Outback bride - Hart Jessica - Страница 28

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There was an ominous silence. ‘Why can’t you make them?’ asked Mal in a glacial voice.

‘Because I’m busy,’ she snapped, and her lip curled dismissively.

‘You’re not busy; you’re just playing around with that precious project of yours!’

Copper looked up furiously. ‘I am not playing around! I’m working out the cheapest way to bring in supplies for the tour groups and how we can calculate that into our costs. I think that’s a bit more important than making a few sandwiches that you are all more than capable of making yourselves!’

‘Of course, you would think that was more important,’ said Mal contemptuously. ‘You’re obsessed with your business. You’re always in here, fussing over your files. The rest of Birraminda could fall to pieces as far as you’re concerned, as long as your camp site survives to keep your business going!’

‘Do you want to know what I’ve done so far this morning, Mal?’ said Copper, hanging onto the shreds of her temper with difficulty. ‘I’ve cooked breakfast for you and your men, I’ve washed your dishes afterwards and put everything away, and I’ve swept your floor and cleaned your units. I’ve made your bed and washed your clothes and scrubbed out your shower.

‘And in the middle of it all,’ she swept on, without giving Mal a chance to speak, ‘I’ve fed your dogs and your hens and made a meatloaf for your lunch and two apple pies for your dinner, not to mention some icecream for the freezer. I’ve washed and dressed your daughter and kept her entertained, and now that I’ve got a few minutes to myself, I’m working out how to run a profitable business that will bring some much needed cash into your property, judging by your accounts-which I have also kept up to date. And you dare to suggest that I don’t do anything for Birraminda!’

‘I’m not accusing you of sitting around all day,’ said Mal, unmoved by her tirade. ‘But you’re only doing what any housekeeper would do, and you knew exactly what you were taking on when you signed that contract.’

‘I didn’t realise that I was signing up to three years’ slavery!’ she said bitterly.

‘If you’ve got so much to do, why did you take over the evening cooking for the men?’ he demanded. ‘Naomi was perfectly happy doing it.’

‘Naomi was not happy doing it!’ Copper flared. ‘If you had eyes to see anything beyond your stupid cows, you’d know that.’ Pushing back her chair, she walked edgily over to the window, clutching her arms together defensively. ‘I found Naomi in tears one day,’ she said, swinging round to face Mal accusingly once more. ‘She’s got two small children and another one on the way, Bill’s out all day, and she can’t cope with the cooking on top of everything else. When I spoke to her she was so miserable that she was ready to take the children and go back to her mother in Brisbane. If I hadn’t listened to her and tried to make her life a little easier, by taking over the cooking and looking after the children when I can, she’d be there now.’

Copper paused angrily, then swept on. ‘Bill’s not a demonstrative type, but anyone can see that he adores his wife, and if she’d gone he’d have followed her, and you’d have been left short of a man. And since you’ve spent the last few weeks telling me how busy you are, I assumed that you would prefer it if I could persuade Naomi to stay. But are you grateful?’ She flung her arms out in a furious gesture. ‘No! You think you can just walk in here and snap your fingers and I’ll drop everything to make a few sandwiches. And when I object, you start quoting the terms of the contract to me!

‘Well, I’m a good businesswoman, Mal,’ she went on, green eyes flashing, ‘and I read that contract before I signed it. There was nothing in it about making sandwiches on your say-so. What there was was an agreement that I would spend part of my time setting up the project which was the only reason I married you in the first place, in case you’ve forgotten!’

‘I hadn’t forgotten,’ said Mal icily. There was a white look about his mouth and he was as angry as she was. ‘You never give me a chance to forget.’

‘That’s good coming from you!’ Copper retorted, too angry now to care what she said. ‘You hardly ever open your mouth except to quote that agreement at me! If you had your way I’d spend all day at your beck and call. Perhaps I should be grateful you let me sleep at night?’

‘There’s no question about you doing anything else at night, is there?’ he said savagely, and turned on his heel. ‘You’re not as essential as you think you are, Copper.

We managed perfectly well before you came, and we’ll manage again whether you’re here or not.’ He paused with his hand on the door and looked back at where she stood, rigid with temper, by the window. ‘I’ll make the sandwiches myself-I wouldn’t want to drag you away from your important business!’

The door slammed behind him and Copper was left alone to grind her teeth and find the only outlet for her feelings in throwing a stapler across the room to where Mal had been. She had worked her fingers to the bone for him and all he could do was quote the contract at her and demand sandwiches! How had she ever thought she was in love with him? He was arrogant, selfish and a bully, and she hated him!

Too angry to sit still, Copper paced around the office. So Mal thought she was obsessed with business, did he? He hadn’t seen anything yet! All that was left to her out of the whole wretched business of her marriage was the chance to create a superlative new tourist location. Copper vowed to prove to Mal that “playing around” would produce the best tours in the country! She would show him just how obsessive she could be!

The atmosphere that evening was tight-lipped. Copper talked exclusively to Brett and was careful to say nothing that was not in some way concerned with the project. Mal himself hardly said a word, except to announce that he was flying to Brisbane the next morning and wouldn’t be back until the following day.

Copper told herself that she was glad to see him go, and was furious with herself for listening for his step on the verandah all day, or noticing how empty the doorway seemed without him. That evening she and Brett sat in the creaky wicker chairs and drank a beer together, and the very air seemed to echo with Mal’s absence.

Brett glanced at her shadowed face. ‘Have you and Mal had an argument?’

‘What makes you think that?’ said Copper, not without some sarcasm. It must have been obvious that she and Mal were hardly talking to each other.

‘Mal walked around looking like a thundercloud all yesterday and when I showed a bit of brotherly concern, and asked what was the matter, he bit my head off,’ said Brett ruefully. ‘Talk about bears and sore heads!’

It was no use pretending that nothing was wrong, Copper thought, and it wasn’t as if real couples never had arguments. ‘If you must know, he’s being impossible!’ she confided, and was comforted to find Brett such a sympathetic listener.

‘I know,’ he said with feeling. ‘I’ve been doing my best to avoid him for weeks! I’m not saying he isn’t a great bloke, but when he’s like that the only thing to do is take cover. You should have heard him when I forgot to check the jackaroos had finished the fencing the other day! He tore me into little pieces and threw me all over the paddock.’

Brett grimaced at the recollection and then shrugged it off. ‘If you think it’s hard being his wife, you should try being his brother sometimes,’ he said. ‘At least he’s in love with you.’

‘Is he?’ Copper was unable to prevent the bitter note in her voice. She couldn’t tell Brett the truth about her relationship with Mal, but she didn’t see why she should pretend that it was roses all the way either. ‘You’d never have guessed it if you’d heard him yesterday.’

‘He’s not very good at showing his feelings, that’s all.’ Brett shifted a little uncomfortably in his chair. ‘I haven’t said anything before, but he had a bad time with Lisa. I hated her,’ he said with sudden vehemence. ‘She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but she destroyed something in Mal. She made him hard and bitter and he was never the same again.’

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