Her Outback Protector. Margaret Way

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      Dear Reader,

      It is with much pleasure that I welcome you to my four-book miniseries, MEN OF THE OUTBACK. The setting moves from my usual stamping ground, my own state of Queensland, to the Northern Territory, which is arguably the most colorful and exciting part of the continent. It comprises what we call the Top End and the Red Center—two extreme climatic and geographical divisions, which is what makes the Territory so fascinating. It has the tropical, World Heritage–listed Kakadu National Park, with crocodiles and water buffalo to the Top, and in the Center the desert, the “Dead Heart”—not actually dead at all, only lying dormant until the rains transform it into the greatest garden on earth.

      The pervading theme of the series is family. Family offers endless opportunities for its members to hurt and be hurt, to love and support, or bitterly condemn. What sort of family we grew up in reverberates for the rest of our lives. One thing is certain: at the end of the day, blood binds.

      I invite you, dear reader, to explore the lives of my families. My warmest best wishes to you all.

      Men of the Outback

       THE CATTLEMAN, Superromance #1328

       THE CATTLE BARON’S BRIDE, Harlequin Romance #3891

       HER OUTBACK PROTECTOR, Harlequin Romance #3895

      Look out for Cecile’s story, coming soon from

       Harlequin Superromance: THE HORSEMAN #1363

      She was full of surprises, Daniel thought in some amazement.

      So much for the immature girl without a scrap of make-up! What he saw in front of him was a dead-sexy little buttercup blonde. She was wearing a swishy blue dress that doubled the impact of her violet eyes. He hadn’t expected this transformation. He was so astounded he had trouble hiding it.

      “Have a problem with the way I look, Daniel?” she asked sweetly, pleased at his readable reaction.

      “No, ma’am.” He half shrugged. “You look different, that’s all.” Daniel studied her face. “What’s the problem?”

      “I’m sick with nerves, if you must know.”

      “I promise I’ll lay down my life for you.” He said it lightly. Then it struck him. He had just said something that he actually meant.

      Her Outback Protector

      Margaret Way

      Margaret Way takes great pleasure in her work and works hard at her pleasure. She enjoys tearing off to the beach with her family on weekends, loves haunting galleries and auctions, and is completely given over to French champagne “for every possible joyous occasion.” She was born and educated in the river city of Brisbane, Australia, and now lives within sight and sound of beautiful Moreton Bay.

      Praise for Margaret Way

      The Australian Tycoon’s Proposal

      “Margaret Way delivers the latest in a long series of vividly written, dramatic stories.”

      —Romantic Times BOOKclub

      Outback Surrender

      “The characters are so real and compelling that you can’t help but be drawn into their lives…”

      —Romantic Times BOOKclub

      Outback Bridegroom

      “…compelling…overflows with emotion and passion and pain.”

      —Romantic Times BOOKclub

      CONTENTS

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER TEN

      CHAPTER ELEVEN

      EPILOGUE

      CHAPTER ONE

      Darwin Airport

       The Northern Territory

       Australia

      INSIDE the domestic terminal Daniel surveyed the swirling crowd. A full head and shoulders over most people he had an excellent view over the sea of bobbing heads. He was confident he’d spot the girl, technically his boss. There were tourists galore. Most were probably headed for the World Heritage listed great national park, Kakadu, but many of the faces in the crowd were familiar; Territorians returning from a stint in the big coastal cities of the eastern seaboard; business, pleasure, maybe both. Striding along to the check-in counter, where his charge had agreed to be, a booklet on the Northern Territory in hand, he constantly exchanged waves and friendly calls. He was a familiar figure himself after nearly six years of working for Rigby Kingston, a pioneer cattleman recently deceased. His allotted chore for the day was picking up Kingston’s long estranged granddaughter, Alexandra, and ferrying her back to the station.

      She could have flown to Alice Springs. That would have been a lot closer to Moondai. It was a bit of a haul from Darwin in the tropical Top End of the Territory to Moondai in the Red Centre but he’d managed to kill two birds with the one stone, dropping his leading hand off at RDH, the Royal Darwin Hospital, for a deferred minor op and picking up the girl who had made the long trip from Brisbane. But surely even a city girl would appreciate the magnificent spectacle of great stretches of the Top End under water? That was what she was going to see. Vast swathes of floodplains teeming with nomadic water birds; chains of billabongs floating armadas of exquisite multicoloured waterlilies; the western fringe of Kakadu, the North, East and West Alligator Rivers snaking through the jungle. That stupendous panorama, especially the endless vistas of waterlilies and the thundering waterfalls of the Wet were to him as much an enduring image of the Top End as were the crocodiles.

      They were into March now. The Wet, the Gunemeleng as the aboriginals called it, was all but over. Two cyclones had threatened the tropical North, one extremely dangerous. It had put Darwin, destroyed in Cyclone Tracy in 1974, on high alert. Mercifully cyclone Ingrid had taken herself off into the Timor Sea, but not before dumping torrential rain over the coast and the hinterland. That same deluge, more than they had seen in decades, had brought life-giving water to the Red Centre. The Finke, the oldest river on earth, ninety-nine per cent of the time dry, was now flowing bank to bank. These days it thrilled him to fly over it rejoicing in all the waterfalls that ran off the ochre coloured rock faces into serene green gullies.

      Born in tropical North Queensland not far from the mighty Daintree rain forest he had become used to the desert environment. It was very, very special. Maybe the girl would think so, too. After all she had been born on Moondai and spent enough years there to remember it.

      “Dan!” A voice boomed.

      A passenger off the Brisbane-Darwin flight, a big affable looking man, pushing sixty with keen blue eyes threw out an arm. It was Bill Morrissey, a well respected member of the Northern Territory Administration.

      “How are you, sir?” Respect and liking showed in Daniel’s face.

      They shook hands. “Hot and tired.” Morrissey wiped his forehead with a spotless white handkerchief. “What brings you into Darwin?”

      No harm in telling him. “I’m here to pick up Alexandra