Page 6 of Stockman's Stowaway

‘I can’t leave you on the road like this.’ Not when Cap wanted to bundle her up and keep her safe. ‘Come on, this road only goes one way. And Charlie’s right, Bree will help you.’ Cap trusted the brassy redhead.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Elsie Creek Station. Home.’ From inside the dog cage, he dragged out a small backpack. ‘Is this yours?’

‘Yeah, thanks.’ She hugged it like a security blanket.

Inside the cage lay large sacks of dry dog food. Nearby, his dogs sat watching, no tails wagging, no barking. Nothing. All of them looking at him with guilty eyes. ‘Where were you hiding?’

‘Behind the dog food.’

He shut the cage door on his abnormally quiet canines. ‘Good dogs.’ That got their tails wagging, because usually no one got within six feet of the Tojo without the dogs going ape.

They must have known something was wrong. And Cap always trusted his dogs’ instincts over humans any day. ‘We’ll take you home, so you can work out what you want to do next. You’ll be safe there, I promise.’ It’s what he promised all the dogs he’d rescued, and he’d never turned away a stray—but this was his first time picking up a human stray, when he did his best to avoid people.

Tucking the first-aid kit back behind his seat, he started the truck and waited. Would she climb in? Or run?

Four

Mia searched the road for a sign, but there was nothing but red dirt and dry paddocks surrounding them. She had wanted a lift out of town, and she got that, but it didn’t leave her with much choice of where to go.

Yet, Cap seemed like a friend to that policeman, earlier in town, and the old guy seemed harmless enough, and she had—

‘Come on, girlie.’ Charlie took off his hat and held it to his chest, his eyes sombre, as he held open the passenger door. ‘We’re the good guys. Swear it on my precious wife’s soul we are.’

‘Yeah, all right.’ She gingerly climbed into the cab. It was old and dusty, but well taken care of. Assorted trucker caps lined the front dashboard, while a sun-faded red dog’s collar hung from the rear-view mirror. Stuck in the middle of the seat, she tried to make herself smaller to avoid touching the two men’s shoulders. ‘Is your name Cap from all the hats?’

‘You could say that.’

‘I like your truck. You don’t see many of these around.’ But she saw Cap’s big hands, callused and strong, on the steering wheel. His wrists were thick, and his forearms were muscular with thick veins hinting at this guy’s muscles, that could do some damage, if they wanted to.

‘I don’t like trucks that are full of computers and electric gadgets. If you have a problem, you can’t fix them when you’reout in the middle of the scrub.’ Cap put the beast into gear, and it began rolling towards what she hoped was a good thing. Even though her face pounded, the icepack was a true blessing. But what was she doing, squeezed into the front, between two strange men?

Cap casually gave her a side glance. His eyes were a rich malt-whisky colour, the kind of colour that evoked thoughts of warm malted milk drinks before a winter fireplace. ‘You know, I’m happy to drive you back to town.’

She shook her head, only to wince at the headache. ‘I’m good.’ If she kept telling herself that, she might wake up from this nightmare any second now. ‘So, um, what do you guys do?’

‘Me, I’m an old stockman who’s pretending he’s retired.’ Charlie gave her a playful nudge, enough to make her smile, even if her fat lip hurt. ‘Cap there, runs the station with his brothers.’

‘How many brothers?’

‘Four of us. Ryder is the oldest. Then there’s Dex, me, followed by Ash, who has his partner, Harper, with him. They’ve got a boy, my nephew Mason there, too.’ Cap shared a grin at the mention of a child.

‘A family station.’

Cap nodded.

‘Do you live in the same house?’ she asked Charlie.

‘Nah, me and my granddaughter have the caretaker’s cottage.’

‘Which is better than the farmhouse, where two of my brothers live.’ Cap cracked a grin. ‘And then there’s Dex’s situation.’

‘Dex is squatting in the stockman’s shack.’ Charlie chuckled at some in-house joke.

‘And I’m renovating a demountable near the kennels.’ Cap then cleared his throat. ‘So, you’re at the mine?’

She plucked at the dirt and dog hair off her work shirt. ‘Was. I just finished my contract today. I was having knock-off drinks with the team.’

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