‘You’re very careless with that boy of yours,’ snapped Sandra. ‘He disappears for hours and could be in all sorts of trouble, for all you know.’

Becky didn’t rise to the bait. ‘We might seem careless to you, Sandra,’ she said evenly, ‘but Danny is an Outback boy, and as knowledgeable about this place as any city urchin is of the streets of Sydney. Mum’s right. He’ll come home when he’s ready.’

‘Well, it all seems very slapdash,’ Sandra retorted. ‘If he was my boy, I’d want to know where he was, what he was up to and who he was with.’

Becky didn’t see why she should justify her way of raising Danny to anyone, but it was her mother who brought the awkward conversation to an end. ‘We do things differently out here,’ she said pleasantly. ‘Gwyneth raised her six children the same way as we did Terence and Becky. None of them came to any harm, and they grew up independent and resourceful – just as Danny will.’

Becky decided to change the subject. ‘Come on, Sandra, you can help me put together everything I’m going to need for the eye clinic, and then we can get on before the weather closes in again.’

*

They were about to clamber into Becky’s ancient utility when the roar of an approaching truck stilled them. ‘That’ll be Ben,’ said Becky in delight as she hastily shut the ute’s door against the dust he was kicking up.

He drew up beside them, red clouds billowing in his wake. ‘I managed to get away for a few minutes while Jake minds the two-way,’ he said as he jumped from the driver’s cab. He tipped his hat at Sandra, but his warm smile was for Becky. ‘I hear you’ve had quite a go down here,’ he said.

‘It’s been interesting,’ she replied, her face glowing with the pleasure of seeing him. They were only half aware of Sandra moving away to the shade of the veranda as they drew closer and looked into one another’s eyes. ‘I’ve missed you,’ Becky murmured.

‘I’ve missed you too,’ he replied, his finger softly tracing the curve of her cheek and jaw. ‘D’you reckon we could find a bit of time to ourselves once things get back to normal?’

She smiled up at him, loving the warmth in his eyes, the tilt of his lips and the yearning in his expression. ‘Have you ever known normal to happen around here?’ she teased him. ‘But once Dad and Terry get back, and these storms blow themselves out, I reckon we might just manage some quiet time.’

His expression suddenly grew solemn and he scuffed his boot into the dirt. ‘Becky, there’s another reason why I came to see you,’ he began.

She felt a stab of unease. ‘What’s the matter?’