He got to the stables early. Mist hung around the track. A couple of horses were already making their way around. Fred and some of the other staff must have had a meeting with Milly’s dad. They were just coming out of the house. Luckily Gary and Ewan were already saddled up and walking their horses across to the track, so he didn’t have to deal with them. They’d know he went to the ball with Milly last night. Someone would have told them and they wouldn’t be able to leave it alone

He shut the ute door and headed for Hunter’s stall before anyone noticed him and decided to have a go.

Milly was with Hunter. She must have been up at dawn because the straw had been changed and Hunter fed and watered.

He leaned against the gate and watched her with the horse. She stroked its cheek. He knew how that felt.

“Are you taking over my job?” he asked.

She looked sort of shy. “No, I guess it’s just habit to do all this first.” She waved a hand to take in the clean water and straw.

The horse nuzzled her shoulder.

“Hunter seems happy to see you,” he said.

“Yes. But I think he is sad about Wildfire and is trying to make me feel better too.” She wrapped her arm around the horse’s head and rubbed her cheek against the side of its nose. “Did you enjoy last night?” she asked.

He couldn’t figure out whether he should go into the stall or wait for her to come out. A bit strange talking like this with the gate between them, but she seemed happy to stay in there with Hunter.

“Yeah. Are you hungover?” He’d been worried about the whiskey he’d given her. Maybe she’d had so much to drink she didn’t remember the kiss.

“No, I didn’t drink that much.”

“That’s good.” He watched her lips remembering how they felt, how all of her felt.

But with half her dad’s employees wandering around getting things ready for the day, it wasn’t like he could kiss her even if he did get near her.

“Daddy talked to the vet about what we can do for Hunter now.”

She slipped the fly sheet off and folded it over the rail.

She wasn’t going to make a first move either. “What did the vet say?”

“He said to keep up the gentle walks and maybe we could get him to swim in the pool they use for the racehorses.” She picked up the body brush. “It will exercise the tendon without any strain on it.”

Cole nodded. Fred had said something about that too. “Yeah we could try it.”

Milly brushed the horse, stopping just short of the nearly healed cut.

“Do you want to help me do it now? All the other horses will be on the track for a little longer, so it’ll be free.”

“Okay.” He nodded at the brush. “Not much point in grooming him first if he is going for a swim.”

Milly giggled and put the brush down. “I guess not. Open that gate and I’ll bring him out.”

They walked Hunter over to the long narrow pool at the end of the buildings. He’d spent hours helping Fred lead the racehorses from one end to the other to help them stretch out after a hard run. He’d never seen Milly take either of her horses through it. Well, she took them to the river. Maybe it did the same thing.

“Do you think we’ll need a halter rope on both sides?” Milly asked.

He shrugged. “We don’t with the other horses.” A gentle ramp led down to the water. It didn’t look like anything Hunter would object to.

Milly studied the pool. “But they’re used to it.”

“Just lead him in. If he doesn’t like it I’ll go with him the first time.”

“Yuck.” Milly screwed up her nose. “You wouldn’t really?”

“Done it before.”

And the morning went on like that. He helped her with her horse, just like he’d done before the accident.

Hunter had his swim and then a gentle walk in the sunshine. They brushed him down, put the fly sheet back on and checked he had enough to eat and drink as if that bloody kiss had never happened.

“Is there anything else we can do for him?” Milly asked.

He shut the loose box door. Hunter looked ready for a good sleep.

“No. The vet says with these sorts of injuries rest is as important as the exercise. Now I need to finish my normal work, then go help Fred. He’ll have a stack of stuff waiting for me to do.”

“Oh,” said Milly quietly. She stood around and watched him work for a while, then eventually went back into the house. He helped Fred until lunchtime then left to go to the shed to practice.

He was the last to arrive again. He found Tessa perched on a saw stool watching. For once Jess wasn’t with her. Luke, Noah and Adam clustered around Isaac and Collins, near the workbench by the window. Sheets of music were spread across the workbench and the old tools pushed to the back.

They all looked up long enough to say, “Hi,” then went back to studying the music.

Isaac ran his hand across a line of notation. “We’ve altered it here.” He moved his hand to the next sheet. “And here. We did what Noah suggested and got rid of that repeated bit.”

He’d leave Isaac and Collins to it. When Isaac had told the others about the changes, he’d tell him how it affected his bit.

