‘See you, then,’ Becky said. ‘I’m out of here. Hooray for the city-I’m so over this place.’ And with another curious glance at Jake she disappeared, closing the door behind her.

Leaving Tori with Jake.

‘I… Thank you,’ she managed. He looked pretty much like he had the night before. Slightly more casual. Faded jeans and a white, open-necked shirt. Elastic-sided boots. He looked like a local, she thought, which was at odds with his American accent.

‘My pleasure,’ he said, and sounded like he meant it. ‘I didn’t realise last night that you were a vet.’

‘I didn’t know you were.’

‘I’m not.’

‘So inserting endotracheal tubes in koalas is just a splinter skill for, say, a television repairman?’

‘I’m an anaesthetist. Jake Hunter.’

‘An anaesthetist,’ Tori said blankly. ‘In Combadeen? You have to be kidding.’

‘I’m not kidding. I’m staying at Manwillinbah Lodge.’

‘Rob Winston’s place?’ She was struggling now with the connection. What had Jake said last night? ‘I own properties here, in the valley and up on the ridge.’ And Rob. Distracted, she thought of the pleasant young man who’d flirted outrageously last night. She remembered him arriving with this man. With Jake. ‘Was Rob Winston the ninth date last night?’ she demanded.

‘That was Rob.’

‘He was nice. Fun.’

‘Meaning, I wasn’t?’

‘I didn’t say that. But I wish I’d known who he was,’ she said ruefully. ‘He should have told me. I need to thank him, and not only for letting us use this place. I had a friend who went to Manwillinbah Lodge when she was released from hospital two months ago. It wasn’t right for her. She needed ongoing medical treatment, but that wasn’t Rob’s fault, and she said he tried so hard to give her time out. So many people around here need that.’ She frowned, figuring more things out. ‘So is this…is this your farm?’