Taken Outback (The Dusty Rider Series Book 1) Read online

  THE DUSTY RIDER SERIES

  BOOK ONE

  TAKEN OUTBACK

  By

  Stella Knights

  Copyright 2017 Stella Knights

  Published April 2017

  All rights reserved.

  This eBook is licenced for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, then please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. All similarities or resemblance to actual persons, either living or deceased, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  DEDICATION

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  EPILOGUE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  CONNECT WITH STELLA KNIGHTS

  DEDICATION

  To the Australian that touched me in ways he will never know.

  CHAPTER ONE

  A HYPNOTIC, RICH coffee aroma overpowers me as I push the door open and step into the café. I order a hazelnut latte, the exact thing I ordered every morning when I lived in this artsy city called Melbourne. The velvety, sweet taste is like an old friend that brings me comfort.

  I patiently wait for the young lady named Kylie. She emailed me her photo so I would recognise her when she arrives. In it she has a modern short coiffed hairstyle that fits in well with her job at a stylish women’s magazine.

  A mix of people surround me, working away on their laptops or conversing about business, love or whatever else may be affecting them at the moment. I notice one young woman sitting alone, staring out the window towards the bleak rainy sky as she sips her cappuccino. Something about her soulful eyes reminds me of myself before I learned about love and difficult choices.

  A voice interrupts my thoughts. “Hi, it’s Holly, right?” I look up and see the sharply dressed, raven-haired Kylie.

  I stand and put out my hand to greet her. “Yes, it’s Holly. Nice to meet you.”

  As she sits across from me, she says, “Thank you so much for meeting with me. Your friend, Jen, has told me so much about you.”

  I flinch at the thought of being talked about. I enjoy my anonymity, keeping the world away from my deepest thoughts.

  “Yes, she’s a good friend, but I’m still not clear about what she’s told you.”

  “Well, as I said on the phone, we’re doing a series of articles on true Australian love stories. We have been looking for unique stories, things that maybe give hope or people overcoming adverse situations.”

  How I wish it were that simple.

  Wrapping my fingers around my mug, I frown. “I’m not sure if my story is suitable or not?”

  “From what I heard, which was only the basic gist of things, it sounds like your story is quite interesting and exactly what we want.”

  “I have to admit I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this. I like the thought of giving hope to others, but at the same time, what I’m going to tell you has potential ramifications if told the wrong way, so I can only do this if it’s anonymous.”

  “Don’t worry. I agree not to reveal certain information and I have brought a non-disclosure agreement to help put your mind at ease.” Kylie hands me the document full of obtuse words for my so-called protection. She points her manicured finger on the numerous lines I must initial, date and sign.

  Seeing her nails makes me think of the days where I would run through this demanding city, trying to fit in a manicure or pedicure between appointments. So much action, going place to place, but ironically, I wonder if I actually got anywhere.

  Amused, after initialling and signing multiple pages as though my life depended on it, I mention, “We’re so legal in this world, aren’t we?”

  “Yeah, it’s amazing how much my magazine pays for its legal team.” She picks up the document, puts it back into her folder. “Well, now that is done, where should we begin?” After pausing, she suggests, “How about we start with your first love?”

  I take a sip of the caffeine therapy resting in my cup, letting it warm my insides as I think back to a time that feels like a lifetime ago. “Tom was my first love. We met in America while he was working in the ski fields of Colorado. I fell for him the moment I set eyes on him. I mean, how could I not fall for a lean, long-haired surfer guy with the sexiest accent I had ever heard? We had a holiday romance where we threw ourselves at each other because we didn’t know if we would ever see each other again.”

  “What did you like most about Tom?”

  “I found Tom to be exciting, carefree and willing to make his own rules. I thought he was different than the boys I grew up with because I was raised in Texas where people live by an old fashioned code of gentility, manners and expectations set by generations before.” I pause, thinking about how describing this may be coming across as snobbish and pompous.

  Noticing my hesitation, Kylie asks, “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. I just don’t want to sound pretentious when talking about the life I left behind in America. Even if it was that way, I cringe at the thought of a reader thinking I’m full of myself. Maybe I was, once upon a time, but I have changed since then.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll try to write the beginning of your story in the best light possible. You were saying?”

  I look down at the cup resting in my hands. “My life was stifling, full of debutante pageantry and country club parties. No time to do what I wanted to do, but all the time to do what society wanted. So, for me to experience a man that was willing to do his own thing was out of the ordinary, exciting, almost dangerous. I was also at an age where I enjoyed upsetting my parents by breaking their rules or doing the opposite of what they wanted. So, as you can imagine, my parents were happy when it was time for the holiday to end and I went home heartbroken. But much to their chagrin, Tom and I stayed in touch. Over the coming months when we exchanged emails and it turned out he was actually more normal than I thought.”

