Outlast the Night Read Free

toiletries. He considered taking his phone but decided Devlin would just cancel the contract if he did since it was on the station’s account. Looking at the duffel that contained everything in the world he could truly consider his, he scowled at the sorry state of his life. He should have done this years ago.
    “I’m taking my car,” he told Devlin when he got downstairs. “I’ll send it back when I get where I’m going.”
    Devlin didn’t even look up from where he sat at his desk, a cold pack on his lip.
    Jeremy turned on his heel and walked out of the house where he’d grown up, whistling for Arrow, his kelpie, as he went. It was time to shake the dust of Taylor Peak off his feet.
     
     
    “I T ’ S too early for Neil to be back, isn’t it?” Caine asked Macklin, looking down the valley at the plume of dust from the gravel road.
    “I wasn’t expecting him before dinner,” Macklin said, following Caine’s gaze.
    “Are we expecting anyone else?”
    “Not that I was aware of,” Macklin said. “I guess we should go see who it is.”
    “I can handle it if you want to stay here and finish getting the sheep settled,” Caine offered, though he knew Macklin would refuse.
    “No, I’ll go with you,” Macklin said.
    Caine gave his lover an indulgent smile. He still hadn’t figured out what kind of trouble Macklin thought he would get into walking across the valley by himself, especially since Polly, Jason’s dog, had been on Caine’s heels all day and didn’t seem inclined to leave now, but Caine didn’t argue either. He could handle whatever or whoever was driving down their road by himself, but that didn’t mean he would enjoy it, depending on what it was.
    As the dust cloud approached, Caine could make out a plain black Jeep much like the ones they used at Lang Downs for trips to town. Eventually it pulled up to where they were standing and a man Caine didn’t know climbed out, followed by a solid brown kelpie with the bluest eyes Caine had ever seen on a dog.
    “Taylor?” Macklin said, tensing at Caine’s side. “What are you doing here?”
    Taylor meant Taylor Peak, and that meant their jackass of a neighbor, but this wasn’t Devlin Taylor. This man was closer to Caine’s age than Macklin’s, and much more the typical jackaroo than Devlin Taylor could ever hope to be.
    “Sorry to arrive uninvited,” Taylor said, “but my brother kicked me off the station. I’m hoping you’ve got space for one more, for a day or two, anyway.”
    “Why did he kick you out?” Macklin asked.
    “I got tired of listening to his bullshit,” Taylor said. “I called him on it and he didn’t take it well.”
    “That how you got the shiner?” Macklin asked.
    “Yeah, but it was worth it,” Taylor replied. “The look on his face was priceless.”
    “What did you say?” Macklin asked, his voice sounding amused now.
    “He was going on about you two, the way he does when he gets in a snit,” Taylor said. “I told him I’d rather work for you than for a homophobic bigot who still couldn’t run his station as well as the two men he was so determined to insult.”
    Caine couldn’t stop the grin that crossed his face. “Caine Neiheisel,” he said, holding out his hand to their guest. “Welcome to Lang Downs.”
    “Jeremy Taylor. Nice to finally meet you.”
    “So are you looking for a place to crash for a few days or are you looking for a job?” Macklin asked after Caine and Jeremy had shaken hands.
    “A job, if you’ve got one, but at this point, I’ll settle for not having to drive to Boorowa tonight.”
    “The foreman’s position is already taken,” Macklin said, not quite cracking a smile, although Caine thought he heard amusement in the words, “but we’ve got space in the bunkhouse.”
    “It’s a roof over my head,” Taylor said. “That’s good enough for me.”
    “Come on, then. We’ll find you a bunk,” Macklin said. “Caine, you want to tell Kami there will be one more