‘Well, you gave it a shot—at least you finished your degree,’ she said, sitting down on a large rock.

‘What were you studying?’

‘Accountancy,’ she said, finally able to say it without shuddering. ‘Anyway, I’m glad you found something you love doing in the end. Maybe there’s hope for me yet.’

‘I’m sure you’ll work out what it is when the time’s right.’

‘Maybe. Or maybe I’m destined to be a wanderer of the world.’

‘You probably need an unlimited bank account for that,’ he pointed out.

‘Maybe it’ll be a very short career as a wanderer, then,’ she sighed.

‘Is that what you’re doing here? Wandering?’ he asked with a small smile.

‘Not exactly. My gran made me promise to come here, so I guess I’m just keeping my promise … and delaying the inevitable once I go home.’

‘So, you don’t always travel backroads alone and accept rides with strangers?’

She watched him; Stuart didn’t seem threatening as he stood, hands in his pockets as he flexed one foot back and forth on a large rock before him.

‘Not as a rule, no,’ she answered.

‘Well, that’s a relief, then.’ He grinned.

Elle tried not to stare, but the transformation when the man smiled was something quite extraordinary. She looked away quickly, and focused instead on the main tower before her. Not for the first time, she wondered what it had looked like before. Judging by the size of the foundations, the castle was once huge.

‘I believe there’s a sketch of how it used to look in the library.’

Elle placed her hand on the stone wall of the tower and tilted her head back to look straight up. ‘I’ll have to go and check it out, but I’m assuming it’s the same one Gran had in a frame on her wall.’ It wouldn’t hurt to see, though, in case there was another one Gran hadn’t known about. It was a little disappointing to realise there was nothing else to really look at. Such an imposing castle had been reduced to nothing more than rubble scattered across a field in a farmer’s paddock.

Elle jumped again as Stuart suddenly let out a loud, sharp whistle. ‘Roy! Jock!’ he called and within moments the two dogs came running.

‘Shall we go?’ he asked Elle, and she nodded and reluctantly followed him back to the car.

Elle was unsure what to make of the man behind the wheel as they left the ruins. Yesterday he’d seemed cold and aloof, but today he’d been quite pleasant. He didn’t have to drive her around to look at ruins, he could have just told her to nick off, but he hadn’t.