Page 30 of Stockman's Showdown

Their horses sloshed through the creek, happy for the change of pace. Yet the air was thick over what Charlie was going through, finding his long-lost brother in a cave, and being reminded of how he’d lost his daughter to murder, it was enough for Ryder to try for a change in conversation—which he wasn’t known for.

He’d grown to respect Charlie since they’d bought the station. In that time the caretaker had become a friend you could ask anything, and right now, they desperately needed a change of conversation, so Ryder blurted out the first thing he could think of… ‘Do you know why Bree gave us our nicknames?’

What the hell was he thinking, asking Charlie that?

‘Pretty obvious, don’t you think?’ Riding side by side along the shallow creek bed, Charlie glanced at Ryder, his eyes heavy with sadness. Yet, the old man gave a nod of approval for trying to lighten the atmosphere on a day that was about to get heavier. ‘Stormcloud is for Dex because he was a walking storm of thunderous rage—until he met Sophie.’

‘The woman who started the stampede?’ It was enough to make Ryder scowl.

‘That young girlie is green, she’s never been out here before. She wouldn’t know the rules to mustering. Which is my fault.’

‘None of this is your fault, Charlie. I shouldn’t have let them come.’

‘But I wanted them all to come.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I don’t know how many musters I have left in me. I wanted them to feel the joy of camping out under the stars, to be in a place where people talked around a campfire and not stare at some small screen in their hands. I wanted you all to be in a place where people bonded like a family. Trust me on this, young fella, in a year or two, you’ll all laugh about how Sophie started that stampede. Mark my words.’

Ryder didn’t feel like laughing today.

‘Anyhoodle, Bree nicknamed Ash snowflake because he was a bit of a snowflake, always dodging his responsibilities and being a whiny man-child.’

‘That he was.’ Ryder chuckled, surprised to hear it echoing back at him from the thick forest, where all the trees had started to look the same. ‘But my little brother has grown up.’

‘It’s good to see, right?’ Charlie peered back at the high riverbank, thick with exposed tree roots, showing how deep this creek would get in the wet season. It was taller than Ryder, sitting on a horse that sloshed around in the ankle-deep creek.

‘I never got that chance with my brother to see him grow, like you do. To see Harry have his own family, like I had.’ Charlie’s voice was thick and hoarse as if the grief was cracking across the man’s shell. He cleared his throat, sitting straighter in the saddle once again. ‘Is that why you bought the place for your brothers?’

‘I needed a home. We all did.’ Ryder also needed to feel again, and not see the world as the enemy.

‘Do they know you bought this station for them?’

Ryder frowned as their horses climbed out of the creek bed to follow a leaf-littered track where soft ferns feathered along the sides. ‘Is that what you thought?’

‘No, I didn’t. I saw a group of brothers trying to make a home for themselves, which is why I said yes to you lot buying this place. It was Bree who pointed it out to me. She said your brothers would spend the rest of their lives trying to pay you back to become equal partner, but you didn’t care, you did this for them. Bree’s right, isn’t she?’

Ryder barely nodded.

‘Bree reads people well.’

‘I noticed. So why did she call me cupcake?’ He scowled at the thick jungle that hid the world from the sun. He hated that name.

‘You don’t know?’ The old man widened his grey eyes with something between surprise and amusement.

Ryder matched it with a scowl. ‘I’m asking, aren’t I?’

Charlie gave a devilish grin.

‘What?’

‘Cupcakes are Bree’s favourite food.’

Ryder cocked an eyebrow.

‘Everyone knows Bree loves her cupcakes. Cowboy Craig, Lenny, Policeman Porter, even her ex-husband, Finn, all know if you want Bree to do something for you, or you wanna get into her good books, you just get her some cupcakes. That kid’sbaking them all the time. She’s even got this whole special cupcake prayer.’ Charlie’s chuckle echoed around them, making the birds pause from their squawking.

How the hell was Ryder supposed to respond to that?

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