Page 28 of Stockman's Stowaway

Eleven

‘Everyone, this is Mia Dixon.’ Cap swallowed hard as he stood on the edge of the farmhouse verandah in the late afternoon, with Mia beside him. He’d never been so nervous for his brothers to meet a girl before. Which was dumb when they weren’t even dating.

Some grown-up man he was, for fate’s sake. Cap wasn’t like his younger brother, Ash, who used to go through women like flipping the pages of a magazine, easily setting them aside for the latest release that walked on by. Until he met Harper, that is. Nor was Cap anything like Dex, who was so mean to women, he’d toss them aside like some sweat rags he’d used after a fight—and yet the women flocked to him over it. Why? He had no idea.

It was just another reminder of how clueless he was when it came to women.

Still, he was here for a reason, all to do with a certain female. ‘Mia, that’s Ryder at the head of the table.’

Ryder nodded. His cold dark eyes narrowed at Mia while remaining expressionless as always. Ryder hadn’t trusted Harper when she’d first arrived at the station, and he’d been proven right. Sort of.

‘That’s Dex.’ Cap glowered at Dex in warning as he spoke through clenched teeth. ‘No betting, Dex. I mean that.’ The protectiveness he had over Mia was strong.

‘I lost the last bet. Bree fleeced me for a couple hundred already.’ Dex tilted his head, wearing that evil smirk. It was either a smirk or a scowl, rarely anything else in between when it came to Dex. ‘Mia.’ Dex gave a curt nod.

‘Hi.’ Mia jammed her hands into the pockets of her baggy overalls, that she looked comfy in. The bruising was fading to a yellow. Her hair was a wavy mess, but it beautifully framed her delicate features. With the touch of dirt on her cheek blending with her smattering of freckles, she looked like a very pretty farmer, he hadn’t been able to stop watching while working with her these past two days.

‘Hey, I’m Ash.’ Still wearing the baby carrier, he wore on the days he had Mason with him on horseback, Ash carried five beers from around the corner and offered one to Mia. Like the rest of his brothers, Ash’s deep tan blended with the layer of dirt they all wore from working in the yards all day.

‘Here, give me this.’ Cap took Mia’s beer bottle and popped the cap using the edge of the table, then held it out to Mia.

‘Thanks.’

‘While you’re there, brother.’ Dex nodded at his unopened beer resting on the table.

Cap rolled his eyes and opened Dex’s, Ash’s and his own beer, tossing the caps into the large coffee tin on the table.

Mia pointed her beer at Ash. ‘Are you Harper’s partner?’

‘That I am.’ Ash gave a goofy lovesick grin, as he unclipped the baby carrier, before flipping his chair around to sit on it like a saddle at their outdoor table.

‘I met your son, Mason, earlier. He’s adorable.’

‘He doesn’t look so adorable now, covered in dirt. But he’s happy, messing up the house.’ Ash sat taller to peer inside the open windows.

‘Hey, Mason called me Uncle Cap this morning.’ Cap pulled out a chair, even dusting it for Mia to sit at the table beside him.

‘Little mongrel calls me Dick,’ complained Dex, tilting back to balance on the back legs of his chair.

Cap chuckled with Ash, because Dex could be a prize dick.

‘Is that your latest rescue?’ Ryder pointed at the kelpie sitting at Mia’s feet. Willow kept close to Mia, while the rest of Cap’s dogs lazed on the lawn. He’d trained the muster dogs to avoid the farmhouse verandah, which belonged to Sarge, the big shepherd, who kept guard at the far corner of the house facing the driveway. While inside the house were the other two ex-police dogs Ruby and Scout, lapping up life as house pets.

‘She’s a stunning pure bred.’ Cap patted Willow, who’d surprisingly taken no time to trust him, like most dogs.

‘Are you going to use her for mustering?’

‘She’ll need to build up some stamina for that first. But I’m keen to try her out in the drafting yards. Mia has agreed to help. She used to help her dad with his sheep.’ Cap was grateful at how eagerly Mia got involved with the work, considering what she’d been through.

‘Kelpies are a good breed.’ Ryder gave a brief nod as he twisted off the beer cap from his bottle and tossed it into the tin on the table, where the bottle cap clinked among the others.

‘Has anyone asked Charlie or Bree about the branding iron?’ asked Ash. ‘We could also use their help.’

‘Charlie’s in, said so yesterday,’ replied Ryder, before taking a deep pull of his beer.

‘What about Bree?’

‘I asked her this morning,’ said Cap.

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