Cherish the Land (30 page)

“Not to mention Kami’s a better cook than Phil. Don’t get me wrong. She puts a good meal on the table, but it’s not the same,” Jeremy said.

Caine grinned. “All the more reason to stay, then.”

They trooped over to the canteen and joined the serving line. Jeremy didn’t worry about being last. Kami always made more than enough, something Jeremy had taken pains to pass on to Phil. Devlin might have skimped on orders for provisions, but Jeremy wouldn’t do the same. The men needed to eat and eat well if they were going to work as hard as Jeremy expected them to. It had been one of the few changes he’d made that had won instant approval.

After everyone had been through the line, Caine stood and moved to the front of the room.

“If I can have everyone’s attention for a moment,” he called. The noise quieted down as jackaroos turned from their plates to look at Caine. “We’re happy to announce tonight that Taylor Peak and Lang Downs have entered a cooperative partnership with the long-term goal of running the two stations as a single entity. For most of you, that will have little impact on your daily routine. We may ask a few of you to take some shifts at Taylor Peak over the course of the summer, but that would be in place of your regular shifts here, not in addition to them. If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them individually.”

Caine returned to his seat with Sam, Jeremy, Macklin, and Walker.

“That was easy,” Sam said when Caine was settled.

“No reason for it to be anything else,” Caine said. “It doesn’t really affect them.”

“Excuse me.”

They looked up to see Cooper standing near their table. “Did you have a question about the partnership, Cooper?”

“Not a question, really,” Cooper said, shifting from one foot to the other. “Just… well, if you’re looking for people to cover at Taylor Peak, I’d like to volunteer. It’s….” He glanced toward where Seth and Jason were sitting. “It’s not exactly comfortable here for me these days. I’m glad they’re happy, but I don’t need to have it rubbed in my face all the time.”

“You’re welcome to come to Taylor Peak if Caine and Macklin can spare you,” Jeremy said.

“Of course,” Caine replied. “We wish you all the best.”

“If you can pack up tonight, you can ride back with us,” Walker offered. “Or you can come tomorrow or whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll be ready,” Cooper said.

“J
ASON
,
COULD
I have a word?”

Jason looked up at the sound of Cooper’s voice. Beside him, Seth tensed. Jason squeezed Seth’s thigh in reassurance. “What can I do for you, Cooper?” It was the first time Cooper had approached him since their rather public breakup. Jason wasn’t sure what Cooper wanted now, but he would hear him out.

“I talked to Sam and Jeremy. I’m going to transfer to Taylor Peak for the rest of the season,” Cooper said. “I just wanted to say good-bye.”

“You don’t have to leave on our account,” Jason said. “We never meant to make you uncomfortable.”

“I know you didn’t, but this will be better for everyone. I wish you all the best.”

“Cheers,” Seth said. He stood and offered Cooper his hand. “Good luck on Taylor Peak.”

Jason held his breath for the moment it took Cooper to shake Seth’s hand. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Cooper refused. Without intending to, they had embarrassed Cooper pretty publicly. He’d worried that would cause problems at inconvenient times.

Cooper left after that and Seth sat back down. “I’m proud of you for not gloating,” Jason murmured.

Seth grinned at him, the light in his eyes sending desire curling along Jason’s skin. “You can show me how proud you are later,” he murmured just loud enough for Jason to hear. “You keep promising to ride me.”

“You keep taking over,” Jason retorted. Seth might claim to know nothing about sex between two men, but he’d taken to it with gratifying ease. Jason hadn’t sat a horse comfortably since Seth moved back from Taylor Peak. Not that he was complaining.

Seth’s grin turned into a self-satisfied smirk that Jason wanted to wipe right off his face. He hoped Sam and Jeremy got the rest of their belongings quickly because Jason had plans for tonight, plans that involved him and Seth and an otherwise empty house.

