Stockman’s Showdown (The Stockmen #4)

Fifty-two

‘I just want to see you happy, Bree.’ With the back of his fingers, Ryder captured the small tear trickling down her cheek. She’d been crying too easily ever since Charlie had passed. It broke his heart seeing her like this—but she was going to break his soul if she left him.

‘Maybe I don’t want to be happy right now. Maybe I just want to find some corner of the universe to scream my lungs out at the injustices it keeps dishing up to me.’

‘Fine. I’ll go with you.’

‘It won’t be pretty. And it won’t be perfect.’

‘But it will be real. And being real is so much better than being perfect.’ He exhaled as heavily as she did, as if they were both reining in their tempers.

‘I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Bree: you do not scare me. I can handle your cranky moods and your temper. Your sass has always amused me, even putting up with that stupid pet name.’

There was a slight twitch in the corners of her lips. It gave him hope he was getting through to her.

‘I love you, Bree.’ He cupped the side of her face, his thumb brushing over her cheek. ‘I love how you have this special smile that reaches your eyes when you finish a job in the shed, that self-satisfaction you have as the steam curls over the water that you use to cool off your latest creation. I loved watching you ride during a muster, that didn’t involve stampedes or landslides. How your hair blows in the wind when you’re driving the Razorback. And how you’re never scared of anything.’

‘I am scared.’

‘Of what?’

She dropped her head.

He lifted her chin. ‘Tell me.’

‘Of being alone.’ Her voice was so soft, so frail.

‘You’re not alone, baby, I’m right here.’ He gathered up her soft hand and held it against his heart. ‘And if you’ll have me, I’ll marry you in a heartbeat.’

She blinked as if her eyes were full of grit, but the spark was there as if waking up to the world. ‘Is that a proposal?’

‘Sure. Why not? This would be the best place to do it.’ He pointed at the intricately handcrafted metal sign that read Elsie Creek Station , hand-forged by Bree’s grandfather and great-grandfather, that towered over the main entrance. Its long shadow reflected across the red dirt that made up the driveway that doubled as an airstrip. ‘Unless you want something fancier?’

‘I want nothing.’

‘Yes, you do, Bree. You want a family. I know you do.’

She shook her head ‘I lost them. All of them.’

‘No, not all,’ he said, stepping in closer. ‘I’m right here, and there’s my brothers and their families. We’re all part of the package. Don’t you see that?’

Again, she shook her head.

‘Through you, I learned to play, but also to live a life by enjoying those small moments found each day with you. I want to go riding with you in the mornings to greet the sunrise as we check over the herd, and help you haul in those crab pots before dawn. I want to share breakfast with you, and to sit beside you at a campfire under the stars. I want to explore every part of this land with you, hearing all those stories you’ve learned about our home, with you by my side as my wife. I want us to be together forever .’

Her eyes sparked to life, to stare at him fully for the first time in days.

He then pointed to the cases in the back of her van. ‘Were you leaving me?’

‘I—I… was letting go.’ She sighed heavily as she peeked back at the van. ‘It’s Liam’s, my grandmother’s and Charlie’s stuff, to go to the Goodwill.’

‘Why? And don’t say it’s because of Charlie’s list.’

‘It is on Charlie’s list.’ Bree lifted her chin feistily, her eyes blazing with the stubborn fire Ryder had once dreaded, but was now grateful to see it again. ‘I was cleaning out the house because it needed to be done.’

‘To help you move forward, not leave me behind. So, what were you planning on doing today? The truth. No games.’

‘I’m taking this stuff to town, then collecting my gold from the police station and delivering it to Lenny to sell for me. Charlie wanted me to use that for my holiday, then to find a home to live.’

‘You’ve been very specific about that holiday.’

‘I’ve never had one.’

‘Excuse me?’ He stepped back, tilting his head at her.

She shrugged. ‘I’ve always had to take care of someone or something…’ She nodded at the land that surrounded them and the road that led to the homestead. ‘I’ve never regretted being a carer, not for one second, but I promised Charlie that I’d take a holiday when he left, because I’d been the carer for Darcie, Charlie, and this place for years. I wanted a break, somewhere that is free from deadly wildlife, like crocodiles.’

‘Like Tahiti.’

She nodded. ‘And I’ve always wanted to see a live ice hockey game. We don’t get many games out here…’ She gazed at the sunburnt land that made up the remote outback.

‘Save that gold, invest it, and I’ll take you on that holiday, and then we’ll both come home to where we belong.’

‘You can’t buy me.’

‘Don’t you think I know that by now? But I can spoil you, if you’ll let me.’

For once she looked at a loss for what to say.

‘Look, I told you I was missing something and bought this property for my brothers.’

‘For family.’

‘Correct. What I didn’t know—until I’d met this sassy redhead, so fiercely loyal to her loved ones, who fought with me every inch of the way and is still fighting me when I know we belong together—is what I was missing. Bree, we’ve been through so much together. We’ve fought for this family, and for this station, side by side. When we did the muster to Wombat Flats, hiding from the sandstorm in the cave. Then we shared moments mustering the herd together by moonlight, just you and me. We sat side by side in the hospital when my brother was on that breathing machine. We fought against Leo, swapped wedding fingers in a morgue, discovered dynamite and solved a murder mystery at midnight. In case you hadn’t notice, Bree, I’d walk through fire for you, to be with you. For you are the fire that helped melt the ice that used to run through my veins.’

She gazed at him, listening silently. It gave him hope she was really hearing him.

‘I love you. And the way I love you, there’s nothing you can do about it, and there’s nothing you can do to make me stop loving you, and there’s nothing you can do to make me change my mind.’

‘Oh, hellfire…’ she murmured under her breath.

‘I know this is the most I’ve ever said to anyone, except you. I’m only like this with you.’ He then took a deep calming breath. ‘Now, tell me, what do you want from me that’ll make you happy again?’

She stared up at him with her beautiful green eyes, where, for the first time in what felt like forever, a twinkle broke through, a mischievous shine even. ‘Yes.’

Did he hear that right?