The Protea Boys by Tea Cooper Read Free Book Online

okay. I came straight from the classes because Carl will be here with the truck in about half an hour, and I wanted to give you my share of the money. Didn’t want you to be out of pocket. I know things are a bit tight.”
    “Thanks.” Georgie looked closely at her friend. She had a sneaking suspicion Hillary was nowhere near the dumb blonde she liked to portray, and the feeling grew with every move. Thoughtful, considerate, and now an excellent business partner. Just maybe the Protea Boys would solve all their problems.
    “And—drumroll, please.”
    Georgie wriggled as Hillary continued to pick the grass off the back of her stained T-shirt.
    “I’ve got news. Excellent news. Wait until you hear this.”
    “Okay, let’s have it—what’s happened?” Georgie picked up a pair of secateurs and a shovel. “Tell me while I put these tools away. I keep leaving stuff out in the paddock and coming back a couple of days later to find it rusting under a protea bush.”
    “Must be those fairies. Actually, I think we invoked those fairies the other day because as I was leaving here after the interviews, I got a phone call .”
    “Another answer to the advertisement,” butted in Georgie. “It would be perfect. Then we’d have our four Protea Boys from day one.”
    “Yep!” Hillary raised her clenched fist in a salute.
    “So when’s the interview?” Georgie dropped the shovel on the shed floor and chucked the secateurs onto the bench.
    “Ah. That’s the point. I had to strike while I had the chance. He could only come for an interview on the Saturday afternoon, so I interviewed him then.”
    “And...? Come on, Hillary. Spill the beans.” She punched her lightly on the arm.
    “Oh, he’s H-O-T. And I mean hot and also, he’s so overqualified for the job. I can’t imagine why he’d want to do it, but he seems really keen. Says he wants to stay in the area for a while and needs to do something different. I got the feeling he didn’t really need the money, just wanted something to with his time.”
    “Come on, Hill. This sounds a bit dodgy. It’s as though he’ll work for a week or two, get bored, and push off, and we’ll be back to square one, looking for someone else. I think you just want to employ him because you like the look of him.” The slight flush of color in Hillary’s cheeks made her smile; at least she wasn’t the only one who reacted to a good body.
    “I won’t deny I liked the look of him. You’d have to be blind not to, but somehow I didn’t get the feeling he was mucking around, and he appeared a bit old-fashioned, not really, but a little reserved. No. A gentleman.”
    Visions of top hats, tails, and spats danced through Georgie’s head. “I don’t think we are really looking for a gentleman, just someone who can do what he’s asked when he’s asked.” And not try and take over because he was working for a woman. She’d had enough of that with Dale.
    “I explained he would be working for two women and asked him if he saw it as a problem.” Georgie had a sneaking feeling Hillary could read her mind, but she managed to keep quiet and let her finish. “And he assured me it wouldn’t be. Said it would be a pleasure to look after someone like me.”
    “We’re not looking for someone to look after us. We are looking for someone to work for us and keep those raging young men you’ve employed under control.”
    “We’ve employed,” Hillary corrected. “He’s cool, Georgie. I promise you. I’ll take full responsibility if he doesn’t work out. I know he’s going to. He said he’d been working for the government in South Africa. Helping set up farming co-ops or something to give people a bit of self-sufficiency. He said he loved it.”
    “Then why did he leave and come back here?” There had to be a catch somewhere.
    “I asked. He said he had family affairs to sort out so he had to come back to Australia. He’s not planning to go back to South Africa