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said grimly. 'I’ll walk if I have to.’
    ‘Wedding dress and all?’
    'I’ll give you the wedding dress. Your girl will need something nice if she’s going to marry you.’
    ‘For a girl named Serenity you spark very easily. Tell you what, you sleep on it. If you still want to leave tomorrow, I’ll take you into town.’
    ‘Thank you,’ she said smoothly.
    ‘Now eat your ice-cream.’
    She glared at him, ‘I’m not a child. I don’t need to be told to eat my ice-cream. I do know my own mind.’
    ‘I know that you’re not a child.’ His green-brown eyes roved wickedly over her figure.
    Serenity felt her colour rise and picked up her spoon and concentrated on her dessert.
    ‘Tell me a little about yourself, Serenity. I’ve talked all day about the Station, my parents, my life, and all I’ve had from you is that your mother died eighteen months ago, and that you’re going to marry John.’
    ‘I told you also that I was a nurse and that I had a pony when I was young. Compared to you I’ve led a very dull life. I would much rather you told me more about your neighbours, about this district. I find it so interesting.’
    ‘No, you don't,’ Hudson said flatly. ‘If you were interested you would accept my offer and stay. Let’s forget the whole idea.’
    Serenity bit her lip to stop her from pleading with him. It would be no use . . . she could tell that by his voice.
    ‘Am I permitted to do the dishes?’ she asked as she finished her coffee.
    ‘Good idea. I’ve got some phone calls to make, then an avalanche of paperwork I’ve got to get through.’ He got up from the table and strode towards his office without a backward glance.
    He hadn't sounded rude or angry, just plain bored with her. She felt her spirits sag. Well, she deserved that. He had been really very kind and hospitable, he had offered her every inducement to stay, and she had refused.
    She cleared the table, washed the dishes and put them away then wandered down the track towards Sarah Tarrant’s house. At least she would fulfil her wish to sit on the verandah for a while. She wandered around the garden, loving the heady perfume from the gorgeous old moss roses and banks of lilacs, delighting to identify the small pansies, the golden mass of marigolds. A bank of dahlias, Sweet William and forget-me-nots added to the riot of colour.
    The last rays of the setting sun tipped the mountains with pink and orange, and a gentle breeze ruffled her hair as she sat on the front step. What a fool she was not to accept the chance to stay, but seeing Cameron Blair had unnerved her completely. She had not come to this valley to cause trouble, only to satisfy her own curiosity. She had recognised Cameron so easily. What if his father found it just as easy to identify her with her mother? She was not unlike her, and what turmoil she would stir up if her guess was right. He was married with a family, and he wouldn’t want the past confronting him in such a devastating manner. He wouldn’t know that she had only come to look and didn’t want to disturb his present life. She could do untold damage without meaning to. But, she longed to stay, and she had blown that chance too. Hudson Grey wasn’t a man to string along. He wouldn’t ask her again, and her depression deepened.
    'Thought I’d find you here!’
    She looked up to see the man who had been in her thoughts striding up the path towards her, and she knew her smile showed her pleasure.
    He sat beside her, stretching his long legs comfortably on the steps. 'I’ve got a real problem now. The shearers have just rung. They were not due for another week, but they want to come midday tomorrow. I’ve let all my staff go for a couple of weeks off. The seasonal work was right up to date. I can recall the boys but Tessa and Lee are in Nelson caravaning—may have left by now. I’ve got no way of contacting them.’
    ‘Why tell me?’ Serenity asked, but her heart was thumping, because she was sure he