CHAPTER ONE

      EDEN LYLE cupped a band over her free ear, straining to hear the telephone over the hubbub in the airport departure lounge. Suddenly her unfocused gaze was caught and held by an arresting figure striding purposefully through the throng.

      ‘It can’t be,’ she murmured.

      ‘Can’t be who?’ came the ungrammatical response down the line.

      Eden dragged her attention back to her call. ‘I thought I saw my boss a moment ago.’

      Fiona’s chuckle crackled between them. ‘What would Slade Benedict be doing at Hobart Airport? I thought he was back at your office breaking in his new production assistant.’

      ‘You mean his new male assistant,’ Eden said with heavy emphasis. Her shoulder-length ash-brown hair fell forward, hiding the hurt which sprang into her amethyst eyes. It was hard to accept that Slade had brought in a man from outside his corporate communications company to fill the job she had worked towards for months.

      ‘Hey, I thought this trip was supposed to cheer you up. Forget chauvinistic Mr Benedict.’

      Eden’s sigh travelled down the phone. ‘You’re right as usual.’ Both of them knew how much Eden needed this break. Nothing had gone right lately, and now the pattern seemed set to continue. Only one flight was leaving Hobart this morning. Was Slade planning to be on it? ‘What is he doing here?’ she voiced her misgivings.

      ‘He might be meeting someone off the Melbourne flight,’ Fiona reasoned, trying to defuse the tension in Eden’s voice.

      Although she murmured agreement, Eden’s eyes remained fixed on the man. It probably wasn’t Slade at all. The fact that he stood a head taller than the people around him and his wide shoulders strained the impeccable lines of a designer business suit didn’t mean it was her boss. Lots of men were tall and broad.

      But they didn’t all move with the lithe grace of a predator stalking its terrain, she thought. The easy confidence of the man’s movements was disburbingly familiar, as was his gesture when he lifted a long-fingered hand to brush a strand of charcoal hair back behind one ear.

      ‘Eden, are you still there?’

      At Fiona’s sharp tone, she made an effort to concentrate on the call which she had initiated, after all. ‘Yes, I’m still here. I wanted to be sure that Mum has settled down all right. Just lately, I’ve had the feeling that something’s bothering her, but she can’t or won’t tell me what it is.’

      Fiona sighed. ‘Whatever it is, she’ll tell you when she’s ready. Now stop worrying. Shepherd House is the best place she could possibly be. I know, I worked there myself for a time and they have tons of expertise in genetic problems like your mother’s. Believe me, they’ll take excellent care of Peggy.’

      ‘I don’t want her to be unhappy. I know we haven’t always been as close as I’d like but...’

      ‘But she’d be even less happy if you don’t take this holiday,’ Fiona insisted. ‘Do you think she doesn’t know what a burden she’s become to you? Maybe that’s what she’s been trying to tell you.’

      ‘She isn’t a burden,’ Eden denied hotly. ‘Although she’s a little difficult at times, she’s still my mother and I want the best for her.’

      ‘As I’m sure she appreciates. But if the roles were reversed wouldn’t you want to give your daughter a break if you could?’

      ‘I suppose so.’ Eden hadn’t considered it from her mother’s point of view. Given Peggy’s sometimes over-possessive behaviour, it had come as a surprise when she insisted that a small legacy be used to pay for a spell in a nursing home while Eden took a much needed holiday. Fiona had reduced her fees to the bare minimum, but paying her to look after Peggy during the day left nothing over for holidays, far less pay for full-time care while Eden went away.

      ‘You’ve been so good to us, Fiona,’ she said, her voice catching.

      ‘Get away with you.’ Fiona’s Scottish brogue coloured her voice, betraying her emotions. ‘Your mother was a pleasure to look after.’

      ‘We’ll miss you,’ Eden added. ‘Don’t forget to send us a postcard from Scotland.’

      ‘I’ll miss you, too.’ The nurse was taking a holiday of her own to visit relatives in her birthplace. ‘Send me a card yourself, if you aren’t too involved with some gorgeous Queensland hunk.’

      ‘Fat chance,’ Eden laughed, but felt a pang as she hung up the phone. She had tried romance only once, with a man she’d met through work. Joshua Robinson had seemed like the ideal man for her, tender yet strong, and lots of fun to be with.

      Their dates had been limited to the times she could afford to pay Fiona for after-hours care for her mother. Joshua didn’t seem to mind, telling her how much he admired what she was doing for Peggy. ‘There aren’t many girls like you, Eden,’ he had told her admiringly.

      He was right in a sense. Not many girls had her problems to cope with. When Joshua found out what they were, the relationship had come to a sudden end.

      Anguish darkened her eyes. Telling herself she was better off without him didn’t help. The memories of the good times were too powerful. She’d been so sure of him.

      Just