She threw down an orphan sock in disgust and one lone tear plopped into the centre of the empty plastic base of the washing basket. Poor Noah. And no, she hadn’t thought about the future, where he lived, where she’d live. She had just fallen helplessly, heedlessly in love and agreed to follow him. And hadn’t that been a disaster.

Jock is like his father rang through her mind and she wiped her eyes. Funny, she hadn’t thought about that for a long time. Noah was a strong man with a soft heart, like Jock. And she herself was doing it again. There were aspects of Lorenzo that reminded her of the qualities she’d admired in Noah. The sudden, definite attraction, the outspoken honesty of feelings, the protectiveness that big men couldn’t help projecting, the sexy eyes and mouth. Her lips quirked. And Lorenzo could kiss too. And he wanted to take her away and nurture her. Which would be a change from her previous marriage. But again, he was unsuitable, because she wasn’t moving to Italy. She would see how long he lasted out here on his son’s property.

Ava’s Zac was another big man, with admiring eyes for her daughter, though she could see his puzzlement as he tried to remember. Was there anything she could do to stop it happening all over again? Probably not.

Except share her own truth with her daughter. Finally. Not that it would make a difference.

It was intriguing to see Zac acting protective when Ava mentioned her interest in some far-flung outpost because he’d raved about it. Her daughter could do what she wanted. She’d managed to look after herself for the last five years without Zac helping her to avoid risks. The girl was always off in her four-wheel drive, travelling to some remote outpost, often the only white woman, connecting with her smiles and her respect for others. It seemed perfectly normal to Stella that Ava would want to work at a remote outpost with dedicated clinicians because that’s what she did. So for Zac to have reacted, she wondered just how intense their relationship had been that it could seep through a wall of amnesia. Had there already been long-term thoughts of Ava moving to Sydney?

Stella would dig, do a few internet searches on this Zac, and check him out.