Page 7 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘If you have any questions …’

‘I won’t hesitate to ask.’ Bree smiled at him.

She had no questions about the shed that sat comfortably between the stables and the house. The shed was open on one side, with a dirt floor and plenty of room for a car, a horse float and maybe even a small tractor. She’d need one of those if she wanted to grow lucerne on the river flats. What the shed lacked was some sort of dry storage space to store the fleeces. That wasn’t a deal breaker. She could maybe use one of the stables. They would be easy to convert and they already had good floors.

The house was next. Bree wanted a nice place to live, but also needed to run her business from there.

‘How’s the internet connection out here?’

‘This close to town, it’s pretty good.’

So was the house. It looked empty and sad, but that was easy to fix. She was overjoyed to see a large glass-fronted wood burner in the living room. That would come in handy on the long winter evenings. There were three bedrooms. She needed one for herself, one for her office and one as a guest room for the frequent visitor she was expecting. There wasn’t any storage for the boxes of spun yarn or other products for her online store. She would have to make do at first, but in the long term, she was going to need more space. The kitchen was functional and the floors were wood that had once been polished. That was a bonus. It wouldn’t take much to replace the boring cream walls with colours that would lift her spirits.

‘Thanks, Matt. I’ve seen enough.’

‘And?’

Her heart skipped a beat. This felt so right, but it was the first property she’d looked at. Everyone knew you never bought the first one. Not an outfit nor a dining table and certainly not a property. It would be crazy to do that. She might have quit her job with nothing to replace it and nowhere to go, but she wasn’t crazy. Well, not entirely. She would look around some more. There might be something better out there. Or more affordable. Or … She could feel herself starting to give way to uncertainty.

‘It’s not perfect,’ she said. ‘It needs work. And the price …’ She shook her head and let the comment hang.

‘Let’s go back to my office and talk.’

Bree was quiet as they drove back into Wagtail Ridge. The fear faded and common sense took over. She liked The Gums, but if this was going to be her new home, the town and the people in it mattered. So she let Matt talk.

‘If you need some work done on the place,’ Matt said, ‘I recommend Jake Barnes. I sometimes think he keeps the whole town running single-handed. His wife Lou is an environmental consultant with the council, but mostly we all think of her as the person who runs the mobile library. There’s a good school too, if you’ve got kids.’

‘No kids. It’s just me.’ She almost felt the questioning glance he sent her way, but ignored it.

‘There’s a small shop,’ Matt continued. ‘It’s not big but Kelly, that’s the owner, can order anything you need. We try to shop in the store as much as we can, rather than drive into Scone.’

Bree heard the unspoken words. Small towns were struggling to survive and needed all the support they could get from the locals.

‘Same for the pub. We’ve only got one. The owners are good people. There’s a town hall and we have a couple of fundraisers there every year. Dances. The money funds school projects and the mobile library. Everyone comes.’

Bree cast a glance at the man driving. Every word he spoke was full of affection for the town. As they approached the first buildings, he pointed out the school and the hall and every gesture, every word, said this town was important to him. He wasn’t a real estate agent trying to make a sale any more, he was a man talking about something that meant a lot to him. She liked that. She liked the pride in his soft, deep voice too. She decided she could trust him if she went ahead with the deal. After that … Well, she was moving to a new town and would want to make friends with the locals. Maybe he’d be a good place to start.

Matt pulled in next to her car. She got out and looked around the street. The little town looked, if not exactly prosperous, at least alive. And it had a welcoming air.

Matt unlocked the office door. ‘Come on in, I’ll make us some coffee and we can talk about price if you like.’

‘Sure.’ She tried not to feel too hopeful, but if he was willing to talk about the price, there might be a chance she could argue it down. All those hours arguing cases in a courtroom might have an unexpected pay-off.

‘By the way, you said you weren’t bringing horses to the property. Do you mind if I ask what you are planning to keep?’

‘Alpacas.’ No sooner had Bree spoken the word than there was a high-pitched squeal behind her. She turned to see a girl of about six wearing a school uniform and clutching a bag covered with stickers of ponies. Her blue eyes were shining.

‘Alpacas! Daddy, can we go see the alpacas? Can we? Please? Please? Please!’

CHAPTER

4

On Saturday morning, the mobile library was open for business, set up next to the Wagtail Ridge hall. Library day had become a regular social event and a handful people were settling in for a picnic in the park nearby. Matt had taken up a spot on the hall steps, waiting while Vicki collected her books. He had his phone in his hand, telling himself it was in case someone saw the ‘back in ten minutes’ sign on his office door and chose to ring instead. He wasn’t checking his phone and email every half-hour any more, not as he had been for the past week. Bree Johnston hadn’t been in touch and his hopes of making the sale were fading. He’d been so sure.

I’m not as good a judge of these things as you were, Kim.

He closed his email, as Vicki emerged from the library, her arms full.

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