‘It needn’t be a problem,’ Connor said unexpectedly. ‘I can take my time. I’ll wait till you’re ready and drop you off at the camp. How far away is it?’

‘Could you?’ she said eagerly. ‘It’s only five kay. I could leave by nine-thirty. It’s not going to muck up your day too much, is it?’

‘No problem,’ he said laconically. ‘I’ll wait. Give us a shout when you’re ready.’

It was actually closer to ten before the last chore was done, Tilly having rushed through her preparations for the evening meal. The vegetables she’d diced for a stir-fry now rested in a covered bowl in the fridge and she’d whisked the junket recipe for icecream into trays, stirring a jelly one-handed as she rinsed off the milky utensils with the other. All that needed doing then was to pop a tin of peaches in the fridge and pick up her lunch.

‘Ready,’ she announced to Connor, who was finishing a cuppa at the table.

‘You’re not having tea?’

Tilly shook her head. ‘That’s okay. I’ve held you up long enough. Only I did want to get everything done. There’ll be the animals to feed tonight, eggs to collect – all sorts of stuff to do when I get back.’

‘Can’t the others help you?’ His glance had fallen on a thermos draining on the sink. He rose to pour the contents of the teapot into it, saying, ‘You can have it later.’

‘Oh, well, thank you. And no, they have their own work. Why should they do mine?’ She lifted her chin. ‘Sophie might be my cousin, but my job here is real. I pull my weight. I wouldn’t stay otherwise. It wouldn’t be fair on the rest of them.’

‘Of course. I didn’t mean to suggest—’ He held the door as they emerged onto the verandah, abandoning the sentence. ‘You come from Mallacoota, you say. However did you get this far north?’

‘My husband was a fisherman,’ she said reluctantly. ‘We had a boat in the Gulf and a house in Cairns, but Gerry and I spent the winters out here until he died. Look, do you mind if we don’t talk about it?’

‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Well, here’s the old boneshaker – hop in.’ He shoved his lunch behind the driver’s seat and handed her the foam box in which hers was packed. ‘And the thermos. You can push it under the seat if you think you’ll remember it.’

‘Thanks. I will. You should have it, actually.’

‘I’ll be right. I’ve got a billy,’ he said, engaging the gear. He waved an expansive arm. ‘And there’s any quantity of wood to boil it.’