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Indy sat on the edge of the verandah that enclosed her new house as Scout collected her ball and came to sit at her feet.

It hadn’t taken her long to settle into Longview.

The property’s name derived from the view of the Blue Mountains, which were a lot closer than they seemed.

At least that’s what her new boss, Jerry, had said.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air.

Being near the mountains kept that feeling of home for her.

Scout nudged her feet and Indy picked up the ball to throw it for her.

The dog was loving her new home too. Anything was better than Iggy’s small backyard.

Jerry and his wife were in their mid-sixties and lived in the main house, which they’d built on the rise about thirty years ago, leaving the original homestead overlooking the orchards, Scout’s favourite place to chase the ball.

A dust cloud caught Indy’s attention. A white ute was making its way up the long drive to her house. She was glad Emery could follow instructions, because she wasn’t slowing down to call her for directions.

Indy stood and whistled for the dog. ‘Come on, Scout. Let’s go see Aunty Emery.’ Scout bounded ahead and around the corner. Indy followed and was greeted by a loud squeal as Emery launched herself from the Windale work ute.

‘Indy! I have missed you so much! The mountain is so lonely without you. Mara’s getting cooler but she’s not you.’

‘It’s good to see you, Em, but it’d be even better if you stopped trying to strangle me.’ Emery’s arms loosened and they laughed. ‘I didn’t think you’d be here until dark.’

‘Nova gave us an early knock off. No joke, the whole team.’

‘She must be sick.’

‘Definitely coming down with something.’ Emery grinned and grabbed her bag from the back seat. Of course it was packed to the brim for just two nights. ‘Give me the tour!’

‘Follow me!’ Indy opened the back door and led Emery down the wide hallway. ‘The double brick keeps this place cool, but Jerry warned me that I’ll need to keep the fires stoked in winter or invest in some heaters.’

‘You’ve got so many fireplaces,’ Emery said, peering into the doors that lined the hallway. ‘Check out this big-arse lounge room. That’s gotta be the longest corner couch I’ve ever seen. You could fit a pool table in here.’

Indy dragged her out. ‘There’re fireplaces in every bedroom too. But only two had beds and, sorry not sorry, but I took the main one.’

‘Fair call. That’s a nice big kitchen you’re going to have to learn how to use.’

‘Ha ha.’ Indy pushed open the door to the spare room. ‘Mine’s at the end of the hall and the bathroom’s opposite it. I did have to rehome a family of mice from in here, but I’ve plugged the gaps and haven’t had any unexpected visitors since.’

Emery shuddered. ‘Good to know.’ She threw her bag on the double bed and stared around the room. ‘What are those ceiling art things called?’

‘Ceiling roses. They’re also in every room and I love them. I love the high ceilings and these wooden floors even though they’re a bit cold on your feet in the morning.’

‘It’s so …’ Emery’s voice trailed off as she looked thoughtful.

‘Original?’

Emery considered Indy’s suggestion with a nod. ‘That’s better than ancient.’

Indy laughed. God, that felt good. To laugh with a friend. ‘Do you want to see the outside?’

‘Other than not being on a mountain, isn’t this place similar to Nova’s?’

‘Longview isn’t much bigger but it’s a hell of a lot flatter, with minimal scrub or native pastures. It’s improved land so we could run double the sheep numbers but instead we have hundreds of hectares of wheat.’

‘How’s that been? Cropping?’

Indy headed towards the kitchen. ‘I haven’t really done much. Jerry’s said he’ll teach me but I’ve been more focused on the sheep and getting used to the way he likes things done.’ She grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge and handed one to Emery. ‘Let’s sit on the verandah.’

They settled back in the two camping chairs Indy kept on the side that faced the orchard. ‘Cheers to spending the weekend together.’

‘Cheers,’ Emery said, clanking her bottle against Indy’s.

Indy took a mouthful as the sun slipped lower in the sky, touching the mountain tops. Emery played with the label on her bottle and Indy rolled her eyes.

‘Spill, Emery. As good as it is to see you, I can tell when you have a secret.’

Emery placed her untouched beer in the holder of the camp chair and spun her body to face Indy. ‘You’ll never guess who I ran into at the pub last weekend. He was asking after you.’

