shoes. Tommy had to be his own man, and he was, very much his own man now, solidly successful in his business life.
But his personal life…he envied the love Nathan had found with Miranda. Elizabeth had seen it in his eyes on the night of their engagement party and knew he craved the same kind of love…to be accepted and respected and loved for the person he was inside.
“Let’s have a happy day, Tommy,” she said, knowing he would respond to her appeal for peace with Samantha.
“Sure, we will. The happiest of days. Especially for Nathan.”
For you, too, Elizabeth willed. “I must go back to Miranda. Everything else is in order?”
“Running like clockwork. Don’t worry. We’re onto the countdown now and everything will go brilliantly.”
“I hope so.”
He tapped her cheek in tender affection. “It’s all right. You have my promise. I’ll keep smiling in the face of the tiger.”
“Thank you, Tommy.”
It was with a lighter heart that Elizabeth returned to the bride. She’d done what she could to set up a harmonious situation. What might come out of it was up to Tommy and Samantha now.
The bridesmaid and the best man.
A wedding.
Surely they would feel what was missing from their lives and make an effort to leap over the barriers between them and grasp this chance. Pride simply wasn’t worth the loss of love.
CHAPTER THREE
AT PRECISELY 3:45, as scheduled, Tommy and Nathan stepped off the homestead verandah, leaving Jared behind to escort Miranda down the aisle in place of the unknown father who’d played no part in her life. She had no family, but she was not to walk alone. Never again alone, Nathan had sworn.
They walked down the path to where a white pergola had been erected, framing the front entrance opening. On either side of it the old bougainvillea hedge was a mass of multicoloured bloom on this fine Saturday afternoon. Shade cloth had been spread over the top of the pergola to hold off the hot sun while Miranda and Sam waited there to make their entrance. Tommy and Nathan slid out past the white lattice gates which would hide the bridal procession from view until The Moment.
A long strip of red carpet had been laid across the road, bisecting the large circular lawn in front of the homestead and leading straight to the white gazebo which had been set up at the other end of it. The whole area was shaded by magnificent old trees, the wide spread of their branches interlacing, providing the best protection for the three hundred guests, most of whom had flown in from all over Australia.
Many were already seated on the white chairs which had been laid out in a church pattern, the bulk of them facing the gazebo, but with two sections parallel to it—special sections reserved for the resort and station staff with their families on one side, and on the other, the Aboriginal tribe which had been tied to King’s Eden from its beginning over a hundred years ago.
This was undoubtedly the biggest Outback wedding ever held in the Kimberly, Tommy thought, smiling to himself at the idea of another King legend in the making. There were many of them from the old days, but this…this was something else and he was proud to have had a big hand in it with KingAir flying in many of the guests and his resort providing the accommodation. Nathan couldn’t have managed such a gathering on his own.
As they strode down the red carpet aisle together, a buzz of anticipation ran through the crowd. Those who hadn’t taken their seats moved to settle down for the long awaited ceremony. Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy noticed Janice Findlay lingering on her feet, watching him, probably wanting his attention to turn her way.
It was over between them, as far as he was concerned, so he gave her no encouragement. He hoped she wasn’t going to try reviving their affair today. The problem with Janice was she drank too much, fun when she was only tiddly but no fun at all when she bombed herself out.
If she made some kind of scene in front of Sam, the fat would be in the fire. Sam would undoubtedly let fly with caustic comments and he’d have to weather them, in keeping with his promise to his mother. He willed Janice to target some other guy at the wedding. His patience and good humour were going to be tested enough, keeping Sam sweet, though he doubted that was even remotely possible. There was no honey in her nature to start with.
Vulnerable? Well, maybe Miranda had put her in high heels and she was scared of wobbling up the aisle or tripping over herself. Sam would certainly hate looking less than competent. She probably felt like a fish out of water in female finery, having prided herself on mastering a man’s world from the day she was born a girl instead of a boy.
It was to be hoped she didn’t fall flat on her face. He wouldn’t wish that humiliation on her, not in front of this crowd and right at the beginning of the wedding, though she was damned good at dishing out humiliation herself. Not only was she a first-class expert at one-upmanship, she nitpicked everything he did, as though she always knew better. The exasperating part was that too often she proved she was right.
Which annoyed