His Australian Heiress by Margaret Way Page B

like a gazelle, reached them.
    â€œWhat’s up?” She looked from Bren to their friend Royce. Even as she said it, she knew. “Don’t tell me. Simon has turned up like the proverbial bad penny?”
    â€œHe wants aggro. He’ll get aggro,” Brendon bit off. “Royce and I will escort him back to his car.”
    â€œIs Carol with him?” Charlotte asked.
    â€œA plain girl? Well, sort of plain, a bit dreary, but nice ?” Royce asked. “Not Simon’s usual companion, that’s for sure. Mansfield is said to be smart, but I always thought he was pretty thick.”
    â€œDon’t let’s turn this into a major incident,” Charlotte said, thinking fast. “Leastways not yet. Not until we absolutely have to. I’ll go greet them. Act as if we were expecting them. I like Carol. I don’t think she’s had an easy life.”
    â€œYeah, in a convent?” quipped Royce.
    â€œI’ll come with you,” Brendon said.
    â€œNo, you won’t. Please, Bren.” Charlotte put her hand on his arm. “You’re like a red flag to a bull so far as Simon is concerned. I can handle him. Royce can come with me. He doesn’t have a black belt.”
    â€œJust another one of Bren’s skills,” said Royce, so admiring of his friend. Brendon was superbly fit. He worked at it.
    â€œThere’s no easy ride with your cousin, Charlotte,” Brendon warned. “He hates you. Therefore he has to be watched.” He didn’t add that there were minders out there keeping track of the evening’s events. But no one had told them to bar Simon Mansfield from the party. He was, after all, a member of the family.
    Royce took a deep breath, feeling like he had wandered onto a minefield. Unlike Brendon, he wasn’t equipped to dance with danger. “I’ll come get you if we need you, Bren,” he said, fully intending to act on his promise. Privately he thought Mansfield could be a bit of a nutter. The rich seemed to have the idea they were somehow above the law. Charlie and Bren aside, that was.
    * * *
    Charlotte gave her cousin a brilliant smile, mindful of the small curious crowd around the tree. She took a few steps forward to acknowledge Carol with a kiss on the cheek. “I was beginning to think you’d never turn up.”
    Carol’s frantic heartbeat slowed. Simon answered for both of them. “Wouldn’t miss your party for the world,” he cried. “We had to see the Cornells first. The tree looks splendid, Charlotte. Happy birthday, by the way. Your present is the one with the emerald and red bow.”
    â€œWhy, thank you. I did say not to bother with presents, but no one was listening,” Charlotte responded, grateful the temperature in the entrance hall had dropped a few points. “Come on through. The buffet is still open.”
    â€œThat’d be great!” Simon was affability itself. Seized again by the arm, Carol permitted herself a small, relieved smile. Charlotte looked glorious, she thought. A golden girl and so kind . She had been praying right through the trip to Clouds. She hoped with all her heart that God had listened. Not that He always did, in her experience. Inside the living room a seriously good group of musicians was playing a medley of popular tunes.
    Back in the living room, Charlotte watched her cousin amble up to a group who knew him. Nobody appeared in a rush to greet him, but after a minute or two, with Simon on his best behaviour and his girlfriend so obviously nice and refined, everyone settled.
    â€œWell then?” Charlotte waited for Brendon’s response.
    Brendon drew a quick, hard breath. “I don’t trust him, Charlotte. He’s going to string everyone along and then he’s going to let fly. You took the wrong course. Royce and I could have ejected him.”
    â€œWhat else could I do?” Charlotte’s eyes were sparking. “He