‘Who the hell organised this?’ Liam pointed to the sign. The silence rang. Faces turned to him, all blank, a little stupefied.
Liam strode to the delivery men unloading the rest if the signs from their truck. ‘Do either of you know who signed off on these signs?’
‘We just work in the warehouse, but I can ring the boss,’ one of the men said.
Liam centred his gaze on the man. ‘Do. Now.’
He waited, listening to every word of the phone call. The man wrote a name on a torn piece of paper and handed it to Liam. ‘Boss said a man by the name of Ray.’
‘Don’t worry. I know his number.’ Liam flipped open his phone and speed dialled Ray’s mobile number.
‘Ray speaking.’
Liam didn’t dally with preamble. ‘Who gave you authorization on the signage? Everything should get passed through me.’
‘I thought Mr. Sinclair told you.’ Ray sounded satisfactorily petrified.
‘Tell me what he told you to do.’
There was a pause and a sound of the microphone being smothered, then, ‘Liam?’
Liam took a moment as his mind comprehended the owner of the voice.
‘Dad?’
He rubbed his forehead with his fingers. He had a sinking feeling this situation was not going to be as simple as firing Ray and re-ordering a sign.
‘What’s this all about?’
Liam paced the footpath and told his father in as few words as possible about the sign and the article.
‘I approved both. Time for Upper Crust to develop; change with the times. All part of a national roll-out plan.’
‘Dad — those aren’t our recipes to roll-out. And I didn’t give you permission to use my name in any PR.’
‘You’re the boss down there. Thought it was better to use your name. Don’t tell me you’re worried about that Clover woman. What’s she going to do? Take us to court? This is business. Only the biggest and the hungriest survive in this business.’
Liam spun on the balls of his feet and headed back over the footpath. He purposefully unclenched his jaw.
‘That’s stealing, Dad. Not to mention plagiarising my name’
‘Upper Crust is a big fish in the ocean, and she’s nothing but a tadpole. Don’t worry. This’ll all blow over and you won’t hear from her again.’
That’s what Liam was afraid of. Stealing was way beneath Upper Crust and he was more than surprised at his father’s immoral attitude. The time they spent was getting leaner the more the years drew on, he didn’t recognise his father’s arrogance. Although he was used to his father playing hard-ball, always proud that he led the business world in terms of free thinking and business practice, he never resorted to stealing.
‘This isn’t good, Dad.’
‘I’ll give the girl her due. The lunch she cooked was good. I was impressed…’
‘You could have simply told her that instead of stealing her recipes,’ Liam said.
There was a pause. ‘I hope you took my advice and haven’t taken things further with this girl.’
Liam ground his teeth. It was none of his father’s business what he did with whom. He didn’t want to go into this right at this moment, knowing Henry wouldn’t have anything good to say about Clover and he wasn’t sure how he’d react. Listening to Henry verbally denigrate Clover would be too much to take and keep his mouth shut.
‘Leave her. She’s only after your money. That’s all women ever want from men like us. Learn that young and it’ll save you a lot of heartache.’ The phone went dead. Liam put his mobile in his pocket.
Right at the moment he wanted to smash something, but knowing it would only be a futile waste of energy, he clenched his hands into fists, reined in his anger and waited for it to fade.
Liam watched the closed door to ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ from his position across the street. The windows reflected his side of the street, picking out the large Upper Crust sign the men were attaching to the outside of the shop. Clover wasn’t using him for his money. The more he mulled the thought over, the angrier he got.
His father was wrong. His father was plainly in the wrong. And that didn’t sit right in his gut, no matter who it affected. But this was Clover. Sweet, honest, hard-working Clover who wanted nothing from him, but — him.
He was going to straighten out this mess. Now. He shouldered his coat firmly against the cold as he walked across the street.
Her silhouette was visible through the reflection of the front window. She was talking with someone. Liam slowed as he stepped onto the footpath, wondering if he should interrupt. The urge to throw open the door and have her in his arms listening to him was overwhelming. This might be his only opportunity today. She might disappear to the hospital to visit her mother and he’d have to wait and he didn’t want to wait.
He stilled, watching her. She turned and caught his glance through the window. He was blinded by a mix of relief and wariness, and something else. Something so out of place he hadn’t seen it in her eyes before. A call for help that had him striding to the door, tearing it open and moving to her without hesitation.
There were men in the café. Large men standing between the tables, taking up space and filling it with intent that made him step around Clover and use his body as protection.
He felt her fingers pressing on his arm. ‘Liam…it’s okay.’
He took one look at the skinny man with black greasy hair. He’d met all sorts of men in business, and this was the type of man with whom he refused to trade. ‘The hell it is.’
The man stretched his mouth in a semblance of a smile that did nothing to remove the snake-like gleam in his eyes. They were eyes that missed nothing if it served an underhanded purpose another time. He stretched his hand towards Liam. ‘Lenny Winter. Glad to make your acquaintance.’
Liam eyed his hand, but refrained from taking it. He turned his head to speak with Clover, not taking his eyes off the man. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘Nothing. It’s…between us.’
