Page 6 of Stockman's Showdown

Ryder groaned, barely containing his frustration. The fact that his brothers insisted on bringing along these inexperienced women had his eyeballs wanting to roll back in his head for good. Come on, this wasn’t a tourist trail ride, it was a muster. It was a job. Simple.

But his younger brothers couldn’t bear being one night away from their ladies. They’d even brought along a toddler and that much extra baggage they had to borrow some stockhorses to carry it. Come on, this was for just one night—he’d hate to see how much junk they’d pack for a weekend at the pub.

‘Will we be doing any scary riding like the Stoneys trail?’ Harper slid on her new stockman’s hat. The woman had more hats than they had space in the farmhouse’s hallway, which was overrun with the kid’s toys and pampered house dogs.

‘I dunno?’ Ash peered back at Ryder.

‘Doubt it. It’s all flat country.’ Ryder had spent days in the chopper, pushing the cattle closer, with his chatty passenger, Charlie, who’d predicted they’d all be heading for the waterholes.

‘No muster chopper today?’ Again, Sophie zoomed that camera at him.

Ryder scowled at the blonde. ‘You take another photo of me, and I’ll snap that lens off.’ Sophie was as annoying as a buffalo fly.

‘Touchy.’

He narrowed his eyes at her, his voice deep and laced with warning. Ryder only ever gave one warning shot. ‘Dex.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Dex rode up beside Sophie. ‘Hon, I’m agreeing with Ryder. Put the camera away. You’ve only had a few riding lessons, and you need to concentrate. And none of us appreciate a camera in our face.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m just so excited.’ Sophie slipped the camera band from around her neck to slide the camera into her backpack.

‘Where’s the cat?’ Cap asked, helping to hoist the tiny Mia into her saddle. Mia was a farm girl who worked hard, was good with the dogs and their land, and she made Cap happy. Cap deserved it.

Ryder didn’t mind Mia, and he was getting used to Harper, who was an excellent mother to Mason. The bonus was Harper was helping Ash become a man to be proud of.

As for Dex, he had Sophie, as the latest addition. Even if she irritated Ryder, Dex was smitten by the blonde in the most embarrassing way. The once-fierce fighting man was whipped.

‘Mr Purrington is happy hogging the couch,’ said Sophie. ‘Don’t worry, he’s got plenty of food and water to last him a year. And Dex left the TV on for company.’

‘For a cat?’What the hell?Ryder arched his eyebrows at the ex-bare-knuckle champion pandering to a cat. Even Charlie loved that big ginger cat, walking it around like a dog on a lead.

‘Mr Purrington likes watching the fights as much as I do. The animal.’ Dex grinned as he settled into his saddle.

‘Babe, are you ready?’ Ash tapped Harper’s denim thigh.

‘I am.’ She flexed her fingers in her riding gloves.

‘They’re new?’

‘I learned my lesson on the last muster. Gloves and neck scarf, just like Bree wears. And this trip, Charlie’s going to show me how to use a stockwhip.’

‘Lord help us all,’ muttered Ryder. Dex nodded in agreement.

‘As Charlie would say, it’s good to see you having a go, Harper.’ Cap climbed into his saddle, steering his horse next to Mia. His entourage of a dozen cattle dogs shook the dust off their coats where they’d been lying. The kelpie, Willow, was the newest addition to Cap’s muster-dog pack, who was about to be broken in on her first muster.

‘Well, don’t you look like a mob of trouble?’ Charlie trotted up on his grey stockhorse, with Bree behind him, bringing up their packhorses.

Ryder just froze, staring at Bree who had the gun in her saddle, with the blanket—that damned green blanket—wrapped around her shoulders like a shawl, highlighting her red hair. When she nodded with those green eyes locked on his, he was sucker punched.

‘So, what’s the plan?’ Dex asked.

Ryder dropped his head to focus on his boots, the dirt, the job. ‘Charlie, you’re the man with the plan.’ They’d already discussed it at length. But having Charlie in charge allowed them to have Bree on board, and she was a better stockwoman than all of them put together. Plus, she knew the land, and the cattle knew her, because of Charlie’s clever little concept of stock school.

Ryder also had the sneaky suspicion that his brothers were going to be too busy watching over their women to do the job when Ryder was counting on them.

Did he need to drag them back to the drafting yards for another meeting to remind them of the job they were all investing heavily in to create a lifestyle and a legacy for generations to come?

Charlie clambered off his horse, leaving Bree to hold the reins. He dragged out a map from the back pocket of his worn jeans, and spread it over their new bar where everyone could view it from their saddles.

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