Tasmanian Tangle by Jane Corrie Page A

that she was referring to the work, and then gave her an apologetic smile. 'As you say, it's just a question of getting used to it,' she said quietly.
    The same, she thought later that day as she left the offices, could be said for her new situation. She had to get used to it, for the next six months at least, and she fervently wished she knew what she could do when the
     
    six months were up. One thing was certain, she would not be staying on at Orchard Farm. Her eyes lingered on the familiar structure of her home as she arrived within the home boundary. The greyish stone walls of the house with its slightly pointed roof of red slates seemed to welcome her back, and she bleakly recalled the sheer happiness she had felt on her return home after the constant travelling. She had had no idea then that her stay was once again to be a brief one, but this time she would go for good. She wondered if Kade would move into Orchard House when he had bought her out. She gave a weary shrug. He would have to, there was Connie to consider. There was no point in keeping two establishments going, but that was no worry of hers, she thought, as she made her way down the paved drive bordered with flower beds and followed the path round the front of the house to the back quarters and the large kitchen where Connie would be preparing the evening meal.
    On her entry into the kitchen Connie, in the middle of putting a finishing touch to the pastry she had just placed over a pie dish, gave her a quick anxious look. 'How did it go?' she asked quietly.
    Tanya tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it appeared as more of a grimace. 'Oh, fine,' she said lightly, but on seeing Connie's frown deepen she exclaimed, 'Terrible, if you want the truth. And the truth,' she went on grimly, 'seems to be something everyone wants to keep from me.' She looked at Connie, now wiping her floured hands on a dishcloth. 'Did you know that Kade practically owns the place?' she demanded.
    Connie looked away from her accusing eyes and
     
    studied the pie she had just finished, and it seemed to remind her that it had to be put into the oven, and she did this before replying to Tanya. 'I'm not surprised,' she said in a fiat unemotional voice as she straightened up from the oven, then turned to look at Tanya. 'It's a pity you were away at that time,' she remarked slowly. 'You might have understood how things were. I told you that Kade had a bad time of it, so did your dad. He left the running of the business to Kade.' She pursed her lips. 'I know one thing though, that if it hadn't been for Kade you wouldn't have had a home to come back to. Why don't you try being grateful instead of condemning? If you think Kade took advantage of the fact that your father had lost interest in the business then you'd better think again.'
    Her eyes left Tanya's, and she looked out of the kitchen window towards the high shrubbery that protected the kitchen garden. 'No, I'm not surprised at all,' she went on. 'Your father started playing the stock markets. There's a rich killing if you know what you're doing, but if you don't,' she shrugged, 'then you go broke overnight.' She looked back at the despondent Tanya who was studying her small sandalled feet as if she had a feeling that she knew what was coming next. 'I loved your mother, but there was no denying that she hadn't the slightest idea of how to handle money. She'd never had to, you see, everything was settled for her, all she had to do was forward the bills, and I have a feeling that those bills got larger as time went on.'
    She had no need to spell it out, Tanya could guess the rest. Kade had said as much, hadn't he? she thought bitterly. She had been just as much to blame as her mother. It had never occurred to her to question that
     
    side of things, but if she had, she thought wretchedly, it wouldn't have got her anywhere. Her mother would have shrugged the query off as if it had been bad taste for Tanya to even think about such