Page 49 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘Around the city they do. I know you get quite a few tourists up this way, so I’m getting some flyers printed to put in shop windows and B&Bs. The tourist centre in Scone is going to take some. I hope that’ll bring in some walkers. The Gums is a little way out of town, but hopefully they won’t struggle to find the place. GPS is a wonderful thing, although I might give some maps to the shops in town, in case people get lost and ask for directions. And then there’s the yarn. I’ll be selling whole fleeces as well as spun yarn.’

‘There’s a wool shop at Nundle. You’ll have competition.’

‘Yes and no. A choice of wool and alpaca yarns is going to tempt a few more mad knitters to visit this part of the world. And if they are anything like the knitters I know, they’ll buy plenty from both of us.’

Matt laughed easily. He sounded far more relaxed than he had thirty minutes ago.

‘Are you going to set up some sort of wool shop here at The Gums?’

‘Initially it will just be online. It would be nice to have a small place in town, but that would need someone to run it and I’m not ready to pay more wages yet. I can afford Maggie, but that’s it.’

‘When you are ready, I have a place that might be exactly what you need. A small shop on the main street with a cottage behind that maybe you could use for storage. It’s not big, but with a bit of fixing up, it might do the job. The shop is big enough for the knitting club too.’

Bree chuckled. ‘Are you always on duty, Mr Real Estate Agent?’

Matt stopped in his tracks, causing Digby to pull up sharply. The alpaca looked a little put out. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.’

‘It’s fine.’ Bree indicated they should keep walking.

The sun was at its highest, and there was a delightful spring warmth in the air. The animals were enjoying their walk and taking an occasional grab at a tempting green shoot. Matt seemed content to walk in silence, pausing occasionally to humour Digby’s imagined hunger and to run his hands along the thick wool of the animal’s neck. At last they reached a clear area at the top of the gentle slope. The clearing was drenched with sunlight, the grass shining with its freshness. From this point, their view stretched across the valley, past The Gums and, in the distance, the sun glinted off the windows and the corrugated iron roofs of Wagtail Ridge.

Vicki and Willow had pulled a little ahead and had already walked to the other side of the clearing. Bree and Matt could hear Vicki’s voice as she chatted happily to the large, elegant animal who was helping herself to the tasty grass.

‘It looks so pretty from here,’ Bree said.

Matt nodded. When he spoke, his voice was soft and sad. ‘Kim grew up in the city, but she fell in love with this place the first time she saw it. From that day, all she ever wanted—allweever wanted—was to live our lives and raise our family here.’

‘I am so sorry. What happened?’

‘Cancer. It’s such a horrible disease. She was so young and alive and beautiful, but in a matter of months, she was gone.’

Bree wanted to reach out to Matt and offer him comfort, but she held back. The depth of his grief was so great she doubted anyone could comfort him, except perhaps his daughter.

‘Every time I look at Vicki, I see so much of her mother in her. It’s a joy, but also …’ Matt ran his fingers through Digby’s thick coat, seeming to take comfort in its rich softness. ‘I think Sally has a worse problem. I think she sees Kim sometimes when she’s with Vicki. She seems to want Vicki to take the place of the daughter she lost. And she can’t be that. She has to be herself.’

‘I did get the feeling that Sally was … overprotective,’ Bree said cautiously.

‘Did she say something to you?’

You went to my daughter’s house … flung yourself at Matt … You stay away from them.

‘Nothing that matters.’ She wasn’t going to add to his concern.

‘I have told her and Brian to talk to me about being involved in Vicki’s life. I don’t want to cut her off from them, not for a minute. But Sally is getting too interfering. I’m not sure what to do next.’

This time Bree did reach out to lay a friendly hand on his arm. Just for a few seconds. ‘You’ll sort it out, Matt. You love your daughter and she loves you. Not everyone has that.’

The words slipped out before she could stop them. One day, perhaps, she would talk to him about her relationship with her own parents, but not today.

‘Vicki is the most important thing in the world to me.’

To Bree, those words seemed his way of making sure she understood his message. All they could be was friends. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it would do for now.

They turned their attention back to the animals, who had been grazing happily during the discussion.

Matt once again ran his fingers through Digby’s rich brown fleece. ‘This has been so relaxing. It’s made me feel so good.’

‘Alpacas will do that.’

---