Page 3 of Stockman's Sandstorm

He dusted his hand and held it out to her. ‘I’m Ash, by the way.’

‘Harper Jamison.’ Her tiny hand was soft, but her handshake was strong, like someone who was used to shaking hands in boardrooms. ‘Ash is an unusual name.’

Was this the part where he told Harper her name was hot? ‘It’s short for Ashton. Ashton Riggs.’

Her pretty brown eyes widened to show specks of gold that caught the sun, and her dark hair was like shiny water.

‘Me and my brothers run Elsie Creek Station. That’s where I’m headed now, for a business meeting.’ The smile grew as he stood taller, adjusting his hat. It was so new being his own boss, no longer some lackey the way Harper had been looking down at him.

He checked his phone for the time. ‘If I wasn’t running late, I’d show you the way to town myself.’ Which sounded better than going to work.

Did he dare?

He could always shrug off another one of Ryder’s expected rants over responsibilities.

‘That’s perfectly fine, thank you. I’d hate to take up any more of your time. I’m sure I can find it.’ Harper slammed the boot shut and raced for the driver’s seat.

‘Don’t forget, first right, then follow it all the way to the bitumen, then left into town. I could show you—’

‘I’ve got it.’ The driver’s door slammed shut, the engine started, and she was off, doing a U-turn to leave him standing on the side of the road where a wave of dust washed over him.

‘The snooty thing.’ He grinned. Again, he glanced at his phone. Dammit, Ryder was going to kill him for being late.

Three

‘Why do I have to be the bore runner?’ Ash slapped his hat against his leg, facing his three older brothers seated at the table that took up the front corner of the porch. When they’d moved in a few weeks ago, the first thing they’d done, after they’d dumped their boxes into the farmhouse they only slept in, was to move the kitchen table outside to become their boardroom table for their morning meetings. That he’d missed again.

Ryder slid on his hat as he rose from the table. He was the oldest, and the biggest of the Riggs brothers. Part cattleman, part tough-as-nails ex-miner, along with a double dose of ex-military mean with a business brain. Even though Ryder had ice water in his veins, he was their bank, which made him the boss in the decision making. ‘If you’d bothered to show up on time—’

‘I was helping this lady change her flat tyre.’ He hoped Harper made it to town.

Ash shrugged, looking to Cap for help. Cap was normally the peacekeeper, the animal rescuing eco-warrior who usually backed up Ash. But today Cap wasn’t buying it either, giving a deep shake of his head.

‘Sure, you were.’ Dex rolled his eyes, which was a change from his permanent scowl. He was always scowling, always looking for a fight. Outside of the illegal fighting pits, the only one who’d take Dex on was Ryder—so those two were always bluing. ‘Are you sure you didn’t hit the snooze button to snuggle up to your date of the week?’

‘Well…’ Ash shrugged because that’s exactly what happened. ‘I’ll stay home tonight.’

‘Until the next buckle bunny catches your attention.’ Dex drained the last of his coffee cup.

‘So, what are you guys doing, then?’ It had to be better than cleaning stinking cattle slobber from the water troughs.

‘I’m taking the dogs and helping Ryder muster that small mob into the paddock we’ve finished fencing.’ Cap’s big team of cattle dogs were sprawled across the dead lawn that faced the sheds. Over on the other side of the house, on the front verandah lay the ex-police dogs—a lethal-looking shepherd, a labrador, and a beagle. Two packs, all of them rescued and loyal to one man, Cap, who preferred animals to humans.

‘Are you riding, Ryder?’ Ash could hoon around on the bike and skip doing troughs.

‘Nope. Chopper. It’s only a small mob. I want to check our water supply while I’m in the air. We’re heading into the deep part of the dry season and I want to see the damage to that dam.’

‘Starvation Dam, Charlie calls it.’ Dex rocked back on his chair’s legs. ‘He reckons it got smashed during some summer cyclone.’

‘It looks too clean to be storm damage.’ Ryder’s stern tone made Dex stop swinging in his chair. ‘I’ll know more today.’

‘Well, I’ll be fixing that truck we inherited to help haul our livestock.’ Dex slid on his hat, tucking his chair under the table. ‘And I’ll check the grader, in case of dam repairs.’

Which copped a nod of approval from Ryder.

‘Charlie said he’ll give you a hand with the troughs today, and show you where they are.’ Ryder’s boots trod heavily down the front wooden steps. ‘And Ash?’

‘Yeah?’

---