Page 17 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

A couple of minutes after he opened the office, Matt’s phone rang. He checked the number and grinned. Exactly what he needed to start his day.

‘Hello, Bree. How was your first night in the new place?’

‘Not quite as I had hoped.’ She sounded tired and her voice had none of the happiness he’d hoped for.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘There’s no power here. Made the night a bit rougher than I expected.’

‘Oh, no. Did you spend the night there without power?’

‘Yep.’

His brain began painting pictures for him. No water, not even for the toilet. No lights. No dinner. No hot coffee. And last night had been pretty cold. ‘You should have called me. Or come in to the pub. They’ve always got a spare room.’

‘I haven’t come this far to give up so easily. Although I did think about the pub once or twice. That would have been more comfortable. But …’

‘It wouldn’t have been your place.’ He knew exactly how she felt.

‘No, it wouldn’t. One thing for sure, I’ll always remember my first night here.’ She laughed.

Matt was impressed. Bree was a city girl. He suspected she was pretty well off and used to a bit of luxury, so it can’t have been an easy night for her, although … This time the picture in his head was flickering firelight and Bree curled up with a glass of wine and a satisfied smile on her face. It was a nice picture and, he suspected, not all that far from the truth.

‘I’ve spoken to the power company,’ she continued. ‘They swear it’s been restored. I guess there must be some circuit breaker or fuse somewhere I need to know about. I’ve looked in all the sensible places, but nothing. Have you got any ideas?’

‘I don’t know anything about a circuit breaker. I’ll have a look through the paperwork I have here and call the previous owner if I can and get back to you.’

‘Thanks.’

Matt thought about the frost cracking under his feet as he and Vicki had walked to school that morning. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Yeah. I’ve got the fire going and managed to make coffee. I’d love a hot shower, but I guess that’s going to have to wait.’

‘I’ll be back in touch shortly.’

A quick check of his files revealed nothing useful and the call to the former owners went to voicemail. His next step was to call Jake Barnes.

‘Did you ever do any work out there?’ he asked Jake. ‘Any thoughts?’

‘I did do some work on the shed and stables. I don’t know about a circuit breaker, but I’m free now. I could go out and have a look.’

‘Thanks, Jake. I’ll see you there.’

There was no need for Matt to go to The Gums. He would be of no help. But he didn’t even think twice before putting the closed sign on his door. He told himself it was just part of the job and nothing to do with the way Bree had impulsively wrapped her arms around him yesterday, infusing him with some of her joy. Late last night he’d realised how rare it was for him to have that sort of casual and joyful physical contact now that Kim was gone. He hugged Vicki, but hugging his daughter was about her, not him. He’d never realised how much he missed casual human touch.

Bree met him at the door of her house wearing the same blue jeans and colourful jumper she’d been wearing the day before. Her wild hair was even more wild and those odd-coloured eyes had lost a little of their glow. Yesterday, she had hugged him out of sheer joy. Today he wanted to hug her with sympathy and apology and simply to make her warm. He suspected that would make him feel better too. Because right now, guilt was sitting very heavily on his shoulders.

‘I am so sorry,’ he said as he came through the door. ‘I should have helped you check all this before you moved in.’

‘It’s fine. I thought I had it under control.’ Her voice was tinged with frustration and a hint of anger, which he knew was not directed at him.

‘I couldn’t find anything in the paperwork and the former owners didn’t pick up. I really can’t apologise enough for all this.’

‘There’s no need to apologise. Really. It was a bit different from my Sydney flat, but I was fine.’ This time, the tone of her voice had a spark of humour that told him she meant it.

‘I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ve rung Jake and he’s on his way.’

‘Do you want some coffee while you wait? It’s not very good, but it is warm.’

---