Forty-one
Sarge gave a deep and distinctive bark from the front porch. It was enough to alert Scout to roll off her new doggy bed and trot over to stand beside the larger dog and howl, but with her tail wagging.
Harper peered through the front windows of the farmhouse to an empty driveway, but Sarge and Scout were facing the sheds.
She pushed open the screen door as voices rose from the shed. It was the Riggs brothers.
Harper dashed inside, wiping sweaty palms down her summer dress. It was time to activate her plan.
With Leo threatening to expose her, Harper didn’t know how long she had left at playing the nanny—which meant getting on the brothers’ good side. Welcome to Mission Impossible.
Dex dumped his load of washing by the back door and grabbed a round of beers from the outdoor beer fridge and headed for the table. He didn’t even say hello.
‘Hey, who cleaned the table?’ Cap asked, patting Sarge and Scout. ‘It’s set for dinner.’
Ryder dragged back his chair, scowling at his paperwork piled on the side bench.
Harper carried out the stew pot and put it on the table. ‘This is from Bree. It’s the last of her stew.’ She looked for Ash, who was nowhere in sight.
‘For someone who cooks on a simple campfire, Bree is a brilliant cook.’ Dex eagerly scooped up a ladle full of stew into a bowl as Cap tore at the bread. ‘We should have Bree come with us on every muster. That woman has some serious skills as a stockwoman. Her cooking is just a bonus.’
‘Yeah, Bree was a big help. Charlie too.’ Ryder loaded up his spoon with a hearty stew.
They were silent as they ate, not one of them even saying hello or thank you to Harper. The jerks!
‘Um, so … I put the coffee machine out here to make it easier for you guys.’ She pointed to the bench, where she’d created a coffee station of sorts.
Harper still sucked at small talk, and decided to barrel though with her rehearsed speech, placing the small box in front of Cap. ‘I’m sorry, Cap.’
‘For what?’
‘There was this snake—’
‘Where’s Mason?’ Both Ryder and Dex jumped to their feet.
‘Mason is fine. He’s watching cartoons.’
‘You connected the television?’ Dex peered through the large open windows. ‘Hey, that’s my TV.’ He scowled. Like scary scowled.
‘You had four of them, and I picked the one I could lift.’
‘So you can sit around and watch TV all day.’
Arsehole.
‘Is that why our boxes are all shoved aside?’
Cap pointed. ‘Oh, hey, look at the new dog beds—’
‘House dogs,’ complained Dex. ‘She’s turning the police dogs into house dogs.’
‘Can I just speak without being interrupted, please ?’ She glared at Dex.
‘Dex, sit down. Let her speak.’ Ryder’s deep voice sliced through the air, yet it only heightened the tension. Thankfully, Dex listened.
‘Thank you. Now before anyone panics, it’s all fine. But …’ She took a deep breath and calmly explained the snake incident.
She paused as Cap went and checked over Ruby, giving her a nod to continue telling them about the vet’s prognosis for Ruby, and the letter from the mining company. ‘Don’t worry, I locked the front gate again when I came back from town, in case Leo wanted to come back.’
Ryder tore open the letter and quickly scanned the page. ‘Pfft. They’re dreaming.’ He passed the envelope to Dex, who held it out to Cap so they could both read it.
‘You said they’d make an offer, Ryder. But I thought they’d at least offer us more than what we’d invested into the place.’ Dex dropped the paperwork onto the table.
‘It’s their first offer. It won’t be their last.’ Cap opened the box to reveal the vials. ‘That’s a lot of antivenene for the dogs. This stuff isn’t cheap, you know.’
‘I had to get it. I hate seeing animals suffer, and the vet told me snakebite is common out here.’
‘It is.’ Cap nodded at her with pure gratitude. ‘Thank you, Harper.’
‘And I also picked up an antivenene kit and a first-aid kit for the farmhouse.’ She pointed to the massive white tin box with a red cross on it. It sat beside the new fire extinguisher and fire blankets. Should she dare organise a fire drill in the future?
‘I also put in a request for the landline to be re-connected for this house. And, when Ash comes back, he can put in the childproof locks, because I don’t know how to use a drill. And this is for you guys.’ She lifted a large whiteboard, her muscles achy from the heavy lifting she’d been doing these past few days, especially rearranging the lounge room for Mason.
‘Are you gonna draw us some pictures as part of your lecture?’ Dex rolled his eyes.
Ignoring the jerk, Harper continued with her plan. This wasn’t her first boardroom presentation in front of a hostile crowd. ‘This is for you guys to create a list for your jobs that need to be done, instead of—’
‘What would you know about running cattle stations?’ Dex was such a— ugh!
‘Nothing. But I know about organising and this will help. Instead of Ryder putting it down on his tablet’s list, and Ash having his separate list, you can create one big to-do list you can all see and delegate and cross off the board. I’ve even got a stack of colours so you can use a colour for each brother, so you’ll know what everyone is doing, keeping the workload transparent. You’re already having your meetings, so now you have a board.’
Dex’s scowl faltered, while Cap grinned and kept on eating. But Ryder thoughtfully stroked his chin, darkened with a four-day growth.
‘Where is Ash?’ She’d done this for Ash, so he could see he was part of the bigger picture and a valuable partner contributing to their team.
‘Ash is with Charlie. They found this old car in the Stoneys and they’re using the Razorback to tow it back,’ explained Cap.
‘It won’t take much to restore that car.’ Dex picked up his fork to resume eating. ‘Besides a service, a decent paint job, and some new whitewall tyres, it’ll polish up nicely.’
Harper didn’t know whether to sit or hover like an idiot. All that fretting for nothing.
Ryder leaned over and pulled out a chair for Harper. Giving her a slight nod, he resumed eating.
With a deep swallow, she finally sat gingerly at the table . This was huge. ‘Um, so…’ She tried to make small talk—no, she was making conversation! ‘What’s the deal with the car?’
‘They found this old FJ Holden tucked away in some side alley in the Stoneys.’ Cap dabbed his bread at the stew. ‘According to Ash, the car belonged to Charlie’s older brother, who’s been missing for sixty years.’