L
IGHTNING
FLASHED
ominously across the sky as Seth closed up the tractor shed for the evening. He’d spent the day doing routine maintenance on the utes no one was using—oil changes, spark plugs, and the like. It wasn’t difficult work, but it had kept his hands busy. Jason had left right after breakfast to go to Davidson Springs, the station north of Taylor Peak, on a vet call. He’d been so excited to be called by a grazier who wasn’t family—he’d expected it to take longer than the four months since he came home—and he’d told Seth he’d be gone most of the day and not to worry, but it hadn’t made it any easier for Seth to watch Jason drive away that morning.

“He’s working, not leaving,” Seth had repeated frequently throughout the day when no one was around to hear him. Another roll of thunder rumbled over the hills.

“Seth!”

Seth turned at the sound of his name. “Yes, Macklin?”

“There’s a storm blowing in. The weather radio says it’s a bad one. I’ve radioed everyone out in the paddocks to go to ground wherever’s closest, but that means we’ve got to shut things up down here. Get everyone you see and tell them to close windows and shutters on all utes and buildings. Anything that might get blown around needs to be moved inside, either in a house or in the tractor shed. I’m going to move the horses into the shearing shed.”

Adrenaline burst through Seth’s system, making his fingers tingle and his skin feel tight. Macklin never ordered the horses brought inside. They were working animals, perfectly capable of dealing with a little rain or even snow. He eyed the horizon where the storm hovered, full of harnessed fury waiting to be unleashed.
Drive safely, Jason.

“Has anyone tried to reach Jason to tell him not to try to get home?” Seth asked. “If it’s going to be as bad as you say, he should stay at Davidson Springs and come home tomorrow.”

“Go call him,” Macklin said. “Then you can help get everything ready.”

Seth sprinted for the house. He’d left his cell there that morning so he couldn’t compulsively check for messages all day. Now he wished he hadn’t. Having it on him would have saved him the time it took him to get to the house. He ran into the bedroom and grabbed the phone from the dresser. He had a text from Jason saying he’d reached Davidson Springs that morning, but nothing else. Hoping that meant Jason was still there, he called Jason’s number, but it flipped straight to voice mail.

“Fuck,” he muttered. He sent Jason a text telling him to stay put and ran for the main house.

“Caine!”

“I’m here,” Caine said from the back veranda. “I’m closing up windows. What’s wrong?”

“Do you have the number for Davidson Springs? Jason is there and I need to tell him to stay there until the storm passes or even until morning.”

“You don’t think he has enough sense to make that decision on his own?” Caine asked.

“Probably, but I’d feel better if I knew he’d got the message.”

“The number is in the office. There’s an old Rolodex that belonged to Uncle Michael. I keep it as a backup in case something happens to my cell. Out here, you never know.”

“Thanks,” Seth said. He ran into the office and flipped through the cards until he found the one he was looking for. He punched in the number with trembling fingers and waited for someone to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Hello, this is Seth Simms from Lang Downs. Is Dr. Thompson still there?”

“No, he left about an hour ago. He was hoping to beat the storm.”

“Thanks,” Seth said around the agonizing tightness in his chest and throat. It would take Jason at least two hours to get back even if the storm didn’t slow him down, which meant he would almost certainly be caught out in it. He sent another quick text to Jason.

Find shelter wherever you are. Text me that you’re safe.

He tucked his phone into his pocket where he’d feel the vibration even if he couldn’t hear the chime when a new message came in. Worrying about Jason wouldn’t do any good, and they had a station to prepare for the storm.

The wind had picked up when Seth stepped back outside. A quick glance around the station showed men working on closing up various buildings, so Seth headed back to his and Jason’s house. He’d shutter the windows and pull the chairs Ian had made inside. The table wouldn’t fit, but he’d flip it over and hopefully it would be heavy enough not to blow away. Lightning crackled across the sky, visibly closer than before. Seth picked up the pace until he reached the shelter of the veranda. Even there, the wind buffeted him from all directions: not quite hard enough to knock him off his feet, but definitely enough to make him feel it.

