‘I still don’t really know what I’m going to do.’ It was all well and good to just play it by ear, but the reality was, it was as expensive as hell over here. She couldn’t just get in the car and drive and see where the road took her. Fuel cost an arm and a leg, and before she knew it she would eat through all her money and have to end up calling her parents to help bail her out of trouble. A small shudder ran through her at the thought of that phone call. This was not what she thought having an overseas adventure would be like, stressing over money and having to budget everything. Where was the carefree, fun-loving backpacker life in that?

‘I can give you a few suggestions,’ Stuart said helpfully.

‘Your suggestions usually end up with us in bed,’ Elle replied with a grin, and thought again how lucky she had been to have stumbled upon this man so unexpectedly.

‘But they’re good suggestions,’ he added, sliding his arms around her.

‘I smell like sheep,’ she protested, trying to wriggle from his hold. ‘You’re all clean.’ And you smell so good, she added silently.

‘It’s a good thing I’m rather partial to sheep then, isn’t it?’

‘That’s probably not something you should go around advertising,’ she teased, escaping his arms to head for the stairs. ‘I’m going to wash off all the sheep smell and come back down to help with dinner.’

‘Or,’ he said, following her up the stairs, ‘now that you’ve got me all smelly and in need of another shower, I could come with you.’

‘You know, sometimes you do come up with really good suggestions,’ she said, as he took her hand to lead her to the bathroom.

For the next few days, Elle worked alongside Stuart and they found themselves settling into an easy routine. Even the early starts began to feel not so bad, and the reward was more than worth it. Elle loved watching the sun as it crept its way into the sky from behind the craggy hills and ridges of the farm. But her favourite place was the rugged cliff face where the paddock dropped off into the ocean. The view, standing there and looking across the endless expanse of water, stretching as far as the eye could see, filled her with so much awe and … peace. She often took her sketchbook and found time to sit and draw at some point in her day; at these moments she realised that this was the most content she had ever felt with life.