His urge to protect her, to show her as many new experiences as he could while she was with him, was too strong to ignore. He ran a hand through his salty hair and grimaced. He’d have to shower before they went out as well. Quickly, he washed the mugs and headed across the yard to the machinery shed. His father’s telescope was next to the camping gear.
Ed’s gaze caught on the door into the storeroom where they kept their old history. Tomorrow, he’d take Tess inside. Maybe he’d take her to the gulf and show her the plaque dedicated to the passengers on the Retribution as well.
“What are you doing in here?”
Ed spun at the voice, heart thumping. “Give me a heart attack, why don’t you?” he grumbled to Matt.
“Wanted to check who was here before I announced my presence.”
Good point. They’d had people sabotaging the station over the past few months. “I’m getting the telescope,” Ed told him. “Going to show Tess the stars.”
Matt smirked. “Is that what they call it these days? Talking yourself up, aren’t you?”
Ed chuckled. “Lay off. She’s never done it before.”
Matt continued to grin, and Ed ignored him while he got the equipment out. “You going to invite Sam and the guys to star gaze too?”
Damn it. Matt knew he didn’t want to. “Don’t think they’ll be interested.”
“I’m sure they would be. Didn’t Sam tell them all about it?”
He was as bad a tease as Charlie had been. They’d probably honed their skills on each other. “Why don’t you go ask them while I get the stuff ready?”
“You need a hand?”
“Nah, I’m good.” For all his teasing, Matt was like a brother to him. He’d been just as lost as Ed when Charlie had died and had continued to hang around the station often.
Matt left the shed, and Ed carried the telescope over to the ute. He could carry it all the way over to the sand dunes, but it was heavy, and he wasn’t feeling that energetic. Then he threw in a rug in case it got cold.
By the time he had everything ready, the guys were sitting out on the shearers’ quarters porch having another beer. Ed was going to have to run the gauntlet.
He sauntered over, hoping they would be kind to him. “I’m going to set up a telescope to look at the stars,” he said. “Do you guys want to join us?”
“Us?” Sam asked.
“Me and Tess.”
All four men smirked at the same time.
Dobby stretched. “I haven’t done any stargazing since we were on that op in the Middle East—it might be fun.”
“Yeah,” Heath agreed. “Think you can point out Uranus?”
There was always one who thought that was funny. Ed rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to be childish, I’ll retract my invitation.”
Sam waved him away. “I think we’re all content to sit here and bullshit. Next time.”
Relief swept through him. “Great. See you later.” He strode over to the house before they could change their minds, and their laughter rang out behind him.
It seemed he’d picked up three new brothers this year.
Tess wasn’t in the kitchen, so he continued through to the bedroom where she was dressed and drying her hair with a towel. “The equipment’s ready,” he said. “I’ll just have a shower. It might get a little cold out there, so help yourself to my jumpers in the drawer.” He always kept spare clothes at the Ridge, because inevitably he’d forget to pack something.
She nodded, and he grabbed a change of clothes and dashed into the bathroom. When he returned, she was sitting on the bed, wearing his favourite galaxy jumper. His heart tugged painfully as she smiled at him. “Ready?”
No. There was something he needed to clarify first. He shut the door and she straightened, a look of alarm on her face.
“Tess, I need to ask you about something.” He moved to the opposite bed, to give her space.
