After all, he’d failed his own family in the past…
He’d been that kid who couldn’t watch over his baby sister.The kid who’d made promises to his mother that’d he give her a better future.And as a man, he’d built a family of his own, then left them behind when he took that undercover job.The one that ruined everything.
He didn’t blame Bree for coming back to Elsie Creek Station, to be with her family, her grandfather.It’d always been her home.
While Finn had none.He was so used to being alone that he’d never realised at the time he did.He had a wife, Bree.And a boy, Liam.And yet he’d let them go, like he’d always done.
Now, all he had was an empty house that needed a paint job and a Harley in pieces on the living room floor.
Lydia was right, it was like a prison.Because he’d had everything stripped from him once before, leaving him with nothing but a cell.And ever since, he’d been bracing for the moment it’d all be taken from him again.
And Drew had done just that, with what he’d done to the Stock Squad, his dream job.
Yeah, he was a man full of regret.That was him.Pain walking.
Lydia shifted in the bed, then said softly, ‘I know why you came here, Finn.To watch over your boy.’
Was it that obvious that he always drove that back road to the stockyards?The one where the small country church came into view.Where he’d think of his little boy, Liam, thinking that’d be the last time anyone would call him dad.
His throat tightened, making him swallow hard.
‘And maybe you’re that big brother to Brodie.Lord knows, he needs one.’
‘I dunno, I think the boy can do better than me.’Considering what his mentor had done to him.
‘Stop that.’She swatted his hand.No wonder she earned her name as the mother of the stockyards.‘You see truth.And you care, I know you do.It’s a strength you rarely show people.But you also do more.What you did here in this town?Catching Red.Stopping Bob.Bringing Drew down?’She exhaled a slow and proud sigh, with a hint of pain, as if staying strong for him.‘You didn’t just start a Stock Squad, you protected what we are, our livestock industry, and our way of life.’
Finn dropped his head, with his shoulders so heavy, he couldn’t look at her or Brodie, let alone himself.
But still she kept going, leaning over to hold his hand the way his mother used to—before the valium dulled her, before his father ran that red light, causing the five-car pile-up with the truck that left him alone in the world.
Maybe that’s why it had been so easy for someone like Drew to slide in and fill that gap.
Lydia’s hand squeezed hard, dragging him out of his thoughts.‘You gave this town hope, Finn.You gave them something to believe in again, like the way a good father looks after his family…’
He wiped a hand over his mouth.Christ.
‘And now, I believe it’s your turn to do something good for you.’
Forty-two
‘Why do I have to coax the water buffalo off the tarmac?’With a hand on her hip, Taryn scowled at the breathing boulder, standing butt-centre in the middle of the airstrip.Red ribbons and wildflowers twisted around his horns like it was some outback version of Oktoberfest—minus the beer, but full of attitude.
Chalk scrawled across his hide read:
LYDIA IS GONNA BE OKAY!
On the other side, it read:
COPPAS GOT THEM DUFFERS!
Mickey, in his grease-stained coveralls, flicked at a fly with his hand towel.‘Well, you see, we’ve just started becoming friends, Cecil and I.So I can’t start pushin’ boundaries while still in the fragile stages of our friendship, just cozyousay so.’
‘He’s blockingyourrunway.’
‘Yeah.Only coz you’re the one who wants to leave, like a flamin’ tourist does, and I don’t like tourists.’
‘Oh, really?I’d never have guessed it.’Taryn rolled her eyes, overtired and moody, so of course she had less restraint with the sass.
