When crisis counsellor Morgan Harris returns to his home town of Mindalby after the town's cotton mill closes, he has a hard time breaking through the townsfolk's tough exterior and getting them to accept the help that he is offering. Mental health services are few and far between out in the bush, and Morgan has to fight ingrained prejudices before he will really be able to engage with the people who need him the most.

However, he has no problems engaging with Hannah Burton, the younger sister of his high school best friend. Their attraction is instant and insistent, and very inconvenient. Morgan is here to work, and Hannah is fighting battles of her own – trying to save the family farm from going under in the face of the mill's closure.

Mindalby, a small town, a community, a home. But when the mill that supports the local cotton farmers and employs many of the town's residents closes unexpectedly, old tensions are exposed and new rifts develop. Everyone is affected and some react better than others, but one thing is certain: living on the edge of the outback means they have to survive together, or let their town die.