Nicole cringed. There were a lot of lists.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’ He whistled. ‘You’re either the most organised person in the world, or borderline crazy.’

‘Take your pick.’ Nicole smiled.

‘Everything categorised and prioritised. Man, do you need a hobby, or a job, or a dog, or something.’

‘This is my hobby.’ She grinned. ‘And I’m allergic to dogs. And I have a job, sort of.’

Danny raised an eyebrow.

‘I do a little freelance editing. Speaking of jobs, how is it you’re able to be here picking me to pieces? Don’t you have other jobs around town to work on?’

He shrugged. ‘They come and go.’

It was Nicole’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

‘It’s not really my job-job. I just help out a bit here and there.’

‘So do you have a job-job?’

‘I can’t believe the local grapevine hasn’t filled you in on that already.’ He put his hands on his hips and studied her lists. ‘I can help with this. And this. And these.’ He pointed to a number of tasks.

‘I try not to get involved in gossip,’ Nicole said.

‘In a town like this involvement isn’t really optional. I’ll have to speak to the powers that be and let them know their system is failing.’

‘Well, yes, we can’t have that now, can we?’

‘Indeed.’ He seemed to hesitate.

Nicole shifted her weight from side to side.

‘I really should let you get back to it then.’ Danny backed out of the room.

‘Wait.’ Nicole caught up with him. ‘Thank you. Really.’ She could feel her eyes welling up again. Damn.

He reached out and touched her arm. ‘Any time.’

The next morning Nicole continued painting the first layer of undercoat on the walls and by late afternoon she had two rooms completed. She stretched out her aching shoulders. If only there was a bath in the cottage. Oh well, a cuppa and then flopping into bed sounded just as good.

‘Anyone home?’ Mandy’s voice called from the verandah and Nicole let out a long sigh.

‘Hi, Mandy.’ She forced a smile. She really just wanted to go to bed early.

‘I thought we might christen this gorgeous new kitchen of yours.’ She held out two shopping bags of food. ‘Danny said it came up a treat, but he wasn’t sure you were completely happy with it.’

What? Oh. She’d hoped he hadn’t seen her crying.

‘It is stunning,’ she said to Mandy. ‘Take a look.’

They went into the kitchen and Mandy gasped. ‘It is. So why aren’t you dancing a jig?’

‘I’m just exhausted.’ It wasn’t entirely a lie. She was actually exhausted.

Mandy’s face fell. ‘Oh. All right then. Maybe it’s best we do this another time.’

‘Would you mind?’

‘Of course not.’