PS The talk of the fair was Bernie Telford’s proposal to split from Woodville Football Club once the war is over. He apparently had a fight with the President of the club. I thought of you when I heard the whispers and knew you would like to know.

Nicole re-read last night’s letter. She wondered if anyone remembered how the rivalry with Woodville began. Or was it one of those tales that got bent and twisted with time until no one knew exactly how it started, but they were all adamant it was for a good reason?

She knew she was delaying the start to her day. She was meant to be tackling the next job on her renovation list. The kitchen. Over the last week she’d finished sourcing reclaimed cabinetry and the new kitchen would be arriving tomorrow. Today she had to strip the old cabinetry out.

She pushed up the sleeves of her plaster-splatted tracksuit jumper and checked her list for the fourth time to make sure she had the order of tasks straight in her head. Danny would be around soon to help, but she wanted to get as much done as she could on her own.

With her trusty old sledgehammer she broke up the laminate benchtop into manageable-sized pieces and lay the sections in the corner of the room. She lifted the last piece of bench up but buckled under the weight of it.

‘Shit,’ she shouted as she fell to the floor.

‘You okay in there?’ Danny came rushing into the kitchen. ‘What the hell are you trying to do?’

He lifted the piece of bench off her easily and placed it on the floor with the others. ‘Are you hurt?’

‘I don’t think so.’ Nicole felt her vital extremities.

Danny helped her to her feet.

‘I was about to knock on the door when I heard you scream. Were you seriously trying to do this on your own?’

Nicole looked at the floor.

‘Why?’

‘I can’t afford to pay someone to do it.’ Her voice cracked.

‘I meant why not wait till I got here?’ He rubbed her shoulder. ‘Did you forget I was coming?’

Nicole shrugged. ‘No. I … just … well, you’ve done so much to help already. I don’t want to take advantage of you.’

‘Haven’t you figured it out yet? We’re pretty good at chipping in around here, helping out our mates.’ Danny shook his head. ‘Let’s knock this over together.’

Three hours of hard work later, Nicole and Danny sat on the verandah, looking out at the front garden, which was now dressed with top soil thanks to Jack and ready for the next stage. Turf. Nicole poured them each a glass of icy cold lemonade.

‘Thank you for your help today,’ she said.

‘Any time. Next time though, wait for backup. Save us both on Deep Heat in the long run.’ He rubbed his back.

Nicole laughed. ‘Sorry.’