Outlast the Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

you’ll ever meet.”
    “This is still a job interview,” Sam replied, “no matter what terms you put it in. I’m a little out of practice.”
    “Maybe it is,” Neil agreed, “but I’ll repeat what I said: Caine is the fairest man you’ll ever meet. If you can do what he needs you to do, that’s all he’ll require. I expected the worst when I heard a Yank was coming to run the station, but he was never afraid to get his hands dirty or ask questions if he didn’t know something. He’s never asked a man to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself, which is why I’m still alive. He’s not out to trip you up today. He just wants to know if you can help him.”
    Sam certainly hoped he could, but it wasn’t that simple. He didn’t know enough about what was involved in running a sheep station to know if he could help.
    “If I can’t, I guess I could always learn about sheep.”
    “That’s the spirit,” Neil said. “We taught Caine. I can teach you if it comes to that, but you’ll be happier in the office, and Caine will be happier too.”
    “I can’t believe how much you’ve mellowed,” Sam said. “I never thought I’d see the day when you were so loyal to a gay man.”
    “It’s not about that,” Neil said. “They should have fired me for the way I acted after I found out about Caine, but they didn’t, and then Caine saved my life. I’m loyal to two of the best men I know. The fact that they’re a couple? Honestly, I try not to think about it, but it’s nothing compared to what they’ve done for me.”
    “So if I meet someone one day?”
    “You’ll always be my brother,” Neil replied. “And if you meet someone special and he makes you happy, that’s what matters. I still won’t want details, but I’m not Dad. Not anymore.”
    Sam smiled. “Any advice for my interview?”
    “Don’t bullshit him. If you don’t know something, say so. You can look up and learn what you need to. He respects honesty more than anything else.”
    “Thanks,” Sam said. “I’ll remember that.”
    Sam finished eating, doing his best not to telegraph his unease to the rest of the room. Caine and Macklin sat at a nearby table talking with several other jackaroos Sam hadn’t met yet, but it was obvious from the body language that they were well known to Caine and Macklin. Sam figured the two men knew everyone pretty well by the end of the summer, but it took a certain degree of familiarity to choose to sit at the table with the bosses. Two teens joined them at the table a moment later, obviously sure of their welcome, and Sam realized one of the boys closely resembled the youngest of the jackaroos.
    “Chris and Seth Simms,” Neil said, following Sam’s gaze. “Chris is the one I was telling you about in Yass, the one who nearly died. Seth is his younger brother. And that’s Jesse Harris sitting next to Chris, and then Jason Thompson, the other kid, and his dad, Patrick, our head mechanic. They’re all year-rounders. Patrick’s wife, Carley, is around here somewhere, although I haven’t seen her this morning. She helps out in the bunkhouses and in the kitchen sometimes, when Kami lets her.”
    “You realize you’re going to have to tell me all of this again in an hour,” Sam said. “I’ve never been good at names.”
    “You’ll have time to meet everyone,” Neil said.
    Caine and Macklin rose from their seats, then Macklin headed toward the door, and Caine came toward them. Neil tossed back the last of his coffee. “That’s my signal to get to work. Good luck with your interview.”
    “Thanks. I’ll see you at dinner.”
    Neil nodded and followed Macklin out the door.
    “Don’t rush,” Caine said when Sam started to get up. “You can finish your breakfast. Just because Macklin believes the day can’t start early enough doesn’t mean we have to rush. You and I aren’t trying to breed a thousand sheep in the next week.”
    “No, just figure out how to pay the men you employ