Elle instantly perked up at this piece of news. ‘With whom?’ ‘Steven,’ she said, before the rest came out in a rush. ‘He dropped into work and asked me out on a date. A real date—dinner and all.’

Elle couldn’t help but smile as she pictured her usually cool cousin practically squealing with excitement. ‘That’s so great, Al. I’m really happy for you. Make sure you tell me everything tomorrow.’

‘I will, gotta go. Love you. Bye.’

Elle sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall across the room. She itched to call her parents back. She wanted to scream it from the rooftops that someone had liked her artwork so much they’d bought three sketches. Elle took her sketchpad out of her bag and carefully flipped through the pages, her thoughts racing. Maybe she did have talent. Maybe art could be something more than a hobby. Her future suddenly looked less clear but also a little brighter.

NINETEEN

Nineteen

With slightly shaky fingers, Elle dialled the number from the business card Stuart had given her and listened as it rang on the other end.

When he answered, his curt tone surprised her.

‘Uh, hi, Stuart. It’s Elle.’

‘Elle.’ The abrupt tone dropped and he was back to yesterday’s friendly, non-threatening-Stuart tone.

‘I was thinking about coming out now, but if you’re busy, I can wait.’

‘No, now is fine. Sorry, I was just doing some paperwork and I was a bit distracted.’

‘Okay, see you soon.’

As she drove to the farm, she was looking forward to a morning of sketching, especially because the day had dawned with sunshine for a change, but part of her was even more excited about seeing Stuart again—and she wasn’t sure at all about that.

Elle came to an intersection, and after a quick check for errant sheep, she turned onto the road that led to the castle, and to Stuart. It had been a long time since she’d had to work out the male psyche. Was he into her? Was she picking up on the right signals? Was she just being an obsessive woman who heard voices in her head? And what about the voice who wasn’t speaking in her head right now? She still hadn’t heard from Gran and she didn’t know what to make of any of it. As these thoughts battled for prominence, Elle suddenly slammed the brakes on hard and felt the seatbelt go taut across her chest as a mob of four-footed woolly beasts wandered across the road, completely oblivious to the fact it was a road for cars, not sheep. With a brief prayer of thanks that once again she didn’t have to use her accident insurance, Elle continued on her way, her heartrate still erratic after her near-death-by-sheep experience.