Cole went over to Tessa and sat beside her on the saw stool. She made room for him.

“Where’s Jess?” he asked her.

Tessa shrugged. “Not sure. Did you and Milly enjoy the ball?”

“Yeah. It was good.” He watched Isaac talk though the music.

Tessa swung her legs back and forward, feet crossed at the ankles. “Milly’s dress was great, wasn’t it?” Tessa was nice and deserved better than the way Luke treated her.

“Yeah. Not bad for an old bridesmaid’s dress.”

Collins stood back a bit, arms folded, grey hair, and glasses, and that tweed jacket with corduroy patches he always wore. He left Isaac to explain the changes, but he probably helped with them

Tessa laughed. “Is that what she told you?”

“Yeah.” He still watched the music discussion.

Luke picked up the two sheets. Did that dum de dum thing he did when he read music, then flicked his hair back, and put the sheets down. “Could work. Play it for us.”

Isaac nodded, picked up the violin and tucked it under his chin. “I think it’s better this way. Works better with the lyrics too,” said Isaac, in full eye makeup again, hair straight and styled. He really took his look seriously.

Cole looked back at Tessa. “Why?”

She laughed again. “That was no old bridesmaid dress, Cole. She got me to go to Hamilton with her after school. That dress is one of Trelise Cooper’s, and I’d get ten dresses for what she paid.”

“Really?” Milly had raced off to Hamilton to buy a dress to go out with him. Flattering.

Tessa smiled. “She really likes you, Cole.”

He shrugged. Yeah. After last night, he had started to suspect that. He watched Noah and Lewis lean against the workbench arms folded and waited for Isaac to start playing.

The notes from the violin soared. He could hear where the changes had been made. He could follow that easily enough. It sounded better. Should sound good.

The others finally stopped talking bridges and phrases and refrains. Isaac handed out sheets of music. They all started making moves towards the stage.

He climbed up too and went to the drums.

The practice finally kicked off. Collins had a few other thoughts about how things went at the ball.

“Luke, you should come in quieter there,” he said at one point.

“Cole, your solo is too long. Shorten it up.” He made a shortening gesture with his hands.

They spent most of the day perfecting the set, a good way to spend a Saturday. And tomorrow he got to see Milly. No, he corrected. He got to work for her father.

He left the drumsticks on the stool and climbed down off the stage.

“Pay up,” he said to Luke.

“Okay.” Luke fished in his back pocket. “How much do I owe you.”

“Fifty’s fine.”

“Losing your touch?” Luke handed over the money. “When I saw you on the swing bridge I thought it was all on.”

Cole shoved the money in his back pocket.

“You can be an asshole sometimes, Luke.” Even taking that much money made him feel guilty. But he needed the money and Milly agreed to it.

They walked out of the shed. “What are you doing next year?” Luke asked.

“Get a job, I guess.” Working for Milly’s dad after school and weekends was good, but once school finished he’d need a real job. He was too tall to be a jockey and couldn’t see Tom employing him full time, so he would have to look somewhere else. “What about you?”

Luke opened the door of his car for Tessa to get in. “Working for Dad.” So, Luke had decided to stick with building. He’d always said he wouldn’t.

Tessa got in and Luke went around to the other side of the car. “Adam and Noah are going to be in Hamilton.”

“Yeah, I knew they were planning on university.”

“What if we keep Stadium going? I’ve talked to them and they like the idea. We could go over a couple of times a week to practice, or they could come here.”

Cole shrugged. “Yeah, I’m up for it. What about Isaac?”

“Not sure. Haven’t asked him yet.”

On the way home, he thought about it. If he had to do the sort of boring jobs his father did, playing with Stadium would give him something to look forward to.

Then he thought about what Tessa said. Milly bought a new dress just to go to the ball with him. All night she’d made it obvious she wanted to be there with him.

Then there was that kiss.

But this morning she acted like nothing had changed. But then he did too. When they finished with Hunter she’d hung around a bit before she went inside. Maybe she was waiting for him to say something.

He really liked being with her and he knew she was shy. He should have said something. Done something. Anything.

At the intersection, he gave into temptation, and turned left and headed for the Gaisford place, instead of right for home.

He liked her. It looked like she liked him.

If Tom Gaisford didn’t approve, he would just have to cope with it.