A Father in the Making. Ally Blake

in this scenario.’

      ‘That’s way harsh, bro, and so far off the mark it’s funny. Maybe you should give up the Paris thing and come visit me instead. Meet her. See this place. It’s phenomenal.’

      ‘Be serious.’

      Will’s exasperation broke through. ‘God, you just don’t get it, do you? I can never be you! Out here I feel like I don’t have to be, either. I can be somebody new. Somebody I like.’

      The red light on Ryan’s phone began to flash. His taxi was waiting downstairs. ‘Look, Will, I have to go. Just tell me you’re still considering Paris, okay?’

      A deep heartfelt sigh wafted down the phone line. ‘Sure,’ Will said. ‘Okay.’

      ‘I’ll talk to you again in a couple of days, and by that time I hope to hear better news. Take care.’

      Ryan hung up the phone, his whole body thrumming with frustration. It hurt so much that the kid was letting this time slip through his fingers. The last thing he wanted was for his little brother to look back on his wasted youth with regret. He should have been studying, travelling, networking, embracing the world—not some hick chick in the middle of the Outback.

      He picked up his keys, slipped his wallet into the hidden pocket in his tuxedo jacket and left. Next week. Next week when he was in Paris he would call him back and try to talk some more sense into the kid.

      Of course by that stage Will would probably be done with the whole farming dream. He would have become bored with the girl and decided to become a fire-stick twirler in Byron Bay.

      Tremendous…

      Coming back to the present, Ryan caught Jill’s eye at the bar and she came straight over.

      ‘Another beer?’ she asked.

      He shook his head. ‘But there is something else you can do for me.’

      She raised an eyebrow and waited.

      ‘Who is the local real-estate agent?’

      ‘That would be Cal Bunton.’

      ‘Let’s get Cal Bunton on the phone, then, shall we? Let him know I have some business I need to conduct. It has to be tonight, but I will make it worth his while.’