KATE HOFFMANN has been writing for fifteen years and has published nearly sixty books. When she isnt writing, she is involved in various musical and theatrical activities in her small Wisconsin community. She enjoys sleeping late, drinking coffee and eating bonbons. She lives with her two cats, Tally and Chloe, and her computer, which shall remain nameless.
To my readers in that wonderful land down under.
The Mighty Quinns: Callum
Kate Hoffmann
www.millsandboon.co.uk
MILLS & BOON
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Table of Contents
Cover
About the Author
Title Page
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
Copyright
Prologue
Queensland, AustraliaJanuary 1997
YOU KISSED HER? CAL QUINN stared at his younger brother Teague in disbelief. It was one thing to kiss just any girl, but quite another to kiss a Fraser. Harry Fraser and Cals dad were in the midst of a land feud, a fight that had gone on for years.
Im not spilling my guts to you boofheads, Teague said. Youll tell Dad and then hell lock me in my room until its time for me to go to university.
Cal turned his gaze to the horizon. He and his brothers had spent the day riding the fence line along the west boundary of Kerry Creek Station, looking for breaks. On their way back to the homestead, theyd decided to make a stop at the big rock, a landmark on the station and a favorite spot for him and his brothers. Theyd discarded their shirts in the heat, their bodies already brown from the summer sun, and crawled up on top of the rock.
Dad would be mad as a cut snake if he knew what you were doing, Cal warned. He hates Harry Fraser. All the Frasers.
There are only two. Hayley and her grandfather. And Hayley doesnt care about the land.
Cal scowled. Still, you shouldnt be talking to her. Itsits disloyal.
Oh, nick off, Teague muttered, growing impatient with the conversation. You cant tell me what Im allowed to do. Youre not the boss cocky on this station.
Cals temper flared. The hell he couldnt. He was the oldest of the three Quinn brothers and if Teague or Brody were doing something that might hurt the family, then it was Cals duty to step in. I will be someday. And when I am, you wont be kissing Hayley Fraser.
If you tell Dad about
I kissed a girl, Brody confessed. Twice.
Cal leaned forward to glare at his youngest brother. Brody had always done his best to keep up, but he usually didnt resort to lies. Twice?
Yeah, Brody said. Once with tongue. It was kind of nasty, but she said we should try it. I thought Id give it a fair go.
Brody had been living in Sydney with their mum, attending a regular school filled with real girls. Hed been to a proper dance and played footy with his school team and went to the flicks almost every weekend. Maybe he was telling the truth. If he was, then at fourteen, Brody had already passed Cal in worldly experience.
Tongue? Teague asked. What does that mean?
When you kiss her, you open your mouth and touch tongues, Brody explained. Its called French kissing. I guess the French do it all the time.
Teague considered the notion, his eyebrow raised in suspicion. So who opens their mouth first, the guy or the girl?
Whoever wants to French kiss, Brody said. If you dont want to do it, you just dont open your mouth. Its probably not so good to do if youre sick. Or if you have food in your mouth. Or if you havent brushed your teeth.
Cal listened as his brothers discussed their experiences with girls, unable to add anything to the conversation. Cal was seventeen, yet hed never kissed a girl, or touched a girl, or even carried on a conversation with one his own age. Hed lived on the station his entire life, miles from any female worth talking about.
Sure, hed been to Brisbane a bunch of times with his family and hed seen lots of pretty girls there. And his cousins had visited Kerry Creek when he was younger, and some of them were girls. But hed never gotten close enough to
He knew what went on between men and women. He listened to the jackaroos after theyd come back from a weekend in town. And hed discovered self-gratification and teenage fantasies years ago. But he wanted to know about the real thing. Sex. Something that Teague and Brody might end up experiencing long before he did.
Cal had considered going into Bilbarra the next time the jackaroos took a weekend off and find himself a willing girl. He was old enough. His mother might disapprove, but she was living in Sydney and would have no idea what he was up to.
As for his father, Jack Quinn had left his two eldest sons to their own devices since the separation. Brody was out of his control in Sydney, but Teague and Cal had only Mary, the housekeeper, to watch over them. Though she was strict about schoolwork, and their father firm about station chores, Cal and Teague were allowed to spend their free time in whatever way they chose.
Mac and Smithy said theyd take me into town the next time they went, Cal said, trying to maintain an air of cool. They know a lot of women in Bilbarra.
Yeah, only they all live at the knock shop, Teague said.
Not all of them, Cal said. Though the boys did frequent the local brothel, they also spent time at the pubs. From what the jackaroos had told him, the brothel in Bilbarra was still a well-kept secret, one almost everyone in the territory knew. But there were other places in Oz where that type of thing was perfectly legal.
Maybe thats what he needed to do. Go find a place like that, pay his money and have done with it. Hed ask for a pretty girl, one with long hair and a nice body. And he wouldnt need to be embarrassed by his lack of experience. Hed be paying for a tutor.
Something would have to change. Cal had always dreamed about running Kerry Creek someday. But if he never left the station, there wasnt much chance of meeting females. Maybe he ought to do like Teague and make plans to attend university for a few years. He could study business, learn things that would make him a better station manager and at the same time, find a wife.
