Free The Cattle King's Mistress by Emma Darcy Page A

time. But mothers didn’t know everything. All the same, he was glad that door was shut now because another door had opened and it had a stronger lure than any he had ever known.
    “Well, it’s lucky you can count on Jared to be sensible,” he tossed out, then slanted a teasing grin at his brother. “Been a good boy, have you?”
    He laughed and they moved onto a lighter vein of conversation, which suited Nathan just fine since he only had to give half his mind to it.
    Tonight, he thought with deep satisfaction.
    Tonight he would find out more about the woman he wanted.
     
    As was her custom, Miranda was ready to welcome back the homestead guests as they returned from their day’s activities. She waited on the verandah, watching the fishing party unload themselves from the Jeep Sam always commandeered, and thinking they looked well satisfied with what they had chosen to do.
    “Look at these great barramundi!” John Trumbell crowed, holding up his catch for her to admire as he led the others up the path.
    Miranda laughed at his glee. “Biggest I’ve seen this season, John.”
    Robyn, his wife, asked. “Can we give them to the chef to cook for our dinner tonight?”
    “Of course. Should make a great feast for you.”
    “It was a marvellous day,” Robyn enthused. “I’ve never gone fishing in a helicopter before.” She swung around to Sam who was trailing after them. “Thanks for the ride.”
    “Couldn’t get you to that part of the river any other way,” Sam informed her.
    Robyn sighed happily, turning to the other couple who had accompanied her and her husband. “Don’t you just love the outback? It was like fishing in a world of our own.”
    The others made equally enthusiastic comments as they passed Miranda. Sam sidled up to her and remarked sotto voce, “Wonderful, when you’ve got money to burn.”
    She grinned. It was true the guests who took homestead suites never seemed to count the cost of anything. Nevertheless, in the month since the resort opened, she’d found that even the campers loved being here, just exploring the gorges, swimming in waterholes, enjoying the unique wildlife.
    “So what’s on for tomorrow?” Sam asked, rolling her eyes.
    “For them the Bungle Bungle Range.”
    “Got Albert lined up to take them in after I’ve landed them?”
    “Of course.”
    Miranda’s mind flinched away from the memory of her morning with Nathan. It still haunted her, even after six weeks of seeing nothing of him. It seemed he had decided to respect her choice not to play. The problem was, in the lonely hours of the night, she was tormented by the question of what might have been if she’d chosen differently.
    “Someone coming,” Sam remarked, squinting past Miranda at a Jeep, which was fast approaching. “Looks like Tommy. Must be coming from the station homestead. Are you expecting him?”
    “No, I’m not.” She was puzzled by this unheralded visit. “He dropped in on Tuesday to check through everything with me.”
    Sam gave her a crooked smile. “Well, it’s Saturday. Maybe he’s without a date tonight and hopes you’ll fill in.”
    “Then he’ll be out of luck.”
    Sam shook her head in bemusement. “It’s an education, watching you block him out. Mind if I stay to watch the fun?”
    “As you like.”
    She didn’t find Tommy’s flirtatiousness fun, and didn’t really see what fun Sam could get out of watching them together. Apparently it amused her, yet Miranda kept remembering what Nathan had said about Sam’s feelings for Tommy, and she couldn’t help thinking it was masochistic to want to watch. Or maybe it was a case of not being able to help herself. If he was like a magnet to her...
    A convulsive little shiver ran down Miranda’s spine. It had certainly been easier, throwing herself into her job and getting on top of it with Nathan out of sight, if not completely out of mind. Tommy was not a problem to her. His irrepressible personality seemed to bounce around