‘Are you moving back home, or staying at the Lodge?’Amara asked.
‘Here.Back where I belong, and I have you to thank for that, Porter.’She patted his hand.‘You believed me when I told you about Sawyer.’
‘I’m sorry it didn’t—’
‘Stop saying you’re sorry.You were doing your job.You’re a good cop, that this town admires.’She patted his shoulder, then headed for the car.‘I’ll still expect you to visit me now and again.I didn’t mind our chats, Senior Constable Porter.’
Finally, someone had said his full title.
He nodded, like he was making her a silent promise to visit.‘Before you go, Tilly, what happened to the deed?Is it still buried out here?Would you like some help to look for it?’
Tilly gave one of those wry smiles.
‘Did your husband really bury it?’
She barely nodded as she rested both hands on her cane, letting the silence spool out like a thread, waiting for him to guess.
‘He buried it at Tilly’s Crown, didn’t he?’Porter asked slowly.
Again, she nodded.
‘Do you know where?’
‘I was there when he’d buried it, a long time ago…’ Her voice didn’t waver, but her stance softened as she looked over the land.‘Back then, women couldn’t even open their own bloody bank accounts without a man to sign off for them—be it husband, father, brother, didn’t matter.Just had to have a male guarantor, like we were property ourselves.Forget putting our names on the deed to a cattle station.’The tough, stubborn woman was a pioneer, who had somehow done it all without waiting for permission.
‘My husband reckoned that this land was as much mine as his,’ Tilly continued.‘And we were married, sure—but back then, the Territory still followed South Australian law, and things weren’t always clear-cut when it came to inheritance.Rules kept changing, and he didn’t trust the system to look out for me if something happened to him.’
Tilly tapped her cane in the dirt, to shift her steady stance.‘So, he buried the deed, out there.’She nodded towards the heart of the station.‘He’d said the world would catch up eventually—when it stopped looking sideways at a woman who could stand on her own.’She gave a small, satisfied smile at Amara, Romy, and Izzy.
‘So, where’s the deed now?’
Tilly’s eyes glittered with something between pride and mischief.‘It’s right here…’ Again, she tapped her cane on the ground, only this time, she unscrewed the top and slid out a tightly rolled bundle of aged parchment, with curled edges that had softened with time.‘I’ve been carrying it with me since I became a resident of the Lodge—like I was always carrying a part of home with me.’Again, she nodded at her land.‘But I’m home now…’
‘Here…’ Tilly passed the deed to her lawyer.‘I’m sure you’ll find somewhere safe for that now.’
Porter chuckled, as Izzy tucked the parchment away with the kind of care only a lawyer could muster.
But Tilly stood a little taller, cane planted firm, nodding towards the open paddocks.‘Well, there’s plenty to do, sorting out this new stock school, and scaring the white ants out of the walls in the house.Let’s go, Izzy.’
Porter watched her go.Tough as nails, and still three steps ahead of them all.‘Deadset, she’s something else.’
???
‘She is,’ Amara said, adjusting the stirrup.‘Now it’s time to stop standing around and get your arse in the saddle.’
Porter looked at the horse.Then at her.‘What if I tell you I’m suddenly allergic to horses?’
She grinned.Amara smiled a lot more these days.Thanks to Porter.And she’d even gotten used to his humour, which was surprisingly similar to Stone’s.‘Come on, city boy.You bought them, you may as well learn how to ride them.’It was the greatest gift she’d ever received.Not only had Porter renovated her stables, calling it her she-shed, but he’d given her two horses.They weren’t pedigrees, but they needed a home, like she did, and Porter had been the one generous enough to let them in.It’s what he did—helped people without them asking.
She knew Porter secretly spoiled their new horses, hispair of paddock puppies, he’d call them.Sneaking in carrots, having casual conversations with them while he checked their fences, or that grin he’d get whenever he’d race them in the Hellhound.Their rescue horses loved him as much as Amara did, so it was time for the guy to learn to ride.
Porter placed a hand on the saddle, and hesitated.‘Um… Where’s the instruction panel on this thing?’
It’s one of the things she admired, besides his ability to make her laugh, Porter didn’t mind asking for her help, allowing her to guide him to climb into the saddle.
It wasn’t graceful.But he got there.
Finn swung effortlessly onto his horse.‘If Porter falls off, you’re carrying him back, Montrose.’
