Page 51 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

Ah. There it was. She shouldn’t be surprised. Why had she expected a man like him would be single? ‘I guess not.’

‘My wife put up with it until the kids were grown, then she headed for the city lights. I stayed with this. It’s the only life I know, and besides, I still enjoy it.’

Mike left her for a minute and returned with two bottles of water from the esky. He held one out to Rose.

‘Thanks.’ She unscrewed the lid and took a deep drink. Mike did the same.

‘What about you?’ he asked.

‘I’ve been a city girl all my life. I met my late husband when I was nineteen at a concert. We married four months later and didn’t spend a day apart until he died. That was nearly ten years ago now.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘We had a good life. I do miss him, though. We had this lovely apartment in Sydney, but …’

‘Have you ever thought of moving? Maybe coming up this way? It’s a great part of the world.’

She hadn’t framed it quite that way, but that was so close to her thoughts, she didn’t know how to respond.

‘Anyway, back to work. Nice chatting to you, Rose.’

‘You too, Mike.’

***

At the end of the day, Bree waved the shearers off with relief. The alpacas had all been done and were now grazing happily in their paddocks, looking a bit patchy and a lot less hairy than before. Bags of fleece had been stacked safely in the shed, ready to go to the spinners. A couple of specific fleeces had been ordered by customers who hand spun the yarn. Those were the premium fleeces that brought the most money. Bree was tired, but in a good way. This was a major milestone in her new life and it had gone well.

Maggie emerged from the shed. ‘The feeding is all done.’

‘Good. It’s been a long day. You head on home. I’ll tidy up.’ There was still a bit to do and the shed and holding pen needed to be hosed out.

‘Are you sure, Bree? I can do it. I don’t mind.’

‘No. You go.’

‘You look pretty beat, too. I could do the morning feeds on my own, if you want to sleep in tomorrow,’ Maggie offered.

‘Thanks. I should be up, but if I’m not, you get started without me.’ She would be up. She always was. But a bit of a lie-in was a tempting thought.

‘See you tomorrow.’ Maggie set out towards her old Holden, parked in the shadow of the shed.

Bree took a deep breath and picked up the hose. If she got stuck in now, this wouldn’t take long.

By the time order had been restored, she was starving. Nan had promised to take care of feeding them both, but as she entered the house, the smells of cooking she’d been hoping for were noticeably absent. Instead, she found her grandmother sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through something on her phone.

‘All done?’ Nan asked.

‘Yep. A good day’s work, but I’m far too tired to cook dinner. I thought you were going to organise it.’

‘I am. I’ve done enough cooking for one day so I’m organising us a pub dinner. Today was a big day for you. We should celebrate. Why don’t you get cleaned up? I’ll drive us in so you can have a well-earned drink. And a night out will do us both good. It’s my shout.’

‘Nan, I’m not sure—’

‘I am. You deserve a night off. When did you last spend some time looking after yourself, rather than the alpacas?’

She had a point. Bree wondered if the alpaca walk with Matt counted as doing something for herself. She hadn’t told Rose about that, but suspected her grandmother would definitely think it time well spent.

After a long hot shower, it felt good to throw on a skirt and let her hair down. She even added a rare touch of makeup. Not for any reason, except to make herself feel good.

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