Page 53 of Cinderella and the Outback Billionaire

Spiralling into the darkest depression.

His bedroom door opened but he made no move to open his eyes. Bridie wouldn’t have entered without knocking first. Judah wasn’t home. It could only be one other rather small person with no notion of the boundaries he was so desperate to enforce. ‘Uncle Reid,’ a little voice whispered. ‘Are you awake?’

‘Yes.’ He tried to make a point of not lying to minors.

‘Are you hiding?’

‘No.’ So much for telling the truth. ‘What’s up?’

‘Have you seen Fluffy-Wuffy?’

The grey terror? Bane of his brother’s life? Currently fast asleep on his back on Reid’s bed, and using Reid’s leg as a hot-water bottle? It was tempting, very tempting to say no. ‘He’s here.’

‘He naps a lot.’ Piper ventured closer. ‘So do you.’

This was true. Maybe Reid could ease back into truth-telling after all. ‘Yes. I’m resting and relaxing.’

‘Mum says that just because you look better, doesn’t mean you are.’ She’d reached the bed, her hand reaching out to pat the cat, who started purring up a storm.

‘She’s right.’ A pox on truth-tellers young and old.

‘Can you see good any more?’

Had she heard Bridie discussing that or had her own observations led to the obvious conclusion? ‘No. But I’m a rebel. One day I’ll make a robot eye that can see for me.’

‘I’m going to be a rebel too,’ Piper declared, and Reid smiled at her confident declaration. He had no doubt that his niece would test boundaries all her life. Judah tried to hold a strong and sensible line, Bridie less so, but this child was already such a force to be reckoned with. As an heiress to billions, would she grow up to resent people seeing her as a bank teller machine, wanting to be around her as a pathway to wealth and status? Or would she weed them out, as Reid had done over the years?

Would she find the Aris of this world without having to land at their feet in a broken heap?

He hoped so.

‘Do you want to play truck drivers with me?’

Did he have anything else to do?

Reid eased up onto one elbow, just as the cat decided to open those golden eyes and stretch his claws. ‘Try me,’ Reid told the formerly sleeping feline. ‘I dare you to use those on me. Make my day.’

Cats were smart. Fluffy-Wuffy merely rolled to a sitting position and began to wash his face. ‘What does playing trucks involve?’

‘We find an empty truck and get in and pretend to drive. You can give me a proper driving lesson if you want,’ his niece declared with a winning smile.

‘You’re nine.’

‘And I can almost reach the clutch.’

‘Piper, what did I tell you about not bothering Uncle Reid?’ A new voice had joined the throng, but Bridie didn’t venture any further than the doorway.

‘You said never wake a sleeping tiger but he was awake. And he’d kidnapped Fluffy-Wuffy!’

‘Lies. All lies,’ he mumbled in protest. ‘By all means, take the cat.’

‘I’ve just had a call from Ari,’ Bridie said. ‘She mentioned she’d been trying to reach you.’

‘Uh-huh. I’ve been asleep.’

‘Her contract terms state that someone needs to do a final inspection of site six and sign off on it. I’ve done the first five. You want to take this last one? You could organise a pilot and get up to the site this afternoon. She tells me this one is the crew’s favourite. Her favourite too. She’s incredibly talented. Her outdoor spaces are such sensory escapes.’

‘Then tell her we’ll waive the inspection clause and sign off on it and she can be on her way.’ A pillow hit him in the head and sent an unexpected jolt of adrenalin through his system. ‘Hey, mind the skull!’

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