When the house was secure, he dashed toward Chris and Jesse’s house. He hadn’t paid much attention that morning to who had been assigned to ride out and who was staying closer to home. If they were out in the paddocks, he needed to make sure their house was secure too. He found Chris on the veranda fighting with one of the shutters. He added his weight to Chris’s and it finally swung shut. “Get Jesse to fix that hinge when the storm passes,” Seth shouted over the sound of the wind.

“I will,” Chris said. “Have you checked Thorne and Ian’s house?”

“No, Caine was working at the big house, and I’ve done my house, but that’s it.”

“Check Thorne and Ian’s house and then the others. I’m going to check on Molly and the kids,” Chris yelled.

Seth nodded and headed toward Thorne and Ian’s house. Raindrops splattered his shoulders as he ran. He should have grabbed his drizabone when he was at the house, but he hadn’t expected the rain to start this soon. Thorne and Ian’s house was already closed up, whether by them or someone else, so he ran on to the next. He was on his way to the tractor shed to make sure it was secured when Macklin intercepted him.

“Everything is as ready as we can make it. Get inside.”

Seth waved to show he’d heard and headed back to the house. Before he could get to the shelter of the veranda, the heavens opened, soaking him to the skin in seconds. The wind whipping around him turned cold as he ducked onto the veranda out of the rain. He left his boots in the mudroom and stripped off his wet clothes. Rain pounded on the roof over his head and gooseflesh puckered his skin as he walked through to the bedroom to dry off and get dressed again.

He toweled off, the friction warming his skin. He was tempted to take a hot shower, but he didn’t want to be away from his phone that long if Jason called or texted. He pulled on dry clothes and went back to rescue his cell phone from the sopping mess he’d left on the mudroom floor. Days like this made him glad he’d invested in a waterproof case for it. He checked the phone, but Jason hadn’t called or texted. When he looked more closely, he realized the phone didn’t have service. “Bloody hell,” he cursed. “Jason, you better be somewhere safe.”

He moved to the door in the lee of the house and cracked it open so he could peer outside. Normally he could see most of the buildings on the station from that vantage point, but the torrential rain and the unnatural early darkness from the clouds made it impossible to see anything beyond the edge of the veranda. Shit, Jason had better have found a drover’s hut to hole up in because no one could drive in this weather. He’d run off the road and get stuck or run off the edge of a cliff and get killed.

He couldn’t think that way. Jason was a responsible, rational adult. He wouldn’t take stupid chances just to get home a little sooner. As soon as the storm started, he would’ve found a place to take shelter and wait it out. Worst-case scenario, he’d simply stop where he was and ride out the storm in his car. It wasn’t ideal, but the chances of someone else coming upon the stopped vehicle and causing an accident on the station roads in this kind of weather were negligible. Jason was fine. The drover’s huts were all stocked with firewood and provisions. He could start a fire, wrap up in a blanket, and eat tinned soup for dinner.

Thunder clapped overhead, making Seth jump. The power flickered for a moment, then came back on. Seth frowned. The house had to have candles in it somewhere. They all stocked them because power outages were a fact of life out here. He just didn’t know where they were. He shut the door, making sure it latched tightly, and went into the kitchen to search for candles or a torch. He should have made a point of finding them when they first moved in, but the weather had been so clear that he hadn’t thought about it. He’d pay for it now if the power went off and he was stuck in the dark.

He found a long taper and several squat nubs in the back of a drawer, along with a lighter. The power flickered again, taking longer to come back on this time. Seth went ahead and lit the candles. It wouldn’t be long before the power went out for good. He got two of them lit before the room went black again.

The flare of the candles tossed odd shadows on the wall, making Seth wish he were anywhere other than alone in his house. Even if he’d had to sit around in wet or borrowed clothes, having company would have been better than being alone in the eerie light of the candles, listening to the rain pound on his roof, and worrying about Jason. It wasn’t worth getting soaked again, though. The storm would pass, and he could go find Chris or someone else when it did. He wasn’t a baby. He could deal with an hour or two alone in his own house, even with the power out.