Page 52 of Cinderella and the Outback Billionaire

Men were cowards.

Honourable cowards were the worst.

‘On behalf of my entire extended family, and myself, I’d like to invite you to an informal barbecue lunch this Sunday at my home.’ Quiet words that rang with sincerity. ‘We’d all like to meet you very much.’

Ari was still in shock when she walked into Gert’s kitchen two hours later. She’d said yes and hung up, because her feelings were threatening to strangle her into silence. She had two days to get her act together before meeting them all in person. The man had eight grandkids, for goodness’ sake. Three daughters-in-law. His wife bred dachshunds and there were puppies on the ground, did she want one?

It was all just a little too soon and definitely too much but no way was she letting the opportunity slip away. Regardless of whether they truly were as loving and accepting as they sounded, Ari would be there for it.

She’d almost forgotten what other wheels she’d put in motion—it had been one hell of a day—but the young man in Gert’s kitchen brought her back to reality with a start.

‘Jake.’ She sought the older woman’s gaze. ‘Gert. Sorry I’m late. I got held up.’

‘Perfect timing,’ Gert replied with a wave of her arm towards the oven. ‘I’m about to dish up.’

Ari dropped her duffel beside the door and went to the bathroom to clean up, and when she returned, Jake was carving meat while Gert added serving spoons to salad greens and cheesy potato bake.

It wasn’t until halfway through the meal, with Gert providing most of the conversation, that Ari stitched together the scattered remnants of her will and turned to her silent stepbrother, who’d eaten quickly, with his eyes lowered and his head down, giving clear signals to those who knew how to look for them that he had no idea where his next decent feed was coming from.

‘I have a landscaping business now and a really good team of tradies who work with me.’ Her goal was to put the offer to him, tell him why she was making it, and leave the rest up to him. ‘I need a labourer for a job we have coming up at the visitor information centre at Black Ridge.’

‘What’s the pay?’ He didn’t look at her.

‘The award wage for someone your age plus a living away from home allowance that all my employees get. I can send you the job description and the wage breakdown if you’re interested.’ She’d be calling the shots. ‘It’s pretty simple garden labour, but if you won’t take orders from me and have no intention of working hard, don’t take the job. You won’t last a day. I’ll make sure of it.’ She refused to let him disrupt her crew with family angst.

She wondered whether or not to touch on their not so happy past. Probably best to open that wound wide and see if she could flush out the rot. ‘You were only a kid when I left home. I don’t know you very well and you don’t know me. But I do know your father’s faults and his fury and what he does to drive people away. I’m trusting Gert’s judgment when she says you’re not like him.’

His head came up, his brown eyes direct and his boyish jaw hard. He was well on his way to becoming a strong, handsome man who looked a lot like his father. ‘I’m not like him.’

‘Be sure.’

She saw fierce determination and hope in his eyes. ‘I’m not like him,’ he repeated. ‘I’ll work hard for you. I want the job.’

‘You’ll start next Tuesday, helping me source plants and order materials.’

The faintest of smiles crossed his lips. ‘Looking forward to it.’

‘Eat up,’ said Gert, her expression warmly approving.

Maybe taming demons of old wasn’t so difficult after all.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE PROBLEM WITH arguing with Ari and watching the door close behind her was that Reid still had business ends to tie up and they still needed to deal with one another on a professional basis. Reid had promised her she wouldn’t be disadvantaged should a romance between them go bad. So far, he hadn’t lived up to his promise at all, but he would.

Soon.

For the first time in his life he’d allowed his sister-in-law to sweep into his life and scoop him up and take him home to Jeddah Creek station. Not that it was his home any more but as the family seat in Australia it held all the treasures and memories of his childhood home.

In retrospect, his Kangaroo Point climb had been a terrible idea, useful only for exposing his physical frailty for all to see. Business had suffered. He’d pushed friends away, craving solitude and room to heal outside the public gaze. He’d even tried to push Judah and Bridie away, but they were having none of it.

He appreciated their efforts to make him feel essential to the family unit, but more than anything he’d wanted to lie on a bed with Ari and hold her hand and say I don’t know how to be who I used to be out loud. He wanted to say I need to create the new me but I’m tired for the first time in my life and there’s a black dog licking at my heels.

He wanted to turn her into a what? A nursemaid? A whipping post for every frustration? What kind of person would he be if he did that to someone he—?

Someone he loved.

Far better to lie around in dark rooms and pretend he was doing just what the doctor ordered. Resting. Relaxing.

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