Page 96 of Stockman's Sandstorm

‘Dex, sit down. Let her speak.’ Ryder’s deep voice sliced through the air, yet it only heightened the tension. Thankfully, Dex listened.

‘Thank you. Now before anyone panics, it’s all fine. But …’ She took a deep breath and calmly explained the snake incident.

She paused as Cap went and checked over Ruby, giving her a nod to continue telling them about the vet’s prognosis for Ruby, and the letter from the mining company. ‘Don’t worry, I locked the front gate again when I came back from town, in case Leo wanted to come back.’

Ryder tore open the letter and quickly scanned the page. ‘Pfft. They’re dreaming.’ He passed the envelope to Dex, who held it out to Cap so they could both read it.

‘You said they’d make an offer, Ryder. But I thought they’d at least offer us more than what we’d invested into the place.’ Dex dropped the paperwork onto the table.

‘It’s their first offer. It won’t be their last.’ Cap opened the box to reveal the vials. ‘That’s a lot of antivenene for the dogs. This stuff isn’t cheap, you know.’

‘I had to get it. I hate seeing animals suffer, and the vet told me snakebite is common out here.’

‘It is.’ Cap nodded at her with pure gratitude. ‘Thank you, Harper.’

‘And I also picked up an antivenene kit and a first-aid kit for the farmhouse.’ She pointed to the massive white tin box with a red cross on it. It sat beside the new fire extinguisher and fire blankets. Should she dare organise a fire drill in the future?

‘I also put in a request for the landline to be re-connected for this house. And, when Ash comes back, he can put in the childproof locks, because I don’t know how to use a drill. And this is for you guys.’ She lifted a large whiteboard, her muscles achy from the heavy lifting she’d been doing these past few days, especially rearranging the lounge room for Mason.

‘Are you gonna draw us some pictures as part of your lecture?’ Dex rolled his eyes.

Ignoring the jerk, Harper continued with her plan. This wasn’t her first boardroom presentation in front of a hostile crowd. ‘This is for you guys to create a list for your jobs that need to be done, instead of—’

‘What would you know about running cattle stations?’ Dex was such a—ugh!

‘Nothing. But I know about organising and this will help. Instead of Ryder putting it down on his tablet’s list, and Ash having his separate list, you can create one big to-do list you can all see and delegate and cross off the board. I’ve even got a stack of colours so you can use a colour for each brother, so you’ll know what everyone is doing, keeping the workload transparent. You’re already having your meetings, so now you have a board.’

Dex’s scowl faltered, while Cap grinned and kept on eating. But Ryder thoughtfully stroked his chin, darkened with a four-day growth.

‘Where is Ash?’ She’d done this for Ash, so he could see he was part of the bigger picture and a valuable partner contributing to their team.

‘Ash is with Charlie. They found this old car in the Stoneys and they’re using the Razorback to tow it back,’ explained Cap.

‘It won’t take much to restore that car.’ Dex picked up his fork to resume eating. ‘Besides a service, a decent paint job, and some new whitewall tyres, it’ll polish up nicely.’

Harper didn’t know whether to sit or hover like an idiot. All that fretting for nothing.

Ryder leaned over and pulled out a chair for Harper. Giving her a slight nod, he resumed eating.

With a deep swallow, she finally sat gingerly at the table. This was huge. ‘Um, so …’ She tried to make small talk—no, she was making conversation! ‘What’s the deal with the car?’

‘They found this old FJ Holden tucked away in some side alley in the Stoneys.’ Cap dabbed his bread at the stew. ‘According to Ash, the car belonged to Charlie’s older brother, who’s been missing for sixty years.’

Forty-two

You could’ve knocked Ash over with an emu’s feather when he saw Harper seated at the table while his brothers ate. Just the sight of her had his pulse picking up, with a thirst to be near her. Pity he was covered in grease and dirt, and in dire need of a shower, with his stomach rumbling at the smell of food. ‘Did you cook, Harper?’

He’d missed her. Like really missed both her and Mason—when not that long ago he didn’t think of anyone else but himself. But now he hadn’t stopped thinking about Harper, trying to come up with ways to spoil her, to make Harper and Mason happy.

‘Bree, did. She said its leftovers.’ Harper stood awkwardly, going all shy on him. But it had his heart doing cartwheels, so tempted to drag her into his chest to kiss her. But not in front of his brothers shovelling food into their gobs.

‘Thanks, I’m starving.’ He grabbed a plate. ‘Please, stay.’ He grabbed her dainty wrist, so soft and warm.

‘I was going to check on Mason.’

‘Where is he?’

Harper pointed to the lounge room and Ash peered inside the house. There were no more boxes cluttering up the main living room, a wide-screen TV sat on the shelf playing cartoons, with Mason lying beside Ruby on a bean bag with toys scattered around him.

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