Natalie let herself out onto the verandah that ran all the way around Rosie’s house. It was dotted with plants in pots and comfy outside chairs. She sank into one, settled into the soft cushions and closed her eyes, breathing in the sweet scent of frangipani wafting on the cooling breeze. She’d become used to the easy rhythm of life here but her conversation with Milt earlier had unsettled her again. She’d said she wanted another week but what if another week wasn’t enough?

Rosie arrived with the tray of tea things, interrupting her thoughts.

Natalie looked at the plate of biscuits between the mugs of tea. “Mint slice!” She’d seen the high cost of items like chocolate biscuits at the roadhouse when she’d called in there with Gabe. They’d had ice cream that day.

“Gabe bought me up a few packets. He knows what a sweet tooth I am.” Rosie grinned. “I keep them in the back of the crisper. Not many of my lodgers think to look among the vegetables for treats.”

Natalie took one, bit into the cold rich chocolate coating and savoured the tang of the mint. She hadn’t had chocolate since Broome. Here she’d been living a simple existence on fruit and salads, some steamed vegetables along with the meat she’d been eking out.

“Can I get a ride out to the roadhouse?” she asked. “I need more supplies.”

“I’m going to One Arm Point on Monday,” Rosie said. “You could come with me. There’s a supermarket there and they’ve got a bigger selection.”

That settled, they drank their tea and munched their biscuits in silence, both staring out into the black night. From somewhere behind them came the repetitive thud of rap music.

Rosie sighed. “They all like their music, my lost boys. I like music too but rap is one thing I can’t take to. The words are clever but the noise that goes with it…” She put a hand to her head and groaned. “I’m getting too old for this.”

“How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Sixty-eight.”

“I thought you were more my age. I’m ten years younger.”

“The numbers don’t mean much.” The music rose a notch. “Unless there’s rap music, then I feel a hundred.”

Natalie chuckled. “There was always a battle over the radio stations when all my girls were at home.” Like they were currently. She wondered who would be winning that fight now. “The constant changing of the channels used to drive Milt mad.”

“Milt your husband?”

“Yes.”

“You miss them?”

Rosie’s face was in shadow but Natalie could feel the intensity of her look.

“My girls, yes.”

“But not your man?”

“We argued before I left. It was something…something big. I’m not sure how we’re going to overcome it.”

“Stuck between a rock and a hard place?”

“Yes.”