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“It’s just nice to be able to help somebody in need. That’s what friends are for, Vi.”

Chapter 18

Violet

Violet woke up on Saturday with a smile on her face. If anyone had told her last Saturday when she broke down that within a week her car would be on the way to Brisbane to get a new gearbox installed, she would be staying in a farmhouse at Bindarra Creek with one of the loveliest guys she had ever met, and had started working in her chosen field at Jake and Emma’s place, she wouldn’t have believed it. She shook her head as she stepped out of the kitchen. She’d heard Joe up earlier and smiled when she noticed the cup left out for her next to the coffee machine. He must be out in the paddock because his ute was still out there.

Joe was going into town this morning. Apparently, Grant Cummings, whom she hadn’t met yet, had left him a small job to do by himself today as he and his partner, Cathy, had gone to the coast for a pre-Christmas holiday. Violet poured her coffee and went out to the back step, looking out over Joe’s paddocks. The rain from last weekend’s storm had turned the grass an emerald-green, and the sheep grazed happily in the paddock where Joe was in the process of replacing the fence.

All that was needed to make it a perfect picture, she thought, was a couple of chestnut horses – her favourite colour. She shook her head as she wandered over to the fence; that wasn’t going to happen. This was Joe’s place, and she was only here temporarily.

She didn’t want to settle yet, but it was hard to think of moving on because she had never experienced an attraction like the one that was building.

Joe had been so kind to her ever since he’d charged in on his dashing white horse. As Violet wandered along the fence; Sam came over and nuzzled into her.

“Good morning, you rogue, and I’m sorry, there’s nothing in my pocket.”

She walked to the end of the fence and stood there, looking at his sheep. It was such a clear day she could see the top of the hills over the Akuna National Park, and she promised herself she would get there to camp one day.

But today, while Joe was working, she intended to go to the IGA and do a big grocery shop. It was the least she could do with him letting her stay here. He wouldn’t even consider any rent, so she was going to fill the cake tins this afternoon.

And bake a double batch of Anzacs.

***

Joe

Joe gripped the steering wheel tightly as he headed into town to do a small job for Grant. The concrete mixer was still on-site where Joe needed it, but he had to call into the rural store on the way and pick up a bag of concrete. It was another small pad for Mrs Ainslie’s flowerpots; she had so many in her garden, her lawn was gradually disappearing.

Joe sighed as he turned onto the road to town. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. He’d been a bloody fool. An idiot who couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He’d made a total idiot of himself.

This morning after he’d come in from the paddock, Joe chuckled when Violet announced her intention to clean out the cupboard where she’d found the old linen she’d used for setting the table at their Christmas dinner last weekend. Molly mooched around their feet, still heavy with her pups. “I’ll do a shelf every morning before I go to the stud.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s only old stuff.”

“Old stuff!” Violet shook her head and grabbed his arm. “Joe, you’ve got no idea what’s in there. You can’t just sit there and let it rot. I’ll go through it for you and I’ll sort it into things you might like to give to Jaclyn. And maybe put some aside for Georgia for when she grows up, plus there’s plenty there that you can use now.”

A strange look crossed her face as he stared back at her—as though she wasn’t interested in what he thought.

Joe quickly dropped his gaze. “Fine, we’ll use it until you move on, and then I’ll be sitting at the kitchen table eating by myself.”

“Don’t be silly. Look at that big Christmas dinner you organised for Jac and Ryan. I’m sure you’ll do that again and get use out of it. Anyway, I feel like a clean out. But if you’d prefer I don’t touch your stuff, you just have to say.”

It was the first time he’d seen her cross.

“That dinner was a one-off; we only had it here because they were going away. We have Christmas at their farm every year.”

“Joe,” she said sensibly, and he hated her tone. “One day I’m sure you’ll meet somebody, and you will have a wife—or a partner, I don’t know whether you believe in weddings or not— I’m sure you’ll have a tribe of kids too. This farm just cries out for a family to live and love in it. If I ever come back this way in a few years, I’ll drive past, and when I see a swing set and a trampoline outside the house, I’ll know I was right.”

Joe lifted his eyes again, and he held hers steadily. “The problem is I can’t have the person I’d like to marry because she’s too good for me,” he said.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Joe. I didn’t know there was someone on the scene. I hope she doesn’t mind me being here. And how can you not be good enough? You are a fine man.”

He’d taken a step closer to her as they stood in the narrow hall, near the cupboard.

He reached out and took her hand. “I’m sorry, Violet. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I can’t help myself. I know I’ll sound stupid. It’s only been a week since I found you stranded down near my creek, and Sam and I rescued you.”

“Don’t forget Molly too,” she said with a smile, still not getting what he was trying to say.