The Outback Heart Read Online Free

focused. Sadly, it also kept the painful memories raw.
    Three people walked past his ute towards the clubhouse. They unlocked some doors and got out a sack of footballs. As Troy tapped his fingers against the steering wheel he tried to calm his nerves. Sure he was excited to be heading into a new footy season, it was what he lived for, but he was nervous about the blokes he was about to meet: what would they think of him? Would he be able to shape them into better players? And if he couldn’t? Well, it wasn’t like he could do any damage here when the current win rate was nil. The only way was up, right? Troy checked his watch. Six o’clock. He should have a whole team by now. Had Jenny printed the wrong time on the flier? He was sure he’d said six. He leaned over to the passenger side and pulled a spare flier off the floor. Six o’clock start. Where was everyone?
    With a sigh, Troy grabbed a clipboard and headed towards the guy in work pants and a hi-vis shirt who was lugging the bag of footballs to the sideline. Troy reached for a footy.
    ‘Cheers, mate,’ he said.
    ‘No worries,’ came the reply. A female voice.
    He glanced up, to see if he’d been mistaken. She was a girl all right. Her hair was hidden under a hat and her body had been unrecognisable at first in her work clothes. Now he was closer, he wondered how he’d missed her womanly curves. Her face was undeniably female and even more striking than Tegan’s, with high cheekbones, bright clear skin and the cutest button nose. Her powder-blue eyes reminded him of the colour of irises, his mum’s favourite flower. The thought made his heart pang with longing.
    Two more guys turned up and joined the others on the field. Troy realised he’d been standing too long studying the girl who was staring back at him with her mouth open. Grasping the footy in his large hand, Troy headed out onto the field, realising only too late that the girl looked as if she had something to say.
    ‘Hey, fellas. I’m the new coach. Name’s Troy Mitchell.’ Dropping the football to the ground, he held out his hand to the nearest guy, who had sandy blond hair. He looked the fittest and just on face value Troy sensed he’d be a good player.
    ‘G’day, Troy. I’m Jasper. This is my brother, Patrick, and these two are Spud and Limp.’
    Troy tried to lock their names in his memory as he shook their hands. Spud was round and lumpy, and Limp was tall and gangly with slightly crossed eyes. Troy hoped that didn’t affect the guy’s marking ability. Jasper and Patrick were very similar in looks – same body shape except Patrick had a slight paunch. The gold ring on his finger confirmed Troy’s suspicions: contentment. Troy guessed Jasper was around twenty-five, his own age, with Patrick a few years older.
    ‘So, is everyone just running late?’ he asked.
    Jasper shrugged as he handballed the footy into the air. ‘Sometimes.’
    A dual cab ute pulled up and three short solid guys came over. The fluoro girl came over with them.
    ‘Hey, guys,’ said Jasper. ‘This is Troy, our new coach. Troy, meet Harry, Dave and Terry Duckworth, mostly known as Huey, Dewy and Louie.’
    Troy could tell he was going to get the three brothers mixed up. If all else failed, he’d just call them by their last name. Jasper didn’t introduce the girl, who’d put the balls on the ground and was chatting to Limp at the back. No one else seemed to care that she was there. Even in her work clothes she was distracting for Troy.
    ‘So do we start now?’ asked Jasper. At least he looked ready to play, in shorts and footy boots. One of the Duckworth brothers still had his work boots on.
    ‘Aren’t there more coming?’ Troy asked.
    Jasper shrugged again. ‘Nah, this is about it, I reckon.’
    Troy blinked long and hard. ‘What? You’re kidding me. You can’t field a team with seven blokes.’
    They looked at each other with blank expressions. Obviously this was the norm. No wonder they hadn’t