It was incredibly different from the way he’d grown up, which was: Listen to your parents until you leave home. Even with Roslyn and their marriage, which had been a little more relaxed than his parents’ house, it had never had this sort of playfulness. It was strange, the ease with which he could slip into this rapport. Something he’d lacked in the busy world of medicine. Ava would always be a part of this, and maybe that was why he found her so different and so incredibly appealing. But his time here was short-term and had a purpose. To find his memory. He needed to remember he was trying to remember, he thought with a wry smile.

‘Let’s go.’ Jock’s voice broke into his thoughts and he and Ava headed for the door with Jock carrying the cool bag.

Stella pressed a broad-brimmed hat into his hand with a little squeeze. ‘Don’t do too much. It’s supposed to be a fun excursion to show you around. They can forget,’ she warned.

He nodded and jammed the old Akubra happily on his head, where it sat worn and soft, with a hole in the brim that gave extra character, something he hadn’t expected to feel comfortable in.

Ava smiled at her mother, and he had no doubt there was something significant in the loan. He’d donned a pair of lace-up walking boots for the climbing, though Ava had said they’d do little today. Hopefully he’d be able to keep up.

Ava had her own hat, which looked better than the homestead beanie, and their buttoned, long-sleeved shirts seemed too warm for the day’s heat.

They climbed into the all-terrain vehicle and settled back. The vehicle, which was open to the air, had bench seats and swing doors. Jock jogged back to the house for something he’d forgotten and Ava said quietly, ‘Jock expects to find dead livestock. That’s why I insisted we come with him. Hope that’s okay.’

‘I remember you said he’s taking it hard. I’m happy to help in any way I can.’ When Jock returned, he said, ‘This vehicle looks like it can climb mountains.’

Jock jumped back in and heard the last part. He patted the bare, dusty dashboard. ‘It’s a good quad. I like the roll bars – not that we’re going to try them out, but sometimes we can be at an angle on a ridge and it can get dicey. It’s got a good twelve inches of ground clearance, so it can climb up and over rocks and over stumps if we need to, and it’s a mission to get it bogged even in the river sand. I don’t try that hard.’

Ava was watching her brother and he could feel the undercurrents of concern she was trying to hide. ‘So where are we going?’