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‘Clean cut, friendly enough. His card lists his skills. Do you have a key to the house?’

‘I do. Do you want me to go up and get it?’

‘Yes, if you need it now. Save me a walk back to the house. I’m keen to start unpacking my boxes.’

He nodded. ‘Okay, as long as you don’t mind.’

‘Not at all. It’s under the fruit bowl at the end of the kitchen bench.’

‘Are you sure?’ he said.

She nodded. ‘Of course. Oh, and Cy, I didn’t want him to think I was alone here. I was very aware of what Kane said about security, so I told him my husband was working in the orchard.’

‘Smart thinking.’

She turned to the boxes underneath the bench. There seemed to be the right number there. ‘One question.’ She turned back to Cy.

‘Yes?’

‘Do you have a Stanley knife handy in the shed? Mine’s packed in the boxes which wasn’t real bright for unpacking them.’

‘I’ll grab mine for you on the way to the house. It’s in my ute.’

‘Thank you.’

She turned and looked around to the other side of the shed. A small tractor and bobcat filled the space.

‘Where do you bunk?’ she asked.

‘Just over the other side of that half wall, so don’t worry if you’re ever working when I’m here. It’s not going to bother me if you work late. I’m a sound sleeper. Or do you prefer to start work early?’ He put his hands in his pockets and leaned on the post in the middle of the concrete floor.

‘Sometimes I do,’ she said. ‘And often late at night too. I hope it doesn’t disturb you. If I turn the big light on it’ll shine over your side of the shed.’

‘Don’t worry about that. I’ll be having early starts too.’ He straightened up and pushed himself away from the post. ‘So, is there anything else I need to show you?’

Tarni turned her attention back to the workbenches. There were plenty of power points for the incubators and the light was excellent.

‘No, this all looks fine. Thank you for showing me.’

‘I’ll get you the other set of shed keys,’ Cy said.

As he walked across the shed, Tarni couldn’t help looking at him. He was a wiry, fit-looking man. He’d been kind, even though she’s been distant to him. She chastised herself. She’d been downright rude to him; he might have been distant, but he was still pleasant and polite.

Cy was back quickly and handed her a set of keys. ‘There’s a tractor key there too. If you need to use the tractor.’ He looked at her quizzically. ‘Do you know how to drive one or if you don’t, will you need me?’

Tarni nodded. ‘Yes, I can drive a tractor and a bobcat and all sorts of things. I have a ticket for most farm machinery.’

He chuckled. ‘I didn’t know. I didn’t think a researcher would get outside much.’

‘You’d be surprised,’ she said, realising they were having quite a normal, sensible conversation without any angst on her part. ‘Thank you again for showing me everything. I’ll be right and if I do need anything, don’t worry, I won’t hesitate to ask. I’ll go out in the orchard tomorrow morning and have a look at the trees Kane described to me.’

‘I’ll be working down the back near the dam for the next couple of weeks.’

‘Okay, thanks. I’ve got plenty to keep me going here for a couple of hours, so I’ll see you sometime,’ she said, turning her back on him.

‘Thanks for the food drop,’ he called to her back, and she could hear the smile in his voice. ‘I’ll get that Stanley knife for you.’

Tarni smiled as she lifted the first box to the bench. She felt settled already. A comfortable place to live, with a great little lab setup, exciting hands-on research ahead, and decent company on the place to make her feel secure.