Riptide Love ( Read Online Free

the front door, he didn’t go far. Just stepped off to the side of the entrance way.
    Wind rushed by but nothing fierce like earlier. The still-dark night threatened to swallow him up.
    Inhaling, he removed his cell, dialing Miller’s number as he brought it to his ear.
    “’Ello.” Miller’s rough voice came on the line.
    “Mate.”
    He listened as his brother cleared his throat. “What bloody time is it?”
    Wincing, he shot a glance down at his watch. “Late.” He hadn’t been thinking too clearly when he’d decided to call his brother. Up until the time he’d spent with De, Miller was who he always went to when things got bad. His brother had always been his anchor. His sounding board. He’d been his best mate. A better mate couldn’t be asked for.
    Guilt constricted around his heart. Best mates didn’t do what he’d done to Miller. De had been his first…
    “Finally check you messages?”
    “Eh? No.” He hadn’t checked since early morning. A jolt hit his gut as worry set in. While he occasionally checked in to chew the fat, his brother only called when something happened. An accident. An illness. A death. Miller had been the one to tell him of their father’s passing. “Mum?”
    “Is fine.”
    Ethan released the breath he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding. His heart rate eased.
    “If you didn’t get my message, then why the call? You all right?”
    He compressed his lips. Miller also checked in if some tragedy happened and it made it to the telly. Christ, he couldn’t do this over the phone. Not to Miller. “It’s been a while. I need Travis to pick me up in Alice.” Their cousin would do just fine piloting home.
    “I can pick you up.”
    “Nah. Send the boy. He’ll get off on it.” His chest tightened. No way did he want a confrontation anywhere but at the station. He didn’t want to make this homecoming any harder on De than it had to be. “So what’s going on? Cohen and Hayleigh going to have another…” He trailed off.
    Nathan. Christ. He had a son.
    “No.” Miller was quiet a minute, causing the muscles to tense along his back and shoulders.
    Another moment passed. “Big M?” He urged his brother to go on.
    “Apparently, we have a sister.”
    “What?” He sucked in a breath. Oh, bugger me. The old bloody whacker hadn’t… ”You okay, M? What’s going on?”
    “A week ago, a sheila showed up here wanting to speak to our father. Claiming to be Claudia Rose’s daughter.”
    “Who the hell is Claudia Rose? You know her?”
    “Believe it or not, I can’t remember every foreigner who visits the station.”
    Ethan blew air out through his nose. Of course Miller couldn’t recall everyone. No one would. But maybe Miller would’ve remembered this sheila more than the rest of them.
    “Her name is Shania Thorn Rose.” Miller snorted. “Bloody fuck.”
    Ethan swallowed back his own curse. “Mum?” It might destroy his mother to find this out.
    “Doesn’t know.” An edge entered his brother’s tone. “E, she’s as bloody blond as any of us.”
    “How you handling it? Where is the woman now? You didn’t…”
    “What? Take her up in one of my birds and push her out?”
    The tension aching in his back spread to his joints.
    “I considered it.” Miller blew out a breath. “Doc’s doing some tests. E, the sheila’s just a kid not much older than Travis. She’s scared shitless and alone. Says her mum died.”
    “Could be an act.”
    “Bloody fuck,” Miller growled. “I’m no fool. I want you to check her out and let me know.”
    “You bet. Shania Thorn Rose. I’ll see what I can turn up.”
    “Now, with that out of the way… Why’d you call?”
    Oh, bugger me. “It was nothing. Like I said it’s time for a visit.”
    “Good.” Miller made a rough sound that might be amusement. “Because I’d like some bloody good news for once.”
    He winced. “What kind of timeframe did Giese give?”
    “I put a rush on it, but…”
    “Yeah, nothing