It was a hot, dry Friday. All three office fans twirled and hummed, yet did nothing to cool Elle down.

"Bonnie?" she called out to the seventeen-year-old assistant she'd hired a little while back. "Did you call the AC guy?"

Bonnie, a tall, slender redhead with striking green eyes, walked into Elle's office at the back. "I called, but Gareth said you'll have to wait till Monday. He's got a wedding to go to tomorrow apparently, and is busy with all things a groomsman does."

"I can't work in this heat," Elle grumbled and collected all the photos in a pile, carefully slipping them into a manila folder.

"Sort out next week's schedule for me and make sure I have the Van Belt's information on my laptop. Then you can take the rest of the day off. Go to the pool or something."

"Okay." Bonnie almost skipped out into the corridor. "By the way, did you need me this weekend?"

Elle's head snapped up. "What do I have this weekend?"

"An eighteenth birthday party tomorrow. It starts at seven pm."

"No, it's okay. You can have the weekend off." Elle stuffed her camera into its case.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Bonnie knocked on the partition wall. "Your cousin, Chloe, called. Wondered when you were popping in with the wedding albums."

"Tell her I'm done when I'm done."

"Nah, you deal with her yourself. I handle office business. She's your family. Besides, she's scary!" Bonnie laughed. Elle could hear her flipping through the day book.

"How are we looking for next week?" Elle called out.

"You got two busy days, and then just planning for the Van Belt's wedding the following Thursday. You have an entire week for it."

"Shit," Elle swore.

"You forgot about Maya, didn't you?"

"You can't, possibly?"

"Sorry, Elle. I have exams coming up or I would have taken her." Bonnie walked back into Elle's office with her laptop. "The Van Belts are in there for you now." She slid the laptop onto the desk and heaved her long, heavy hippie bag on her shoulders. "How about your neighbour?"

Elle shook her head. "If it was a matter of one or two days, I would have, but I'm going to be busy almost all week. My mum will have a heart attack if I leave her with someone else." She slipped her laptop into her shoulder bag and slung it over her shoulder along with the camera case. "Maybe I'll have to drop her off at my folks' after the party tomorrow."

Elle walked out of her office, Bonnie close behind. "Aren't your parents on a cruise at the moment?"

"Damn it!" she almost screamed through gritted teeth. "You really can't help me out, Bon?" Elle chuckled.

"Sorry, Elle. It's my HSC trails coming up."

Elle sighed. She was going to have to take Maya along to the Van Belt's wedding. She just hoped they won't mind a random child running around the place.

Bonnie seemed to read her thoughts. "You'll have to take her along."

"I'll ask, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Maybe." Elle nodded. "Go do something fun."

Bonnie stepped out the door. "And don't forget to call Chloe."

Elle followed suit, clutching Chloe's two fat albums and the folder containing photos to her chest, trying not to drop anything whilst pulling the door close behind. By the time she could call for help, Bonnie had bounded off down the road, headphones plugged into her ears. The manila folder slid towards the blazing concrete in slow motion, and she heard a shrill scream in her head. No!

'You ruined my album, Ellie! Peter's old, suffering mother gave us that for our wedding.' She could almost hear Chloe's voice in mockery in her head.

Elle clutched at the embossed albums for dear life and watched the folder hit the ground. Some photos slipped out with an ill-timed gust of wind. She bent awkwardly in order to reclaim them.

"Need a hand or two?"

Elle turned to a smiling stranger. "Let me give you a hand." His teeth were perfect. His deep blue eyes danced like the surface of a lagoon.

Elle gaped as she took in the whole man. Blue denim, not too tight, not too loose. A fitted shirt tucked around narrow hips. His shoulders were broad. His short, soft hair was the darkest brown she had ever seen. The man looked like a model straight out of the pages of a glossy magazine. He handed her the folder, all the photos tucked back inside.

"Thank you." She scrambled to her feet.

He nodded and flashed another beautiful smile at her. "Can I give you a hand to your car?" he asked, seeing Elle struggling to pick up all her bags.

"I'll be fine, thank you."

He took the albums from her and picked up her bags. "I insist." His voice made her knees want to give beneath her. "Your boss is making you work hard, I'm guessing."

Elle looked at him. The Demi-god looked at the signboard above them.

"Oh." Elle chuckled.

"You're closing early today?"

She nodded. "I usually hate closing early, but we have a broken AC which won't get repaired until next week. We were slowly cooking in there."

Elle led the way to her car, and it wasn't long before she wished she'd parked it further away. "This is it." She unlocked her car.

