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.”

“You’re sure there’s accommodation for me?”

“Yeah. Aunty Rosie said it’s busy up there but there’re some empty rooms. You’ll be right.”

“Great,” she said and, remembering his pleasant interactions with the staff who had clearly known him well, she swallowed her anxiety.

They followed the highway out of town, passing four-wheel drives towing every kind of caravan from monster-sized to compact pop-tops. Thick bush crowded to the edge of the road, so different to the scattered scrub at home. Home! Natalie dug in her bag for her phone. She hadn’t sent a text and she’d told Milt she would.

“I forgot to ask if there was phone signal at your community,” she said.

“Yeah, no problems, but along the way it’ll drop in and out.”