LITMIR.BIZ

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was wearing the same smile, a smile which reached the caramel-brown eyes she remembered. He was smiling at her now. A bit hesitant. Not sure of his reception.

      She hadn’t seen him for four years and he was wary. What did he think she’d do, throw him out?

      But she didn’t know where to start. Where to begin after all this time.

      Why not say it like it was?

      ‘I don’t think I am Julie,’ she said slowly, feeling lost. ‘At least, I’m not sure I’m the Julie you know.’

      There was a moment’s pause. He’d figure it out, or she hoped he would. She couldn’t go straight back to the point where they’d left off. How are you, Rob? How have you coped with the last four years?

      The void of four long years made her feel ill.

      But he got it. There was a moment’s silence and then his smile changed a little. She knew that smile. It reflected his intelligence, his appreciation of a problem. If there was a puzzle, Rob dived straight in. Somehow she’d set him one and he had it sorted.

      ‘Then I’m probably not the guy you know, either,’ he told her. ‘So can we start from the beginning? Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Rob McDowell, architect, based in Adelaide. I have an interest in this house, ma’am, and the contents. I’m here to put the most...put a few things of special value in a secure place. And you?’

      She could do this. She felt herself relax, just a little, and she even managed to smile back.

      ‘Julie McDowell. Legal financier from Sydney. I, too, have an interest in this house.’

      ‘McDowell?’ He was caught. ‘You still use...’

      ‘It was too much trouble to change it back,’ she said and he knew she was having trouble keeping her voice light.

      ‘You’re staying despite the fire warnings?’

      ‘The wind’s not due to get up until tomorrow morning. I’ll be gone at dawn.’

      ‘You’ve just arrived?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘You don’t want to take what you want and go?’

      ‘I don’t know what I want.’ She hesitated. ‘I think...there’s a wall-hanging... But it seems wrong to just...leave.’

      ‘I had two fire engines in mind,’ he admitted. ‘But I feel the same.’

      ‘So you’ll stay until ordered out?’

      ‘If it doesn’t get any worse, maybe I can clear any debris, check the pumps and sprinkler system, fill the spouts, keep any stray spark from catching. At first light I’ll go right round the house and eliminate every fire risk I can. I can’t do it now. It’s too dark. For the sake of a few hours, I’ll stay. I don’t want this place to burn.’

      Why? she wanted to say. What does this house mean to you?

      What did it mean to her? A time capsule? Maybe it was. This house was what it was like when...

      But when was unthinkable. And if Rob was here, then surely she could go.

      But she couldn’t. The threat was still here, even if she wasn’t quite sure what was being threatened.

      ‘If you need to stay,’ she ventured, ‘there’s a guest room.’

      ‘Excellent.’ They were like two wary dogs, circling each other, she thought. But they’d started this sort of game. She could do this.

      ‘Would you like supper?’

      ‘I don’t want to keep you up.’

      ‘I wasn’t sleeping. The pantry’s stocked and the freezer’s full. Things may well be slightly out of date...’

      ‘Slightly!’

      ‘But I’m not dictated to by use-by dates,’ she continued. ‘I have fresh milk and bread. For anything else, I’m game if you are.’

      His brown eyes creased a little, amused. ‘A risk-taker, Jules?’

      ‘No!’

      ‘Sorry.’ Jules was a nickname and that was against the rules. He realised it and backtracked. ‘I meant: have you tried any of the food?’

      ‘I haven’t tried,’ she conceded.

      ‘You came and went straight to bed?’

      ‘I...yes.’

      ‘Then maybe we both need supper.’ He checked his watch. ‘It’s almost too late for a midnight feast but I could eat two horses. Maybe we could get to know each other over a meal? If you dare, that is?’

      And she gazed at him for a long moment and came to a decision.

      ‘I dare,’ she said. ‘Why not?’

      * * *

      He put the cars in the garage and then they checked the fire situation. ‘We’d be fools not to,’ Rob said as they headed out to the back veranda to see what they could see.

      They could see nothing. The whole valley seemed to be shrouded in smoke. It blocked the moon and the stars. It seemed ominous but there was no glow from any fire. ‘And the smoke would be thicker if it was closer,’ Rob decreed. ‘We’re safe enough for now.’

      ‘There are branches overhanging the house.’

      ‘I saw them as I came in but there’s no way I’m using a chainsaw in the dark.’

      ‘There’s no way you’re using a chainsaw,’ she snapped and he grinned.

      ‘Don’t you trust me?’

      ‘Do I trust any man with a chainsaw? No.’

      He grinned, that same smile... Dear heaven, that smile...

      Play the game. For tonight, she did not know this man.

      ‘We have neighbours,’ Rob said, motioning to a light in the house next door.

      ‘I saw a child in the window earlier, just as it was getting dark.’

      ‘A child... They should have evacuated.’

      ‘Maybe they still think there’s time. There should still be time.’

      ‘Let me check again.’ He flicked to the fire app on his phone. ‘Same warnings. Evacuate by nine if you haven’t already done so. Unless you’re planning on staying to defend.’

      ‘Would you?’ she asked diffidently. ‘Stay and defend?’

      ‘I’d have to be trustworthy with a chainsaw to do that.’

      ‘And are you?’ The Rob she knew couldn’t be trusted within twenty paces of a power tool.

      ‘No,’ he admitted and she was forced to smile back. Same Rob, then. Same, but different? The Rob of after.

      This was weird. She should be dressed, she decided, as she padded barefoot back to the kitchen behind him. If he really was a stranger...

      He really is a stranger, she told herself. Power tool knowledge or not, four years was a lifetime.

      ‘Right.’ In the kitchen, he was all efficiency. ‘Food.’ He pushed his sleeves high over his elbows and looked as if he meant business. ‘I’d kill for a steak. What do you suppose the freezer holds?’

      ‘Who knows what’s buried in there?’

      ‘Want to help me find out?’

      ‘Men do the hunting.’

      ‘And women do the cooking?’ He had the chest freezer open and was delving among the labelled packages. ‘Julie, Julie, Julie. How out of the

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