The stranger put everything he was carrying on the back seat and faced her. "Don't mind me saying this, but you're going to cook in there, too."

Elle smiled. "You didn't really have to help me, but thank you."

"I was coming into the studio, so no worries."

"I'm so sorry. You said you were wondering why I closed early."

"Was I that obvious?" He extended a hand to Elle. "I'm Dean Stewart," he offered, his gaze fixed on her face.

"Shall we go back in?" she asked. "It was a quiet day, and in a town this small, if no one comes in by noon, no one comes thereafter." She chuckled and slammed the door.

"I guess you're the Grace of Grace Studios?" Dean stepped onto the sidewalk.

Elle shook her head. "Ellenor Grace, actually." She turned to the studio's closed doors and then across at Connie and Cal's.

"I'm not gone a minute and you're already picking up locals?" A tall woman appeared out of a car and approached Dean. She leaned her body into his, and her arm through his. The smile on her face was hardly friendly.

Dean suppressed a smile and turned to his companion. "We were just talking," he said. "Kim, meet Ellenor Grace, the photographer we came to meet."

"The photographer you came to meet!" Kim corrected.

"Ms. Grace, meet the charming Kimberly Van Belt. I hope you won't take her too seriously," he said, apologetically.

A Van Belt, thought Elle. Was this Kim Van Belt related at all to the Van Belt's, whose wedding she was covering the following week? Elle shook the thoughts away. "If we are talking business, Mr. Stewart, shall we talk over a cool drink, perhaps? My apologies." Elle smiled, looking at the couple. She really needed a drink. They'd been standing in the sun for only five minutes and already she was getting sticky.

Her usual spot at Connie and Cal's was a corner booth right at the back, where she'd take her skim, no-foam, no sugar, an extremely hot latte. Alone. Today she had company, a company she didn't want to leave a poor impression on.

"Hey, Elle!" called Wally, the only waiter it seemed Connie and Cal could hire long-term. She had seen a dozen waiters come and go in the last year.

Wally noticed the impossible-to-miss, six feet, utterly handsome man, who looked overdressed for such a haunt, even if he were only wearing jeans and a shirt, and the undoubtedly striking woman beside him.

Elle eyed the corner booth. It was the darkest spot in the entire café and the quietest. That's why she preferred sitting there. But something told her. The spiffy couple were people who were used to being noticed. They had an air about them, which led her to wonder what they were doing in a county town, so far out of the city. What business could they have with a small town photographer?

Alarm bells rang in her ears. Maybe you did something and now you're in trouble, some sleek city lawyers here to serve you.

"The normal seat, Elle?" asked Wally, chucking a tea towel over his shoulder and limping her way.

She subtly shook her head and saw Dean eye the corner booth.

"It's fine, Ms. Grace. Wherever you feel comfortable is fine with us."

Elle nodded and headed to her usual seat, slid into the dark recess of the booth, and watched the pair slide in opposite her.

Connie flounced towards the booth with three glasses and a jug of icy water. She plunked the items down a bit more graciously than usual and grinned, wide-eyed, at the handsome man.

"It's crazy weather today, isn't it?" she commented. "Hottest New South Wales day in over 20 years, I heard."

Dean took a sip of the cool water.

Connie looked at Elle with keen eyes. In the year past, nobody in town knew Elle had any life outside of her child and her studio. This was the first time she had ever had company besides local clients, and what company they were. He was.

"You're out of town?" Elle swore she glimpsed a hint of lust in Connie's eyes as she continued to stare at Dean.

"Sydney," Dean answered, not in the least fazed by Connie's presence, nor her attention. "We arrived this morning."

"Can we get some lunch? I'm starving," Kim interrupted.

Startled, Connie turned to Elle. "The same old thing, love?"

Elle nodded, "Iced, and your chicken-avocado sandwich with a salad on the side for me. What would you like, Mr. Stewart?"

"I don't believe I was prepared for a date," Dean joked and Elle saw Kim gingerly slide her hand around his arm. "A chilled glass of beer and perhaps the biggest meal you serve." He looked at Elle. "I'm starved. I hope you won't mind."

"I'd hardly call this a date, darling." Kim chuckled. "I'll have a Caesar salad with a light dressing, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice."

Elle took a sip of her water, feeling sorry for Connie and jealous that such a snobby person was accommodating Dean Stewart. Dean turned to Connie, that charming smile on his face. "That'd be all, thank you."

(... Chapter 7 - continues...)