Chase the Stars (Lang Downs 2 ) (21 page)

Chris still thought Jesse was overreacting, but he let it go for now.
They finished checking the fence and rode back to the drover’s hut. “What now?”
“Now we sit here and stare at the sheep until it’s time for lunch,” Jesse said. “As long as they don’t need us, we can relax a bit.”
“Sounds good,” Chris said, dismounting and reaching for the saddle on Titan’s back.
“Loosen the girth, but leave him tacked up,” Ian said. “If we need to mount up in a hurry, you wouldn’t want to have to tack him up again.”
“Why would we need to do that?” Chris asked, even as he followed Ian’s advice.
“Kyle saw dingo tracks. If one came around, we’d have a much better chance of scaring him off on horseback than on foot. We humans aren’t very scary or fast, but a big horse is. One well-placed kick from old Titan there and that dingo’s dead.”
“Can you do that? I thought they were protected.”
“We can’t train Titan to do it,” Neil said, “but if he does it out of self-defense, that’s the dingo’s problem, not ours. They’re pests, nothing more.”

T
HEY
were cleaning up the remains of their lunch when Max’s wild barking interrupted. The three experienced jackaroos dropped everything immediately, heading for the door without hesitation. Chris followed more slowly, not knowing if he’d be able to help and not wanting to be in the way.

At the far end of the paddock, Max raced toward a group of dingoes at the crest of the ridge.
“Bloody hell,” Neil shouted. “They only hunt in packs when they’re starving.” He tightened the cinch on his horse before swinging onto its back and spurring it across the field. Ian was only seconds behind him.
“Stay here,” Jesse told Chris as he mounted in turn. “You don’t ride that well yet, and this could get messy.”

“Do I need to call for help?” Chris yelled as Jesse started away.

“It’ll be over before they could get here,” Jesse yelled back as he sent his horse at an angle to the path Neil and Ian had taken, intercepting a dingo that had come from a different direction, intending to drive the mob into the trap of the rest of the pack.

Chris watched, his chest tight, as the three men did their best to run off the dingoes, Max racing into the fray as well. A particularly nasty snarl of canine flesh made Chris wince, but when Ian arrived on horseback to break up the chaos, Max emerged victorious, the dingo he had tangled with limping away as fast as it could move on three legs.

As quickly as it had started, the melee was over, and Jesse, Ian, and Neil were riding back toward where Chris stood, Max trotting proudly beside them.

“Bloody stupid dingoes,” Neil muttered as he swung down from his horse. Chris grabbed the reins Neil dropped without care as he knelt to check on Max.

“Is Max all right?” Chris asked.
“He seems to be,” Neil said, running his hands over the dog’s sides and legs to check for bite marks. “The dingo took the worst of their fight.”
“I didn’t think dingoes would be that bold,” Chris added. “I’d always heard they were pretty timid creatures.”
Jesse nudged Chris’s arm and shook his head. Chris took the hint and let the subject drop, especially when Neil glared at him. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, Chris retreated to the lean-to with Neil’s horse in tow. He took care to only loosen the girth a little in case they needed the horses again.
“Dingoes are a sore spot with a lot of jackaroos,” Jesse said a moment later from the entrance to the lean-to. “I don’t know Neil’s reasons, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he lost a dog to them in the past. Max is awfully young for a jackaroo with as much experience as Neil has.”
Chris shuddered. “Yeah, I could see that souring him on dingoes.”
“Even those of us who don’t have that kind of reason still don’t like them,” Jesse added. “They’re a threat to our sheep. A single dingo couldn’t bring down a full-grown ewe, but a pack like the one we had today? They could have made off with several. I don’t know how Caine runs things, but I’ve been on stations where the cost of those animals would have come out of our pay.”
“Really?”
“Not all of them, and like I said, I don’t know how they do things here on Lang Downs, but yeah, the argument is that if a dingo made off with a sheep on your watch, you were negligent and owed the station owner the cost of the animal. And believe me, they aren’t cheap.”
“Wow, that’s kind of… mercenary.”
“It’s that kind of industry for the most part,” Jesse said with a shrug. “Most stations are making ends meet, nothing more, unless they’re huge and industrialized. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Caine’s organic certification plan. It’s the exact opposite of the route most places seem to be taking.”
“You don’t think it’ll work?”
“I don’t know,” Jesse said. “And at the end of the day, as long as he pays my salary, it’s not my problem. This is my job, not my life.”
The words made Chris realize how clear a picture he’d started painting for himself of the future, and how at odds that picture was with Jesse’s apparent vision of his own path in life. He should have known better than to read any more into Jesse’s support than the friendship he’d offered first. He’d never suggested it was anything more than that, but Chris had started to hope. He’d obviously been wrong.

