“He’s got a good eye for drawing. I didn’t help him much. He did those cows almost by himself.” Keely sipped her tea and smiled. She’d actually enjoyed her time with Sam and Tom. They reminded her of her brothers when they were younger.

“You’ve obviously got the knack,” Megan said. “Which reminds me, I mentioned to my boss, Ken, that you would possibly be here for a while. He was most interested to know. Relief teachers are hard to find at the moment.”

“I’m not sure.” The brightness of the afternoon dimmed. “I don’t really…”

“Hi, Megan.” Flynn came through from the shop. “Are you ready, Keely?”

“Can’t you stay for a cuppa?” Anna came in behind him. “I’ve gone from knee deep in customers to no one. I could use a cup of tea.”

Flynn ruffled both boys’ heads. “No, sorry, still lots to do.”

“Now don’t forget about the teaching, Keely,” Megan said. “Ken said he’d need your South Australian registration details and info to run a police check.”

“A police check!” Flynn frowned. “What’s to know except Keely’s been listed as a missing person?”

“Nothing to do with that, brainless.” Megan chuckled and gave Flynn a playful tap on the head. “Anyone who works with children has them.”

“I’d have to get Mum to post my stuff from home.” Keely ducked her head, acutely aware of Anna’s sharp eyes on her.

“Why don’t you give her the school address, Megan,” Anna said. “Then it can go direct to Ken and he can get the paperwork started.”

Keely watched helplessly as Megan wrote on a piece of paper.

“I’ve got to get going,” Flynn said.

“I hope you’re not taking Keely on that bike of yours,” Anna said.

Keely faltered as she got up from the table. The thought of teaching was bad enough but she hadn’t imagined she’d be clutching onto Flynn on the back of his bike.

“Not this time.” Flynn jingled a set of keys in front of Anna.

“Well, I suppose one of those utes of yours is a slightly better option.”

Keely followed Flynn outside. The afternoon sun still held some warmth. She closed her eyes, turned her face to it and took a deep breath. Despite the underlying tension at Levallier Dell, she had been happy there but the mention of teaching had brought her back to reality. The truth was, Levallier Dell was not her home, no matter how hard she imagined otherwise. And, even if she avoided it here, one day she would have to earn an income again and that meant a return to the only job she knew, teaching.

“Are you okay?”

She opened her eyes. Flynn’s look was hesitant.

“Yes.”

“The car is up the street a bit. I couldn’t get a park nearby.”