Page 17 of Stockman's Sandstorm

‘Charlie had a few. He was helping us with the security details. Bree, nothing. She wasn’t here long. She brought over a cot and highchair that were stored in one of the sheds.’ Ryder was a big man, with dark eyes narrowed at Harper, full of mistrust, the way soldiers used to look at her in foreign lands.

‘Bree never stays longer than ten minutes. She just says her piece and leaves.’ Dex gripped the roof’s railing and stretched out his spine, his shirt coming loose from his jeans to give a peek at his chiselled abs. ‘That brand is ours.’

‘What brand?’ Ash asked.

Harper peeked at Ash. Did he have a set of abs like Dex, like some family trait?

‘The Elsie Creek Station branding iron.’

‘Is that what Charlie was carrying?’ Ash pointed towards a small house, with a long corrugated fence along the side, but the front fence had tiny white fairy lights weaved around the edges. Faint rock music and the smell of a wood fire came from that direction.

‘We just found out that Charlie makes them.’

‘Who does, what? I’m sorry, I’m confused.’ If it wasn’t for little Mason, holding her hand from his playpen, Harper would have bolted from this bizarre scenario.

‘Have you ever worked on a cattle station?’ Ryder narrowed his cold, black eyes at her. His icy glare had her shivering.

‘No. Never.’ She never lied. But she knew how to play politics and hide the truth, and Ryder looked like the type of man who could tell if anyone was lying, and would waterboard you for information.

But how could she lie when she didn’t understand the context of their argument?

‘Hmm …’ Even Ryder’s voice was deep and cold. ‘Cap, give the boy his new toy.’

‘I bet twenty this nanny doesn’t last the week.’ Dex slammed twenty dollars onto the table while grinning evilly at Harper. ‘Any takers?’

What an arsehole!

‘Stop betting in front of the girl, it’s rude,’ said Cap as he approached, with a dog following him. ‘A brand is a combination of letters or marks we use on the cattle. Each station has their own registered brand that makes the cattle recognisable, so we can claim ownership over them should any wander. It’s just that, somehow, Charlie owns the Elsie Creek Station brand and has it registered under his name.’

‘Can’t we just design a new brand?’ Ash asked. ‘Being new owners and all.’

‘Elsie Creek Station’s brand is the same one created back in 1910. It’s a rare, legacy brand.’ Ryder snatched up his beer bottle with a snarl and drank deeply. ‘We just have to convince that old sod that brand is ours.’ He sat at the head of the table, as if the man in charge. ‘Whose turn is it to cook dinner?’

‘Mine.’ Cap gave Harper a soft smile. ‘Hope you like steak.’

‘Sure. When in Rome, right?’

‘What do you think about dogs?’ Cap nodded at the labrador, wagging its tail as it sniffed at the baby pen where Mason was trying to pat the dog. His squeals of excited laughter eased the tension in the air.

‘I don’t have a problem with dogs. I’ve always wanted one, but I was travelling too much with work to get one.’

‘I get you on the travelling.’ Cap patted the labrador. ‘This is Mason’s dog, Ruby. She’s a nanny dog.’

‘Cool.’ Ash nodded with approval.

‘I’m sorry, but aren’t I the nanny?’ Was she being replaced by a dog?

Cap crouched to pat the pale-coloured labrador that was watching Mason. ‘Ruby’s job is to watch over you both, in case of snakes and stuff.’

‘Snakes!’ Harper swallowed hard, her eyes darting to the exposed beams in the roof, covered in thick cobwebs.

‘Nah, I changed my mind. I’m only betting ten that she won’t make the next twenty-four hours.’ Dex grinned, swapping the twenty-dollar bill for ten.

Harper glowered at the ingrate, so tempted to make that bet on herself.

‘Ruby will stay in the house and under the boy’s cot,’ Ryder commanded. Leaving her no choice but to accept the dog.

She’d never had much to do with dogs. The ones she saw sat in doggy handbags carried by rich socialites in restaurants. But they seemed so happy, like Ruby with her wagging tale and smile, who made Mason smile—the same smile as his father.

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