Page 105 of Stockman's Sandstorm

Forty-seven

Ash couldn’t sleep. Instead, he sat watching Mason sleep in his cot, with Ruby snuggled in her soft dog bed nearby.

All day yesterday, Mason had looked for Harper. His room had her scent, there were still some items that belonged to her in the bathroom, her bedroom, even in Mason’s room, that Ash kept expecting her to walk through the door any second.

Yet she’d hurt him in the deepest way possible.

It was a stark reminder why he never got close to any female. It’s why he kept that two-week shelf-life on dating—if they made it that long. He did it for the carefree lifestyle, his lack of commitment, skipping on the responsibility. The two-week dating rule was supposed to protect him so he could avoid all the pain and drama of being in a relationship. Harper was a prime example of why he had a two-week rule, when she’d been here eighteen days.

And the thought of Harper potentially stealing his son had him grinding his teeth.

His. Son. Mason Riggs deserved to be here, because this was his home. The work Ash was doing wasn’t for himself anymore. This was a legacy he would pass down to his son.

Filled with fiery annoyance, he stormed out the front door, in dire need of fresh air to calm down. Harper had betrayed him. Leaving his heart to ache as if she’d smashed it with a branding iron, it struggled to work.

Why didn’t she tell him who she was from the beginning? If Harper had said who she was then, even at the supermarket, he probably would have gladly handed the kid over—like hell he’d do that now.

At the outdoor table, he spotted the new coffee machine, complete with cups and sugar, set below the whiteboard. He rolled up his sleeves and made a pot of coffee. As the caffeine aroma filled the air, he dragged out the papers and started scribbling on the new whiteboard. He had to focus on something other than Harper. He wanted to forget she ever existed, and the best way to do that that was by tackling the mother of all problems—the issue of saving his home.

???

It was hours later when the kitchen screen door creaked, and Ryder’s heavy boots thundered down the side verandah. ‘Morning.’

‘Ryder.’ Ash sipped his coffee, his eyes on the whiteboard. ‘Coffee’s hot.’

Ryder poured himself a cup. ‘That’s the first time you’ve made coffee in the morning.’

Ash winced, rubbing the back of his neck. He’d been an idiot, not only with his slack work ethic, but to Ryder personally. The man who had made their dream of owning a station a reality. ‘Well, it won’t be the last.’ He had a lot to make up for.

‘What’s this?’ Ryder nodded at the whiteboard covered in text and diagrams.

‘I’ll wait for Dex and Cap, to explain it all at once.’ He pointed to Dex coming from the sheds.

Dex jumped up onto the porch, poured his coffee and took a long deep sip. ‘Man, that’s your best brew yet, Ryder.’

‘I didn’t make it. Ash did.’

Dex arched an eyebrow at Ash. ‘Do you need to borrow your son’s night nappies to not wet the bed in the future?’

‘Did I hear right? Ash made the coffee?’ Cap, with his entourage of dogs, casually strolled around the corner.

‘It’s good, too.’ Dex even raised his cup in a salute to Ash, before taking his seat at the table.

‘What’s going on?’ Cap, with coffee in hand, sat beside Dex. His dogs lay across the dried lawn as the sky became a soft salmon pink, where a faint yellow glow grew on the distant horizon. A flock of white cockatoos screeched, and the fresh aroma of outback air carried on the breeze.

Ryder leaned back in his chair at the head of the table. ‘Ash has something to say.’

Ash stood at the other end of the table and faced his brothers. ‘First, I want to say I’m sorry. I wasn’t pulling my weight, I was being slack, and unfocused. But after nearly losing my son …’ he said, patting at his constricted chest, ‘… the fear of Mason being taken away from us, our home—’

‘It hit home at what we’re doing?’ suggested Dex, without any malice.

Ash nodded. ‘I wasn’t committing myself to anyone or anything. I was being irresponsible because it was just me, and if I got into trouble, I didn’t care. But that all changed.’ In the biggest wake-up call of his life. ‘I want to change, not just for you or me, but for my son’s sake. It’s time I put family first and stopped being so selfish.’ It was time for Ash to grow up.

‘So, this is my wish list.’ He pointed to the whiteboard. ‘This is what I know I can do, that will save us time and money. I suggest we start by modernising some of our processes, using precision agriculture technologies, involving the use of drones, sensors, and GPS systems. I know these technologies, I’ve used them extensively, and have seen firsthand how they can optimise our crop management, effectively monitor our livestock, and enhance the station’s overall efficiency, including cutting down on our fuel costs and saving us precious time.’

‘Who are you, and what have you done with our baby brother?’ Dex grinned.

‘Don’t listen to him, keep going,’ urged Cap.

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