When Harry met Beth

McLaren Vale, 1952

When Harry Muller walked into the new hardware store with his father he should have been shocked by the sheer size of the warehouse. It was filled to overflowing with all the building materials and farming supplies they used to have to order in from Adelaide and wait for weeks to arrive.

But the moment Harry stepped into the huge store, the only thing he saw was her. Behind the counter stood the prettiest woman he had ever seen. Her silky blonde hair was curled around her face in the latest style, just like Grace Kelly. He'd been mesmerised by the actress when he'd see her on screen at the last Town Hall movie night. But to him, Grace Kelly had nothing on Beth Johnston.

Johnston's Hardware had been the talk of the town once word had spread that the Crumpers' old feed shed was being converted into an all-purpose hardware store by a city businessman. It had taken only a moment longer before news was circulating among the younger generation of McLaren Vale that Alfred Johnston had a pretty teenage daughter.

Harry had listened to his mates regale him with talk of Beth Johnston and her job at the hardware store with her father. It was an unusual role for a woman and many of the girls he'd gone to school with had decided, in snap judgements, that Beth must be uneducated and plain-looking.

Now, as Harry stood in the middle of the cement floor, staring openly at her, he felt as though he'd been struck by lightning. Plain she most certainly was not. And when she glanced up at him, with eyes as blue as cornflowers, he was sure his heart actually stopped.

'Harry.'

'Huh?' He blinked and looked at his father, confused. 'What?'

'I asked you to go and get the things on your list. I will meet you at the checkout counter,' Harry Senior said impatiently.

'Oh, right,' Harry responded and headed off.

He wandered the aisles, collecting the things they needed, and as he turned the corner he came face to face with heaven. In fact, he almost walked into her.

'I'm so sorry,' he said before looking up and getting lost in the blue of her eyes.

'It's okay,' Beth said, smiling congenially at him. 'Can I help you find anything?'

'No,' he said, and heard the shortness in his voice. He stared at the upward curve in her top lip and his brain turned to mush.

'I'm Beth,' she said, holding out her hand for him to shake.

He didn't move. Instead he just stared at the beauty of herlong, elegant fingers. A moment too long, it seemed, as she lowered them out of sight - and her smile went with it.

'Well, if you need anything, just ask,' she said, and began to move away.

'Camlocks!' he blurted. He would have said anything to stop her from walking away from him.

She turned and stared at him, her eyebrows high on her smooth forehead.

'Sorry,' he said. 'Camlocks are -'

'I know what camlocks are,' she told him, and began to walk away again. She turned her head to look at him when he didn't follow. 'Are you coming?'

Brought back to his senses, he followed her down the aisle towards the irrigation section. He tried, unsuccessfully, to keep his eyes from the enticing sway of her hips in the manly tan-coloured trousers she wore. A blue-and-white checked shirt was tucked into the back of them and he could see the perfect roundness of her bottom. When she stopped, he nearly ran into her.