Lynda laughed. ‘No, I can’t say I do! I would find that incredibly stressful. It’s hard enough trying to battle with Mother Nature and to make it rain when we need it.’

‘Yeah, well, hopefully it will come soon.’ She paused for a minute and then said: ‘I do miss home, though. The space and the dogs. The stars. But I love my job as well.’

‘Can you have both, do you think?’ Lynda asked.

Zara didn’t answer for a while. ‘Probably,’ she said eventually. She thought about telling her mum that she had thought about shifting back to Barker, then decided against it. Maybe not yet.

They sat in companionable silence until Lynda said, ‘Kim came to visit the other day. She’s been an incredible support.’

‘She seems really nice. And Dave does too. I had to laugh when I found I was going to be living next to a policeman in Barker! The trust between journos and coppers is pretty low. I thought it was a little ironic.’

‘And Jack, he seems very nice too. I had a bit to do with him at the footy club when Will was still playing and I was helping out in the canteen.’

Zara looked at her mum out of the corner of her eye. ‘And why would you be saying that, Mum?’

Lynda raised her eyebrows. ‘No reason at all. I was just making conversation.’

‘It sounded like matchmaking to me.’

‘Not at all!’

‘Really?’ Zara’s tone was dry. ‘It’s not like you haven’t got priors on trying to set me up with other country blokes. And why did you mention Jack and not Karl? As far as I know Karl’s footloose and fancy-free.’

‘Do you like him? He’s been such a help.’

‘No, Mum!’ Zara exclaimed in a loud voice.

Lynda’s face became serious. ‘I worry about you, Zara. You’re always running here and there, chasing the next big news story.’

‘No, I’m not. I only cover agriculture.’

‘Don’t split hairs. Just hear me out. You’re getting older and I guess all I’m saying is that it would be nice if you found someone who made you happy. Like I have. Don’t you get lonely living by yourself?’

‘I’ve always enjoyed my own company, you know that.’

‘And Will was the same. Do you remember, I don’t know how old you both were—maybe nine and ten—when you packed up a saddlebag with enough food to last for the day, then you headed out along the creek and disappeared? If I remember correctly, you and he mustered a paddock of sheep and pushed them through to the next one without telling Dad! He didn’t know until the next day, when he went out there and found they were in a paddock that didn’t have much feed in it.’