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‘Just one of the guys.’ He laughed as he closed the empty box. ‘Now I feel right at home.’ He reached over and removed a string of cheese that was stuck to her chin.

‘Ladylike too, that’s me.’ A faint colour stained her cheeks. ‘That was really thoughtful of you. I love pizza and I don’t get a chance to have it at night. They close the pizza oven after lunch.’

‘Don’t they realise that pizza is one of the food groups?’

Ellie nodded. ‘Oh yes. It’s an essential part of my diet. What’s your favourite?’

‘I’m a man. What do you think it is? Meat lovers, of course.’

She leaned back and folded her arms but Kane avoided temptation and kept his eyes above chest level. Although he was so very tempted to look down. The feel of her soft breast in his hands the other night . . .

He cleared his throat. ‘So yours is double anchovies, no olives?’

‘Promise not to laugh?’ Ellie’s grin widened. ‘That’s my second favourite. They don’t do my favourite here.’

‘So?’ He tipped his head to the side. ‘What is it?’

‘Potato and sour cream.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘But I have to go to Darwin to indulge in that one.’

‘That’s not a pizza. That’s a vegetable.’

‘It’s to die for. You’ll have to try it.’ Ellie sat back in her chair and covered a yawn. ‘I always get sleepy if I eat a big lunch.’

‘You’ve been busy since you came back from your holiday.’ He held her gaze and Ellie swallowed. She took a deep breath and sat up straight in the chair.

‘Kane?’

He nodded.

‘About the other night . . .’

He held up his hand. ‘Let’s just agree to move on. It was a mistake. A very pleasant mistake and I’m not going to say I’m sorry for that.’

She stared at him and he saw her swallow again. Christ, was he responsible for her nervousness? He didn’t think he could feel any worse than he did.

‘I want to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me.’ Her voice was steady.

‘About Heather? I heard what she said on the phone, and honestly, there’s nothing there, Ellie.’ He moved his chair closer to hers and an unfamiliar feeling settled in his chest. An emotion was pushing there and he tried to ignore it. Like a hatchling trying to break free of its shell, waiting to see what the world had in store for it.

‘No.’ She frowned at him. ‘Not Heather.’ Her voice was sad, and Kane had always been a sucker for sad. He reached over and took her clasped hands between his.

‘What’s on your mind?’

‘Tell me a little bit about your –’ She shook her head ‘– oh, I don’t mean anything private, nothing personal. Just talk to me about you and why you’re here.’

Kane brushed her knuckles with the back of his hand. ‘I was in the Army until recently. I came back to Darwin to see my mother, but she’d moved. So then I came to work at the lodge because I wanted to be closer to her. I didn’t know she was sick. I’m really not happy about her living out there by herself. I offered to move in with her but she said no. Reckons it was too far for me to drive every day.’ He looked away and stared towards the river, and flinched as the high-pitched squeal of a bird carried across the tarmac. ‘Thank you for visiting her. The farm is very different to what I expected.’

‘It’s been empty for five years. No one’s lived there since we moved out when my father died.’ Sadness crossed her face. ‘I enjoyed visiting your mother. I had forgotten that she knew my mum. But she did seem lonely.’

‘I’ve been trying to contact Panos about her living out there by herself.’

A strange look crossed Ellie’s face. ‘How much do you know about him?’

‘Panos? Honestly?’

She nodded.

‘He’s a scammer and a gambler, and I have no idea why my mother married him.’