Dan was still looking at his sister. ‘Yes or no, Heidi?’

‘Yes.’

‘All right,’ Dan said, as though he were dealing with a five-year-old. ‘I’ll contact our lawyer first thing in the morning and give our consent.’

Flowers asked for the lawyer’s details and jotted them down on his pad.

‘We’ll also need to look at those insurance policies,’ Ryder said.

‘That might take us a bit longer,’ said Dan.

‘I’ll drive into Yass and pick them up,’ Ethan said to his brother. ‘That way you and Kristin can keep going with the funeral arrangements.’

Dan nodded, looking somewhat appeased.

‘Thank you very much for all that.’ Ryder cleared his throat. ‘It’s come to our notice that you’re selling the family property. You didn’t mention that on our previous visits.’

Dan frowned. ‘I never thought it was relevant. In any event, it’s being subdivided subject to the approvals coming through.’

‘Yes, there’s a long way to go yet,’ Kristin said with a heavy sigh. ‘I hope they don’t find some endangered species of worm or something,’ she said, rubbing her hand along her husband’s forearm. ‘You know how these things go.’

For a few seconds no one spoke.

Flowers shifted in his chair. ‘So, what’s brought about your decision to sell the property when it’s been in the family for so long?’ he asked.

Dan and Ethan looked at each other. ‘You go,’ Dan said.

Ethan took a deep breath. ‘It’s time. All of us have our own lives. Personally, I want to stay on the land, but I don’t want a property this size. If the subdivision gets approved, I’ll buy one of the bigger allotments for primary industry. If it doesn’t, maybe I’ll buy a small farm somewhere.’ He looked at Dan and Kristin. ‘It will be a big relief to these two.’

Dan reached out and squeezed Kristin’s hand. Then he turned to Ryder. ‘We have a young one with a few challenges. Kristin’s back and forth from Sydney every month, but I can’t leave this place.’ He shook his head, looking somewhat defeated. ‘We need to be closer to specialist doctors and a lot of other services that we just don’t have out here.’

Ryder nodded at the unexpected revelation. ‘That’s tough.’

‘It is,’ Dan said. ‘Kristin’s from Sydney. Her parents are still there, thank goodness. They’re a great support but they’re getting older.’

‘What about you, Heidi?’ Flowers asked. ‘Are you keen to move on?’

Ryder knew where this question was leading. Flowers had no time for Heidi’s boyfriend and was sweating on what she was going to say.

‘Yeah, this place was great when we were kids, but I don’t think we should live here for the rest of our lives just because our parents did.’