She took a deep breath and straightened. She’d had a reprieve. The strength was returning to her limbs. She wanted to run along the corridor; to grab Milt’s hand and drag him out of this place before someone changed their mind.

Natalie came to the waiting room entrance and paused at the pane of glass in the wall that allowed a view into the room. She froze, her few seconds of elation sucked away. In the far corner of the waiting area stood a man with his arms around a woman whose head was pressed to his chest. The man was Milt, her husband of thirty-three years, and the woman he held was Veronica Halbot, the creature he’d had an affair with twenty-seven years ago.

Bree shut up the dogs and headed back to the house. It was only mid-afternoon but today’s mustering had been finished in good time. Graeme and the other two guys her dad had employed had been easy to work with, except for their regular breaks to have a smoke, and she’d sent them home, ready for an early start tomorrow.

In the kitchen she paused to look around. The chairs they’d sat in that morning were pushed out, askew from the table, which was still scattered with the milk and butter, Vegemite and jam and the brightly coloured placemats Nat always set out for breakfast. Even the mugs and plates they’d used were stacked in the sink instead of the dishwasher. Normally her mother wouldn’t leave the house unless the kitchen was spotless, but she’d only made it as far as the sink when Milt had pushed his clean town hat onto his head and moved to the doorway, keys jangling in his hand. It was odd that they would go to Adelaide on the day mustering was supposed to start.

Her phone pinged with a message. It was from her dad saying they were staying the night and would be home first thing tomorrow. She stopped thinking about her parents and selected Owen’s number.

“What are you up to?” he asked. They rarely rang each other at this hour on a work day.

“I thought I’d cook you dinner tonight, at the farm.”

“Sounds good.”

“It’ll just be you and me…you could stay the night.”

“Sounds even better.”

“Great! See you when you get here.”

She pocketed her phone and dug in the freezer for something to take out for dinner, humming at the thought of having Owen here and the place to herself. She put a lasagne on the sink to defrost and checked the fridge for salad ingredients, tidied up the breakfast things then set the end of the kitchen table for two and glanced at the clock. She had time to finish a couple of quick jobs before she’d need to be back to shower and put the lasagne in the oven.