Sixteen

 

C
HRIS
sat with Seth and Jason at the canteen that night, not wanting his brother to feel neglected after Chris had spent all day with the jackaroos. By the time Jesse made it to the canteen, all the seats at their table were full. Chris smiled apologetically at Jesse, but he made no move to clear a space or pull a chair over to squeeze Jesse in.

Jesse hadn’t led him on, not really anyway, but Chris still felt the need to reestablish some independence. He’d fallen into the trap of thinking of them as a couple, of including Jesse in his thoughts of family things, and that was a mistake. Jesse was a fuck buddy he could pass the time with until the summer ended.

They had nearly finished eating when Neil stood up and clinked his glass with his fork. The rumble of conversation in the canteen dwindled to silence.

“Sorry to disturb everyone’s dinner,” Neil said, clearing his throat. Chris almost chuckled at how ill at ease the usually confident jackaroo appeared, but Neil wouldn’t be standing there if whatever he intended to say wasn’t important.

“I wanted to tell everyone that Molly has done me the great honor of agreeing to marry me at the end of the summer.”

The men broke into cheers and applause as the woman in question rose as well. Neil slid his arm around her waist, keeping her by his side as the other jackaroos crowded around to shake Neil’s hand or slap his shoulder and call him a lucky dog.

Chris joined the throng, holding back only to let those who knew Neil better approach first. “Congratulations,” he said when he reached the couple. “I hope you’ll both be very happy.”

“I’m sure we will be,” Molly said with a smile. Chris stepped aside to let someone else speak to them, only to bump into Jesse.

 

“Hi,” he said, not wanting to be rude.

 

“Hi,” Jesse said. “I missed having dinner with you. Sorry I was late getting here.”

As simple as the words were, they relaxed something in Chris’s chest. He’d taken Jesse’s words at lunchtime as a dismissal, but they weren’t, at least not completely. Jesse might not be thinking in terms of forever—and he had no reason to; they hadn’t talked about anything beyond the present moment—but he did enjoy Chris’s company both in bed and out. They were friends, and Chris couldn’t discount that. He had few enough friends at the moment to dismiss one simply because he’d jumped ahead in the playbook.

“I’m sorry I didn’t save you a seat,” Chris said. “By the time I realized you weren’t right there, the table was already full.”

“We’ll just have to have a beer together instead,” Jesse said with a grin. “Paul picked some up for me when he made the supply run into Boorowa today. It’s in the bunkhouse if you want one.”

“Sure,” Chris said. He’d been trying to spend more time in the bunkhouse anyway, figuring Caine and Macklin would eventually like their house back. This gave him yet another excuse to spend the evening there. “Let me just make sure Seth doesn’t need me.”

“Chris,” Jesse said, catching Chris’s arm before he could turn away, “he’s sixteen. He won’t appreciate you hovering. There’s not a lot of trouble he can get into out here anyway, not without someone stopping him before he does something stupid.”

Chris hesitated a moment more, but Seth was still sitting with Jason talking, and Jason’s father stood nearby with Neil, Molly, and a few other of the year-rounders.

“He’ll be fine,” Jesse repeated. His hand on Chris’s arm turned from a grip to a caress, and Chris gave in. “I could use a beer.”

 

“S
O
…
MARRIED
, huh?” Macklin said, coming up to Neil and Molly when most of the others had drifted away. “Are you going to both fit in that little house of yours?”

“We’ll make it work,” Neil said. “Maybe we’ll add an extra room over the winter when things are quieter around here.”

“You could do that,” Macklin said slowly. “You wouldn’t be the first, but it occurs to me that there’s this big house sitting empty now that I’m not using it anymore. Seems kind of a waste to add on when you could just move across the road and have all the space you need.”

