“Oh…no…I…” Natalie shook her head. “I was just curious what people did there.”
“Chill, mainly. That’s why I don’t stay for too long.” His face split in a wide grin. “There’s just the beach and kilometres of nothing. Too boring for me.”
Natalie thought about the pictures she’d seen of the peninsula. Lots of white sand, turquoise water and red dirt.
“Anyway, the offer’s there.” He stood, took a worn card from his wallet and put it on top of her brochures. “That’s my number. Call me if you want to come. I’m checking out of here at nine in the morning, going to the supermarket. If you’re coming with me you’ll need to get some supplies too. There’re shops but they’re basic and expensive.”
He thrust out his hand. She shook it.
“Nice to meet you, Natalie. Thanks for putting out the fire.” Once more he grinned. “Good night.”
She sat a while after he’d gone, staring at his card. What an odd evening. Natalie hadn’t expected she’d be putting out a fire from her dinner table. She smiled at the thought of Gabe’s kind offer. Tempting as it was, there was no way she was setting off with a complete stranger to go bush on her own.
She signed her account, gathered her things and strolled slowly back along the path that meandered through the well-maintained gardens to her room. It was another glorious evening. She’d thrown a wrap around her bare shoulders but it wasn’t really necessary. The nights had been so mild. Something rustled in the bush beside her. She stopped, looked around. It was a dark part of the path and there were no other guests about. She had a sudden image of Bazz. Would he still be around? She quickened her steps, fumbled her card at the door and finally pushed it open.
No sooner was she inside than she heard her mobile ringing. It had gone flat with all the internet searching she’d been doing before dinner and she’d left it to charge. She picked it up just as it stopped and Milt’s name faded from the screen.
“Damn.” She tried to work out what time it was at home. One-and-a-half-hours difference so eight-thirty in Broome meant ten at home in South Australia. It was late for Milt to be ringing. She looked at her call history and her heart skipped a beat. He’d rung her ten times over the last few hours but he hadn’t left a message. She stabbed at his number and put the phone to her ear.
He answered on the first ring. His phone must have been still in his hand. “Natalie. Where are you?”
She took a deep breath. The gruffness in his voice both annoyed and alarmed her.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
“What do you mean what’s wrong?”
“Why have you been ringing and not leaving a message?”
“Why haven’t you been answering?”
“I was out for dinner. I didn’t take my phone.”
“Hell’s teeth, Nat. I’ve been that worried. Where are you?”
She felt the pangs of guilt stirring again. “I’m in…Broome.”
“Where?”
“Broome, Western Australia.”
“How the hell did you get there?”
Natalie suppressed the urge to laugh. “On a plane.”
“But why? You were going to Brenda’s. Then tonight I find out Brenda’s in Thailand with her family.”
Natalie sunk to the bed and kicked off her shoes. So that was what the sudden panic was about when all week a simple text message once a day had been enough.
“Why would you lie?” Milt’s tone was icy.
Natalie’s mirth evaporated and she stood up again, the polished wood of the floor cool beneath her feet.
“I didn’t lie.”
“You omitted to tell me the truth then. Is that better?”
Natalie began to pace. Pot, kettle, black, Milt, she thought. Anger burned fiercely in her chest. “When I sent you that text I was planning to go to Brenda’s. It wasn’t till later I found out she wouldn’t be home.”
“You should have told me where you were.”
Should echoed in her head.
“What if something had happened to you?” Milt’s voice was getting louder.
“I am quite capable of looking after myself.”
There was silence, then a sigh. “I know you are.” His tone had softened. “I miss you.”
She gripped the phone tightly. What could she say? Occasionally she thought of home, missed her girls but…not Milt. When she thought of her husband all she felt was a simmering anger.
“Tailing went well.” He filled the silence. “The girls did an excellent job. Bree knows what she’s doing, of course, but I don’t know how much longer she plans to stick around. Kate was a big help although she did disappear from time to time. Do you think she could’ve had a fight with Sean? She’s been moping around a lot and says she’s going to stay on for a bit longer.”
Natalie wanted to know what he meant by moping exactly, but he went on.
“Laura’s kept up with the food. She’s not a bad cook but, hell, the mess she makes and…” His tone sharpened. “Did you know she’s got a bloody tattoo?”
“No.” It didn’t surprise her though. Laura was always the one to push the boundaries. She hoped it wasn’t somewhere too prominent; couldn’t be, surely, or she would have noticed it.
“When’s your flight home?”
She opened her mouth. Closed it again.
“The BAS is due soon.”
“I’m not ready to come home yet.”
“What do you mean by ‘not ready’?”
She sighed. “I’ve only been gone a week, Milt. I need more time.”
“You’re not still going on about Jack, are you? I’ll never invite him for dinner again if that’s what you want.”
