Page 20 of Outback Reunion

It didn’t sound like a question and that should annoy her. He wasn’t the boss of her and she didn’t need another controlling man telling her what to do. Especially not one who didn’t even really know her! But although it went against every grain of common sense in her body, she accepted.

Maybe she owed him some kind of explanation.

‘But I can’t stay for more than one drink and I’m not sure exactly what time I’ll be able to get there. Could be an hour or so after we finish.’

His smile stretching from ear to ear, he nodded. ‘Not a problem. Good luck with the rest of the show.’

Outside, Gabi found Muriel managing the line at the teacup ride. This was not good. Muriel did the ticket booth before the show, but generally just wandered around pestering the audience during intermission.

‘Where’ve you been?’ hissed the older woman, narrowing her eyes at Gabi.

‘Sorry. Had to pee.’

Muriel shook her head angrily as she stepped aside—even bathroom breaks weren’t permitted on a night as busy as this one. Crossing your legs was one of the first things you learned growing up in the circus.

***

Every night after the show, Gabi and Luna put the dogs in their crates, wrangled Loud Mouth into his night cage, then retreated to their caravan to change out of their costumes and scrub off their make-up. This was followed by a quick supper, before they’d both collapse into bed, ready to do it all again the next day.

As Luna washed her face and brushed out her hair in their tiny bathroom, Gabi could hear Loud Mouth just outside admiring himself in his mirror, ‘Gorgeous bird. Gorgeous bird. Gorgeous bird.’ She chuckled as she stripped off her leotard and scanned her tiny closet for something appropriate to wear to meet Mark.

Whatwasappropriate for a drink at a country pub? Just because this wasn’t a date, didn’t mean she shouldn’t make a little bit of effort. The problem was that her wardrobe was in mostly two camps—sparkly lycra costumes on one side and old shorts, jeans and t-shirts she wore on build and travel days on the other. The only thing vaguely appropriate was a yellow maxi dress she’d picked up in an op shop when she’d been on the hunt for romance novels.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Luna as she emerged from the bathroom to find Gabi staring at the dress.

‘Um... nothing.’ Shoving the dress back into the closet, she grabbed her PJs from beneath her pillow and threw them on instead, deciding to wait until Luna was asleep before she got ready. ‘What’s it going to be tonight? Vegemite on toast or Weetbix?’

These were Luna’s favourite post-show snacks and Gabi usually had whatever her daughter chose.

‘Vegemite, please,’ Luna said, crossing to the fridge.

As Gabi popped bread in the toaster, Luna poured herself a glass of milk, heaped in more Milo than was probably healthy, and slid into their tiny booth where they ate at an equally tiny table. There was barely room for one person on each side, so it was hard to imagine that Dante also used to sit there with them.

When Luna was born, she’d slept between them in their bed and as she grew, the caravan seemed to shrink. Even when she was older, when Luna slept on a tiny pull-out bed rather thanwiththem, being intimate became harder and harder. Luna was a deep sleeper—she’d probably sleep through the caravan catching fire—but Gabi often tried to use her as an excuse not to have sex with Dante. Maybe it was motherhood or maybe something else, but any libido she’d once had seemed to have shrivelled up and died. Sometimes Dante would just storm off in a huff, go sleep elsewhere on the lot—returning in the morning and pretending they hadn’t upset each other—other times he’d insist and drag her out with him, and they’d do the deed under the Big Top, behind the ticket box or in one of the food trucks.

These outdoor trysts always felt seedy to her, but she got the impression he liked it even more this way.

It appeared she wasn’t the only one thinking of Dante, because as she put Luna’s toast down in front of her and slid into the booth opposite, Luna said, ‘Can you tell me a story about Daddy?’

Gabi swallowed. This wasn’t an unusual request, Luna often wanted to talk about her father, and Gabi knew it was important to keep her memories of him alive, but it felt weird to be discussing her husband when she was planning to sneak off and meet another man.

Did Luna somehow sense this?

‘Um...’ She hadn’t poured herself a cup of tea or made any toast—too nervous to eat—but now she wished she had a warm mug to wrap her fingers around. ‘Which story would you like to hear?’

Luna took a bite of her toast, thinking. Gabi expected her to ask something about games they’d played together or specific towns where Dante had taken Luna off exploring, but she surprised her with, ‘Tell me about when you met Daddy for the first time.’

‘Don’t speak with your mouth full,’ Gabi said automatically, ‘and you know I don’t remember meeting your dad. I wasn’t even born when Granny Eve and Pa Lorenzo took my mother in. I knew Daddy all my life. We both grew up here in the circus, just like you.’

‘I forgot,’ Luna said with a slight pout. ‘Do you think Daddy would have liked Bunyip Bay?’

‘What’s not to like?’ Gabi said with a nervous laugh.

Luna nodded and then dropped the Dante topic as quickly as she’d raised it. She prattled on about everything they’d done that day as if Gabi hadn’t been there herself. They’d managed to steal a few hours at the beach again that afternoon and she was still on a high from the sun, sand and water. Gabi tried not to be impatient as it was good to see Luna happy about something again, but she couldn’t stop glancing at the little plastic clock on the wall.

How long would Mark wait?

‘I think Bunyip Bay is one of my favourite places we’ve ever been,’ declared Luna. ‘Can we go back to the beach again tomorrow?’

---