“But that’s the foreman’s house,” Neil protested. “It was the foreman’s house,” Macklin reminded him. “Unless you think Caine’s planning on firing me any time soon.”
“He wasn’t that stupid when he was a blow-in,” Neil retorted. “He’s certainly not that stupid now that you’re his partner.”
“And if I did step down,” Macklin went on, “I’d tell him to hire you in my place, so the house would be yours anyway. Unless you don’t want it?”
“We would love to have it,” Molly interrupted. “It’s very generous.”
“Consider it an early wedding present,” Macklin said. “I’m pretty sure all my things are already out of the house, but I’ll check this evening and you can start moving in on your next day off. Once you’re settled, I’ll see if Chris and Seth want some space of their own instead of having to bunk in the big house.”
“They’ll appreciate that,” Neil said, “Chris especially.”
“Oh?” Macklin asked, though he thought he knew what Neil was implying.
“Neil, that isn’t any of your business,” Molly scolded.
“I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble,” Neil said. “I just… well, I think Chris and Jesse might have a thing going on.”
“Are you okay with that?” Macklin asked, remembering all too clearly how badly Neil had reacted to finding out Caine was gay.
Neil shrugged. “They aren’t bothering me. Jesse’s a good jackaroo, and Chris is a hard worker and eager to learn. I didn’t expect to end up surrounded by poofters, but then I’ve never known poofters like the ones here.”
“Neil!” Molly scolded, slapping the back of his head. “That’s a good way to get yourself fired.”
“I knew what he meant,” Macklin said despite the shiver of dread that went through him at hearing the slur, however innocently intended, on Neil’s lips.
“It’s still not appropriate,” Molly insisted. “We will be working on that.”
Neil looked appropriately henpecked so Macklin chuckled and left them to enjoy the evening. He looked around for Chris but didn’t see the younger jackaroo on the veranda of the bunkhouse. He considered searching longer, but he’d see Chris in the morning or at some point the next day. Chris and Seth would have to wait for Neil to finish moving out anyway. Instead, he went back to the house he’d lived in for fifteen years before Caine came along and upended his entire world. He didn’t think he had anything left there, but he’d check and make sure.
“W
HAT
’
S
in the bag?” Caine asked when Macklin came into the house.
“Stuff,” Macklin said, setting the bag down on the table. “I couldn’t very well expect Neil and Molly to deal with all the junk I hadn’t bothered to move over here because I never use it anymore.”
“What are you talking about?” Caine asked, closing the laptop so he could give Macklin his undivided attention.
“Neil and Molly are getting married.”
“I heard,” Caine said. “What’s that have to do with your old junk?”
“Neil’s house is fine for a bachelor, but not really for a family,” Macklin explained. “I thought they could move into the foreman’s house since I’m not using it anymore. That way they’d have plenty of space now, and if they decide to start a family, they wouldn’t have to worry about adding on or anything like that.”
“So what was left to move?”
“Mostly clothes that don’t fit anymore, stuff like that,” Macklin said. “Nothing important, but nothing Neil and Molly needed to deal with either.”
“Shall we just toss them all then?” Caine asked, reaching for the bag. Macklin snatched it back so fast Caine blinked. Whatever was in the bag, it wasn’t just junk, but Caine didn’t press. He’d wait until tomorrow when Macklin was out in the paddock and then sneak a peek.
“I… well, I found an old picture I’d forgotten I had,” Macklin said slowly. “I’ll just put it away and then we can get rid of the clothes.”
“May I see it?” Caine asked.
Macklin reached in the bag slowly and pulled out a plain plastic frame. Caine took it and examined the photo within. A teenaged boy stood next to a tired-looking middle aged woman. Caine extrapolated he could see the boy growing into the man in front of him. “Your mother is beautiful.”
“She’s beat down.”
“She’s beautiful,” Caine insisted, “and she obviously loves you very much.”
Macklin nodded curtly, which Caine took as a sign to drop it. He set the picture aside for now and pulled Macklin into his arms.
“So how soon will Neil and Molly move in?”
“That’s up to them,” Macklin said, “but I thought Chris and Seth could have Neil’s house when he moves out. It’s a little small for two people, but it’ll be better than sharing with us.”
“Ready to have the house to ourselves again?” Caine teased.
“Well, it’s hard to fuck you in the living room if I’m worried about someone walking in on us all the time.”
Caine laughed. “There is that.” He was tempted to joke about changing places, but that had backfired in Boorowa. Macklin giving up his house, not just temporarily but in a way so that he couldn’t move back in, would have to do for proof of his commitment. Maybe he’d push again after his parents left, but for now, he’d take what he could get and make sure Macklin knew how much Caine appreciated it.
Maybe tomorrow he’d start searching for Macklin’s mother. Even if Macklin had no intention of seeing her again, it might help him to know what happened to her.