Bridie's Choice by Karly Lane

Author:Karly Lane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
ISBN: 9781743432495
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2012-11-12T05:00:00+00:00

Everything about the day was perfect. The hum of busy insects all around them and the warm sun, gentle at this time of year, made for a peaceful backdrop. Once summer hit it would be unbearable to sit out in the sun and bask as they were today.

Bridie stretched out, her head resting in Shaun’s lap as he sat with his back against a big gum tree. Out here it was easy to believe they were the only two people in the whole world. She let out a long sigh of contentment as he ran his fingers through her hair.

‘Can I ask you something?’ Bridie asked quietly.

‘Sure,’ Shaun said easily.

Bridie paused a moment. ‘What did you mean when you said you’d paid a heavy price for that night of the bet?’

She felt his hand go still in her hair and turned so that she was in a better position to see his face. It surprised her to see he was struggling to find the words to answer her.

‘I should never have gone to that party. I wasn’t supposed to, but I was pissed off at Dad and too wrapped up in my own problems to think about anyone else.’ Shaun gave a sad shake of his head and went back to playing with her hair. ‘I should have been at Jinjulu helping Jared, but I went to the party instead.’ At her frown of confusion, he dropped his eyes to hers. ‘The night of the party was the night he died.’

Bridie felt her breath catch at the look of despair in Shaun’s eyes.

‘He was always the responsible one. He was supposed to inherit Jinjulu—that’s how it’s always been, from eldest son to eldest son. We all knew that, but even so I guess I always hoped Dad’d change his mind and let both of us run the place.’

‘But he didn’t,’ Bridie guessed.

Shaun gave a snort of disgust. ‘He made it clear a few days before the party that I wasn’t responsible enough to run Jinjulu.’ He stopped abruptly, his gaze lifting to take in the land around him. ‘It just about gutted me. I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else, doing anything else. The thing is, he was right to a certain extent. I did like to party. I got in a bit of trouble at school—nothing too bad, but I was a little wild for a time and Jared was the complete opposite. In Dad’s eyes Jared was the right son for the job. I could stay on at Jinjulu but only as a glorified labourer. It shattered me. I guess pride got in the way because I decided that if I wasn’t good enough to help run Jinjulu then I wasn’t sticking around to get walked on.’

‘What did your brother think about all of this?’

‘He was stuck in the middle. He loved Jinjulu as much as I did and he worked hard. He didn’t get in trouble at school, he didn’t argue with the old man, he was good at following orders and keeping the peace, but he didn’t agree with Dad about this.

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