A sense of dread swelled through her as she took in the scope of work the cottage would need.

There was the kitchen – torn, mouldy wallpaper, chipped cupboards, a couple of less-than-safe looking power points. It was a big job. She traced her fingers over the faded blue laminate benchtop and wondered what stories hid beneath the scorch marks. A forgotten pot as a mother rushed outside to rescue a child from a grazed knee? A cigarette dropped and left to smoulder in the middle of an argument?

There were the walls in the hallway and two bedrooms that needed to be stripped, cleaned and repainted.

And the floors. What was beneath the decades of dust that covered the entire cottage?

She had no real desire to turn the house or garden into a thing of beauty and warmth. Beauty and warmth were distant concepts she no longer understood. But she was duty bound.

So what if she’d lied about her renovating experience on the application? They’d lied too – about the extent of work to be done. She should have guessed when she realised the arrangement came with a stipend ‘to assist with the cost of renovations’. Stipend did not equal minor renovations. But, desperate people did desperate things. Hopefully this cottage would buy her enough time to figure out what to do next.

She’d have to be careful. The allowance wasn’t unlimited and the money she’d saved wouldn’t go far. Her freelance editing work would take care of her day-to-day needs, but wouldn’t stretch beyond that. She’d have to do most of the work herself. Thank goodness for internet searches and how-to videos. But where to start?

She pulled out the small notebook she always carried in her handbag and started to write a list. She’d need some supplies. Going into town was not something she particularly wanted to do, but she didn’t have any other options. She needed to fix the back screen door and at least give the place a thorough clean if she had any hope of sleeping inside tonight.

Nicole stood outside The Cove IGA, suddenly very conscious of her bedraggled appearance. In a town this size, a new face would certainly be noticed. Nicole only hoped she wouldn’t be subjected to too much direct questioning. She knew that townspeople in these sorts of places traded in innuendo and stickybeaking. She could cope with that. Their intrusive personal probes, however, she wasn’t looking forward to. Maybe the fact that she was only here for a few months meant there wouldn’t be enough time for them to dig too deeply.

She took a long breath and tried to smooth her wrinkled shirt before stepping through the doors.