  “What do you classify as normal?”

  “Well, I think we all have a different definition of what is normal and my scale of normal has been challenged and changed all throughout my life. But at that point in time, normal was that Tom came from a suitable family and had lofty goals for himself. Looking back now, I think it was the mystery of being a foreigner that made him seem more exciting. It’s also possible, that this blonde snowboarder was comfortably outside of what I would consider a safe choice to date. Being just beyond my normal boundary of who I would choose as a partner, made him an exciting prospect.”

  “You say he was from a suitable family and had goals?”

  “Tom was middle class but well aware that he was going to have to make it on his own as there wasn’t a pile of inherited cash that was going to be handed over to him. This may be one reason my family did not approve of him when they met him. My father woul
d have looked down on Tom as not having enough to take care of me in the manner I was accustomed to. But the thing my overbearing father did not consider, was that maybe the comfortable life he had given me was not what would make me happy.” I stop to take a sip of my coffee as Kylie furiously scribbles down notes.

  She looks up as I continue speaking. “Not everyone is seduced by material things. I didn’t know it then, but I eventually learned that I could be happy with far less than I ever imagined. Love is sometimes really all you need.”

  “So, when did you and Tom see each other again?”

  “It took me some time, but I finally convinced my parents to let me do a foreign exchange program where I could attend Monash University for a year. I honestly knew nothing about Australia before coming over here.”

  Kylie smiles as she sips her cappuccino, “A bit of culture shock, you reckon?”

  “Totally. I came over with a bunch of luggage and no clue. Tom met me at the airport and helped me get settled into the apartment I had rented. He took me out and introduced me to his friends and I settled right in. I thrived on the sense of independence that came with being somewhere new.”

  Kylie looks up from her notes with a smile. “I can only imagine. I bet your life before and after was like chalk and cheese.”

  “Australia was so different from the world I left. Where I went to university in the States, there were certain standards that felt normal to me. But once I arrived in Australia, I learned that these standards were conservative and overwrought with rules. I was shocked on my first day of classes when students arrived in their pyjamas, Ugg boots and messy hair. You would never do that at the university I went to back home.”

  Kylie laughs and shakes her head. “Did you feel homesick?”

  “Not at all. I instantly fell in love with this place.”

  “After you moved here, was Tom the same exciting person you thought he was when you met?”

  “He was more fun than I remembered. So much fun, in fact, that I transferred out here to finish my degree and stay a few years longer on a student visa. Those years were carefree and easy, just as they should be when you are at that age. Tom and I became more than just boyfriend-girlfriend, we were best friends. We were laughing our way through life, enjoying each moment and each other. It wasn’t until the few years after we graduated that Tom started to be seduced by the thrill of the corporate world and the allure of big money. Possibly even the power, he thought he could achieve.”

  Kylie looks up from her notepad. “So, he changed a lot when he started working?”

  “Looking back now, I can say he did. But at the time, I was oblivious to his evolving obsession with success and money.”

  “You didn’t have any reservations about these changes before you got married?”

  “Oh no, I was so in love. I was blinded by his charm. While he was being seduced by the corporate world, I was being seduced by this illusion he was selling me of the life he wanted to give us.”

  “What life was that?”

  “One full of comfort including the big house, fancy cars and a never-ending calendar of social events. Basically, the life I grew up in, with an Australian twist. We both thought that was what would make us happy because that’s what society says, right? He was always telling me what he planned on buying us or trips we would take one day in the future. It was always an illusion of things that would happen on some mythical future date.” I wave one of my hands in the air as if to push away this distant memory.

  I take a sip of coffee and I continue. “That’s why illusions can be dangerous. You fall deeper and deeper into them and before you know it, you have been swept so far away from reality that you forget how to save yourself.”

  “So, you didn’t believe this illusion was the life you wanted?”

  My eyes widen as I speak. “For a long time, I was convinced it was exactly what I wanted. I was still part of that generation where you were taught to work hard, play hard and maybe you’ll be able to retire at a young age.”

  Kylie hesitates with her writing. “Did you think you could do things differently and still be happy?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “It hadn’t occurred to me there are other ways of living that can be equally enjoyable as a life full of materialistic fanfare. And some of these ways earn you your freedom sooner than decades spent as a corporate slave.”

  “Who taught you that?”

