Page 39 of Clear Skies (Stormcloud Station)

“Yes, well, you might need to do a whole lot more than that today, without Steve here. Don’t spend too long gallivanting with the guests this morning.” Her gaze fell upon Daisy and he got her meaning immediately. She didn’t want him wasting precious time with her. She didn’t approve of Daisy. Distaste for the woman standing beside him was evident in the slight curl of his mother’s lip. “You’re supposed to take over the running of this station one day. Maybe it’s time you stepped up. Took some responsibility.”

Dale leaned backward to get away from the scorn in his mother’s tone. He did everything that was asked of him. He was a hard worker. His mother ran everything like clockwork around here. How was he supposed to compete with that? It wasn’t that he didn’t want to take on more; it was that she wouldn’t let him. She was holding on so tight to the reins that no one could tear them out of her hands.

She was hitting below the belt, especially with Daisy, Skylar and Bindi all listening. He swallowed down all the nasty retorts on his tongue. Now wasn’t the time to start a family argument. His mother was stressed beyond belief, as were they all. She was taking out her anger on him and saying things she didn’t mean. That was all.

“Come on, Daisy, let’s get this tour organized.” He turned on his booted heel, not waiting to see if she followed him.

He stomped up the pathway to the machinery shed, Daisy trotting at his heels. Sometimes he wondered why he stayed. He didn’t need to take the shit from his mother. He’d done everything she asked of him. She was the one who told him to go to Montana, when he’d wanted to travel the world, instead. Not that he was begrudging his time at Stargazer Ranch, he’d enjoyed every second. But that wasn’t the point. The point was, his mother controlled his life. And now she seemed to have taken a disliking to Daisy, as well. Well, she would not control his love life, that was for sure. He stomped harder up the path, raising small puffs of dust as he went. Why did he put up with her shit? Perhaps he should just up and leave. He hadn’t truly been happy here since he returned from Montana. Maybe he should find a job at another station. Perhaps even work for his biological father at his station in Western Australia. Wouldn’t that make his mother blow steam out of her ears? Let Skylar or Julie take on the weight of responsibility for a while.

“Are you okay?” Daisy puffed from beside him, trying to keep up with his long-legged stride. Glancing down at her, some of the heat of his fury dissipated. His mother always knew just how to press his buttons. Today was going to be difficult enough without his mother in his head. He wasn’t going to let her get to him. Not today. Not while he had Daisy by his side. Even though his life was going to shit, and even though Daisy’s life wasn’t going as planned, either, it was good to have her here with him. She was sweet and compassionate. Worried about him. Hell, she’d even helped his mother when she’d panicked. And then her mother had repaid her with barely disguised scorn. Daisy was a good person, even if she’d told him all those lies. She’d done it to protect her brother. Would Skylar have done the same for him? He hoped so.

For the second time that day, he reached out on impulse and took her hand. “I’m not sure any of us will be truly okay today, but thanks for asking.”

She smiled, showing a row of white teeth, and her green eyes sparkled in the early-morning light. A small piece of the leaden weight on his shoulders lifted at the sight.

“That was some heavy stuff,” she said. “Sally seems very keen to believe Wazza is guilty.”

“Yes, Sally can be a bit judgmental. Things are black or white with her. Alek wasn’t very supportive, either,” he added.

“Yeah, I guess I don’t know either of them very well.” She hesitated for a second, and he wondered what else she wanted to say.

“But?” he prompted.

“I’m not sure whether this means anything or not. Sheesh, especially not after they just arrested Wazza. But I overheard Sally on the phone talking to someone called Johnny last night. It sounded as if she was planning on leaving the station. Like soon. Did you know that?”

“Nope.” That was an odd revelation. But not completely surprising. Sally wouldn’t enjoy being associated with everything that was going on at the station. She was a straight-down-the-line type of person, she wouldn’t want her reputation sullied by association with a murder.

“Do you want to learn to drive an ATV?” he asked, changing the subject. It was all too much for his mind to handle, and he had more pressing matters, at the moment.

“Yes, please,” she said, flashing him a smile full of white teeth.

“Let me give you a quick lesson.” He led her into the machinery shed. “The keys are over here.” He showed her the wooden board at the rear of the shed where the keys were stored. He still hadn’t found the time to install that damn lockbox. He really needed to do that sooner rather than later, or he’d have Steve breathing down his neck.

“Each has its own numbered tag,” he explained. “Most of our ATVs are dual person. We had them especially built and shipped up from Sydney. But we also have three single-person ones. They’re usually used by the staff, if we need to run an errand or round up cattle, something like that.” He didn’t add that they used to have four single person ATVs, and that one had gone missing recently.

They spent the next ten minutes doing laps around the machinery shed, as Daisy got the hang of driving. The ATVs weren’t hard to master, which was why they let the guests drive them. But he enjoyed showing Daisy how to drive, and he drew the lesson out for as long as possible. She almost had him laughing once or twice, until he remembered Wazza was locked up in jail.

Daisy helped him bring out five of the two-seater vehicles and line them up, ready for the guests to arrive. Two guests in each ATV, and one for him and Daisy. Skylar should have a couple of large picnic baskets ready for them to take out for morning tea. But she’d still be swamped with the breakfast rush. He’d leave it for half an hour or so, before they went to collect them. The tour wasn’t scheduled to start till nine am.

“We have half an hour to kill, I can take you up and show you the stables. I need to feed the horses, anyway.” That was normally Steve’s job, but with him occupied in town, Dale didn’t have a problem stepping up.

“That’d be nice, thank you. I’d also love to have a shower if I have time before we leave.”

“Sure,” he agreed. “It’ll only take fifteen minutes, then you can head down for a wash, and I’ll collect the food.”

The stables were a three-minute walk farther up the small rise away from the lodge. They passed beneath the branches of a stand of river gums, their white bark offering a stark contrast to the lush, green grass now sprouting beneath.

If only his stupid imagination didn’t keep going off on a tangent, showing him images of himself pulling Daisy into the feed store, where it was dark and warm and private and kissing her until she couldn’t breathe.

Daisy broke the silence. “I was wondering. Are the keys to the ATV’s always left in plain sight? You don’t lock them away at night?”

“No.” He gave her a sharp look. Why was she asking that? He hadn’t told her about the stolen ATV, so what was she aiming at? “Well, we haven’t up until now. I’ve been meaning to put the keys in a lockbox with a security code. It’s on my list of things to do.”

“It sounds like a good idea,” she agreed. “But right now, anyone on the property could use one anytime they wanted? As long as they knew where the keys were?”

“Yes,” he replied slowly, not knowing where she was going with this line of questioning.

“So, you wouldn’t necessarily know if someone had used a vehicle? I didn’t see a sign-out sheet, or anything.”

He stopped walking and turned to face her.

“No, I guess not. But we put a high level of trust in our staff. If anyone needs to use an ATV, they’ll tell me or Steve, or even Daniella. It’s an unwritten rule, you don’t go anywhere on this station, without letting someone know first.” Or at least, they’d used to trust their staff implicitly. Now, he was confused as to who he could rely on.

“Yes, but Karri didn’t tell anyone when she borrowed one, did she?”

Whoa, Dale took a step backward, as if she’d slapped him in the face.

“Why would Karri do that?” Daisy continued. “Why would she take an ATV without telling anybody? If she knew the rules, why didn’t she tell anyone? Where do you think she was going on that day? Was she going to meet Wazza, but didn’t want anyone to know? Maybe the police found some evidence on the ATV. Maybe that’s why they were taking DNA.”

Was she asking him if he thought Wazza could indeed be guilty?

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