Read Online When Only Diamonds Will Do by Lindsay Armstrong - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lindsay Armstrong
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married Reith Richardson. He hadn’t been feeling well, your father, but that…at that…he just collapsed.’
‘You’ve probably killed him,’ Damien said darkly to Reith.
Thanks to Reith’s best efforts—he’d taken command—Frank survived the attack.
Reith had told Damien not to worry about calling anambulance and instead he’d summoned a medical emergency helicopter. He’d made Frank as comfortable as possible until it had arrived, and administered some of the emergency medicine Frank had been prescribed but no one had thought to give him in their panic.
And he’d been with Kim when the specialist told her that her father had a heart condition that had been ticking away like a time bomb, a condition that might or might not respond to open-heart bypass surgery—something her father dreaded.
The specialist had also told her that the attack could have happened at any time.
‘How did anyone find out? About us?’
She asked the question in a vague, distracted way when they were alone at Saldanha. Her mother had been persuaded to be admitted to the hospital and sedated, Damien was still at the hospital and arrangements were being made for bypass surgery on Frank as soon as possible. The subject of her marriage to Reith Richardson had apparently sunk from sight beneath the weight of the medical emergency, for both Damien and her mother.
Once again, Reith had discarded his jacket and loosened his tie. He’d poured them both a brandy.
‘Someone must have recognized—you, most probably. Kim—’ he paused ‘—what do you want to do?’
She sipped some brandy and laid her head back. ‘What do you mean? Now? In a week’s time? When?’
‘Now, for starters,’ he said dryly.
‘Look, I don’t know,’ she replied frustratedly. ‘I can’tthink straight.’ She looked around the lovely room with a frown and it occurred to her that Reith looked, if not exactly at home, almost as if he knew his way around it.
But, of course, she thought then, he’s been here before, hasn’t he? My father or Damien probably offered him a drink out of the cocktail cabinet, so that was how he knew where to find the brandy. Of course they wouldn’t have been offering him drinks after he made his first paltry offer for Balthazar…She paused her thoughts.
‘Tell me something,’ she said with another frown. ‘Were Saldanha and Balthazar just business propositions to you? Not any desire to live here and be involved in the wine industry or …’ She trailed off, then gathered steam again. ‘Or put down roots that have more substance than the boundary rider’s hut on some godforsaken cattle station—’ She stopped abruptly and put a horrified hand to her mouth.
He watched her for a long moment, narrowly, but otherwise curiously without expression. Then he said, ‘It wasn’t a boundary rider’s hut—but I suppose you could call it a godforsaken cattle station. It was out from Karratha.’ He grimaced. ‘No, in answer to your question. I’m not interested in roots or substance, so I’m never going to appeal to your father or brother, Kim. I’m never going to be good enough for you in their estimation. If that’s what you’re wondering.’
Kim sat up abruptly. ‘Why
do
they…Why are they
so
against you, though, Reith?’
He rolled his balloon glass between his hands andstared down at the cognac. ‘They consider me a country hick who had a bit of luck with a patch of dirt.’
‘But you’re not a country hick. I mean—’
‘You mean I don’t uncap beer bottles with my teeth? No, I don’t. I do lack an old school tie, though.’
‘That’s rubbish.’
He shrugged.
‘There’s got to be more to it,’ Kim persisted, although she wasn’t sure why. It was just that she was so tired, so shocked by the events of the day, yet this was the one topic her mind seemed to want to pursue, as if it had an extraordinary significance.
Reith took a long sip of his brandy, then put the glass down and pushed
‘You’ve probably killed him,’ Damien said darkly to Reith.
Thanks to Reith’s best efforts—he’d taken command—Frank survived the attack.
Reith had told Damien not to worry about calling anambulance and instead he’d summoned a medical emergency helicopter. He’d made Frank as comfortable as possible until it had arrived, and administered some of the emergency medicine Frank had been prescribed but no one had thought to give him in their panic.
And he’d been with Kim when the specialist told her that her father had a heart condition that had been ticking away like a time bomb, a condition that might or might not respond to open-heart bypass surgery—something her father dreaded.
The specialist had also told her that the attack could have happened at any time.
‘How did anyone find out? About us?’
She asked the question in a vague, distracted way when they were alone at Saldanha. Her mother had been persuaded to be admitted to the hospital and sedated, Damien was still at the hospital and arrangements were being made for bypass surgery on Frank as soon as possible. The subject of her marriage to Reith Richardson had apparently sunk from sight beneath the weight of the medical emergency, for both Damien and her mother.
Once again, Reith had discarded his jacket and loosened his tie. He’d poured them both a brandy.
‘Someone must have recognized—you, most probably. Kim—’ he paused ‘—what do you want to do?’
She sipped some brandy and laid her head back. ‘What do you mean? Now? In a week’s time? When?’
‘Now, for starters,’ he said dryly.
‘Look, I don’t know,’ she replied frustratedly. ‘I can’tthink straight.’ She looked around the lovely room with a frown and it occurred to her that Reith looked, if not exactly at home, almost as if he knew his way around it.
But, of course, she thought then, he’s been here before, hasn’t he? My father or Damien probably offered him a drink out of the cocktail cabinet, so that was how he knew where to find the brandy. Of course they wouldn’t have been offering him drinks after he made his first paltry offer for Balthazar…She paused her thoughts.
‘Tell me something,’ she said with another frown. ‘Were Saldanha and Balthazar just business propositions to you? Not any desire to live here and be involved in the wine industry or …’ She trailed off, then gathered steam again. ‘Or put down roots that have more substance than the boundary rider’s hut on some godforsaken cattle station—’ She stopped abruptly and put a horrified hand to her mouth.
He watched her for a long moment, narrowly, but otherwise curiously without expression. Then he said, ‘It wasn’t a boundary rider’s hut—but I suppose you could call it a godforsaken cattle station. It was out from Karratha.’ He grimaced. ‘No, in answer to your question. I’m not interested in roots or substance, so I’m never going to appeal to your father or brother, Kim. I’m never going to be good enough for you in their estimation. If that’s what you’re wondering.’
Kim sat up abruptly. ‘Why
do
they…Why are they
so
against you, though, Reith?’
He rolled his balloon glass between his hands andstared down at the cognac. ‘They consider me a country hick who had a bit of luck with a patch of dirt.’
‘But you’re not a country hick. I mean—’
‘You mean I don’t uncap beer bottles with my teeth? No, I don’t. I do lack an old school tie, though.’
‘That’s rubbish.’
He shrugged.
‘There’s got to be more to it,’ Kim persisted, although she wasn’t sure why. It was just that she was so tired, so shocked by the events of the day, yet this was the one topic her mind seemed to want to pursue, as if it had an extraordinary significance.
Reith took a long sip of his brandy, then put the glass down and pushed
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