Stella thought back to those days. To being surrounded by neighbours who never talked to you and rushing traffic that never stopped. Would Ava shrivel into herself like she had until she cracked?

Stella sighed again as she glanced out and saw her son’s unsmiling face. Jock. There’d been a lot of grim looks lately. There were so many things to worry about when she really wanted peace.

Chapter Thirty-one

Ava

‘Never seen you hold a bloke’s hand before, Ava.’ Jock scowled at the house.

Ava narrowed her eyes. What’s eating him? ‘I never found one sexy enough.’

Jock nearly choked. ‘Hope there’s more to him than that?’

She was tempted to say ‘Is there more?’ to get a rise out of her suddenly protective younger brother. But Jock looked bowed down with some emotion and she glanced back at the house to see if Hana was there. She couldn’t see her. Hana kept him on an even keel.

‘Hana tells me the baby is growing well.’

A rare smile crossed her brother’s face. ‘It kicks like there’s no tomorrow.’ His face appeared sad for a moment before he seemed to drag a smile from the bottom of his boots. ‘We still don’t know the sex, but we don’t care either way, so the surprise is nice for Hana.’

She tilted her head at him. ‘The surprise will be nice for you, too.’

‘Of course.’ He brushed that away and faced the house again. ‘We’ve got a couple of weeks before we have to go back to Alice Springs. There’s the muster to get through first.’

‘We’ll manage. We always do.’ She lowered her voice. ‘You okay?’

Jock combed his hair back from his face with his fingers. ‘The stock look terrible. There were even a few that we’ve had to shoot. They’re starving. Mim says the rain will turn up, but I’m thinking I might have blown it.’

‘You’re not responsible for the drought. And the improvements you made were needed,’ Ava said. ‘Do you want to go for a drive together? See how the back looks?’ She wouldn’t let him go alone again if he came back from the paddocks looking like this. ‘I guess we could bring Zac?’

Jock looked thoughtful. ‘Mum says he’s sick.’

‘He’s recovering.’ Boy, was he recovering. ‘But I’ve seen him in action, and if you needed a hand with a steer he could help.’

He laughed, but it was bitter and angry and she frowned in concern. ‘I blew the budget and it’s going to wipe us out.’

‘This isn’t like you, Jock, all doom and gloom. Stop it. You can’t take the blame for the weather.’