Drovers Empire

by M. M. O'Reilly

It's October of 2020, but the wildfires and worldwide pandemic never happened. We return to Gungellan for a modern reboot of our beloved McLeod's Daughters. The cattle stations of Drovers Run and Killarney are still working farms, and Wilgul has found a new life. Time has passed, but the love flowing around Drovers Run has never faltered.

18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Ben needed an excuse to go to town today. He was on his secret mission. He was going to buy an engagement ring. His talk with Stevie in the morning and his experience last night had convinced him he had to just do it. He had to at least ask. If Jaz really didn't want to get married, he would just stay with her anyway. He was in it for the long haul, ring or not, but if he didn't go get a ring and plan a proper proposal soon, he was going to accidentally propose while vacuuming, or changing Kelly's nappy or something. Jaz deserved better than that, he thought.

"Hey, honey, I think I'm going to go into town today. Are you okay without me for a while?" Ben asked.

"Sure. Hannah will be here in a few minutes to stay with Kelly. Are you shopping for anything specific?"

"Well, I wanted to get a few things for Killarney. They had a pump go yesterday," lied Ben.

"Sounds thrilling! Have fun. I have my first video session with Jenna this afternoon. I hope it goes well. Oh, by the way. Regan called. She confirmed that she and Dylan are coming up for Charlotte's birthday party. They should be arriving Thursday and staying about a week or so."

"That's great. You've missed your sisters. I'm sorry Grace can't make it, but I'm sure it will be great to see Regan. Well darling, I'm off for pump parts! I'll see you tonight." said Ben as he gave her a kiss and headed out for the day. He really hated lying to Jaz, but he knew he couldn't exactly tell her the truth.

He hopped in the ute and headed towards Gungellan. He was thinking about how he wanted to do it. Jaz deserved something special. It had to include horses and Kelly; those were the things that were most important to Jaz, so they needed to be there. But how should he actually do it? He wasn't sure yet.

Hmm, What kind of ring should I get her? thought Ben. Wait, Gungellan doesn't have a proper jewelry store. I need to go much further than that. I need a proper jeweler for this job.

He ran through some different ideas for the proposal as he drove all the way to Spencer.