‘If you mean Zander, tell him I died. I don’t need that guy following me out here with another proposal.’

Emery laughed, too loudly. She was nervous. What was she nervous about? ‘No. Carter Hendrix.’

Indy’s stomach flip-flopped at the mention of his name. Last weekend? ‘When? His game was in Brisbane last weekend. What was he doing in Windale?’

‘Since when do you watch football? Also it’s called an aeroplane then a car.’

Indy ignored her question. ‘What did he want?’

‘You.’

Longing hit Indy in the chest so hard she didn’t have time to brace herself.

‘He misses you,’ Emery continued. ‘And it looks like you miss him just as much. Don’t bother trying to deny it.’

‘I do miss him, but it doesn’t change anything.’

Emery’s eyes widened. ‘Of course it does! You have a job as a stock manager on this huge station. That’s responsibility, status in the region and a home.

Not to mention the backing of the entire town of Windale.

You’re in a great place. None of that is anything to sneeze at.

Why is now not the right time to let love back into your life? ’

‘Because where I’m at now doesn’t change where I came from.’ Indy sat forwards in her seat. ‘Think of the headlines. “NRL’s golden boy hooks up with the daughter of a dead drug dealer and a homeless junkie”. That’s exactly the kind of publicity he doesn’t need in his life.’

Emery sat back in her chair. ‘Wow, Indy. I never figured you for a coward.’

Indy scoffed. ‘A coward? And what exactly do you think I’m scared of?’

‘Yourself. You’d prefer to hide behind your crap parents than step out and let people really see you.’

‘I don’t hide behind them.’

‘Yes, you do! They’re always your excuse. And who cares about them? Lots of people have shit pasts, but they don’t let it define the rest of their lives like you do. I wish you’d let it go. Be proud of who you’ve become. You’ve overcome too much to still be standing in your parents’ shadows.’

Indy couldn’t move. She stared at Emery as her friend’s words ran through her mind again and again.

Was she too afraid to move forwards with her life?

She was on Longview, wasn’t she? Away from Windale and Denarlie.

A fresh start. She was proud of herself for making that step.

But was she really keeping herself in her parents’ shadows?

She’d always thought she was just being realistic.

She swallowed hard. ‘I am proud of where I’m at. Of how I didn’t take the same path as them.’

‘Then why won’t you let yourself be with Carter?’ Emery pursed her lips and stared her down.

Indy looked at the ceiling as that awful sting of tears hit the back of her eyes.

Dammit. She stood, her hands flying to her hips as she took a couple of steps towards the edge of the verandah.

‘Because I don’t ever want him to be ashamed of it.

Ashamed to be with the girl from the wrong side of town.

’ She spoke to the dying daylight, beautiful in its final moments of wanting to stay up, leaning against one of the verandah posts that held the bullnose tin above them.

She heard the scraping of a chair being pushed around and then Emery stood on the other side of the post.

‘Does Carter know about your past?’ she asked, and Indy nodded. ‘And yet he still wants to be with you?’

Her heart clenched. ‘It doesn’t matter if those around him don’t want him to be with me. Starting with his stepdad, who’s also his coach. He thinks I’m a gold-digging cougar.’

‘Here’s a crazy idea,’ Emery said, dropping her voice. ‘Instead of listening to everyone else, why don’t you let Carter decide for himself?’

Indy looked sharply at her best friend. Let Carter decide for himself?

The sun sank from view. She had let Carter decide for himself.

Hadn’t she? No. She hadn’t. Emery was right.

She’d been listening to everyone else’s voices over the one that mattered the most. Carter’s.

I’d stay all night and proudly walk out of here in the morning holding your hand, but I know that’s not what you want , he had told her.

I don’t care about you being older than me, or about where you come from.

I want the person standing right here in front of me.

He’d said it again and again in different ways.

Why hadn’t she believed him? Why was it so hard to trust that he meant it?

‘Do you have his phone number?’ she finally asked Emery.

Her friend held out a folded piece of paper. ‘I have something much better.’

Indy took the paper and opened it up. It was a printout of two tickets to that night’s game. In Sydney. An hour and a half away.

‘Carter sent this to me when I said that I was coming out to see you this weekend. We should hit the road if we’re going to make it in time.’