  “It was a special man that showed me life can be so different, so unexpected. But we will get to that in a bit.” I smile at her and take a moment to enjoy reminiscing of those days where I took off my rose-coloured glasses to see the world in true to life, three dimensions, where all my senses were assaulted with thrills of intense passion I hadn’t experienced before.

  “How did you family feel about you marrying Tom?”

  “They weren’t pleased, but it was only because they wanted me to move back to the States and settle down with a nice southern boy from a well off family. However, I think they got used to the idea over time. Though, as parents do, they never thought Tom was good enough for me. I think this is why we made the decision to run off and elope in the Whitsunday Islands. It was the two of us and a couple close friends.”

  “That would have surely upset your family?” Kylie looks bewildered.

  “Of course, it was upsetting to them, but I didn’t want any problems and I knew they didn’t want me to get married here in Australia. I was hellbent on making it happen. I was tired of all the pomp and circumstance I had around me growing up, so I didn’t need a big wedding with all the frills. I knew I only needed Tom. So, something simple, but elegant, seemed perfect.”

  “You said you didn’t see things changing before you got married. Did you notice things changing after your wedding?”

  “About a year after we were married, the cracks began to appear even though I tried to ignore them.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  GRABBING THE DRESS from my closet, I take it off its hanger as I glance at the clock. The cab should be here any moment. Tom walks out of the bathroom dressed in a crisp, pale grey dress shirt, still toying with his hair to make sure it looks done, but not as if he has put in any effort.

  Walking towards my full-length mirror, I glance at the view outside our window. Surrounding our building are countless harsh skyscrapers with their bright lights competing for attention.

  I sigh as I notice the weather, realising I will need a heavier coat for this evening. I guess my Hermes coat will have to do, though it doesn’t quite work with this dress.

  It’s another blustery evening with biting drizzle that sends a chill straight to the bone. This is a constant hazard of living in Melbourne that is offset by the fabulous food and nightlife that will get people out in even the most miserable weather. Tonight is no different as we get ready to go to the hottest new restaurant and celebrate Tom’s latest promotion.

  “Tom, can you zip up my dress?” I slip on some sizable gold hoop earrings. I have my hair pinned up to accentuate the high neck of the flowing black Dolce and Gabbana dress I bought for tonight.

  Tom comes up behind me and zips up my dress, stopping for a moment to caress my arms. “You look smashing hon. I think I should actually be unzipping this so I can enjoy you myself before we go out.” He nibbles at the back of my neck making a growling sound as if he were dog hoping to get a bite to eat.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” I laugh as I move away from his bite and turn around to face him. “Who’s going to be at this dinner anyways?”

  “Just my new team. I only know a couple of them. It will be a great chance for me to bend the ears of the ones I don’t know with my ideas.”

  “It’s Friday night, can’t you give work a rest?” My head tilts to the side as my shoulders droop at the thought of another boring business discussion.

  He pouts and tries to appeal to my senses. “Don’t give me that look. Work doesn’t stop just because it’s the weekend. We’ve started a massive project so u
ntil that’s done there’s no time to give it a rest. I want to get to the top babe, so I can give you all that you deserve.”

  I go to our walk-in closet to find a purse that matches my dress.

  He continues to plead his case. “Surely, you don’t want to give up endless shopping days or your hair and massage appointments. One of us has to pay for them, right?” He looks at me still pouting, but I’m offended that he’s negating the fact that I also work. It’s as if his job is always more important than whatever I do with my time.

  I sigh and glance at him. “Tom, I have a job, too.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Your job hardly pays for things, babe.”

  “I realise it’s not the high flying corporate world, but I enjoy working for them and I believe in what we’re trying to do for those less fortunate.”

  “But honey, it doesn’t pay the bills. Enjoyment of a job does not mean success.” He stretches his arms and gestures at the surrounding room. “Look around you, look at our place and everything in it. I’m doing all of this for you, so that you can have your dream, whatever that may be. And this position is the start of a new direction that could take us higher and higher, so please behave tonight and think of the future.” He leans in and awkwardly kisses me against the head to soften his last statement. I reach up to smooth the hair he has just absent-mindedly messed up.

  I sigh listlessly as I scan around this quirky ex-industrial space I have turned into our home. We live in a comfortable, two-bedroom unit that was part of an iconic redevelopment near the inner city. I knew the moment I saw it I had to have it and Tom bought it for me as an engagement present. I spent the following months decorating it in urban chic style, painting walls in calming neutrals and offsetting them with brilliant pieces of art that I found while trawling every market I could attend on weekends.