Page 4

Indy’s eyes widened as the men turned into boys.

They pushed and shoved their way to grab bags from under the bus, throwing what wasn’t theirs to the side before grabbing more.

Her shock turned to laughter when the first few who had bags looked around, unsure of where to head next.

She pointed to the two buildings that ran parallel to the front paddock and they ran like the rams would towards the ewes at the beginning of next week when they put them in together.

In two more seconds, they were all gone. The vomiter had vanished too.

Her brow dipped pensively. She’d never seen a guy so attractive, even after the mess he’d left under the bushes.

A strong jawline, dark facial hair lining his top lip in a way that made her want to kiss him to see what it would feel like, and eyes so deep she could see the mysteries of the world in them.

At a guess, the hair hidden by his Scorpions hat was dark as well.

She wanted to sigh with the desire that hit her.

Good to know she could be attracted to someone.

It’d been a long time since she’d been struck with the zap of chemistry.

It was a pity he was barely out of high school.

She cringed. That was being harsh. The size of the muscles on those arms didn’t belong to anyone under the age of twenty and when he’d stood, phew.

That had to be fully grown. Still, he must be the rookie on the team to be vomiting on a bus ride.

Surely footy boys were seasoned travellers?

Mara’s shoulder knocked into Indy’s as she bounced beside her. ‘Do you have any idea who that was?’

‘Who what was?’

‘The vomiter!’ She grabbed Indy’s arm, her eyes wider than the dogs’ water bowls. ‘It was Carter freaking Hendrix!’

‘Who?’

‘How’d you go with the tree?’ Nova asked, turning from her conversation with Coach Taylor. Emery joined their huddle.

‘Back of the ute is full,’ Indy said, forcing all thoughts of a boy named Carter Hendrix from her mind. ‘And the trunk is pieced nice and chunky like you asked.’

‘Perfect.’ Nova cast a sharp eye over the three of them, her station hands. ‘Did you check on that mob in the top paddock next to the one the tree was down in?’

Emery shook her head. ‘We didn’t get time, but I didn’t see any along the fence line.’

‘There are more storms predicted to blow in at the end of the week and if they’re anything like last night’s, I don’t want to leave that mob up there. Indy and Emery, grab an early lunch then saddle up and take the dogs out to move them.’

‘Where do you want us to take them?’ Indy asked, doing a mental scan of the empty paddocks. They had plenty of land but needed ground with enough feed to get the mob through their dances with the rams.

‘The western creek paddock.’

‘Are you sure?’

Nova raised an eyebrow and Indy fought to maintain eye contact. She wanted to impress Nova, not piss her off.

‘I was just thinking the one-tree paddock would have more feed and doesn’t grow as soggy underfoot if there’s more rain,’ she said.

Nova’s other eyebrow lifted to join its mate. ‘Good thinking. Take them there.’ She gave her a rare smile. ‘Mara and I will unload the ute then head out to the eastern boundary to fix that fence before Old Man Barty gets his nose any further out of joint.’

Mara’s groan was cut in half by Nova’s brusque stare.

Emery grabbed Indy’s sleeve and tugged her out of the way as a horde of football players ran past in footy shorts and Scorpions training singlets.

‘Damn,’ Emery said and whistled. Indy silently agreed.

An hour later, after sco?ng a couple of sandwiches, Indy and Emery rode side by side up the dirt track to the top paddocks, their four-legged coworkers Scout and Banjo trailing behind.

The track wound past the decline to the footy field, the flattest spot on the property big enough to fit it.

The field had rugby posts up one end and the AFL posts up the other.

The posts stood above the treetops and Indy caught herself peeking through the trees for a glimpse of one of the players.

She scowled. What was she doing? She never acted like this around their camp guests.

It was just Mara’s hype becoming contagious. At least, she hoped so.

‘How long have we known each other?’ Emery asked.

‘Since you got here,’ Indy answered dryly. ‘Like, three years after I did.’

‘Exactly, so that’s seven years, right?’

‘Where are you going with this?’ Indy waved her hand in front of her face, shooing the flies away.

‘Have you ever seen anyone kicked off the property because they broke Nova’s rule?’

Heat rushed to Indy’s cheeks and she made a show of whistling to the dogs, who were sni?ng at some long grass, to buy herself some time. When her cheeks had calmed down, she cleared her throat. ‘No, but I have seen a couple of girls get some pretty stern warnings for flirting. Remember Kylie?’

Emery’s eyes widened. ‘I can’t believe I forgot about her. She went hard for that male beach volleyballer, didn’t she?’

‘Yep. I’ve never seen Nova come down on someone as harshly as she did on her. Not even when Isabelle left every single gate open on the property and the sheep crossed the road to the national park.’

‘And that mistake cost us a couple of lambs. Who was the other girl who got in trouble?’

‘Becca. It was just before you got here. She actually quit after Nova pulled her aside to reiterate the rule, because she really liked that netball player. They’re still together, as far as I know. Becca sent through a photo of their baby a couple of years back.’

‘Maybe that’s why Nova went softer on her? Because she knew it was the real deal? Whereas Kylie just wanted some action.’

Indy laughed. ‘Probably.’

