Stockman’s Stormcloud (Stockmen #3)

Thirty-three

Thirty- three

‘Mr Purrington, where are you going?’ The cat had jumped off the desk at the nurses’ station and trotted down the corridor to the front doors.

‘Oh, look, it’s the cat.’ It was Charlie coming through the main entrance, where Mr Purrington leaped into his open arms. ‘Hello, little fella. Hello, Sophie.’ Charlie tipped his hat at her in an old-fashioned gentlemanly way.

‘What brings you here?’

‘Got my check-up thingy for my heart. Hey, you work here, can you just tick that sheet to say I showed up, then I can go back to the pub, and you can tell Bree to pick me up from there?’

‘Nice try, Pop.’ It was Bree who’d walked in behind him. ‘I’m going to sit here in this hallway, guarding the front entrance, while you see the doctor.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘I know you are. It’s just a check-up. Be sure to ask the doctor if you need a refill on any of your pills.’

‘Charlie Splint?’

‘Here.’ Bree waved at Doctor Mannen, who was reading off a folder by his office doorway. ‘Let me know if he’s not behaving, doc.’

‘Will do.’ Doctor Mannen gave Bree a friendly wave. ‘This way, Charlie.’

‘Can I bring the cat with me, doc?’

‘Sure. I’ve got catnip in my desk drawer for him.’

‘Thanks, doc.’ Charlie then said to Sophie, ‘If you ever need anyone to babysit your cat, I’m your man. Come on, Mr Purrington, this way.’

‘Careful, Charlie may recruit me to kidnap that cat and sneak it back out to the station.’ Bree grinned as she pulled out her tablet and sat in one of the hallway’s visitor chairs and began reading.

Sophie stood there, unsure of what to do or say. But then a thought popped into her head: Dex listened to Bree, and maybe Bree had the power to stop Dex from fighting, which meant being nice to the redhead.

‘I can feel you watching me.’ Bree didn’t even look up from her tablet.

‘I—’

Bree put down her tablet and looked up at Sophie, full of disdain. ‘Is there something I can help you with?’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘For what?’ Bree narrowed her eyes at Sophie, as if seeing straight through Sophie’s false apology.

When Sophie should make amends, and Bree was smart enough to spot a con.

‘For, um…’ She paused, to brush down her nurse’s uniform with a need to come clean. ‘For being jealous over you and Dex.’

‘I honestly can’t see how you’d even entertain such a thought.’

Sophie shrugged. ‘My ex—the one before the gambler I left—was friends with my best friend. They got so close they ran away together. I have such lousy luck with men.’ The realisation only made her heart ache.

‘So the gambling guy was the rebound guy?’

‘Dex told you, huh?’

‘Dex was trying to work you out. And I get why you thought Dex and I…’ Bree paused to rub her forehead, while inhaling deeply. ‘Look, how do I say this delicately without adding fuel to this entire situation?’

Bree then calmly crossed her hands over her tablet resting in her lap. ‘I grew up on a cattle station, which is a male- dominated environment. Besides my grandmother, I was the only other female out there, so I’ve always been one of the guys. Yet every time I put on a dress to come into town,’ she said, flicking at her dress, ‘without fail, one of the stockmen would say they’d forgotten I was a girl until I put on a dress.’

‘I get it.’

‘Do you?’ Bree lowered her head, not challenging her in the least. ‘I have more mates who are males than I know females. Which is easy when the population ratio in this town is about twenty men to one female. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

‘Oh, I never realised that.’

‘Now you do. Just know that Dex and I are just friends.’

‘You two have a lot in common. And I’m sorry for…’ Being an idiot. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Apology accepted.’ Bree even shared a friendly wink.

It was enough for Sophie to slide into the seat beside Bree. ‘Is Dex going to fight?’

Bree nodded. ‘I was hoping you’d talk him out of it.’

‘I was hoping you’d do that.’

They smiled at each other. It was tiny, but it was there.

‘I see you care about Dex, who deserves something good in his life. And I believe you’re that piece of the puzzle he’s been missing.’

‘Really?’

‘I saw how he was when I first brought him in, the night we met in that emergency room.’ Bree pointed at the open doors that led to the empty ER. ‘Dex couldn’t stop watching you, even when he was in pain… You know he has a special pet name for you.’

‘It’s not…’ She closed her eyes, trying to ignore Bree’s grin.

‘Nurse Kitty.’

A giggle escaped her lips, scrunching her toes at the memory of the way Dex whispered that name in her ear.

Again, she turned to face Bree. ‘I’m sorry for thinking so badly of you, but you can be so bossy.’

