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“She sounds…er…interesting.”

Josh scowled at his sister.

“What? You haven’t painted a very flattering picture.”

“She’s great, T. You’d like her.”

Thea narrowed her eyes and surveyed her brother. “Are you sureyoudon’t like her?” she asked. “You never talk about women. You live like a monk.”

Josh’s cheeks lit hot.

“I barely know her,” he lied, unwilling to admit to his boyhood crush, let alone his current one. “Besides, I don't have time for anything outside of work. Three girls in my life are enough.”

“Sounds to me like you’re trying to talk yourself out of something. You have time for a girlfriend, Josh, but you avoid it. Your walls need to come down someday. Me, Ammy, and Wendy aren't always going to be enough. You need an adult, romantic relationship.”

Josh stood, put his hands in his pockets and looked down at his boots. She was right.

“I know you hate to talk about it,” said Thea. “But I worry about you. Your Saturday night fun is playing Legos with Ammy,”

Josh had to laugh at that.

“That’s not my little brother,” she continued, her voice softening. “You were the life of every party. It’s time to live again.”

“Back off, please,” he said, his brow furrowed.

Thea spoke gently, walking to where he stood and placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know your heart got broken, but it happens to everyone, and it’s been three years.”

His gut wrenched at her words. True, his heart was damaged, but it was nothing to the heartbreak she’d been through. She was the one who needed help mending.

He stepped in and gave his sister a tight hug. “We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?”

She pulled away from him and nodded. “But we’ll survive,” she said with a sigh. After a beat, the corners of her mouth twitched. “Okay. I admit defeat. I’m struggling here, so please bring your secret weapon to survey the damage.”

“She’s already agreed to pop by, so be on your best behaviour,” he said, extracting himself from Thea’s arms and heading out the door. “See you later, Sis.”

Josh walked back across the yard to his cottage, reflecting on Thea’s words. Hewaslonely. A loopy mongrel could only provide so much company. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to dip his toe back in the dating game, but it always left him empty, as if his heart wasn’t in it.

He walked through a gap in the stone wall bordering his house. It was his mum’s art studio, which he later converted into a one-bedroom cottage. His mum had coped with her lonely life as a farm vet’s wife by surrounding herself with hobbies and then with children. She’d loved his dad, but as a kid, Josh was aware of her spending many hours alone, keeping things going at home. When his father retired, her relief was evident.

He stared across the rolling fields. Gnarled trees dotted the landscape, standing to attention like dilapidated scarecrows. The high-pressure demands of his job meant long hours and isolation. Being a farm vet left him with little energy for anything else.Who would want to share that life with him?

17

KITTY

“Yes!”Kitty screamed, throwing her phone into the air. “About bloody time!”

She texted Jonty and her sister with a massive grin on her face.

Kitty:Bingo! I’ve got an opportunity at Wilbur Blake! They want me to head their energy team.OMG, this is amazing!Just had to tell someone. Interviews, here I come! XOX

The funk of the last fortnight lifted.She’d worried nobody wanted to hire her, and now a top-tier firm was interested. Excitement bubbled in Kitty’s chest. Things were looking up! She had a chance to get her life back. She couldn’t wait to tell Josh.

Full of renewed optimism, it was time for Kitty to address her wardrobe issues. Her clothes were a disaster. She’d ruined three pairs of designer jeans, her favourite shirt, and her flip-flops were wearing thinner and thinner. She could almost feel each blade of grass and pebble through their dissolving rubber.

Kitty threw on some smart trousers and a T-shirt, then headed to the kitchen, where Julia listened to the radio at top volume. She stopped to drop a kiss on Herod’s head as he guarded the coffee machine on the counter. When she walked in, she turned the radio down to a tolerable decibel.

“I’m going clothes shopping. Do you want to come?” Kitty asked Julia, who sat at the table, reading the paper.