‘I’m glad she did quit. She made room for me.’

‘I am, too.’ They shared a smile. Indy remembered the first day Emery had turned up with Nova after a trip to town.

Where Indy had been full of sass when she’d arrived at Windale Mountain, Emery had been tearful and exceptionally sad.

Indy had listened to the sixteen-year-old cry herself to sleep for the entire first month they’d shared the middle cabin.

It’d taken another two months for Emery to open up about the loss of her grandmother, the lady who’d raised her, a year before Nova had pulled her off the overpass she’d been planning to jump from.

Indy had thought of Bonnie, and all that had been taken from her own world, and she’d hugged Emery and fiercely vowed to always be there for her whenever she needed her.

They moved past the paddock they’d been working in that morning and the horses started the push up the steep incline.

‘I’m actually glad we’re moving this mob,’ Indy said. ‘Can you imagine getting the truck up here with a load full of rams?’

‘There’s no way it’d make it. We would’ve had to walk ’em.’

‘They’d be too buggered to do any mating after a walk like that.’

Emery started giggling. ‘There’d be no ramming from those rams.’

Indy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. ‘You’d know all about ramming! Have you been down at the creek boundary lately, trying to catch a glimpse of Dustin?’

Emery swooned in the saddle. She had come such a long way from the sad teenager, but making eyes at Dustin Granger was a bad idea.

Dustin was the son of the bastardly Bartholomew Granger and had only recently returned to Granger Stud to work the property beside his father and their team of farmhands.

Indy and Emery had had their first glimpse of the fair-haired prince of Windale at the local pub six months ago.

He’d smiled and dipped his head politely at them as he’d collected a tray of beer jugs and schooners, then headed straight for the loud table of Granger farmhands—all blokes.

Indy had thought it a shame, but Emery had been devastated.

Rocknest Creek ran through the gully and up the western boundary of Nova’s property, separating them from the Grangers.

It was one of Indy’s favourite places to visit on the weekends when she wasn’t working.

The boulders made great sunning beds and lying on the smooth rocks in the shallower sections while the water ran over them was soothing.

There were some deeper pockets where the bottom was unreachable, not that they hadn’t tried.

It was also a place that Dustin liked to visit, and Emery’s crush had grown with each sighting.

‘Why does his father have to be Crusty Barty?’ Emery said, pouting. ‘Did I tell you that I finally, and very casually, asked Nova about why we hadn’t seen him before? It’s not what we were thinking.’

‘Huh, so he’s not part of some branch of the Italian mafia?’

‘No, and he hasn’t been locked away in an underground dungeon, cooking up special soil formulas either.’

‘I thought that idea was pretty creative but also very fitting for Windale’s self-proclaimed royal family.’

‘Turns out Barty sent him to university and then he’s been property hopping across the world on intern programs to get experience on all these different types and climates of farming. She said he’s been gone for years.’

Indy screwed up her nose. ‘I’d’ve thought it would’ve been enough that he grew up on the most renowned Border Leicester and Merino stud in the state.’

‘Apparently not.’ Emery let out a long sigh. ‘How does Farty Barty not realise how good he’s got it? He’s got half the mountain for his sheep and the flats for his crops. He’s making the absolute best of the land he’s got but it’s not enough.’

Indy glanced over her shoulder and whistled for the dogs to stay closer. ‘He’s old school. Doesn’t think women belong on the land without a man telling them how to run it. I think he finds it offensive that we keep kicking arse.’

‘You know, maybe Dustin’s not like his dad? Maybe travelling to all those different farms has shown him that women have a place on the land, not just in the homestead.’

Indy knew that tone. ‘I really wouldn’t get your hopes up. As they say, the apple never falls far from the tree.’

Emery sighed then painted a smile on her face. ‘We should have dinner at the pub on Saturday night before karaoke kicks off. Zander might be there.’

‘Urgh, no.’

‘What was wrong with Zander? He was a lot better than that truck driver you hooked up with.’

Indy pulled her horse up by the gate to the paddock and crinkled her nose. ‘That was ages ago, and at least Paulie knew a roll in his cab was all it was going to be. Zander looked ready to propose after the first beer and then left me to pay the tab.’

‘You sure can pick ’em.’ Emery leant forwards to rub her gelding between the ears. ‘We need to find you a respectful man who treats you like you deserve.’

‘I don’t need that kind of complication in my life. I know when I’ve got a good thing going. Besides, I’ve been here for so long that I don’t think I even know how to exist anywhere else.’

The sheep were bleating at the closeness of the dogs, who were eagerly waiting for the command, and the rolling hills of Windale Mountain Station stretched out below them under the clear blue sky.

Indy would know in her soul when she was ready to leave this place.

The dark eyes of Carter Hendrix flashed across the landscape and her pulse quickened.

She needed to avoid guys like him. He was from a very different world, and she was stupid for dwelling on him for even this long.

‘That’s a shame,’ Emery was saying, oblivious to where Indy’s mind had gone. ‘Zander really liked you.’

Indy ordered the dogs to sit and stay before she leant down from her saddle to unhook the gate. ‘Trust me, he’ll get over it.’