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He laughed. ‘I don’t think my wife would be very impressed if I did that. Yes, we live in Alice Springs and I have two little boys.’

‘Lovely. What are their names?’

‘Beau and Cooper.’

Sandra waited as Maggie peppered Andrew with more questions. She suspected that Graysen was right. Not only was Maggie’s self-confidence low—despite her wealth—Sandra suspected she was lonely. She promised herself that she’d try to talk more to Maggie over the next few days. Finally, Andrew looked over and saw her waiting.

‘Excuse me, Maggie.’ He came over to Sandra. ‘A question for me?’

‘Yes, thanks, Andrew, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just wondering if there’ll be phone service at Standley Chasm.’

‘There should be. A new tower’s just gone in thanks to a funding grant.’

‘Excellent. I’ll be able to call home.’

Andrew touched her arm lightly. ‘I was at the door when Maggie grilled you. I was working in a community at Kakadu when that all happened. I worked with Bill Jarragah for a while. He was devastated by the whole thing.’

Sandra blinked back tears. ‘Bill worked on our mango farm, and he and my husband were good mates for a long time. He was a lovely man.’

‘Was?’ Andrew frowned.

‘Yes, sadly Bill passed away last year. His daughter, Heather rang to let me know, but we’d lost touch with her over the years. She was another casualty of what happened. Her mental health isn’t good.’

‘Greed is a terrible thing, isn’t it?’ Andrew said.

‘It certainly is.’

‘I’m pleased to see how well you’re handling the trek. It’s a pleasure to have you with us, Sandy.’

Sandra smiled. She was getting used to being called Sandy; strangely it made her feel younger. ‘Thank you. I’ll leave you in peace now.’

Andrew smiled. ‘Any time you want to chat, feel free. Also, if you ever need to call home and there’s no service, see me and you can use the sat phone. It works wherever we are.’

Graysen was waiting for her at the end of the veranda. He held two mugs of coffee and Sandra leaned over to see what was in the bottle under his arm.

‘Whisky?’ she asked.

‘I ordered one bottle for the trek.’ He looked sheepish. ‘In case it was cold at night. I must be getting soft in my old age. I was going to offer you a splash for your coffee.’

‘Why not?’ she said. ‘But just a splash.’

‘Are you warm enough?’ He looked down at the jacket she’d worn across to dinner. ‘I thought it’d be nice to sit out under the stars.’

‘I’m warm.’ She chuckled. ‘Don’t tell anyone. I’ve got thermals on underneath.’

Graysen’s grin was wide. ‘Don’t you tell anyone either, but so have I. I know how cold it’ll get through the night.’

As they strolled across the grass to a seating area near the fence, Sandra looked up at the sky. ‘We had no outside lights at our farm and I thought the stars were beautiful there’—she spread her arms wide— ‘but this is incredible, the sky is so big.’

‘It is. The best night skies I’ve ever photographed are here in Central Australia. Marion and I came to Alice Springs twenty-five years ago. I haven’t been back since.’ Graysen gestured to the double swing seat. ‘Happy to share?’

‘Of course.’ Once she was settled, he passed her one of the coffees and put the whisky bottle on the grass. The seat swung a little as he sat beside her.

‘Thanks for the company.’

‘Thanks for the invitation. I was going to catch you anyway.’ Sandra held out her coffee as he held up the bottle.

‘Just a splash,’ he said.