‘Why not?’

‘Because you hardly know me. It’s been unexpected and … incredible,’ she said, lifting her eyes back to his with a smile. ‘I wasn’t expecting any of this when I set out on this trip, but I can’t just stay here indefinitely.’

‘What if you worked for me?’ he suggested, concentrating a little too hard on the potato he was slicing.

‘Worked for you, how?’ she asked suspiciously.

‘Nothing dodgy,’ he added quickly. ‘I mean here, with me. It got me thinking the other day when you were talking about the woman who got backpackers to help out. I could use some help; you’re looking for a place to stay and a job …’ He let the sentence hang in the air as he watched her face expectantly.

‘But I don’t know anything about farming,’ she said slowly.

‘I’m not sure many backpackers would come with farming experience either,’ he said with a smile. ‘It wouldn’t have to be farming work. You could do some cooking, help out with the house … whatever needed doing.’

‘I don’t know, Stuart,’ Elle said with a wary shake of her head. ‘I’m not sure I’d feel right about it.’

‘You were going to work for food and board with the other place, how is this any different?’ he asked.

‘Well, I wouldn’t be sleeping with the boss at the other place,’ she pointed out.

‘Which is why this offer is much better,’ Stuart countered.

He did have a point.

‘It was just a thought,’ he said after a while, when she didn’t readily reply. She sensed he was a little hurt that she hadn’t jumped at the idea. ‘I know you have other places you want to see.’

‘It’s not that I want to leave this area. I love it here. It’s beautiful. I guess it’s just this whole thing with us …’ She tried to explain, but the words were all sticking together. ‘I mean, we’ve never really talked about … what this is between us. We kind of just fell into it without really thinking everything through.’

‘What do you think it is?’ he asked slowly, careful not to look at her.

Elle wasn’t sure. She’d been trying to work it out since day one. ‘I guess it was just a happenchance kind of thing that we met and hit it off,’ she said with a small shrug.

She heard him give a quiet scoff-type grunt as he continued to gather the ingredients for their meal.

‘I mean, I came here looking for Stormeil, and I found you,’ she said lightly. ‘I wasn’t expecting that.’

He looked up and the gentle expression on his face made her heart thud slightly out of rhythm. ‘Neither was I.’

‘I’ve loved being here with you, Stuart,’ she said softly.