Destined to Stay (Bindarra Creek Small Town Christmas Romance) by Kerrie Paterson

Author:Kerrie Paterson [Paterson, Kerrie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Kerrie Paterson
Published: 2023-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

On Thursday afternoon, Jodie stood on the verandah of Sirius, waiting for the new arrivals and staring over at Sean’s house. It had been five days since their night out, and their first kiss. The first of many so far.

She had to keep reminding herself that this couldn’t lead anywhere. Any day now, she expected to receive confirmation of her next house sit. She’d been exchanging messages with a couple in a small town in the Hunter Valley and they seemed keen to have her.

Stars Cottages had been one of the easier caretaking jobs she’d had so far, touch wood. She was mid-way through her stay — the couple last weekend had been trouble-free and had left the place tidy, so cleaning and getting the cottage ready for the next guests had been easy. As she’d predicted, the young couple hadn’t left the cottage, but by the loved-up looks on their faces as they left, they’d enjoyed themselves.

The next guests, who were just pulling up outside the cottage now, were a family with young kids, so she expected they might not be as quiet. She’d instructed Lady to stay up at the main house while she checked this group in — she wasn’t sure if they’d like dogs.

The car doors popped open as soon as the 4WD pulled to a stop and two primary school-age kids tumbled out. They raced each other up the path, pushing and shouting. The father followed behind — his tense expression hinting that it had been a long drive with two rambunctious children.

“Welcome to Stars Cottages. I’m Jodie — I’m the temporary caretaker here during your stay.” Jodie opened the door and handed the harassed father the keys while his two young kids barrelled past him, already shouting about getting the best room.

“Thanks. Sorry about the kids — first day of school holidays, so they’re quite hyper.”

His wife staggered onto the verandah carrying a miscellany of bags, shoes, water bottles and other stuff.

“Here, let me help.” Jodie reached out to take one bag that was in danger of slipping out of the woman’s grasp and got a grateful smile in return. She carried the bag in behind the woman and placed it on the kitchen table.

“Oh, this is lovely.” The woman dumped her things on the table as well and then spun around to take in the small rooms. “I love all the Christmas decorations. We’re really looking forward to spending time here — we’re meeting up with family for Christmas Day. Do you know if there are any Christmas events going on?”

“Absolutely. There’s Christmas Carols on Saturday night — I’m heading off to that so I might see you there. There’s also a community picnic on Christmas Eve at the splash pool — Santa will visit, there’re kids’ activities and a host of things. I’ll write you out a list if you like?” She pointed towards Mt Ingalls. “And there are some great walks in the National Park if you’re interested.”

Her mind flashed back to last weekend’s trip to the park.

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