Chapter 36

MATT KING had spent a highly satisfying day, whitewater rafting on the Tully River with his friends. It was good to be single and unattached, free to enjoy fun and games anytime he liked. At thirty, Matt figured he had a few more carefree bachelor years up his sleeve before marriage became a serious item on his agenda and he was not about to fall victim to any plans his grandmother might have to get him wed.

Today's activity had been the perfect excuse not to turn up at the Sunday luncheon she had organized for the purpose of introducing her latest female protégée to the family. Matt knew it was only delaying the inevitable. Sooner or later he would have to meet this Nicole Redman. He could hardly avoid her for the whole six months she was under contract to write the family history, especially as she was staying as a guest at King's Castle for the duration. Nevertheless, he was determined not to dance to his grandmother's tune.

The telephone rang just as he was about to settle down and watch a bit of television before going to bed. Feeling at peace with his world, and pleased with the neat little sidestep he'd performed today, Matt even smiled indulgently when he heard his grandmother's voice on the other end of the line.

"Ah! You are safely home, Matteo," she said, letting him know she disapproved of dangerous pursuits that risked life and limb for no good reason.

"Yes, Nonna. I managed not to drown or break any bones," he answered cheerfully.

"More good luck than good management," she muttered darkly before moving to the real point of her call. "Will you be in your bus depot office in the morning?" No ducking out of this one, Matt thought. Business was business and his grandmother knew his work routine. Midweek he moved around the tropical fruit plantations but Mondays and Fridays were spent with the transport company he'd developed himself, picking up the tourist dollar in a big way.

"Yes," he replied to the lead-in question, waiting for the crunch. "Good! I'll send Nicole along to you. I want you to give her a gold

pass so she can travel freely on any of your bus tours."

"Doesn't she have a car?" Matt asked very dryly, knowing he was about to be outmanoeuvred but putting in a token protest anyway.

"Yes. But the bus tours will give her a general feel of the area she will have to cover in her research and your drivers do give potted histories as they go."

"More gossip than fact, Nonna. The aim is to entertain, not cram with information."

"It adds a certain flavour that is distinctive to far North Queensland, Matteo. Since Nicole is not familiar with Port Douglas or its environs, I don't see it as a waste of time."

"A pity you didn't employ someone local who wouldn't have to start from scratch," he remarked.

"Nicole Redman had the qualifications I wanted for this project," came the definitive reply.

"Nothing beats local knowledge," he argued, strongly suspecting the qualifications had very little to do with writing a family history.

He was awake to his grandmother's matchmaking game. His two older brothers hadn't twigged to it and here they were, neatly married off to brides of their choice, or so they thought. Not that Matt had any quarrel with the women they'd wed. Gina and Hannah were beautiful people. It was just that he now knew they'd been Nonna's choices for Alex and Tony before his brothers had even met them.

Good thing he'd overheard her triumphant conversation with Elizabeth King at Tony's wedding, plus the voiced hope that she would be able to find a suitable wife for her third grandson. Matt had little doubt that Nicole Redman was the selected candidate.

She probably didn't know it, any more than he was supposed to know it, but that didn't change the game. Her arrival on the family scene repeated the previous pattern of his grandmother employing a young woman who ended up married to one of her grandsons. Since he was the only one left unmarried...

"Many people can do research and write down a list of facts, Matteo," his grandmother declared in a tone of arch disdain, applying her authority in no uncertain terms. "Having the skill to tell a story well is something else. I do not want an amateurish publication. This is important to me."

It was pure Isabella Valeri King...not to be denied. Even at eighty years of age she was still a formidable character and Matt loved and respected her far too much not to give in...a little.

"Sorry, Nonna. Of course it is," he quickly conceded. "You know best what you want and if a gold bus pass will help the project, I'm only too happy to assist."

It would only take a minute of his time. A brief meeting during business hours—no social obligation attached to it—would serve to satisfy his curiosity about what made Nicole Redman suitable for him in his grandmother's eyes.

"I thought you could also supply the road maps she will need when she does venture out by herself. Explain the various areas of particular family interest to her and how best to get there."

Matt could see the minute stretching to half an hour but there was no way he could refuse this reasonable request. "Okay. I'll have them ready for her." With all the plantations marked on them from Cape Tribulation to Innisfail. That would save time and evade the cosy togetherness his grandmother was undoubtedly plotting. "Thank you, Matteo. When would be most convenient for Nicole to call by?''

Never. He suppressed the telling word and answered, "Oh, let's say ten-thirty."

The call ended on that agreement and for quite some time afterwards, Matt mused on how very clever his grandmother was, keeping strictly to business, no hint of trying to push any personal interest, not even a comment on Nicole Redman as a person, simply pressing a meeting which was reasonably justified.

Could he be wrong about this plot? No, it still fitted the modus operandi.

His grandmother had produced Gina Terlizzi, a wedding singer, just as Alex was planning his wedding to a woman his grandmother didn't like.

With good reason, Matt had to concede. He hadn't liked Michelle Banks, either, and was glad Alex had married Gina instead. Nevertheless, it was definitely his grandmother's guiding hand behind the meetings which had brought the desired result.

Then she had trapped Tony very neatly, choosing Hannah O'Neill to be the new chef on his prized catamaran, Duchess. Never mind about her highly questionable qualifications to be a cook. Tony had made the mistake of giving their grandmother the task of interviewing the applicants and making the choice, which had allowed her to present him with a fait accompli which sealed his fate. Impossible to ignore Hannah's other qualifications when they were inescapably right in his face. Tony had been down for the count in no time flat.

Two protégées married to his brothers. Third one coming up.

Nicole Redman had to be aimed at him. The only question was...what ammunition did she have to shoot him into the marriage stakes? It certainly added a piquant interest to tomorrow morning's meeting.

He grinned with easy confidence as he switched on the television.

Didn't matter what it was, he was proofed against it. There was not going to be a honeymoon contract attached to the contract Nicole Redman had with his grandmother. No way was he ready to get married!