Lenny’s smile turned into a smirk. ‘That’s right. Just between us. Now if you don’t mind…’
‘I do. Tell me what this is about. Now.’
Lenny’s face faltered. The smirk died as he looked from Clover to Liam. A knowing expression formed on his face. ‘I see. Like that is it?’
‘What it is, is none of your business. Now tell me what you want with Clover.’
‘Have your own bodyguard do you, lovey. That makes things interesting.’
‘He’s not my bodyguard,’ Clover said, stepping out from behind Liam.
Liam barely refrained from sweeping her behind him, but he didn’t want an argument between them to take place in front of Lenny. Show any weakness and it would be more information to use against them. Didn’t she know what type of man this guy was? His mates behind him didn’t look much better. In fact, they looked like they were just waiting for the right word from Lenny to do things he didn’t want them to do. ‘Anything you say to Clover, you can say in front of me,’ Liam said.
‘Like that, is it? Well, looks like I might get my money after all.’
Liam frowned, turning to Clover. ‘Money?’ He thought she had an arrangement with the bank, not with the likes of a man like this. Surely she knew better.
She confirmed the worst. ‘I told you. I don’t have it. I ran into some…’ she glanced at Liam, ‘difficulties yesterday. I’ll have it by our normal day.’
‘I told you I want it earlier this week.’
‘You can’t change our arrangements,’ Clover said. Liam detected the strain in her voice, felt the nerves pushing her closely held restraint. She was doing a good job, given the situation she’d just come from.
‘I can. And I will.’
The men looked edgy. Liam had to get this man out. Then he was going to sit Clover down and she was damn well going to tell him about this mess.
‘Is this arrangement written and signed by both parties?’
Lenny eyes dodged over Liam’s face, as though trying to make sense of what he said.
Liam took the opportunity that silence gave him. ‘If there is no contract and no signatures, then legally there’s nothing Clover needs to pay you for.’
‘I rang her two days ago and told her what I wanted.’
Liam lifted a brow and sent him his best look of intimidation. It worked in court and he sure as hell hoped it worked now.
‘Shall we share this with the police? There’s a station in Belgrave. I’m sure they won’t take long to get here and help us with this little…disagreement.’
Lenny’s eyes darted to the floor, and when he looked at Liam it was with barely controlled anger. ‘Regular time. Regular day.’ He indicated to the men behind him to follow him. He walked past Clover, taking time to train narrowed eyes on her as he passed. ‘Looks like he saved your bacon this time, lovey. Make sure you pay me the money, or I take your house.’
Liam stepped in front of Clover, taking Lenny’s attention as he moved. ‘As you agreed. Same time and place. You — and those two — don’t need to come here again.’
Lenny sneered as the words sunk in. Without another word he stepped around them. Liam refused to move to let them pass, so they had to manoeuvre around him. He could play at intimidation, only the way he played it wasn’t on defenceless women, with two thugs as bodyguards.
At last the door swung shut behind them and Liam watched the three men stride to a car and pile into it. He watched it drive off, noting the number plate. Clover didn’t move even though the car had disappeared onto Burwood Highway.
Her eyes were a deep black, shining and depthless. Purple circles were under her eyes, her lips were just another shade of white. Something was very wrong. Frowning, he held the back of his fingers to her cheek. She was freezing. And still. In shock.
He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her arms, her back, adjusting his coat so that she was pressed against his chest, both of them enveloped in the material.
‘It’s okay. I’m okay,’ she repeated.
Her voice was small and he didn’t believe a word of it. He continued to hold her. He stopped rubbing her, instead enfolding her in his embrace, keeping her tucked tight up against his chest. He put his chin on the top of her head, breathing in her aroma of lavender shampoo and something uniquely feminine. Exclusively hers. After a little while she stopped shivering and her breathing became steady and deep.
Taking her by the arm, he sat her down at a table, switched the door sign to closed and sat opposite her. ‘Tell me what all that was about.’
She groaned, resting her forehead in the palm of a hand. ‘It’s all such a mess.’ She sounded so bone-tired.
‘What possessed you to do business with a man like that?’ Liam demanded. Couldn’t she see that man was a slime-bag?
‘I didn’t. It was Dad…he needed money. The mortgage was stretched to the limit. The banks wouldn’t lend him anymore, so he went to Lenny. He was being pressured by competition and he needed to do something for his business. When Dad died, Lenny made it more than clear the loan was still valid and I’ve been doing my best to pay him back.’
The severity of her situation hit him. She owed money and faced a lifetime of paying everything off. No wonder she was so nervous about his business starting up over the street. ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ was all she had. Her only chance to keep her head above water.
‘Plus the mortgage. And the loan for your café.’
‘And the bills,’ she said. She sighed, clenching and unclenching her fingers.
‘Why did your father turn to a man like Lenny for money?’
Clover sighed. Deeply. She was utterly wrung out, but he needed to know what had happened. He sat and just waited, willing her to fill the silence. Finally she lifted her gaze and settled it on Liam.