She sunk back to the bed, her body suddenly too heavy for her legs. She’d given him an ultimatum once before and now she thought how futile it had been. “It’s not about inviting him for dinner.” And it wasn’t just about Jack. She couldn’t explain to her husband how she felt when she didn’t know herself. It was as if she’d been swirled around in her mixmaster and flung out the other side into a world she didn’t recognise. This After Anomaly life that she didn’t quite fit. Resentment festered inside her. She’d always done her duty: to her parents, her husband, her girls, her in-laws, her work, her community. Everyone had a piece of Natalie and somehow she’d lost herself in the process. She’d never done anything outside anyone else’s expectations of her.
“Obviously we should talk this through,” Milt said. “Tailing was not the right time.”
There was that should again. Natalie pictured Faye’s steely stare then looked at the brochures she’d tossed on the bed beside her. Gabe’s card had slipped off. She picked it up, gripped it tightly. Escape beckoned. Was she brave enough to do it?
“Natalie, did you hear me? Come home so we can talk.”
“I’m leaving Broome tomorrow…but I’m not coming home,” she said. “I’m going somewhere more remote, a place up on the Dampier Peninsula. Not sure how reliable the phone signal will be but I’ll get a message to you when I can. Give my love to the girls. Goodnight, Milt.” She pressed end and then turned off her phone for good measure. Her heart thumped in her chest. She knew nothing about Gabe or the place he called home but she was damn well going to go with him.
Twenty-One
Kate pulled her dressing-gown tighter around her and let herself out of the bedroom. Last night’s call from Sean had given her a reprieve. He had a Queensland job on and would be gone for two weeks. No sooner had he hung up than Kate rang her mother-in-law and organised to extend her leave. She’d bought herself some time but what she was going to do with it she had no idea. She couldn’t imagine feeling any different about this baby than she did now, and to add to her misery she felt so sick. Staying in her bedroom helped; there was no fire there. She found she felt better if she kept the room around her cool and herself rugged up. The heat of the kitchen and the den only made her nausea worse but she couldn’t stay in her room forever.
Hushed voices reached her from the kitchen. The door was pulled to but, as often happened, it hadn’t latched. Her dad was talking and then Granny said something about her mum. Kate pressed herself to the wall and listened. She was in desperate need of a cup of tea but curiosity got the better of her.
“Did Natalie tell you?” Milt asked.
Kate held her breath. Maybe Granny knew something about her mother’s hasty departure after all.
“Of course not,” Olive said. “Your father did. Do you think he would keep that kind of secret from me?”
Milt groaned and Kate leaned closer, puzzled. If this was something Pa had known about it must have happened a while ago.
“No point in putting your head in your hands, Milton,” Olive snapped. “The past is past. Have you done something else to upset your wife?”
“No.” A chair creaked. “And it’s none of your business what happens between Natalie and me.”
“If it affects the property it is.”
“Oh for f—”
“Milton!”
Bree stepped into the passage from the quarters. Kate put a finger to her lips and waved her over. She took up a position on the other side of the door.
“You don’t have to worry about the property any more,” Milt said.
“Connie’s worried.”
“Hell’s teeth, don’t tell me she knows.”
“Knows what?” Bree mouthed and Kate shrugged.
“Of course not. Her concerns are about me.”
Milt snorted.
“And an income for her,” Olive said.
“Tell her to go out and earn one then.”
“There’s no need to be snappy. The world has changed since you took on the property. Ideas about sibling reparation have changed.”
“Connie was well compensated and Dad’s will made it clear.”
The bathroom door opened. Laura stepped out. “What’s—?”
Bree and Kate both put urgent fingers to their lips, silencing her. She came to stand beside Bree, her hair enclosed in a swirl of towel and her eyes wide. She leaned in.
“She feels this place is still partly hers,” Olive went on.
“She can think what she likes but it’s not. This property is an asset, Mum, not a bottomless pit of money. You know that. Connie knows that. She’s married to a farmer—”
“With much more marginal land and three sons.”
“And I’ve got three daughters. I have to think about their future.”
Kate looked from Laura to Bree. Both stared back at her open-mouthed. It sounded as if Connie was after a piece of the property. That had never been mentioned when they’d had a family meeting about the future a year ago.
“You’re right,” Milt continued. “Times have changed and maybe we would have set things up differently today than we did forty years ago but it’s not as if Connie’s had no recompense. We can’t go back and change things now. Bree has a few more years to make a decision. If she wants to continue running the place, her sisters will have to be compensated, but unless we sell it’s never going to be equal value. As well as that there’s you to be looked after and Nat and I when we eventually retire.”
“Perhaps we need to revisit your plan.”
“No-one can walk away with a big bucket of cash unless we sell and divide the lot between us.” Kate could hear the frustration in her dad’s voice. “Hell’s teeth, Mum, is that what Connie wants? A part of this property?”
“Not exactly a part, but something more.”
Once again the three sisters gaped at each other. Kate had always liked her aunt Connie. She’d always been so friendly and had bought lovely gifts when they were kids.
“After everything Dad’s given her already,” Milt growled. “And what she’ll get once you’re gone.”
“I don’t plan on going any time soon,” Olive huffed.
“I’m not wasting any more energy on this futile discussion. I’ve got work to do.”
“It’s Sunday morning.”
“Yes it is.” A chair scraped.
