The lush green of an island rising out of a turquoise sea attracted her attention. Thailand was a possibility, or Vietnam. Anywhere in Asia was enticing and it wasn’t that far to go for their first trip overseas. She’d made sure they had passports a few years back but at this rate they’d be out of date before they’d had a chance to even get a stamp.

She put the European tours to one side, too far for now, and picked up another on the Northern Territory. They could escape the harsh cold of winter for the warmth of the tropics. It was the brochure with the camels mirrored in the glassy beach, a golden sun low in the sky, that she kept going back to. Broome and the Kimberley region intrigued her and she thought with more hope than surety it might interest Milt too.

“Dad said I might find you here.”

Natalie looked up at her sister in surprise then glanced around. She’d been so absorbed in her brochures she hadn’t even noticed the tables around her had filled with the mid-morning coffee crowd.

“What are you doing out?”

“It’s not that busy at the shop and my darling husband suggested I catch up with you while you’re still here.”

“Am I going somewhere?”

“I rang Mum to say I was calling in to catch up with you. She thought you’d be off home later today.”

“Did she?”

“Milt’s under the pump with lamb tailing, she said.”

Natalie sighed, recalling the conversation over breakfast. “I said Milt was mustering then tailing. Mum thought he’d be needing my help but I said I would have been at work the last three days anyway and only helping at home today. Mum said she didn’t want them to be an extra burden for me and I said they weren’t. She said you were here if they needed…” Her shoulders slumped. Her mother had bustled her out of the kitchen when she’d offered to cook the previous evening. She’d done her best to be the dutiful daughter but Natalie was no longer required.

Bronwyn shrugged her shoulders. “They’re fiercely independent. Don’t take it personally. I don’t usually get to do too much.”

“I bet you’d be allowed to cook for them.”

“Ha. You’ve tasted my food, right? I didn’t get the cooking gene from Mum like you did. She won’t let me in her kitchen and insists on bringing food when she comes our way. It’s just they’ve both had a bit of a setback. They’re not as young as they used to be but they’ll be fine.” Bronwyn picked up her empty cup. “Fancy another coffee?”

“Thanks.”

“Do you still take milk?”

Natalie nodded. “Evidently I’m a regular. The young lady behind the counter knows how I like my coffee.”