Chapter 41.1

SOMETHING was wrong.

Even Evelyn's superb carrot cake with the cream cheese icing did not settle the churning in Johnny's stomach. Fair enough that Megan was tense about his homecoming, but never before had Evelyn been uncomfortable in his presence. Both women's responses to him seemed strained and they avoided eye contact with each other, focussing on him with a kind of forced eagerness to make him feel welcome, rushing to fill any brief silence with a host of questions about the movie, his trip, whether or not he'd stopped over in Sydney to see Ric and Mitch.

Something big was hidden in the silence they rushed to cover.

Trouble at Gundamurra?

Johnny had to force himself to eat the cake, drink the tea, all the time waiting for the axe to fall, whatever it was.

Weird how quickly everything could change. His heart had been dancing with pleasure when he landed. Megan had been standing by the Land Rover, waiting to drive him up to the homestead from the airstrip. Although a hat was jammed on her head, her glorious hair was loose, tumbling around her shoulders, surely a sign that she wanted to please him…as a woman.

Once he'd emerged from the plane, his legs had eaten up the distance between them, every fast stride pumping with anticipation. But she'd thrust out a stiff, formal hand, and he'd felt constrained to hold back the pounding urge to hug her tight and keep holding her until the warm imprint of her body had assuaged the need to feel her flesh and blood reality again.

Her smile had been stiff, too.

Okay, let her get used to having me here again, he'd told himself. Give her time to relax in my company.

Now she was babbling on, trying to sound bright and natural while Evelyn was plying him with afternoon tea, her dark eyes empty of their normal sparkle at seeing him. He could feel the worry in their minds. It was like an invisible monster, growing bigger every minute, claws out ready to grab him, like the monsters of his childhood lurking in the cupboard his foster parents had used for punishing bad boys. He'd made up music in his head to drive them away, but no music was going to drive this away.

Finally he could stand it no longer.

Just as with Ric, holding the news of Patrick's death from him, Johnny could not wait for what he knew to be something bad. 'Tell me what's wrong!' he burst out in urgent demand.

It jolted them both into a silence that was clearly fraught with hidden concerns. No denial from either of them. The monster grew bigger in Johnny's mind.

Evelyn looked at Megan.

Megan had frozen into shocked stillness. Her hat was off now and even her vibrant hair was motionless, her grey eyes suddenly like opaque glass, nothing shining through. 'Evelyn…' he appealed.

The motherly housekeeper, who usually enjoyed indulging his every wish, shook her head, not even the hint of an appeasing smile on her face. 'It's not for me to say, Mr Johnny.' Grave, decisive words, accompanied by another anxious glance at Patrick's daughter, her employer.

There had always been a free and easy mood in Evelyn's kitchen. The heart of a home, Johnny had thought.

What had Megan done to change that? Patrick wouldn't like it.

This wasn't how Gundamurra should feel.

Johnny instantly determined to change it back to what it should be. Whatever was going on had to be stopped, turned around.

Megan stirred out of her stunned state. His eyes bored into hers, demanding enlightenment. No way was he going to let her evade giving it. She might own fifty-one percent of Gundamurra but he had rights here, too.

'Let's go—' heat whooshed into her cheeks, vitality returning in an embarrassed rush '—to the office, Johnny.'

The office.

It was business then.

'Okay.' He could handle that. He stood up.

Evelyn instantly busied herself at the sink, not looking at him, washing her hands, which Johnny couldn't help thinking was somehow symbolic.

Megan led off, leaving him to follow. Even when they reached the verandah that skirted the inner quadrangle of the homestead, she didn't pause to let him fall into step with her, marching on in a driven fashion, back straight, head high, not glancing at him when he caught up with her. He noted that her cheeks were still scorched with heat. And her hands were clenched. Whatever the problem was, she found it painful, being forced to impart it to him.

Pride badly hurt, he decided. Some huge mistake in managing Gundamurra. She'd hate to fail or be found wanting with anything to do with the sheep station.

Whatever the crisis was, Johnny was determined to get around it, one way or another. Surely there was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

She didn't wait for him to lean past her and open the door to the office. She barged straight in, assuming he would follow and close the door behind them, which, of course, he did. It surprised him that she didn't go directly to her father's desk, take his chair, protect herself with some sense of authority. She veered off to stand over the chess table, hugging herself tightly as she stared down at the black and white battleground.

It was a stance that bristled with spiky tension, insisting on space around her. Johnny trod softly, moving over to the desk, propping himself against the front of it, trying to establish a relaxed, non-critical air. He hadn't come home to beat her over the head with anything. He wanted her trust. If she'd just place some confidence in him…but there was none forthcoming at the moment.

'It's okay,' he soothed. 'I'm not going to bite, Megan. Just tell me…'

Her head tilted back. She swung around to face him. Her expression seemed torn between intense inner conflict and a need to rise above it.

'I lied to you, Johnny.'

The bare statement held both guilt and defiance.

His mind clicked instantly to the e-mailed reports of what she'd done at Gundamurra. Had she baulked at using his money, after all? He hadn't checked, believing everything she'd told him. Surely she wouldn't have carried out such an elaborate deceit. From the air, the vast sheep station had still looked drought-stricken, but since there'd been no rain, he hadn't expected to actually see a difference. Tomorrow, he'd thought, she would show him.

'What did you lie about?' he asked, doing his utmost to keep calm.

Her lashes fell. Her mouth twitched into a rueful grimace.

She took a deep breath, forced herself to meet his gaze squarely, then laid it out. 'The night we spent together…I told you I was protected…and I wasn't.'

It took him several moments to unscramble his mind which had been totally focussed on possible problems at Gundamurra. Then it took several more moments for the implication of her words to sink in. The shock of it robbed him of any ready speech.

'I'm pregnant,' she shot at him in case he hadn't put it together.

Right! he thought, still unable to produce a verbal response.