The three girls dashed into the bathroom and closed the door as they heard the kitchen door squeak open. There were muffled thuds as their dad made his way outside. Bubbles miaowed and the back door banged shut.
Bree lowered herself to the edge of the bath. “I can’t believe Aunty Connie would be such a bitch.” She looked from Laura to Kate. “You two aren’t going to be like that if I do take over the place, are you?”
“It’s not the same for us,” Kate said. “Dad’s made it clear from the start we could all work here if we wanted to.”
Bree snorted.
“You’re lucky Laura and I don’t want to work the property,” Kate said, the churning in her stomach replaced by anger. Bree could be so self-righteous “You can have it to yourself.”
“Yes, but Dad’s made provision for you and me,” Laura said. “Your uni and my courses were all paid for.”
“Bree went to uni too,” Kate said, knowing it sounded petty.
“You got help to buy your first house,” Laura said. “And I will when the time comes. We’ve got a small parcel of shares each in our names and…” She twisted her lips and wrinkled her nose. “One day, a long way off, we’ll get whatever Mum has when she goes.”
“Bloody inheritances,” Bree spat. “It’d be better to have nothing to fight about.”
“We’re not fighting, are we?” Laura looked from Bree to Kate.
“She’s right,” Kate said. “Dad and Mum have made everything clear, involved us all in the future planning.”
“Maybe Aunty Connie didn’t get much,” Laura said. “And she’s not worked off their farm since she had the boys.”
Bree folded her arms. “Like Dad said, she could get a job.”
“There was something else,” Kate said as she remembered the first part of the conversation she’d eavesdropped on. “Granny said something happened between Mum and Dad.”
“What?” Laura and Bree asked as one.
“I don’t know but Granny and Pa knew about it.”
“That narrows it down.” Bree’s hands went to her hips. “Did they say anything more specific?”
Kate shook her head, trying to remember. “Granny said something about Dad upsetting Mum again.”
“Hell, he’s probably done that a million times over the years,” Bree said.
“This sounded serious.”
The door opened behind them. Olive looked at each of them, surprise on her face. “What are you all doing in here?”
“Cleaning my teeth.” Laura snatched up her toothbrush.
“Waiting for the shower.” Kate winced. They all looked towards the empty cubicle.
“I was just chatting.” Bree, the only one dressed, stood up.
Olive eyed them suspiciously. “Well, I’ll use the bathroom in the quarters then.”
“Okay.” Bree smiled.
Olive gave them one more searching look and left.
“Waiting for the shower?” Bree glared at Kate.
“It was the best I could do,” Kate hissed. “We’d better get out of here.” She opened the door and peered out. The passage was empty. She waved to her sisters and by the time Olive re-entered the kitchen all three of them were tucking in to breakfast.
In Broome, Natalie sat on the verandah of a cafe with an empty coffee cup and half a slice of orange cake. The cake had looked so tempting but she’d barely had two mouthfuls; nervous tension mixed with anticipation was creating havoc with her stomach. Over her head, hanging baskets full of lush green plants swung gently, stirred by the fans and the breeze gusting along the street. She would have been hot without the movement of air.
Once more she glanced at her watch and looked across the street but there was no sign of Gabe. She’d phoned him first thing this morning and he’d arrived before nine in a large four-wheel drive to pick her up. They’d driven into town where he’d taken her to a supermarket, made suggestions about what she might need and loa
ded her purchases and his into the back of the vehicle. Then his phone had rung and he’d moved away but she could tell from his manner he wasn’t happy about something. He’d ended the call, apologised, said there was something else he had to do before they left and suggested she might like to have a coffee while she waited.
Now she realised an hour had gone by. The tables around her on the narrow verandah had filled and emptied and refilled. Everything she owned in Broome was in the back of Gabe’s vehicle, except for the tote bag at her feet. Once again she reconsidered the sense of heading off with him. He was still a stranger really. This morning she’d been worried she wouldn’t even remember what he looked like but his smile had been warm as he’d crossed the driveway to greet her and she’d felt reassured, but here on her own again her confidence was waning.
On a whim she’d agreed to travel with a man she barely knew to a remote community that she’d only seen as a dot on a map. She wasn’t sure how she would fit in or what would be expected of her. Gabe had said there was accommodation but did they truly welcome strangers?
She looked around at the people sitting at other tables. She knew no-one here in Broome, let alone further afield. The last time she’d sat here it had been for lunch with Dot and Faye. She wondered what they’d make of her decision to head north with a stranger. She smiled. Faye would have said go for it.
“Natalie.”
She looked up. Gabe was waving at her from the pavement. Now was her chance. She could say she’d changed her mind, find another place to stay, book some tours. She grabbed her tote and made her way to the footpath.
“The car’s over here.” He waved to the parking spaces in the middle of the street and began to walk in that direction.
She hesitated.
He stopped and glanced back, his resolute look softened. “Sorry I’ve been so long,” he said. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. Started to follow.
“You must have thought I’d gone without you.” The smile spread across his face again. “My aunty Rosie found out I was coming home and she had a list of jobs for me that kept getting longer.”
The Model Wife Page 26