“How about we have a cuppa first?” Rosie said.

Natalie looked at the coffee she’d made earlier, unfinished and cold in the mug. “Good idea.”

She made herself a fresh cup and a tea for Rosie and brought them outside.

“You all right?” Rosie asked.

“I had a call from Milt wanting to know how much longer I was staying.”

“Fair enough.”

They sipped from their cups.

“I miss my girls,” Natalie said.

“Maybe it’s time to go home then.”

Natalie looked out over the grass and the little park area she’d grown used to. “It’s so peaceful here.”

“I know.” Rosie settled back in her chair. “But I also know you can’t hide here forever. The world’s still out there waiting for you to re-join it.”

“Dot, who I met back in Broome, said something similar. Always leave while you’re still enjoying yourself.”

“What is it that’s stopping you getting on a plane and going home?”

Natalie could feel Rosie’s penetrating look. She kept her own gaze resolutely on the treeline and shook her head.

“This thing that you argued with your husband about, can it be sorted?”

“I don’t know. It all seems so hard. We’ve been through tough times before but this time…Something happened early in our married life. I thought our marriage was over then but we overcame it.”

“How?”

“It was terrible at first. I shifted into the spare room. Eventually, my father-in-law found out about it.” Natalie smiled. “He was an insightful man, Clem. Anyway, he suggested some options and eventually Milt and I talked. We talked and we talked.” Natalie dragged the words out, remembering those days when talking was all they had left. “We covered everything, what had happened, what we wanted from each other, we made a new set of life rules… we had some time alone without the girls. We only had Kate and Bree then.” Natalie felt a warm shiver wriggle down her spine. “We had good sex.”

She turned. Rosie was still studying her, a slight smile playing on her lips.

“So can’t you do that again?”

“Maybe.” She thought about her earlier stilted phone call with Milt.

“Do you want to?”

And there it was. The question she’d asked herself but not in the bright light of day. She’d lost her purpose in life and somehow her marriage had come adrift with it. Natalie lurched forward and gripped her head in her hands to stop it from exploding.

“I don’t know. I don’t feel as if I know anything any more and I feel so guilty.”

“About Gabe?”

Natalie felt heat rise up her neck.

“I’m guessing there’s not a lot to feel guilty about…yet.” Rosie’s eyebrows lifted.