LITMIR.BIZ

      CHAPTER ONE

      ‘GO AND work in the outback?’ Bea stared blankly at her friend. ‘Why would we want to do that?’

      ‘Why?’ Emily echoed, equally uncomprehending. ‘How can you even ask that, Bea? Everybody wants to work in the outback. It’s beautiful!’

      ‘It’s not beautiful, it’s brown.’

      ‘It’s full of hunky men riding around in hats and dusty boots.’

      ‘It’s full of flies,’ said Bea, unimpressed.

      ‘Don’t be like that, Bea.’ Emily abandoned her customers and pulled out a chair so that she could sit down opposite her friend. ‘This is the chance of a lifetime! I’ve always wanted to go and work on a cattle station.’

      ‘What on earth for?’

      ‘Because it’s different and romantic and wonderful,’ enthused Emily, gesticulating wildly. ‘Besides,’ she went on, clearly grasping at straws by now, ‘it’s part of my heritage.’

      Bea goggled at her. To her certain knowledge, Emily had been born and brought up in London, about as far from the outback as you could get. ‘Since when?’

      ‘My mother’s Australian,’ said Emily loftily.

      ‘From Melbourne. It’s not exactly the red heart of Australia, is it?’

      ‘Well, her mother grew up on a cattle station,’ Emily conceded with an edge of defiance.

      ‘My grandmother grew up in Leamington Spa, but it doesn’t mean I want to go and work there!’

      ‘Leamington Spa isn’t chock-a-block with men who know how to throw a lasso and wrestle bulls to the ground single-handed, though, is it? Real men, Bea, not like this lot here!’

      Emily glanced disparagingly around the bar where she was a waitress. She was wearing a long, white apron, and ignoring customers on nearby tables who were trying to catch her eye.

      Bea followed her friend’s gaze. It was a Sunday night, and the bar was buzzing, packed with young people enjoying the end of another great Sydney weekend. As far as Bea could see, every single man there seemed to be tall, broad-shouldered and eminently fanciable. That’s if you weren’t still recovering from being dumped from a very great height and therefore not inclined to fancy any of them.

      ‘What’s wrong with them?’ she asked.

      ‘They’re all city boys,’ grumbled Emily. ‘We might as well be in London.’

      Through the plate glass window, Bea could see the Opera House, its famous roof lit up against the night sky, and the harbour clustered with yachts bobbing at anchor.

      Like London? Bea didn’t think so.

      ‘You’ve changed your tune, haven’t you?’ she said. ‘It’s only a week or so since all you could talk about was Marcus, and he was as smooth as they come.’

      ‘Too smooth,’ said Emily, remembering Marcus with a scowl. ‘And I’ve learnt my lesson! I’m sick of guys like him. I want a man with a bit more grit to him.’

      ‘Well, if it’s grit you want, maybe the outback is the right place for you.’ Bea grinned as she picked up her drink. She wasn’t on duty. ‘I hear it’s very dusty out there!’

      ‘I’m

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