Read Online Cherish the Land by Ariel Tachna - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ariel Tachna
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if they got news from Jeremy. The panic clawing at Caine’s throat wasn’t rational. He grabbed his hat and headed outside. He had to see for himself that Macklin was fine.
He found Macklin a few minutes later outside the shearing shed with a hammer in his hand and a handful of nails between his teeth. Relief flooded through him.
Macklin finished sinking the nail on the repair he was making, set the hammer down, and grabbed the nails. “Caine? What’s wrong?”
“Molly’s gone to Taylor Peak. Devlin died this morning. And I might have freaked out a little thinking how easily it could have been you or someone else on the station.”
Macklin pulled him into a hug—he always knew exactly what Caine needed—and held him tight. “We take precautions. We never ride out alone. We train the horses not to spook at unexpected noises or movement in the bush. We do everything we can to make sure everyone will come home at the end of the day. And sometimes accidents happen anyway.” He tipped Caine’s chin up so their gazes met. “But the same thing is true anywhere. Car accidents, house fires, you name it. Accidents happen no matter how careful people are. How’s Jeremy holding up?”
Caine swallowed hard. “I didn’t talk to him, and I don’t think Molly did either. I told her to let us know if we could help, but I don’t know what that would be.”
“It might be as simple as sending a couple of men to Taylor Peak to keep things running until Jeremy can get his feet under him,” Macklin said. “Devlin never asked for help, but I remember Michael sending people to help out when old man Taylor was still running the place and had a lot of damage from a tornado that hit Taylor Peak but missed us.”
“I’ll text Sam and offer,” Caine said. “I don’t even know if they’ve let the jackaroos at Taylor Peak know.”
“I know you want to help, but don’t overstep your bounds,” Macklin cautioned. “Jeremy will have to find his own footing with the Taylor Peak jackaroos, just like you did when you arrived. We can’t undermine that by stepping in too quickly or too often.”
“At least he knows what he’s doing,” Caine said. “I couldn’t have been any more of a blow-in if I’d tried when Uncle Michael died and I came to see if I could run a station.”
“True, but he’ll be fighting the same distrust you did, with the disadvantage of everyone knowing from the start that he’s gay. It wouldn’t surprise me if he lost people the same way we did the second summer. He’ll recover if he can stick it out, but he’s in for a rough road.”
“You tell me that, and then you tell me not to step in?” Caine said. “You don’t really expect me to sit by and do nothing, do you?”
“No, but I expect you to let Jeremy decide what kind of help we give and how often,” Macklin said. “We run as much of a risk of making things worse by helping too much as by not helping enough.”
Caine wasn’t convinced, but arguing with Macklin was pointless, especially since he couldn’t do anything until Jeremy came back to the station and they saw what the situation really was. Maybe they were all worrying for nothing and Jeremy would step into Devlin’s shoes seamlessly.
Six
S ETH LAUGHED at Jason’s joke and pushed his hair out of his eyes. With his bruised and battered hand.
“What did you do to yourself?” Jason asked, grabbing his wrist.
“Nothing,” Seth said, heart pounding at the thought of Jason finding out what he’d done. He wouldn’t understand. No one did. The pain steadied him, but that didn’t make sense in anyone else’s head. Just in Seth’s. “Just skinned my knuckles fighting with a stuck bolt this morning.”
It was a flimsy excuse at best, but he hadn’t been able to come up with a better one. In school, before he came to Lang Downs, he’d been able to excuse it away by saying someone had picked a fight with him—a fight he’d always provoked, but subtly enough
He found Macklin a few minutes later outside the shearing shed with a hammer in his hand and a handful of nails between his teeth. Relief flooded through him.
Macklin finished sinking the nail on the repair he was making, set the hammer down, and grabbed the nails. “Caine? What’s wrong?”
“Molly’s gone to Taylor Peak. Devlin died this morning. And I might have freaked out a little thinking how easily it could have been you or someone else on the station.”
Macklin pulled him into a hug—he always knew exactly what Caine needed—and held him tight. “We take precautions. We never ride out alone. We train the horses not to spook at unexpected noises or movement in the bush. We do everything we can to make sure everyone will come home at the end of the day. And sometimes accidents happen anyway.” He tipped Caine’s chin up so their gazes met. “But the same thing is true anywhere. Car accidents, house fires, you name it. Accidents happen no matter how careful people are. How’s Jeremy holding up?”
Caine swallowed hard. “I didn’t talk to him, and I don’t think Molly did either. I told her to let us know if we could help, but I don’t know what that would be.”
“It might be as simple as sending a couple of men to Taylor Peak to keep things running until Jeremy can get his feet under him,” Macklin said. “Devlin never asked for help, but I remember Michael sending people to help out when old man Taylor was still running the place and had a lot of damage from a tornado that hit Taylor Peak but missed us.”
“I’ll text Sam and offer,” Caine said. “I don’t even know if they’ve let the jackaroos at Taylor Peak know.”
“I know you want to help, but don’t overstep your bounds,” Macklin cautioned. “Jeremy will have to find his own footing with the Taylor Peak jackaroos, just like you did when you arrived. We can’t undermine that by stepping in too quickly or too often.”
“At least he knows what he’s doing,” Caine said. “I couldn’t have been any more of a blow-in if I’d tried when Uncle Michael died and I came to see if I could run a station.”
“True, but he’ll be fighting the same distrust you did, with the disadvantage of everyone knowing from the start that he’s gay. It wouldn’t surprise me if he lost people the same way we did the second summer. He’ll recover if he can stick it out, but he’s in for a rough road.”
“You tell me that, and then you tell me not to step in?” Caine said. “You don’t really expect me to sit by and do nothing, do you?”
“No, but I expect you to let Jeremy decide what kind of help we give and how often,” Macklin said. “We run as much of a risk of making things worse by helping too much as by not helping enough.”
Caine wasn’t convinced, but arguing with Macklin was pointless, especially since he couldn’t do anything until Jeremy came back to the station and they saw what the situation really was. Maybe they were all worrying for nothing and Jeremy would step into Devlin’s shoes seamlessly.
Six
S ETH LAUGHED at Jason’s joke and pushed his hair out of his eyes. With his bruised and battered hand.
“What did you do to yourself?” Jason asked, grabbing his wrist.
“Nothing,” Seth said, heart pounding at the thought of Jason finding out what he’d done. He wouldn’t understand. No one did. The pain steadied him, but that didn’t make sense in anyone else’s head. Just in Seth’s. “Just skinned my knuckles fighting with a stuck bolt this morning.”
It was a flimsy excuse at best, but he hadn’t been able to come up with a better one. In school, before he came to Lang Downs, he’d been able to excuse it away by saying someone had picked a fight with him—a fight he’d always provoked, but subtly enough
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