Page 51 of Outback Reunion

‘Coke for me, please.’

‘Will Diet do?’ Gabi asked Adam as she started towards their caravan. From there they’d be able to watch until the girls got bored, or Jasmine and Lenore had had enough of them, whichever came first.

‘Yeah, perfect. Thanks.’

When they got to her little home, Gabi fought the urge to apologise for their simple, rustic existence, but Stella and Adam appeared in awe of it.

‘This is so cute,’ Stella cried as she looked around inside.

Gabi opened the tiny bar fridge and grabbed a can of Diet Coke. ‘It’s a little bit cramped, but you get used to it.’

Adam cracked the can open. ‘I think it’s great. I’ve been seeing lots about tiny houses lately and it makes you realise how much crap most of us collect just because we can.’

‘Does that mean you’re ready to part with your old bottle collection?’ Stella asked her husband.

He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Don’t even joke about such things.’

Stella laughed and Gabi put the kettle on, wondering briefly iftheyhad cheated on each other. Or if at least one of them had. No matter what Eve said, Gabi couldn’t see either of these two even looking at someone else.

When each of the women had a cup of tea in hand, the three of them took their drinks outside and wandered over to Jasmine and the girls. Her sisters Amina and Dalia had joined them, as had Desmond, a couple of tent boys and a few of the other performers. It felt weird having guests on the lot; generally, the only people who came behind the scenes apart from the family and employees were journalists, but everyone seemed totally besotted with the adorable Heidi.

Gabi introduced Adam and Stella.

‘Your baby is so cute,’ said Amina.

‘Can I hold her?’ asked Dalia.

‘Me first,’ squealed Amina.

While Desmond pulled a few hacky sacks from his pockets and tried to show Heidi how to juggle, poor Lily was passed between the Saad sisters as if she were a doll.

When she began to fuss, Adam and Stella decided they should be getting home.

Luna looked like she was about to burst into tears or a tantrum at this news, but Gabi was secretly relieved. She was all peopled out and wanted to head back to the caravan, curl up into a ball and go to sleep. She’d never been more grateful in her life that they didn’t have an evening show scheduled. After a powernap, she was planning to get takeaway fish and chips from The Palace, then eat them on the beach with Luna, watching the sun set before a very early night.

‘Can Luna come back to our place for a sleepover?’ Heidi asked, tugging at Stella’s hand.

Luna’s eyes lit up. She looked to her mum as if she’d just been offered front row seats to Taylor Swift’s next concert, but Gabi’s heart squeezed.

A sleepover! She’d never been without her daughter a day in her life, but more importantly, these people were strangers. Albeit very nice strangers, but you could never be too careful.

She couldn’t say yes, but it was going to break Luna’s heart when she said no.

As if sensing Gabi’s hesitation, Stella said, ‘Why don’t you and Luna come for dinner instead. It won’t be anything fancy, we’re just having a barbecue.’

Adam nodded. ‘But we’d love to have you. And we’ve got a pool so you can bring your bathers and cool off.’

They could also do that in the ocean after fish and chips, but as much as she wasn’t in a mood to socialise any longer, Gabi couldn’t deny her daughter this one normal childhood experience of a playdate. ‘Okay, thanks. That would be lovely. Can we bring anything?’

Adam and Stella shook their heads as baby Lily began to cry. While Adam took her ahead to the car, Stella gave Gabi their address and her phone number. ‘We’ll eat dinner about six, but feel free to come over as soon as you want. The kids can have a swim before we eat.’

‘Oh, I was hoping to have a nap this arvo, I’m exhausted,’ Gabi said, ‘so it’ll probably be an hour or so.’

Luna groaned loudly beside her. ‘You’re always tired these days.’

‘If you want, we can take Luna back to our place now and you can come once you’ve had a bit of time to yourself,’ Stella suggested.

‘Are you sure?’ Gabi asked, already imagining laying her head on her pillow.

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