Page 9 of Stockman's Showdown

So far they’d taken on most of her sneaky suggestions, dropped as part of a conversation. But lately, Dex and Cap were more forthcoming, as if they’d noticed her plans all along—which were always for the welfare of Elsie Creek Station.

She might not own Elsie Creek Station, but she couldn’t switch off her deep level of care for this land and all its inhabitants, which had been the only true home she’d known.

At the entry of Emu Plains, the dirt track wove through the flat and smooth structures, as tall as her while on horseback, yet they were barely as thick as her open hand. They looked like giants’ tombstones, a large cluster of grey ant mounds that followed the curve of the land like a graveyard.

‘What is this place?’ Again, Sophie played tourist, watching the world through her camera lens.

‘Tombstone Territory.’ Bree led her four horses, with Dex riding along her right side, leading the Riggs brothers’ much bigger horse plant overloaded with gear. What were they carrying for one night’s stay?

‘They’re magnetic ant mounds,’ replied Dex. ‘Looks like a graveyard for giants, doesn’t it, hon?’

‘Can we stop? I’d love to take photos.’ Sophie swayed in her saddle, barely holding the reins, confusing the horse.

‘You’ll have to speak to the boss.’

‘Ryder?’ Sophie asked.

‘Dex, you are part of management, aren’t you?’ If Bree could nudge him, she would.

‘I hate this part,’ he muttered quietly to Bree. ‘You tell her.’

‘She’s wearing your engagement ring, you tell her. Sophie and I are only acquaintances who live on the same property.’

‘You’re not friends yet, like you are with Mia and Harper?’

‘In case you hadn’t noticed, stormcloud, the only thing we have in common is you. So how about you put on those big-boy britches and act like the boss by telling your lady to get a grip of those reins.’

‘Um, hon…’ Dex cleared his throat as he adjusted his hat. ‘We’re on a deadline to get to the stock camp—’

‘Before Christmas 2031.’ Bree rolled her eyes. Seeing Dex like this was painful to watch.

‘But I’ll only be five minutes.’ Sophie didn’t even bother to look at them, with her eyes glued to her camera, zooming in on some scrappy wildflower.

Bree had to do something for the sake of Sophie’s poor stockhorse.

‘Dex? Why not make a date with Sophie and bring her out here with a basket of goodies and some wine, to watch the sunset? You could then let Sophie set up her tripod to take a trillion photos while you cook a barbecue, kicking back, drinking beer.’

Since when did she make romantic plans for stockmen? Especially when she’d unsubscribed from romance, cancelling her membership to the love library long ago. Yet here she was, playing Doctor Love for another one of the Riggs brothers.

‘That way, Sophie won’t have to worry about which termite mound her horse is going to headbutt first.’ Bree pointed to Sophie’s stockhorse.

‘Oh, sorreee.’ Sophie briefly looked away from her camera to grab the reins. ‘They don’t come with cruise control, do they?’

‘That’s a good idea.’ Dex nodded at Bree that pretty much said thanks for having saved his arse again. ‘What about we make it a date, hon? Camp out for the night in the ute.’

‘Oh, okay.’ Sophie put her camera away into her backpack—for a whole thirty seconds—before lifting it up again to take more photos of the rocky red escarpment rising from the earth.

‘Did you hide her camera batteries?’ Bree muttered to Dex.

‘I did. In Ryder’s saddlebags.’

They both chuckled, knowing the ever-gruff Ryder would tell Sophie no, and probably growl at her to get back to work. Sometimes it was handy having Ryder as the grumpy boss, who had ice water in his veins.

‘Did you hear?’ Dex said, ‘Ryder picked a paddock.’

Bree shrugged. The younger three Riggs brothers had each chosen a paddock as a place to work on their own unique farming trials and techniques, before implementing them on the rest of the station. Ash had turned his paddock into a clever place to test out his tech, managing his paddock and herd all from the comfort of his gaming chair. Cap had turned his neighbouring paddock into a revegetation experiment that had the cattle in Ash’s paddock straining the fence to chow down. And Dex’s paddock was now a reservoir. ‘How is Dead Dog’s Swamp going?’

‘Good. It’s not a swamp anymore.’ Dex’s lips barely shifted, but his eyes shone with pride from beneath the brim of his stockman’s hat. ‘Hemp is the easiest thing I’ve had to grow.’

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