And with that she was gone, leaving Bree feeling angry and guilty all at once. The bloody paperwork was another job on its own. Bree had to admit she’d been avoiding taking it over. Natalie had always done the books and she wasn’t going anywhere. Bree couldn’t see why she just didn’t keep doing them. There was no point in taking it on anyway if she went to Marla for a few months or even more. She’d decided not to say how long it could be when she’d seen her mother’s reaction.

Bree hobbled to the sink with her cup. Even though her dad had said the property could be hers one day he was showing no signs of letting go of the reins yet. They had a rough plan in place but nothing was to be finalised until Laura turned thirty. That was six years away. Bree needed this break.

From deeper in the house she heard music. The large dining room rarely got used and a corner of it had been set up as an office. Her mother often played her CDs while she worked up there. Bree pushed away the guilt. It wasn’t as if Natalie hadn’t done the books for years. A few more months wouldn’t matter, surely… unless there was some urgency now. Her mother had remained vague about the trip to Adelaide and continued to be out of sorts. What if there was something she was keeping from them?

Natalie stared at the computer screen in front of her but the figures wriggled and jumped as tears rolled down her cheeks. She dabbed at them furiously. There’d been no chance to talk alone with Milt this morning, no opportunity to bring up the topic of Jack again. She’d imagined having it out with Milt and regardless of the outcome regarding Jack’s parentage she’d decided they’d rebuild; they’d done it before. She’d been clinging to that thought, and also the chance to get away, but now it seemed raising the idea of a holiday would be pointless. If Bree went off for that long a time there was no way Milt would leave the property. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Bree’s need to get away, she felt it so strongly herself, but the timing was all wrong.