He pulled into the driveway and Milly woke as soon as the ute stopped.

She looked around at the dark buildings, bleary-eyed.

“Are we home?” The blood on her clothes from the horses’ injuries was starting to dry and turn dark brown.

“Yeah. Go inside. I’ll put everything away and then come in.”

“No. I’ll help you. It’ll be quicker, and I don’t want to be alone right now.” Milly got out of the ute, moving as slowly and carefully as she had to.

“Okay.” He lifted the first saddle off the back and carried it over to the tack shed.

Milly followed him carrying the box of grooming gear. “How long do you think it will take Daddy to get home?”

“I don’t know. It could be pretty late.” They’d emptied everything they could out of the float because her father didn’t know how long it would be before they could move it off the side of the road.

Cole got the other saddle and put it away too. Getting Hunter back into town would be the priority and then, he said, he’d deal with the float and Wildfire’s carcass. It could be morning before her dad got back to the house.

The rest of the gear was light, so it didn’t take long to finish.

He locked the door of the tack shed. “Take your clothes inside and I’ll bring the chilly bin.”

Milly slung the hanger with her jacket and shirt over her shoulder.

The long red mark on her neck had started to turn all colours. It must hurt. His ribs bloody hurt.

He took the key out of the lock and picked up the bin. No light on in the house but when they got to the door the security one came on. Milly used her phone to key in the code to unlock the door.

“I hope Mrs Bennett left something for us to eat in the fridge.” She turned the light on in the kitchen. The kitchen was big, and white and shiny, all the appliances stainless steel, the tops some sort of stone. This is what he’d have if he ever had money.

After the night they’d had, it felt like a shock to see everything so clean and tidy.

“Where do you want this?” Cole held up the chilly bin.

“Leave it by the island. Mrs Bennet will unpack it in the morning.” Milly pulled out a breakfast bar stool and sat down. She leaned her elbows on the bench and rested her head on her hands.

“I hope the vet is wrong. I hope Hunter is all right. Maybe he just took a knock and is only bruised.”

“That would be good.” If Hunter had to be put down too, Jesus.

He opened the fridge to find something to eat and lifted the lid on the heavy dish in there.

“I could heat this up for you if you want. Stew on toast maybe?”

“Sounds good. But are you calling Mrs Bennett’s flash casserole a stew?” Milly smiled tiredly. “There’s not much chance he’s just bruised, is there?”

“Didn’t sound like it.” He found bread, a pot and a toaster. Started heating up the casserole and cooking the toast. He looked over at Milly and saw the tears starting again.

“Hey.” He went around to the other side of the island. She slipped off the stool and came over to him. He put his arms around her and they stood like that a moment. “I’m really sorry I killed your horse.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Her voice muffled. “Dad said if you hadn’t controlled the ute, and got it stopped before we hit the fence, it could have been worse. We would have been hurt too.”

“You did get hurt.” He gently traced the mark on the side of her neck.

She put her hand over his.

“How bad does it look?”

“Terrible. You’ll be scarred for life.”

“It can’t be that bad.” She started to move away to look in the mirror. She pressed her hands against his chest.

He drew in a sharp breath. Fuck that hurt.

“You’re hurt too?” she asked.

He nodded. “A bit. I hit the steering wheel.”

“Let me look.” She lifted his t shirt up. “Oh, Cole. You look like you’ve been branded.”

“It’s not bad.” He pushed the t-shirt down, and neither of them moved away. Her hand sat gently on his chest and he reached out and touched the mark on her neck again.

She bit the side of her lip and looked up at him. Her lips opened a little. He lowered his head and touched his lips against hers.

She slid her hands up to his shoulders, came up on tip toes, and kissed him back.

He broke away first. Shouldn’t have done that. She’s the boss’s daughter. He’d just killed one of her horses and maimed the other. And he needed this job.

“I’ll get you that stew. You haven’t eaten anything since lunchtime.”

Milly stood where he left her, looking puzzled. And even tear-stained and in clothes covered in blood, she looked flawless.

She went back to her bar stool.

While the casserole heated and the toast cooked, he got his phone out of his pocket and tried to ring his dad. No answer. He looked at the time. After one. Maybe his father was asleep and had left his phone in another room.

He sent a text to say he wouldn’t be home until the morning.

Even if his dad had noticed he wasn’t home he wouldn’t be sending out any search parties. He put his phone back in his pocket and went back to finding plates and knives and forks.

They ate the food and then he made hot chocolate when Milly turned down coffee. By the time she’d finished the chocolate, she looked sleepy again.

“You should go to bed. I’ll stay here and watch TV until your dad gets home.” He started to stick the dishes in the dishwasher.

“Leave those. Mrs Bennett can clean them up.”

“I don’t like mess.”

“Okay.” Milly sounded too tired to argue. “When you’ve finished find me upstairs. I’ll show you where you can sleep if you get too tired.”

He finished loading the dishes, wiped down the bench, put everything from the chilly bin into the fridge, then went upstairs.

On the landing he could see one of the bedroom doors open and the light on. She lay on top of the bed still fully dressed.

“Hey, Milly.”

She turned, and she was upset.

His fault.

“Can you stay here with me?” she asked.

That’s a good way to get yourself sacked. “I don’t think so. Where’s this guest room?”

“Down the hall. Are you still going to watch TV?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll watch with you. I can’t sleep.” Milly got off the bed.

He nodded. He could understand her not wanting to be alone. She loved those horses.

They went back downstairs to the television room. The TV covered the whole wall, and a leather couch the size of a double bed had a couple of throws on it. They could watch TV in comfort here.

Milly picked up the remote. “What do you want to watch?”

“Got Netflix?” He sat on the couch.

“Yeah.” The TV roared to life.

Milly sat down and rested against him.

He put his arm around her. He felt her fall asleep almost immediately.

He should wake her up and tell her to get into bed properly, then go and find this guest bedroom.

Instead he stretched out and curled up around her.