As new co-owner of the Echo Louisa is striving for a first issue with impact but Holly and Minna are both having personal crises and require her support, thankfully Nick is there to anchor Louisa through the chaos of it all.

Louisa is derailed when she loses her engagment ring, finds Holly is considering a gap year and Minna is planning to drive again, then on top of it all she uncovers a damaging story about Sean's Father and is forced to grapple with her duty to report the truth or to protect Sean and his Dad.

When Louisa helps a local woman whose husband has left her she learns the extent of the childcare crisis and gets some firsthand experience at caring for a baby with Nick, meanwhile the new priest in town is bothering Minna and seems determined to support her in her grief.

Minna wants to take up ballroom dancing again, but her plans are derailed by a burglar in her home. Meanwhile, Nick unwittingly forces Louise to confront her fear of marriage by insisting they replace her old bed.

Rainbow's End is divided over the Domestic Cat Regulations. Louisa finds that her two closest friends, Deb and Marg, fall on opposite sides of the argument. Marg's suggestion of pre-marriage counselling leads Louisa to a secret that Nick has been keeping.

Minna is thrown off-kilter when her long-estranged sister, Frida, returns to Rainbow's End. Frida has come to launch the second edition of her novel, The Orchid, a work based on her experiences of growing up in Rainbow's End.

The Army come to Rainbow's End to perform a training exercise and Nick is recognised from his time spent in Queensland. Louisa is shocked to learn Nick was once a tent-boxer and has been hiding an incident from his past.

Louisa is thrown in the deep end when Vivien unexpectedly leaves her to manage the annual Heritage Society fundraising concert. It comes at a time when Louisa is endeavouring to get her relationship with Nick back on track.

Louisa and Nick are finally ready to take the plunge — a wedding date is set.

However, as their marriage is in the making, another is coming to an end. Unbeknownst to Deb her husband, Trev, has been living a double life. He has another partner and a newborn baby and wants a divorce and his share of the farm.

Louisa wants to deliver a great community newspaper but Vivien's absence is making this a challenge so Rita is hired to fill in.

Louisa wants her wedding to be special and has been searching for something meaningful to wear. In a surprising gesture Minna offers to buy Louisa a dress and so along with Holly, the women embark on a shopping expedition to Melbourne. But the weekend goes horribly awry when they breakdown in the bush and become stranded without mobile coverage.