Mountain Ash Read Online Free PDF Page A

they’d had the previous night. Living remote was tough on relationships.
    But Wally didn’t. He stayed silent, protecting the man they both liked and spent most of their time working for. Until recently Ferris Van Over had only appeared every month or so, flying in for a few days and then going again, leaving the station in the hands of Trumby Laws. Ferris had little idea of what was going on apart from the bottom line of the balance sheets.
    â€˜Send him over to me when he gets back. You two go take a break … And, McGregor?’
    â€˜Yes, Mr Van Over?’
    â€˜Stay the hell away from my niece. She’s not for the likes of you.’
    â€˜Bu–’ Nate felt something come hard down on his toes. Wally’s size-twelve boot.
    â€˜I’ll see he behaves himself, boss,’ said Wal, nodding, not looking at Nate.
    Ferris Van Over gave them both a hard glare.
    Nate lifted his chin and stared right back. Arrogant bastard. Van Over was just like his father. He didn’t know who his crew were or where they came from. He didn’t care just so long as the work got done. It was all about money. And it didn’t matter that his niece was raring to go. The family obviously thought she was in the same league as Mother Teresa.
    Van Over went to walk off, slinging words over his shoulder as he left, ‘Be back at those yards by six.’
    â€˜Yes, sir ,’ muttered Nathaniel under his breath.
    Van Over halted mid-step, went to turn, then obviously thought better of it and kept stalking away.

Chapter 4
    They moved onto McCauley’s Hill on the day of the wedding – the wedding of Tamara McCauley and Travis Hunter, to be precise. Her new landlords.
    An entrance gate flashed past with the name ‘Montmorency Downs’ chipped into the stone faceplate on the entranceway pillars. With her window wound down so she could enjoy the fresh air, Jodie could hear music and laughter coming from the huge marquee placed in the paddock beside the old country homestead set back from the road. The sounds of revelry were rolling across the green pastures in snatches, slips of noise on an otherwise quiet landscape. Well, quiet except for the gentle snoring of her daughter, slumped in the seat on the other side of the LandCruiser ute. Milly had crashed not ten kilometres out of Narree and Jodie didn’t blame her. This was the last load of all their worldly belongings and the packing, the trips to the new house and subsequent unpacking had taken their toll.Jodie heartily wished she was Milly, snoozing in the warm afternoon sun.
    It had been a rugged few weeks. First the accident. Then the packing up of her late father’s home, a huge job in itself. Robert Ashton had been a hoarder in his latter years and it had taken ages to go through his stuff. Mue had been wonderful, helping as much as her busy work schedule would allow. Mue was part-time housekeeper for Alex McGregor and for Tammy McCauley, and spent time helping at the local nursing home, where Jodie did some of her shifts. When you ran three jobs it was hard to get some time out. But she’d found it for Jodie and Milly.
    Not so Alex. Jodie had barely seen him of late. He’d called around to Mue’s a few times after the accident but then there had been some council disaster, a cut-back in funding from the State government, and Alex had been away in Melbourne lobbying for the area’s money to be reinstated. She couldn’t begrudge him that. The shire council was responsible for the wellbeing of close to forty-five thousand people. She, Jodie, was only one of them.
    Anyway, it was fine. She was used to dealing with stuff on her own.
    She glanced back over her shoulder across the paddocks at the white tent, flapping gently in the breeze, and idly wondered what it would be like to be Tamara McCauley, born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Although from what she’d heard on the bush telegraph at work, Tammy had