Would be Wives of Sutherland Downs: The Sutherland Family, #1

By Peter McKelvie

In the midst of a family gathering, Ed Sutherland Junior's life takes an unexpected turn when his father, Edward Senior, announces a surprising engagement to Susan Westford. Amidst the cheers and celebrations, Ed grapples with the reality of his own feelings and the consequences of a deal that goes beyond mere property exchange. As the family dynamics shift, Ed is left pondering his role in this life-changing decision and the true price of family loyalty.

In a room full of blurred faces, her beauty stood out like a beacon. Ed couldn't tear his gaze away from the captivating young woman, her radiant smile melting his fears. Their smiles bridge the gap between two strangers. From that moment, their paths are destined to intertwine, and the chance encounter will change their lives forever.

Elise Beaudin is a city girl through and through, but her heart is in the country with Ed Sutherland. Can she make the life changing transition? There are those who believe she can't and they will go out of their way to prove it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter McKelvie
• Release date: Nov 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223689133

Book preview

1

Chapter 1

Ed Sutherland (unlike his father, Edward Sutherland senior, Ed preferred the shortened version of his name) pushed his fingers between his neck and the starched collar of his shirt. It was definitely hot in the midday sun, but the sweat running down his back was in part due to nerves and anxiety. He scanned across the crowded garden, family, neighbours, and children and, like a beacon, there she was, Susan Westford. Strange that he thought of his girlfriend by her full name instead of only her first, or some loved-up pet name. He gazed at her expressionless and she smiled at him, before laughing at something with the others in the circle she was standing in. She didn’t seem particularly engaged with her companions and didn’t seem interested in coming over to join him, and he wondered what was going through her mind. Eventually, he shook himself, smiled, and waved at her, as a mate slapped him on the shoulder from behind.

‘Cheers,’ Ed’s mate Col from the University of Sydney said, as he swung a hand gripping a glass of cold beer around in front of Ed.

Ed clinked his glass against Col’s and replied ‘Cheers, mate’

‘What’yer looking at?’ Col asked, staring in the direction Ed had been looking. ‘Ah, I see. What a sort. She’s a bloody looker, Ed. Yer a lucky bloke. Dunno what she sees in you.’

‘Me neither,’ Ed said, still watching Susan as she worked the crowd.

‘Yeah, get your hooks into that one. You don’t want to be sitting here in twenty years thinking about the one that got away. Especially when she looks like that.’ Col’s arm was now around Ed’s shoulder and shaking him just enough to spill Ed’s beer.

‘Nah. Nah ‘spose not,’ Ed mumbled as he watched Susan approach his father Edward, throw an arm around his waist and lean against his shoulder. Edward smiled and looked down at Susan. Edward rarely smiled at anyone, but he seemed to make an exception for Susan.

‘She’s got him wrapped around her little finger,’ Col said with a laugh.

‘Yeah, reckon.’

Ed looked across the garden to where his mother was standing, talking to a group of women. She was also watching Susan, a serious look on her face. After a moment she turned and looked at Ed, giving him what could only be described as a sympathetic smile. He wondered why, but smiled back warmly.

Ed turned to speak to Col but was distracted as Edward strolled into the centre of the garden, a knife in one hand and a beer glass in the other. He tapped the knife against the glass so quietly at first that the sound was lost in the general hubbub. He tapped a little louder a second time and those nearest to him stopped talking and turned towards him. He tapped a third time more loudly and there was silence.

‘Okay, okay, can I have your attention. Can I have your attention please.’ Edward scanned the crowd and when he was satisfied everyone’s attention was on him, he continued. ‘It’s been a tough couple of years hasn’t it?’

Mumbles of agreement could be heard from the gathered crowd.

Edward nodded sagely. ‘A bit of rain wouldn’t hurt. Nothing quite like a drought to bring us all together… other than the war, of course. I’ve got some good news I want to share with you in a moment, but first… our boy Jack, Jack Sutherland, has asked if he can join up, join his mates, and his cousins, and head off to fight for King and country. To fight for all we have here. This way of life we have which we treasure and will bloody well fight to the death for, like our fathers and grandfathers did before us in 1917.’

Shouts of here here echoed around the garden and some of the men briefly raised their hats. It was starting to sound a little like a political rally, Ed thought. If they didn’t live such a long way from town, he wouldn’t have been surprised to see his father running as a candidate for local politics.

Edward raised his beer to get back the attention of the crowd. ‘When the time comes, and that’ll be too bloody soon, we’ll be right behind you and proud of you, Jack. To Jack.’

Ed lifted his glass along with the rest of the crowd and saluted his younger brother. Jack was smiling like he’d made the first-grade football team, not like he was heading off to who the hell knows where, to face death day after day and have his life, if he kept it, changed forever. To have his family’s life changed forever, Ed thought. He glanced at his mother and could see the barely restrained tears in her eyes. It might be a long time before Jack left—he had pilot training ahead of him and some university to complete—but his mother looked as though Jack was going tomorrow and possibly never coming back. Maybe he wouldn’t. Perish the thought, perish the rotten bloody stinkin’ thought. His younger brother joining up and putting his life on the line left Ed wondering if he was less of a man for not doing so, closely followed by concern others thought he wasn’t doing his part. The thought left him feeling hollow.

‘But in the meantime,’ Edward continued, ‘we do have some good news. While we are sorry, very sorry that the Westfords are leaving our district for a new life on the coast, we are very pleased the Westford family has agreed to sell their landholdings to the Sutherlands.’

Ed scanned the crowd and the lack of surprise on people’s faces showed if that piece of news was a secret, it was probably the worst kept secret of all time.