‘Dad owned a nursery. Just a small one, but it made ends meet. He grew seedlings and gave them away. To people who lived in the community. To local parks. Schools. Vegetables for gardens. They used to come back and give him some of the vegetables they grew with them. He’d come home with all sorts of odds and sods of vegetables. I loved it.’ She smiled briefly, then her mouth drooped.
‘Then a Banksia nursery opened up not so far away. Good range. Better prices. National brand. Dad tried his best but it didn’t work. He wanted to meet them head on. Expand. So he borrowed money…and more money…’ She grew silent, lost in her own world.
Finally, ‘They were after big profits.’
Liam joined the dots and realised what he represented to her. Money. Big business. Faceless. ‘Like me.’
Her gaze dropped to the table top. She swirled a smattering of sugar with her finger tip.
‘Things got worse and worse. They more than undercut our prices. Less than the market rate anyone could find anywhere. I don’t blame people who went there. They had to make their dollar stretch, too. Just that our dollar stretched less than the Banksia. They held such low prices we couldn’t compete. Then it was just a time game and we lost.’
‘I’m sorry, Clover.’ And he was. Sorry that it had happened to her, sorry that she’d had those experiences as a child. Sorry that anyone needed to work as hard as she did.
She needed an injection of cash. Badly. His father’s words came back to haunt him. Doubt made his insides clench with disbelief. His father couldn’t have been right about Clover. He tried to shake off the doubt, but it stuck.
‘Four-Leaf Clover’ might not be her only chance. He was her other chance.
He didn’t want to accept the possibility. But it was staring him right in the face. He had the means to pay off all her bills and keep her in luxury for the rest of her life. The cold knot in his stomach travelled through his chest to clog his throat.
Was that the reason she made love to him? Was it because of his money? He couldn’t deny the possibility. His father had told him and he’d put it down to the words of a disillusioned old man. He couldn’t deny that there was wisdom behind his words. But sitting opposite Clover, seeing the weariness etch disappointment on her face, he had to ask himself. Were her feelings real, or had she been lying to him? Playing a game for his money. It was the oldest game in the world.
Anger exploded in his chest. Anger that his father was right. Anger that her father had done such a stupid thing and put her in such a mess she had to resort to find someone with money if she hoped to have a chance at any kind of life.
Anger that he had been stupid enough to fall for her and think that she wasn’t like the women Henry told him about.
‘So stupid!’
Clover straightened. ‘I’m not stupid. I have been dealing with them for years. Quite well until you showed up. You shouldn’t have come here.’
‘It was damn lucky I did. Those thugs were ready to rip your café apart.’
Clover huffed. ‘If they did that, then how would I be able to pay them?’
Her answer confirmed everything. The cold knot formed into a shard of jagged ice. The answer came back strong and hard. It was him. He could help her and she had let him see just what a mess she was in. And it wasn’t a little mess. It was a mess that was a life sentence. He looked at her wordlessly, not wanting to speak the thought in his mind. Not wanting to believe he could think like that.
Her eyes narrowed, then opened wide. Horror filled their lovely depths. ‘You think that’s why I…how could you?’ she gasped. ‘I thought I made it perfectly clear I don’t want money from you.’
She had, but when you had money, everyone wanted it. But dare he hope? Dare he think that his first instinct was right? That she wanted him. Just him. His mind spun with years of his father telling him about women.
The thing was, he was so stuck on her that he would pay her debts. Happily. But with that came the doubt that she liked nothing else about him. For his own peace of mind he had to know. As hard as it might be, he had to ask.
‘Do you?’
Clover shook her head. Her eyes frosted and he actually felt the chasm opening up between them.
‘If you don’t know by now, you never will.’
He tilted on the edge, wanting her closeness, but stuck. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t decide. He needed time to arrange his thoughts. To stop them from spinning.
‘I just came to tell you…my father ordered the sign and the article.’
Clover crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. ‘Your father. Why aren’t I surprised. What are you going to do about it?’
‘There’s nothing I can do. He’s made a business directive.’
‘He’s got you right where he wants you. Stop making excuses and start thinking for yourself. That’s one thing my father taught me how to do, and at least it’s keeping my head above water. I might be poor, but I have choice. And I don’t use people for their money — or steal their livelihoods straight from under their nose.’
‘Henry did what he thought appropriate.’
‘So did my father. And it was wrong.’ Her voice was strained.
‘Your father left you in a financial mess. What sort of parent would do that? At least Henry cares enough to see Connor and I get as much out of life as possible.’
‘As long as it suits him. And my father didn’t mean to leave us in a financial mess. He died because of the stress. He was trying his best to help us the best he knew how.’ Clover rose from her seat. ‘Now I’m helping my mother. That’s what families do. That’s what people do when they love each other. They don’t think the worst of them. They don’t manipulate. And they don’t accuse the other person of being…so low that they share their… bodies for what they can get off them.’ Her voice cracked.
Holly burst through the door, panting heavily, perspiration making her face shiny.
‘Why haven’t you been answering the phone?’ she demanded.
‘The phone was taken off the hook.’ Clover looked at her. ‘Lenny wanted the conversation undisturbed.’
Holly held out her mobile to Clover. ‘It’s your mother. Something’s happened. Ring the hospital. Now.’