‘I have to be. That old man and those four brothers will do something stupid if someone isn’t getting in their face, reigning them in.’

‘I get it.’ Sophie sat back, feeling like a total fool for thinking so wrongly of Bree. ‘What’s wrong with Charlie?’

‘Bad heart.’

‘We have a skilled surgeon—’

‘Already tried that, but the old man has refused surgery. If you think you can talk him into it, go for it. But ever since Pop hit eighty—’

‘Is Charlie that old?’

‘Older. He’s eighty-two.’

‘I’d never realised.’

‘As a nurse, I bet you’re fully aware that at Charlie’s age there’s a huge list of risky complications, plus the promise of a longer recovery time, if Charlie allowed them to operate.’

‘Charlie won’t do it?’

Bree shook her head. ‘My grandfather is so dead against it, he’s put a Do Not Resuscitate order on his medical file.’

‘And you’re okay with that?’ It was common for patients of Charlie’s age to request one. Normally, it was the patient’s families who struggled the most with that decision. Like she struggled with Dex’s decision to put himself at risk, to fight for what he believed in.

Bree shrugged. But just for a moment, Sophie spotted the chink in the redhead’s armour. Bree was worried for her grandfather—no, Bree looked scared .

‘So, I hear Dex gave you an ultimatum.’ The change of subject allowed the redhead to quickly hide her fears deep behind that sassy facade.

‘I don’t want Dex to fight.’ Sophie would rather run than fight, and really she had nothing to fight for—not anymore. ‘But I can understand why he’s doing it. Is there any way we can stop this?’

‘I’m working on it,’ said Bree. ‘Unless you have any ideas?’

Sophie shook her head, then peered up and down the empty hospital corridor. Her leg playfully kicked out as she whispered, ‘Dex told me he can see our future, family, kids, everything.’

‘It’s scary when men do that.’

‘You’re not wrong.’ Again, they shared a grin. This one came easier, as if they were warming up to each other.

‘Being an independent woman, I bet you’re wondering if you’re going to be left to do all the cooking, cleaning and babysitting duties.’

‘Is that what your husband did, does?’

‘Finn wasn’t around much. Not with his job.’

Sophie was dying to ask what Finn did for a living, but Dex wouldn’t share that secret, and she’d learned already that Bree wasn’t going to share either.

Bree kept a lot of secrets, like a lot of other women Sophie had met during her career, witnessing their life-changing incidents. The most heartbreaking one of them all was a parent losing their child. ‘I’m sorry about your son.’

Bree didn’t react at all, calmly facing Sophie. ‘Have you ever asked yourself: what do you want ?’

‘Excuse me?’ She tightened her ponytail, looking up and down the hallway, anywhere but at the redhead beside her. It was daunting to have Bree’s undivided attention like this.

‘We all have these stupid skeletons we drag behind us in these oversized suitcases where the stupid wheels are designed to slow us down. Yet, you’ve picked up your suitcases full of heartache to drag them to the other side of the country, where even the residue of the damage from your past love-life is tainting your chances of that fresh start. Isn’t that why you came out here? To start again?’

Sophie nodded, unable to speak. It was like Bree could see straight through her.

‘So, why not bury those dumb suitcases filled with your past’s scary stories out in the outback desert and finally put them to rest? And then, while you dust your hands free of your past, face the sunrise and ask yourself what do you want for your future. ’

‘What do you want?’

‘A jug of gin, an ice bath, and a decent game of ice hockey on the telly, with one eye on the sunset and the other on Charlie doing what he loves in his house.’

‘And when Charlie goes?’

‘I’ll be taking a long holiday.’

‘To where?’

‘It’ll start with a road trip to the first international airport I can find. From there I’ll catch a plane to Tahiti to drink cocktails on a beach that’s crocodile free, while waiting to watch the Stanley Cup live. You?’

‘I don’t know. All I’ve been focusing on is my job and taking care of the cat.’

‘You also have your camera, Sophie.’

‘It’s just a hobby.’

‘You have an opportunity to do something more with it.’

‘Dex wants me to take a photo to hide the Kombi in his place.’

Bree laughed. ‘I was wondering how long it would take him to change it.’

‘It’s a good photo.’

‘But you can do so much better.’ Bree even patted Sophie’s hand, like a friend, and not the enemy. ‘At the station we have some talented ladies, you with your camera, Harper for words and different viewpoints, Mia for plants, and her sense of humour. If you three got together, you could create a magazine or something.’

‘Seriously? Who’d want to read that?’

