Page 5 of Jillaroo from Jacaranda

Nodding, Rose sucked in a shaky breath. ‘I hope you’re right, Mum.’

‘Your mother is always right, Rosie,’ GG said gently. ‘She’s wise, just like your great-grandma.’ Coming to her side, he gave her shoulders a squeeze. ‘You’re a beautiful young woman, with so much to light and love to give. You deserve great love.’

‘Thanks GG,’ Rose said, squeezing the words past the emotion lodged in her throat. She appreciated how the menfolk in her life showed their love and support in their own masculine ways – she could only guess how infuriated her father was going to be.

Lizzy clambered from her chair and wrapped her arms around Rose’s legs. ‘We all love you, sissy,’ she said, looking up at her.

‘Yes, we do,’ echoed Heath, wrapping a comforting arm around her.

Leaning her head against her stepfather’s shoulder, Rose couldn’t help but smile through her tears. ‘Thank you all for loving me like you do.’ If only she could one day cross paths with a man who would love her like this lot, she’d be a very happy woman.

CHAPTER

2

Mareeba Christmas Eve Rodeo

Behind the bucking chutes, the scent of liniment mingled with the stench of manure. The fringe of Ty Parker’s leather chaps swished as he paced, and prayed, and paced, and prayed.

‘Well, folks, we’ve reached the pinnacle of the day’s events … the bull ride. Our reigning champion, Ty Parker, needs eighty-two points to take out the top spot. Do you think he’s going to be the one to walk away with the twenty thousand dollar prize cheque tonight?’ The commentator’s booming voice entertained the eight-thousand-strong crowd, sitting on the edge of their seats.

Ty had always known that in the lethal world of bull riding, there were always two athletes – the rider and the bull. Only one of them would walk out a champion.

‘I know you all believe in him, boys and girls, but seeing as he’s drawn the toughest bull in the competition to boot, there’s no telling what’ll happen when they explode from the chutes!’ Hollering and applause rang out through the arena.

‘I suppose we’ll know soon enough, when Parker jumps aboard Raising Hell,’ the other commenter countered to more cheers from the spectators. ‘That bull is one brute you don’t want to mess with.’

After nine years competing in the toughest sport on dirt, Ty was all too familiar with this, and knew that the first rule was to stay alive. One man, one bull and a priceless eight seconds – that’s what it all boiled down to. Once he climbed aboard the one-tonne bucking brute, anything could happen.

Looking to the star-spangled heavens, he nodded towards where he believed his dad’s spirit rested. His father had been the reason he’d joined the army at eighteen, wanting to follow in his footsteps. On the flip side of the Parker coin, his grandfather, god rest his soul, had taught him all he knew about being a cattleman.

The scorching North Queensland summer day hadn’t finished off with a tropical storm, instead giving way to a cooler evening, making it the perfect night for the annual Mareeba Christmas Eve Rodeo, so Ty added his gratitude to his prayers. It would have sucked having to buck it out in the rain. Then, with his praying and pacing done, he got into his stretches.

The catchy Johnny Cash song ended and Brad Paisley’s hit tune ‘Mud on the Tires’ echoed from the speakers suspended around the arena. Ty’s blood froze in his veins – it had been this very song playing in the patrol vehicle when all shit had hit the fan the night he’d lost his father in Afghanistan.

This was what his psychiatrist would refer to as a major trigger – a trigger that was pulled before he could stop it. Mid-stretch, he was ripped back to the fatal second in time that had altered his life forever. Hands going to his hips, he heaved in desperate breaths as his heart hammered furiously. Momentarily paralysed, his train of thought went off-track. The real world went blurry as the blast ricocheted, the explosion vomiting up a volcano of dirt and shrapnel, sucking all the air from around the patrol vehicle, then smashing it back down in a blast wave of deafening sound.

Men cried out in agony. Bodies flew through the air then slammed back to earth. Gunfire peppered from both sides of the road now carved in two. It was so black he couldn’t see anything. His shouts for his father were drowned out by the mayhem. And then, scrambling on his hands and knees, he found Greg Parker, limp, broken; dead.

Ty had never felt such suffocating heartbreak in all his life. The horrific recollections were intense, so much so he swore he could smell the scents of burning rubber and human flesh.

Why had he been the only survivor? The weight of his guilt brought him to his knees. Collapsing forward, he covered his ears as if he were back right back there, fighting for his life. It took him a few breath-held moments to snap from the horror of it all, and that was when a hand came down upon his shoulder.

‘Parker, are you right mate?’ Jasper Roberts’ voice carried him from the past and back into the present as he knelt down beside him. ‘It’s all good, I got you buddy.’

Blinking away the threat of useless tears, Ty looked up and into the eyes of his long-time mate – the only one that knew the shadows cast by his darkest demons. He didn’t answer him; couldn’t for the emotion lodged like a soccer ball in his throat. And the great thing was, he didn’t need to. Instead, he took hold of Jasper’s outstretched hand and came to his feet, apprehensively glancing from left to right.

‘Don’t stress, Parker. Nobody’s interested in us. They’re all too busy watching the arena,’ Jasper said by way of support.

Although nobody but Jasper was privy to what had just happened, Ty hated the fact his composure had cracked, again. ‘Cheers, bud,’ he said, giving Jasper a matey slap to the back. He tried to flash his usual easygoing smile, but the lingering fear tugged the corners of his mouth downward. ‘Sorry about all that.’ Frustration crept up his spine as he kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot.

Jasper shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. ‘Hey, no worries. That’s what mates are for.’

Nodding, Ty cleared his throat to ease the tightness.

Jasper fixed him with a worried gaze. ‘Shit, mate. I really wish I could do more to help you, hey.’ He gave Ty’s back a friendly pat. ‘I’m here for you, anytime, but you already know that, right?’

‘Yeah, I know. Thanks, mate.’ Brushing the dirt from his knees, Ty heaved a weighty sigh. ‘I’m just not ready to go into sordid detail.’ He shrugged apologetically. ‘Not sure I ever will be.’