‘Fifty-eight thousand acres of good grazing country, although I guess it’s a bit dry at the moment, isn’t it, Roy?’

Roy Westford, Susan’s father, was standing with his wife, watching on as his family legacy was declared over after three generations. The drought had finished them off, and they were moving to join Roy’s younger brother and his fishing business on the coast.

‘That’s right, sure is, Edward,’ Roy grimaced before answering with feigned cheer, as his wife laid her head against his shoulder. Ed looked back at his mother, and she was watching the Westfords closely. He could see the empathy in her eyes so unlike his father’s eyes, which were cold, a look of steely satisfaction written on his face.

‘Roy and Shirley are going to set up camp on the coast,’ Edward announced. ‘Half their luck. I reckon they’ve got the best end of this deal.’ He laughed and the all-knowing crowd laughed along politely with him.

Ed looked from his father to the Westfords and then to Susan, who was watching Edward with genuine enthusiasm, which surprised him considering Edward was talking about the end of her family home.

‘It’s a walk-in walk-out deal on the station,’ Edward continued.

The Westfords would take the contents of the house, and everything else would stay, the livestock and machinery, even the spanners hanging on the wall in the toolshed, the bucket sitting on the floor in the milking shed, the hose on the garden tap. It didn’t matter how much it might tear Roy’s heart to pieces, there would be no room for three generations of memorabilia in a small house on the coast of northern New South Wales. Regardless of how they felt, there was no other choice.

‘I reckon there’s one precious belonging they won’t be too concerned about leaving behind. What d’yer reckon, Roy?’ Edward winked at Roy, who nodded and smiled. Ed looked at Roy, then back at his father, who’d turned his attention to Susan, who was looking very eager. Ed’s stomach was suddenly tied in one very uncomfortable knot.

‘Reckon we’ll have a good home for young Susan soon enough,’ his father said, his face lighting up in a rare show of delight as he looked at Susan, who was returning his smile enthusiastically. It was as though they’d discussed, maybe even rehearsed this. Edward turned to face Ed and smiled. ‘What do you say, boy?’

From the look on his father’s face, he was expecting an eager response. Beyond his father, Ed could see Susan watching him, a flush of colour across her face as she bit her lip with barely contained anticipation and elation. The entire crowd was watching him with bated breath. Just one face in this whole expectant crowd stood out to Ed, his mother. She was the one person in the world that really knew him, could read him like a book. Her eyes met his before she winced and looked down at her hands, the same reaction she had shown at the announcement of the demise of the Westford’s legacy. Ed swallowed as he tried to still his rapidly beating heart. His father was a damn hard man, single-minded, ambitious, and often void of any real emotion. Both he and his brother, Jack, had inherited many of his father’s characteristics, but one thing he knew was that in the future, when he was standing up there addressing family, friends, and neighbours, as the head of this family, he’d be doing it differently to his father. Very differently.

‘Ed, what do yer say?’ his father repeated. His expression changed so slightly that only Ed, his mother, and Jack would have noticed. But it had meaning and Ed quickly broke into a big smile in response.

‘Yes, of course, Dad,’ he said enthusiastically, raising his glass in salute and the crowd mumbled, smiled, and some held their glasses high to toast the couple. Ed could feel events overtaking him and all he could do was go with the flow and hope for the very best.

* * *

‘I wasn’t aware you and Susan were that serious,’ Jack said quietly to Ed as they stood a little away from the crowd later in the afternoon.

‘Neither was I,’ Ed replied indignantly.

‘You made it look like you did.’

‘I didn’t have any choice, did I?’ Ed whined. ‘I wasn’t about to contradict the old man in front of everyone here when he was up making his big announcements. And besides, how bloody humiliating would that have been for Susan? Did you see her face?’

‘Yep, looked like the cat that got the cream. She’s getting what she wants, mate,’ Jack said in a cautionary tone.

‘What she wants?’ Ed replied sharply, ‘a name, a property, money?’

‘Well, I was going to say you, but, as long as you don’t get shitty with my saying it, I reckon you’re right.’

‘I don’t know how to dig myself out of this. Dad got some idea and ran with it. He got a sniff of Roy being in trouble and wanted his property. Nothing unusual about that, and it makes a lot of sense. But what better way to make it an easy decision for Roy than to include his daughter in the bloody deal. Sell us your land, and we’ll look after your daughter.’

‘What’s mum reckon?’ Jack asked.

‘What do you reckon?’ Ed replied. ‘She can see right through all of this. But I’m not sure that even she has the guts to take him on over this one. We were in way too bloody deep before we really understood what he was up to. Now, he’s thrown down his trump card, all but announcing an engagement to the whole family and everyone else in the district. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to get out of this.’

‘Do you want to?’

‘What I want doesn’t seem to matter, does it? I’ve got to do what’s best for the Sutherland family. This is all a lot bigger than me.’

2

Chapter 2

‘So, you’re heading back to uni in the morning,’ Susan said, threading her arm through Ed’s as they walked through the garden.

‘Yeah. I’m on the home straight. Bring on Christmas, then I’m back for good.’

‘Great,’ said Susan, squeezing his bicep as she spoke. ‘I’m looking forward to you being home full time. I miss you.’

‘Do you?’ Ed stopped mid-stride, causing Susan to almost stumble.

‘Yes, I do.’ Susan turned to face him, crossing her arms, her brows furrowing. ‘That’s a strange question. Won’t you miss me too?’

‘Yeah, sorry… I’ll ah, miss you too,’ Ed said unconvincingly.

‘Geez, thanks,’ Susan said, turning her back on Ed and looking out across the garden to the huge tree-lined pond that was an oasis in