‘People would love to see what lies behind the dusty outback curtain.’ Bree scrolled on her tablet to show images to Sophie. ‘There are plenty of station wives who do it on social media. They take photos used for magazines, for book covers, even corporate articles, you name it. Some do their own magazine to share their stories of the outback. I know Charlie has so many amazing stories, and Harper wants Charlie to do a dictionary for his Aussie lingo.’

‘Why don’t you do that? ’

‘It’s not my skill set. And I’m already busy running a small business while watching over Charlie.’

The idea was intriguing and something she’d never thought of. But she did love taking photos, with the aim of becoming a professional photographer, who focused on the amazing outback and its courageous people.

‘If we were to interview Charlie, what’s your reason?’

‘Do I have to have one? Because I know Charlie would talk your ears off with all of the stories he has to tell.’

Sophie narrowed her eyes at the redhead. ‘No, I meant what’s your angle? Because you seem to have an angle for everything.’

‘Finally, someone sees it besides Ryder. He sees everything.’

‘Except your gin still.’

‘What still?’

They both grinned.

‘Ryder knew I had one, he just didn’t know where it was.’ Bree even smiled differently to herself, but just for a moment. ‘So, what do you want for your future, Sophie?’

‘I don’t know. I’d lost everything before I came out here, that now I’m too scared to plan too far into the future.’ It was enough to put her off from committing to anything long term.

‘And you have every right to be that way.’

‘Really?’ She didn’t expect that out of the redhead.

‘It’s your life.’ Bree gave a casual shrug. ‘But you do have someone who wants to share their days and nights with you. And he’s someone who is incredibly loyal as a friend and an excellent father.’

Sophie slapped her hand over her heart. ‘Is Dex a father ?’

‘No. But he’ll be a good father, one of those rare ones who’ll want to be involved in their upbringing. Dex would be the type of father who’ll be there to teach them things, make their lunches, take them to school and all of their sports practices.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Because Dex took sole custody of a young boy for over a year, when his ex went into rehab.’

‘Dex told me about her.’

‘And did he tell you that you’ve been the only girlfriend he’s had since then?’

Sophie nodded.

‘So, to be brutally blunt—which is what I’m known for—Dex has finally found a home. He wants to settle down, and he is ready to settle down, and he’s hoping to do that with you.’

‘I told him I’m not ready.’

‘Good. Keeps them on their toes so they don’t get lazy.’ Bree cheekily grinned, even playfully nudging Sophie’s arm. ‘You just have to work out what you want for yourself.’

‘That’s harder than you know.’

‘It is hard, because I do know. But I bet you’ve been so busy running from your problems, you haven’t allowed yourself to ask that question.’ Bree rummaged through her large leather handbag, which Dex called her witchy sack, then pulled out some string she cut with a pocketknife. ‘Give me your hand.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s the closest thing I have to braiding you a friendship bracelet, okay?’

‘Seriously? It’s a piece of ugly string.’

‘I’m so sorry I left my jeweller’s kit back at the blacksmith shed, where I keep all my gold, diamonds and faux rubies.’ She tied the string around Sophie’s wrist.

‘Um… What do I do with this?’

‘Keep it on until it falls off, as a reminder.’

‘I don’t get it.’

‘Every time you look at this string, I want you to think about what you want. And I bet once you figure that out, you’ll know where Dex fits in, and you’ll find all those answers to the questions you’ve been avoiding.’

The simple gesture was truly touching, as a wave of guilt washed over her shoulders that suddenly became heavy. ‘I’m so sorry I was mean to you. ’

‘Were you?’ Bree chuckled. ‘I’m not that fragile, petal.’

‘No, I guess you’re not.’ She got it. Bree was tough, so said Dex, but Bree saw things, and she cared for people in her own unique way.

‘Thanks for the chat, Bree.’ Sophie stood, straightening out her nurse’s uniform. ‘I’d better get back to work.’

‘No worries. Tell me what you decide.’

‘I will.’ Her nursing shoes barely squeaked on the polished floor of the hospital corridor. She tugged on the simple brown string wrapped around her wrist, that question rolling around in her brain: what did she want for her future?

She’d never asked herself that, when she’d always been told what to do. To go to school, get a good job, become a radiologist, where she side-tracked into being an ER nurse, only to get told what to do all day long at work. And after her ex, she took a job that got her as far away from her past, and her bad credit rating, to a job that offered her accommodation while allowing her cat to stay.

But now that the dust had cleared, Bree was right, dishing out doses of medicine Sophie didn’t know she needed. With everything that had happened, Sophie had never taken the time to clean the camera lens on her own life to ask herself that question: What did she want? What was she willing to fight for? And did that future include Dex, who was so willing to risk everything on tomorrow night’s fight, a fight he might not survive.