Outback Sunset Read Online Free PDF Page B

was out of sight. He had a lot on his plate right now: Amaroo Downs was in need of attention, and his mother was becoming more, not less demanding as she tried to cope with being a widow. Somehow, though, he would track Vanessa down … And when he did, he’d use every means at his disposal to make her fall in love with him.
    His jaw clamped down with determination as he turned on his heel to go and find Curtis. People, family, those who knew him well, knew that when Brendan James Selby put his mind towards a goal, he didn’t give up until he’d achieved it.
    ‘You’re out of your head. You do know that, don’t you?’
    Bren threw Curtis a baleful glance before he continued to pack his bag. ‘You don’t understand, mate, I have to go. I can’t think straight, haven’t been able to for two months, not since that night at Fannie Bay. Geez, Curtis, you saw her. Saw how beautiful she was. It’s like something is eating me up inside, in my gut. If I don’t …’
    ‘Christ, Bren, she’s only a woman,’ Curtis cut in, ignoring his brother’s annoyed intake of breath. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard his brother wax lyrical over Vanessa ‘what’s her name’ but flying half way around the world to see her ’cause he had the hots for her made no sense. ‘Fair bloody dinkum,Bren, wise up,’ he let his exasperation show. ‘She doesn’t know you exist.’
    ‘Just because you’ve turned into a woman hater because of what your wife, Georgia, did, don’t judge all women by her actions.’
    ‘My ex-wife, thank you!’ Curtis corrected. ‘I don’t hate women, I just don’t trust them and,’ he paused to gather his thoughts, ‘don’t change the subject. What you’re doing is madness. You’re likely to come a real gutser, you know.’
    ‘Perhaps I will,’ Bren conceded matter-of-factly. ‘Be that as it may, I’ve never felt like this before about any woman, not even Donna and Maddy when I was engaged to them. All I know is, I have to try. If she turns me down, well, then I guess I’ll have to live with that.’
    ‘But it’s the worst time to go. There’s work to do here. And, in case it’s slipped your mind, the station’s not exactly flush financially,’ Curtis reminded him. ‘Dad, the poor bugger, due to his illness, made several unsound business decisions. The debts are killing us. We’ll have to work flat out and live lean for a few years to pay them off.’
    ‘I know.’ Grey eyes looked directly into Curtis’s. ‘It’s a risk I’m prepared to take. Besides, you and Reg can organise and run Amaroo Downs as well if not better than I can.’
    Curtis had to agree with that. ‘We both know that Reg, by himself, could run the place with one hand tied behind his back.’ As head stockman, Reg Morrison was exceptional and had been at Amaroo for almost eighteen years. ‘That’s not the point though. Dad left the place to you, not me.’
    There was no rancour in his brother’s tone, but Bren felt compelled to say, ‘Which wasn’t my choice, as you well know. Dad had this outdated nineteenth century idea about the eldest son inheriting the property. It wasn’t what I wanted.’
    ‘I’m okay with it, Bren.’
    Matthew Selby had seen that his wife and his other children, Curtis and Lauren were well catered for financially. That Matthew had decided to keep up the tradition set by their grandfather, English-born Robert Selby, of the eldest son inheriting the main property, Amaroo Downs, was something Curtis didn’t agree with, but would never legally dispute. Their father had continued the tradition because
he
had inherited Amaroo the same way, over his brother, Stuart. At the time Stuart had been mightily disgruntled by Robert’s will. His uncle had taken his cash inheritance and forged a successful career in the pearling industry in Broome, and later, in tourism. Today, Stuart and his wife, Diane, were reputedly multi-multi-millionaires with a lifestyle that far outstripped what