The Outback Bridal Rescue Read Free

Little Patrick, who’d turned three just before last Christmas, would have loved a ride in the camera crane.
    ‘Great to see you, Ric!’ He greeted his old friend with immense pleasure. ‘Want to be introduced around?’
    ‘No.’
    The quick and sober reply took Johnny aback. He instantly regrouped, seeing that Ric didn’t look too good. In fact, he looked downright pained, something bad eating at him. No happy flash in his usual y bril iant dark eyes. They were dul , sick.
    ‘Could we go to your trailer, Johnny? Have some privacy?’
    ‘Sure.’
    He gestured the way and they walked side by side, not touching. Any other time Johnny would have thrown an arm around Ric’s shoulders, hugging his pleasure in his friend’s company, but that didn’t feel right, not with Ric so uptight and closed into himself. Johnny’s stomach started churning.
    It always did when he sensed something bad coming.
    He couldn’t wait until they reached his trailer.
    ‘What is it, Ric? Tel me!’ he demanded grimly.
    A deep, pent-up breath was expel ed. ‘I had a cal from Mitch,’ he stated flatly. ‘Megan cal ed him.’
    ‘Megan Maguire?’
    A vivid image of Patrick Maguire’s youngest daughter instantly flew into Johnny’s mind—a wild bunch of red curls, freckled face, eyes the grey of stormy clouds, always projecting fierce independence, spurning his every offer of help with work on the station, defying him to imply in any way that she wasn’t fit and able to run Gundamurra just as wel as her father did.
    Which was probably true. She’d worked towards it, not wanting to do anything else with her life. Johnny knew he’d never made any criticism of that choice. He actual y admired her very capable handling of the work she did.
    What he didn’t understand was why she couldn’t just ride along with his company whenever he visited, make him as welcome as her father did. She invariably shunned him as much as possible and when she couldn’t, her scorn of his chosen career invariably slipped out.
    Yet she’d liked listening to him play his guitar when she was a kid, hanging on his every word when he sang. Why she’d grown up into such a hard, judge-mental woman he didn’t know, but be damned if he’d let her attitude towards him keep him away from Gundamurra. Patrick was like a father to him. Best father any guy could have.
    ‘Patrick…’ He felt it in his gut. ‘Something’s happened to Patrick.’
    Another hissed breath from Ric, then… ‘He’s dead, Johnny.’
    Shock slammed into his heart. His feet stopped walking.
    He shook his head, refusing to believe it. Denial gravel ed from his throat as it started choking up. ‘No…no…’
    ‘Two nights ago,’ Ric said in a tone that made the fact unequivocal, and he went on, quietly hammering home the intolerable truth. ‘He died in his bed. His heart gave out.
    No-one knew until the next morning. Megan found him.
    Nothing could be done, Johnny. He was gone.’
    Gone…
    Leaving a huge black hole—a bottomless pit that Johnny kept tumbling down. He was barely aware of Ric’s hand gripping his elbow, steering him. His feet moved automatical y. He saw nothing. It wasn’t until Ric thrust a glass of whisky into his hand that he realised he was sitting on the couch in the mobile home provided by the movie company.
    ‘It’s a hel of a blow. For al of us, Johnny.’
    He nodded. Couldn’t speak. Forced a swal ow of whisky down his throat.
    ‘I’ve booked flights to Australia for both of us. I guess you’l need to clear that with your people here. Might mean a delay in their schedule if they can’t shoot around your absence.’
    The movie…meaningless now.
    The deep ache of loss consumed him. Ric had Lara and their children. Mitch had Kathryn, with a baby on the way.
    They’d both made homes of their own. For Johnny, Gundamurra and Patrick was home, and with Patrick gone…it was like having the roots of his life torn out of him.
    There was no longer any reason