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Violet

Violet followed Joe into the kitchen and when he went to rinse his cup and plate, she touched his arm.

“Leave that. I’ll do the dishes and tidy up, It’s the least I can do.”

“No dishwasher,” he said.

She smiled. “I don’t mind washing up a couple of cups and plates. You’ve been so kind to invite me to stay for lunch. Is there anything I can do?”

“No, Jac’ll bring it all.”

“What about the Christmas table? What do you do? Do you sit outside or in the dining room?”

“We’ll eat in the dining room, the big room on the other side of the living room where you saw the Christmas tree last night.”

“Because it’s cooler inside?”

“No, because it’s such a great room. There’s a big table and eight timber chairs in there that belonged to the original owners. Hand-hewn timber, it’s a beautiful piece. It’s too heavy to move, so each time the house is sold the dining room setting stays with it. They must have built it in the room about a hundred years ago. To be honest that was what really swayed me. I was looking at a couple of other properties. One house had already been renovated, but I loved the dining room setting here, and I figured I could do up the place how I wanted.”

“Has the farm sold often?”

“Not really. I’m only the third owner. The original family had it for about four generations. The old couple passed on about five years ago. Sadly, they didn’t have any children, so it was bought by a young couple from the city who decided after six months that the rural lifestyle wasn’t what they thought it would be. Suits me. I’ll be staying here.”

“Starting your own line of sheep farmers one day,” Violet said.

“Who knows,” Joe said with a grin, “You can’t discount anything in the future.”

Violet shooed him out of the kitchen. “Right, you go and do your chores and I’ll get the dining room table set once I clean the kitchen.” She tipped her head to the side. “Hang on, do you have tablecloths and things like that?”

“You’re in for a surprise. As well as the dining setting, the linen cupboards in the back of the house were left full of the old couple’s stuff. I guess there was nowhere else for it to go, and the house was sold as it was. The next owners left it all there. I’ve got no idea what’s in there.” He gave her a mischievous grin. “Probably mice and cockroaches.”

“I can cope with that. I lived in some pretty ordinary digs when I was at uni.”

“Don’t go to too much trouble. The timber table is good enough to just set the cutlery on without a cloth. I did buy some bonbons for Georgia and a couple of Christmas ornament things. They’re in the white paper bag under the Christmas tree.”

“Would you mind if I had a poke around those linen cupboards?”

“Knock yourself out. I’ll be out in the paddock for an hour or two. And please, make yourself at home. If you want another coffee, help yourself. Use the phone when you want to, and if you’re happy to set the table, that sounds good to me.”

“One more thing,” she asked. “Is it okay if I have a shower and wash my hair?”

“Of course, you can. I should’ve offered and showed you where the loo and the basin were last night, but I guess you found them okay. There’s actually two bathrooms, the main bathroom near the porch, and there’s a smaller one that I use off my bedroom. I’ll grab some towels.”

“No, don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve got my own towel. Everything I need is in the ute. I’m set up for camping, remember. I just need to have a quick shower.” She refrained from saying that all her worldly possessions were in the back of the ute.

Except for her coffee machine which she’d left at Brian’s.

“Help yourself. Like I said, Violet, please make yourself at home.” His grin set a zing running through her. He held her gaze again and she wondered if he’d felt it too.

“Listen, Joe. I’m going to buy you a carton of beer when I leave here tomorrow—not just that one beer I said I owed you.”

“You don’t need to do that. It’s been great to have company this morning.”

With another grin, Joe pulled on his work boots and disappeared out the back door. He was uncomplicated and his upbeat nature added to the calm that had stolen over Violet as soon as she’d arrived here—despite her car issues. She’d get it fixed eventually.

Once she’d done the dishes, and given the kitchen a good wipe over, she headed out to the ute in her still mud-stained shorts and T-shirt. She’d slept in her underwear, and pulled on yesterday’s clothes before she’d come out to the kitchen this morning. Her ute was still hooked up to the tractor.

“I am gradually liking you less and less,” she muttered to the vehicle when the remote didn’t release the door lock on the first click. She pressed the button again, and panic was about to set in as she looked through the closed window at her bags on the passenger seat. That would be nice, sitting at a Christmas lunch in her muddy shorts and T-shirt.