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shiver rippled through her. She shot to her feet. She had to deal with more Connor on her first day? Heaven, give her strength.
    The moment he walked through the door all strength seeped from her limbs, leaving them boneless, useless, and plonking her back down on the stool.
    ‘Hello, again,’ Richard said.
    ‘Hi.’ From somewhere she found a smile.
    She glanced sideways at Connor. He pursed his lips and frowned at the ornate pressed-tin work on the ceiling. She found her gaze drawn upwards, searching for signs of damp and peeling paint, searching for what made him frown. She didn’t find anything. It all looked fine to her.
    Richard cleared his throat and she turned her attention back to him with an apologetic shrug.
    ‘These are the keys for the shop.’ He placed a set of keys onto the counter in front of her. ‘And this is the key to the flat upstairs.’ He held it up for her to see, but he didn’t place it on the counter with the other keys.
    Connor reached over and plucked the key from Richard’s fingers. ‘What did my receptionist tell you about the upstairs flat?’
    Her stomach started to churn. ‘That you’d given it a final coat of paint last week and that it was ready to move into.’
    Connor and Richard exchanged glances.
    ‘Um…but then you’re a builder, not a painter, right?’
    He’d painted the sign for the shop, so maybe…
    She shook her head. ‘Painting the flat isn’t your department, is it?’
    ‘No, but I can organise that for you, if you want.’
    ‘You didn’t think to check with me?’ Richard asked.
    The thought hadn’t occurred to her. Though, in hindsight…‘She said she was contacting me on your behalf. I didn’t think to question that. When she asked me if there was anything else I needed done, I mentioned the sign.’ She’d wanted it bright and sparkling. She wanted her mother’s name loud and proud above the shop.
    ‘I’m sorry, Jaz,’ Connor started heavily, ‘but—’
    ‘But I’ve been given the wrong information,’ she finished for him. Again. From the expression on his face, though, she wouldn’t want to be his receptionist when he finally made it back to the office. Shame pierced her. She should’ve known better than to lump Connor with the meaner elements in the town.
    She swallowed. ‘That’s okay, I can take care of the painting myself.’ She wanted to drop her head onto her folded arms and rest for a moment. ‘What kind of state is the flat in?’
    ‘We only started tearing out the kitchen cupboards and the rotting floorboards yesterday. It’s a mess.’
    Once upon a time he’d have couched that more tactfully, but she appreciated his candour now. ‘Habitable?’
    He grimaced.
    ‘Okay then…’ She thought hard for a moment. ‘All my stuff is arriving tomorrow.’
    ‘What stuff?’ Connor asked.
    ‘Everything. Necessary white goods, for a start—refrigerator, washing machine, microwave. Then there’s the furniture—dining table, bed, bookcase. Not to mention the—’
    ‘You brought a bookcase?’ Connor glanced around the shop. ‘When you have all these?’
    For a brief moment his eyes sparkled. Her breathing went all silly. ‘I’ll need a bookcase in the flat too.’
    ‘Why?’
    The teasing glint in his eyes chased her weariness away. ‘For the books that happen to be arriving tomorrow too.’
    Connor and Richard groaned in unison. ‘Has your book addiction lessened as the years have gone by?’ Richard demanded.
    They used to tease her about this eight years ago. It made her feel younger for a moment, freer. ‘Oh, no.’ She rubbed her hands together with relish. ‘If anything, it’s grown.’
    The two men groaned again and she laughed. She’d actually laughed on her first day back in Clara Falls? Perhaps miracles could happen.
    She glanced at Connor and pulled herself up. Not those kinds of miracles.
    ‘Relax, guys. I’ve rented out my apartment in Sydney. Some of my stuff is to come here, but a lot has gone into