Chase the Stars (Lang Downs 2 ) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the bottom of the stairs. “I broke two falling off a horse when I first got here. Michael wasn’t sympathetic at all, telling me I shouldn’t have gotten on a horse I didn’t know how to handle, but he taped my ribs every night for a month until I could move without it hurting again.”
Chris’s ribs slowed him down enough in turning to look at Macklin that he saw the expression on Caine’s face change as he looked down at the foreman. His eyes seemed brighter, and his smile grew wider. Is that what love looks like? Chris wondered.
“Where’s Seth?”
“I set him up with School of the Air,” Macklin explained. “We’ll see where he is and what he needs to do to finish school. He’ll be there for at least a couple of hours if you want to unpack or lie down for a bit.”
“I’m not an invalid,” Chris snapped, conveniently forgetting he hadn’t even been able to walk up the stairs without having to stop.
“No, you’re not,” Macklin agreed, “but you are recovering from a beating, and you’re on pretty strong pain medication if what I saw on the prescription label is any indication. You’re entitled to a little time to recover from the trip. Seth isn’t starting work until tomorrow. You aren’t either. And before you argue, I’m the foreman. I’m the one who makes those decisions.”
“He doesn’t let anyone work when they’re hurt or sick,” Caine added. “Even me.”
“Especially you,” Macklin said, his voice a low growl.
There it was again, Chris realized. They might not proclaim their relationship from the hilltops, but that didn’t make it less powerful or real. “Can I at least walk around and get my bearings a little?”
“Just don’t overdo it,” Macklin said. “Kami starts fixing breakfast at four thirty. You’ll have to be up early tomorrow.”
“I’ll just take a quick walk then,” Chris said. He needed the rest, but now that he’d insisted on his right not to rest, his pride wouldn’t let him give in.
“After I show you your room,” Caine interrupted. “I may not be around when you come back from your walk, and you’ll want to know where it is.”
Chris nodded and followed Caine the rest of the way up the stairs. The bedroom Caine showed him wasn’t large, but it was neat, with large windows, a wide bed, and a big chest of drawers. “The bathroom’s down the hall for you and Seth to use. Make yourselves at home.”
Caine left before Chris could thank him again. Bending gingerly, Chris opened the suitcase and took a couple of minutes to unpack, the one picture of his mother he’d managed to steal from his stepfather going center stage on the chest. He tossed his clothes haphazardly into drawers and headed back toward the stairs.
Going down was easier than going up, fortunately, and he made it outside without too much trouble, although he took a moment to sit in one of the wooden chairs on the veranda before continuing.
The station was bustling with activity, twenty or more new men settling in at the bunkhouse and elsewhere, not to mention the people who lived on the station year-round. He could hear the sheep baaing in the pens. Shearing would be the first order of business, he’d heard some of the men say during dinner in Boorowa, but he’d miss that because of his arm. He had no idea how long that would take or what would come next, but a part of him was eager to learn. He didn’t know how long it would last since nothing in his life seemed to last long these days, but he would give it his all and hope for the best.
Standing up slowly, he walked toward the bunkhouse. Macklin hadn’t been alone in saving him, and Chris wanted to thank the others as well if he could find them. He crossed the yard and the road and had just stepped onto the veranda of the bunkhouse when he heard a voice inside.
“Some of you may have heard rumors about the boss.”
Chris slipped inside to listen.
“You might have heard people say he’s a poofter,” the man went on. Chris