But the idea didnt appeal to him at all. He felt comfortable where he was. Hed learned how to run the station from watching his father. And he loved the work, loved the animals and the people who populated Kerry Creek. There was nothing more beautiful to him than a sunrise over the outback and nothing more peaceful than the sounds of life all around him at days end.
Cal lay back on the rock and stared up at the sky, linking his hands behind his head. Though he wanted to believe the opposite sex might find him interesting, Cal knew life on an outback cattle station wasnt all sunshine and roses. His mother had left Kerry Creek just six months ago, unable to stand the isolation any longer.
Still, there had to be girls who liked riding horses and mustering cattle and fixing fences. Girls like Hayley Fraser. It might take a while to find someone like that, but when he did, maybe he could convince her to visit him on Kerry Creek. If she liked it, he would ask her to stay.
Ive seen lots of knockers, too, Brody said.
Yeah, right, Teague said. In your dreams, maybe.
No, Im not lying, Brody said. Me and my mates go down to Bondi Beach on the weekends and there are girls sunbaking without their tops all over the place. You just walk down the beach and look all you want. You dont even have to pay.
Cal cursed softly, then sat up. Is that all you droobs can talk about? Girls? Who needs them? Theyre all just a big pain in the arse anyway. If you two want to sit around sipping tea and knitting socks with the ladies for the rest of your life, then keep it up. Ive got better things to do with my time.
He slid off the rock, dropping to the ground with a soft thud. Cal grabbed his gloves from his back pocket and put them on, then swung up into the saddle, shoving his hat down on his head. Well, are you two coming? Or do you need help getting down?
Teague and Brody glanced at each other, then slid to the ground, their boots causing a small cloud of dust to rise. Come on, Ill race you back, Cal challenged.
Im in, Teague said, hopping on his horse and weaving the reins through his fingers.
Not fair, Brody complained. I havent ridden in four months.
Then you better hang on, Cal said. He gave his horse a sharp kick and the gelding bolted forward. The sudden start surprised his brothers. They were just getting settled in the saddle while he was already fifty meters in front.
This was what he loved, the feeling of freedom he had, the wind whistling by his ears, the horses hooves pounding on the hard earth. He was part of this land and it was part of him. And if staying on Kerry Creek meant giving up on women altogether, then hed made the choice already. This was home and hed spend his life here.
1
May 31, 2009
THE SUN WAS BARELY ABOVE the horizon as Cal got dressed. He raked his hands through his damp hair, the thick strands still dripping with water. He usually showered at the end of a long workday rather than first thing in the morning, but hed come in so late last night that hed flopped onto the bed and fallen asleep with his dusty clothes on.
Strange how a year had flown by so quickly. It seemed like just last month that theyd finished the mustering and now they were about to start all over again. He should have been accustomed to the rhythms of the station by now, but the older he got, the more Cal was reminded that time was slipping through his fingers.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled his boots on, then rolled up the sleeves of his work shirt. As he reached for his watch on the nightstand, Cal noticed the letter hed received from the matchmaking service sitting out. He grabbed it and shoved it into the drawer. Better not to let anyone know what he was contemplating, especially Mary, the station housekeeper. Hed be facing the Aussie inquisition over the dinner table if she found out.
Hed discovered the Web site a few months backOutbackMatesan organization devoted to finding spouses for country men and women. Hed filled out the application last week and sent it in with an old photograph of himself. According to the letter, his profile would appear on the site next week. It was a bold move, but he was nearing thirty and he hadnt had a long-term relationship with a woman forever.
The station kept him so busy that he rarely took more than a day or two away. Cal knew all the single women in Bilbarra and not one of them would make a suitable wife. The past few years hed been forced to go as far as Brisbane for feminine companionship. Unfortunately, the single women hed met there werent interested in romance with a rancher who lived five hours away, eitherexcept when he happened to be in town. Then he was good for a quick romp between the sheets.
He stood and stared at himself in the mirror on his closet door. Reaching up, Cal smoothed his hands over his tousled hair. He wasnt a bad-looking bloke. Though he didnt possess the charm and sophistication his two younger brothers did, he could show a girl a good time. And he could be romantic if required. That had to count for something, right?
As he jogged down the stairs, Cal turned his thoughts to the workday ahead. The month of June would be spent preparing for mustering, herding the cattle back into the station yards for inoculations, branding, tagging and sorting. From the first of July through the end of that month, every jackaroo on Kerry Creek Station would exist on caffeine, fifteen-minute meals and barely enough sleep to get them through a days work.
The six station hands were already gathered around the table, devouring heaping platters of scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans and toast. Mary hovered nearby, filling requests for coffee, juice and tea in her calm, efficient manner.
As he entered the room, the stockmen shouted their greetings. Cal took his place at the head of the table, observing the scene before him. Was it any wonder a woman would find station life unappealing? Table manners were all but nonexistent. Not a one of the stockmen had bothered to comb their hair that morning and hed wager that most hadnt shaved in the past three days. What was the point when they all looked the same?