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Authors: Jane Corrie
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capable hands of his staff. Any new developments were reported immediately to Orchard Farm for Kade's attention, and Melanie would take the original message if he were not available at the time.
'I only saw Melanie once,' said Linda as they took a
break for coffee a few days after she had taken over from Melanie. `Kade brought her down with him as he wanted some figures copied out for later study.' Her brown eyes narrowed as she recalled the event. 'I thought she was lovely,' she said frankly, 'but so snooty. If you didn't know she was only a secretary you'd think she owned the place. Mind you, she wouldn't act like that when Kade was around, she was all smiles and sweetness then.' She frowned. 'It didn't take us long to get her measure, though. If she thought you were getting a bit more attention from Kade than she was, then she'd make trouble for you.' She grinned impishly at Tanya. 'You should have heard the way she went for me when Kade came down two days running! We'd got a suspicious-looking growth on one of our trees and there was quite a scare about it at the time. Kade got an expert up from Hobart to take a look at it, and luckily it was quite harmless, but there had been reports of a blight around, and Kade was taking no chances. Not that Melanie thought about that side of it. She was convinced that I was blinking my eyelashes at him and luring him away from business.' She held out her slim white hand and gazed at the solitaire on the third finger of her left hand. 'I told her straight that I was happily engaged, thank you very much, and had no designs on the boss. As a matter of fact,' she confided to Tanya, 'I'd only got engaged the previous evening and was still seeing stars,' she grinned. 'If you know what I mean. Oh, sure, Kade's good-looking, and has what it takes, I guess, but I'd rather settle for my Bill. I can live with him, but a man like Kade would take some living up to, wouldn't he?' she said simply.
Tanya hastily changed the subject by asking her how long Melanie had worked for Kade.
'I believe she started working for him shortly after he came here,' replied Linda. 'I've a feeling he met her in Hobart, and offered her the job. She may have been working for his father, she seemed to know a lot about his home background,' she added ruminatingly.
'Do you know why Kade removed her?' asked Tanya tentatively, as she wasn't sure how much Linda knew of the past.
Linda shrugged casually. 'She'd been getting a bit too big for her shoes, I guess,' she said. 'Although it's rumoured that she put her delicate little paw into something that didn' t concern her. Anyway,' she concl uded happily, 'I'm glad Kade chose me to fill in. I'm going to ask him to make it permanent. Bill and I are saving like mad to buy a small property this side of the valley, and this job is better paid than the last one. Do you think he'll agree?' she asked Tanya doubtfully.
'Oh, I'm sure he will,' said Tanya warmly. 'It's not that easy to get someone who knows the job,' she added. She did not offer to speak to Kade about it, and she hoped Linda would not be offended by this. She had had very little to do with Kade since she had begun work in the main offices. To her relief she had found that her worry that she would be constantly thrown into his company had been pleasantly forestalled by the realisation that he did not spend a lot of time in the office, and allowed only an hour from nine to ten for queries and dictation, then he was off on his business rounds of the orchards
Now and again, he would pause on his way out of his office and enquire how Tanya was getting on with the job of familiarising herself with the files of the firm's customers, and she would give a polite if stiff reply, that she was coping.
Linda had watched these exchanges with a slightly puzzled air, particularly as Tanya was the only one in the whole works who referred to Kade as Mr Player. When she had got to know Tanya better she asked her about
'I only saw Melanie once,' said Linda as they took a
break for coffee a few days after she had taken over from Melanie. `Kade brought her down with him as he wanted some figures copied out for later study.' Her brown eyes narrowed as she recalled the event. 'I thought she was lovely,' she said frankly, 'but so snooty. If you didn't know she was only a secretary you'd think she owned the place. Mind you, she wouldn't act like that when Kade was around, she was all smiles and sweetness then.' She frowned. 'It didn't take us long to get her measure, though. If she thought you were getting a bit more attention from Kade than she was, then she'd make trouble for you.' She grinned impishly at Tanya. 'You should have heard the way she went for me when Kade came down two days running! We'd got a suspicious-looking growth on one of our trees and there was quite a scare about it at the time. Kade got an expert up from Hobart to take a look at it, and luckily it was quite harmless, but there had been reports of a blight around, and Kade was taking no chances. Not that Melanie thought about that side of it. She was convinced that I was blinking my eyelashes at him and luring him away from business.' She held out her slim white hand and gazed at the solitaire on the third finger of her left hand. 'I told her straight that I was happily engaged, thank you very much, and had no designs on the boss. As a matter of fact,' she confided to Tanya, 'I'd only got engaged the previous evening and was still seeing stars,' she grinned. 'If you know what I mean. Oh, sure, Kade's good-looking, and has what it takes, I guess, but I'd rather settle for my Bill. I can live with him, but a man like Kade would take some living up to, wouldn't he?' she said simply.
Tanya hastily changed the subject by asking her how long Melanie had worked for Kade.
'I believe she started working for him shortly after he came here,' replied Linda. 'I've a feeling he met her in Hobart, and offered her the job. She may have been working for his father, she seemed to know a lot about his home background,' she added ruminatingly.
'Do you know why Kade removed her?' asked Tanya tentatively, as she wasn't sure how much Linda knew of the past.
Linda shrugged casually. 'She'd been getting a bit too big for her shoes, I guess,' she said. 'Although it's rumoured that she put her delicate little paw into something that didn' t concern her. Anyway,' she concl uded happily, 'I'm glad Kade chose me to fill in. I'm going to ask him to make it permanent. Bill and I are saving like mad to buy a small property this side of the valley, and this job is better paid than the last one. Do you think he'll agree?' she asked Tanya doubtfully.
'Oh, I'm sure he will,' said Tanya warmly. 'It's not that easy to get someone who knows the job,' she added. She did not offer to speak to Kade about it, and she hoped Linda would not be offended by this. She had had very little to do with Kade since she had begun work in the main offices. To her relief she had found that her worry that she would be constantly thrown into his company had been pleasantly forestalled by the realisation that he did not spend a lot of time in the office, and allowed only an hour from nine to ten for queries and dictation, then he was off on his business rounds of the orchards
Now and again, he would pause on his way out of his office and enquire how Tanya was getting on with the job of familiarising herself with the files of the firm's customers, and she would give a polite if stiff reply, that she was coping.
Linda had watched these exchanges with a slightly puzzled air, particularly as Tanya was the only one in the whole works who referred to Kade as Mr Player. When she had got to know Tanya better she asked her about
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