Not that she’d be out in the paddocks much except to run food. She’d learned to shift sheep in the early days of their marriage. Clem and Milt had been grateful for her help then. Money had been tight and she was one less wage to pay. Even after Kate was born she’d left the baby with Olive for short periods and gone out with them but that had stopped once Bree came along. A lot of things had changed after Bree.

Milt stretched his legs, strolling up and down the path in front of the bakery while Natalie ordered takeaway coffees and ham-and-cheese croissants.

“Thanks.” He gave her a grateful smile as she handed his over. They sat their coffees on the bonnet and leaned against the car eating in silence. Natalie glanced at her husband as he took another careful bite of the hot pastry. He looked as tired as she felt.

“We should take a holiday,” she said.

“We’re about to start tailing.”

“After tailing, I mean. Straight after,” she emphasised. “For a month at least.”

Since the girls had grown up they’d hardly taken more than a few days at a time away from the property. Even the new year’s break away at the beach had dwindled until this last January when they hadn’t gone at all.

“What about school?”

“I’ve got plenty of leave I’ve never used.”

Milt shook his head slowly. “One day we will, Nat, but now’s not a good time.” He took another bite of his croissant.

She stared at the footpath. When they were in the Halbots’ unit she’d thought all she’d wanted to do was go home. Now she realised all she wanted was to get as far away from home as possible. She’d been given a reprieve and she didn’t want to go back to the same life she’d had before. From juggling teaching and its stresses with the property and its demands, to maintaining the huge house and helping Olive with her unit, the committees and meetings – was that all her life would ever be?

Milt scrunched up his now-empty paper bag and picked up his coffee. “Do you mind eating on the way?”

Natalie swallowed her restlessness with a mouthful of croissant and climbed back into the car. She’d let it go for now but not altogether. Getting away for a holiday was the most important thing to her, even if she had to wait a few more weeks.

“I want to call in at Bob and Veronica’s property before we go home.”

“Why?” She stared hard at her husband as if the answer might be written on his face but he was looking in the side mirror watching for a gap in the traffic to pull out onto the road.