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Joe had spent his first eight years out of school as a shearer, travelling the country and having a good time, learning about sheep, and the land. Saving to buy his own place, and he was damn proud that he had.

But his modest little farm wasn’t enough for a woman of Violet’s calibre.

Now, at least, he had two steady jobs with Grant and Ryan, and even though he learned a lot and was a good chippie and landscaper, he still hadn’t been to TAFE and was pretty much just a labourer.

He made a pact with himself as he stared out over his land.

He would enjoy Violet’s company for as long as she stayed, and he would help her as much as he could. He would avoid the finger brushing, the touching on the shoulder, and the lingering eye gazing; it wasn’t doing him the slightest bit of good. Being out of the house working at the pub at night would help too, and if she was out during the day, maybe he could get over this hopeless infatuation. Then when she moved on, he would look for a suitable woman.

***

Violet parked outside the house paddock at Jake and Emma’s. The lush front lawn was edged with colourful spring flowers; six bottlebrush trees loaded with pendulous crimson spikes ran along the fence near the front gate. The red and green combination made it look like Christmas in the garden.

Taking a big, deep breath of country air and listening to the birdsong in the trees as she looked out over the lush pastures, calm gradually stole over Violet. There was nothing she could do. She would be eight weeks without her ute, and once it was fixed, she’d think about trading it in and getting something else. She wasn’t going to risk that happening again as she travelled around the country.

And there was nothing she could do with her attraction to Joe. She’d just ride it out and let events take their course. Sitting at the dinner table last night, eating the meal she’d cooked, had been very homely, and she relaxed even more in his company. After dinner, Joe had insisted on washing up; his dishwasher still hadn’t arrived. Violet went into the living room, sat on the comfortable sofa, and chose a book from Joe’s collection; they had the same taste in authors. Half an hour later, after he had been out and fed Molly, he came into the living room, turned the television on, and sat on the sofa beside her. They watched the seven o’clock news together.

Violet had started to giggle halfway through the program.

Joe turned to her with a grin. “What?”

“All I need is some knitting and we’d make the perfect domestic scene.”

As soon as Violet spoke, she regretted voicing her thoughts, but Joe had laughed and held her gaze thoughtfully.

They were very much at ease in each other’s company, and she was thoroughly relishing the freedom and the lack of stress.

And looking at Joe. But she wouldn’t go there. Whatever happened she would deal with.

She pulled her thoughts back to the present as Emma ran lightly down the front steps.

“Well, that looks much more like the Violet of old,” she said as Violet gave her a happy smile. “Coffee’s on, Nat’s asleep, and Jake’s up at the stables. Now come and tell me why you really left Brisbane.”

An hour later, Violet had spilled the whole story to Emma, who shook her head in disbelief as Violet described how the emotional bullying from her boss—who had slowly then become her boyfriend—had escalated.

“I can’t believe that you were going out with Brian,” Emma said as she poured their second cup of coffee. “He was always a sleaze.”

“I know,” Violet said. “And I’m ashamed that I did get into a relationship with him. He bullied me into it. The clever comments, the constant negativity, and the gradual erosion of my self-worth. I was actually grateful to him when he asked me out for dinner the first time.”

“Ugh.” Emma shuddered.

“At least I didn’t move in with him, but when I wouldn’t, he half-moved into my apartment. No matter how much I tried to get him to go home after we’d been out, he’d insist on staying. And then his toothbrush appeared next to mine, and his shaving gear went in my cupboard.”

“Total control,” Emma said, reaching over to squeeze Violet’s hand.

“I took great pleasure in putting all of his stuff in the bin when I left.” A giggle escaped her. “It was one of those eight-hundred-dollar Braun shavers.”

“You go, girl! Good to see the old Violet was still there.”

“Yes, but when I was with him, I couldn’t see that what he was doing was so toxic, and it took an incident at the stables to really wake me up. We lost a horse, and Brian told everyone that it was my misdiagnosis and subsequent treatment that had caused the problem. I hadn’t even been near the poor creature. He had, and he put the blame on me. I was so angry my common sense came roaring back and I realised what I’d let him do to me.”

“No, you realised what he had done to you. No ‘letting’ about it. So, you told him to pee off?”

Violet shook her head and stared out the window over the beautiful rolling paddocks.

“No, I was too scared of him. He went to a conference in Sydney for a week, and then toured some studs in the Southern Highlands for the second week. He tried to make me go, but I could see my chance and refused. I bought the ute in a rush—foolishly as it has turned out—and I took off. Even Wendy, my sister doesn’t know where I am.” She widened her eyes. “Please don’t tell anyone in Brisbane. I know he’d come after me.”

“We don’t know anyone up there now. Most of our equine friends are in Sydney and the Hunter Valley. That’s how Jake knew so much about that stud you applied to. Are you still going for that interview?”