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‘She’s a cheery soul, isn’t she?’
Hell.
He clattered back down the stairs. Jo wasn’t in the kitchen. She wasn’t in the living or dining rooms either, but as he walked through the house he couldn’t help noticing how light and airy it all seemed. The curtains were pulled back and sunlight poured in at freshly cleaned windows. The heavy wooden furniture gleamed, the rugs were plush underfoot, and plump scatter cushions invited him to recline on the sofa. Not that he spent any time in this part of the house any more.
Why not?
He ground his teeth together. His life consisted of eat, sleep and work. It didn’t leave room for loafing on the sofa in front of the television.
He pushed out to the veranda and strode halfway down the steps to survey the view in front of him. But there was no sign of a tall, lush woman striding down that field of native grass, or along the beach with Bandit. Maybe she was pegging laundry on the line. He turned back.
‘Are you looking for me?’
He started at the voice to his left and found Jo on her knees, pulling weeds from a garden bed. He was pretty sure that wasn’t part of her job description.
He nodded towards the few spindly rose bushes. ‘I’m not sure you need to worry about those.’
‘I want to.’
Whatever... He planted his legs. ‘What did you say to Mrs Devlin?’
‘Ah.’ She went back to digging. ‘I told her to wake up to herself.’
He choked. ‘You what?’ He dropped to the bottom step, head in hands. ‘Hell, Jo, the poor woman has been worried half out of her wits and—’
‘I said it in a nice way.’
He lifted his head.
‘I didn’t say the actual words, Wake up to yourself.’
That had been her message, though.
‘She had a big go at me for being here. I didn’t like her insinuation, so I set her straight.’
He opened his mouth. After a moment he shut it again. He deserved everything Diana threw at him, but Jo didn’t. She’d had every right to defend herself, to demand respect.
‘When she started mouthing off that you didn’t deserve the luxury of a housekeeper I...’ She shrugged.
‘You what?’
‘I told her you were working so hard you were in danger of falling ill. And I made it clear that if that happened you wouldn’t be able to earn. And that, therefore, her cash cow would dry up.’
‘Tell me you put it nicer than that?’
‘I expect I did.’ She dusted off her hands and rested back on her heels. ‘Like you, she’s been focussing on all the wrong things.’
His mouth dried. What else had Jo said to the poor woman?
‘I told her she needed to choose between her desire for revenge on you and what was best for her son.’
He clenched his jaw so hard he thought he might crack a tooth. ‘I wish you’d kept your mouth shut.’
She rose and planted her hands on her hips, towering over him. Her chest rose and fell, her eyes flashed, but even when she was angry her voice washed over him like a balm.
‘She’s turned you into her whipping boy. What’s worse is that you’ve let her.’
He shot to his feet. ‘I owe that family!’
‘Codswallop!’ She glared. ‘Next you’re going to tell me you’re responsible for the national debt and world hunger.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘What did you do that was so bad, huh? You yelled at an apprentice. Even if it hadn’t been scripted, we’ve all been hauled over the coals by our bosses before. In the view of things that you’re taking one could equally accuse Ethan of being a spineless little ninny. I mean he’s the clumsy clod who dropped a tray of cold food into hot oil.’
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
‘I’m yelling at you now, but if you trip up the stairs in a huff and sprain an ankle is that going to be my fault? I don’t think so, buster.’
‘That’s different. We’re equals!’ he hollered back. ‘On set I had seniority, and that boy—’
‘Oh, and that’s another thing that’s getting up my nose. You keep referring to Ethan as a boy—but he’s nineteen years old. He’s a man. He has the right to vote and he has the right to choose what kind of work he wants to do. He chose to work with you. He wanted to be a part of your team. You wanted your show to be a success, and you’ve been blaming your ambition for the accident. You forget that Ethan wanted the show to be a success too—why else was he there?—but you don’t take his ambition into account.’
His mind whirled at her words, but he lifted his chin and set his shoulders. None of that made a scrap of difference.
