Page 26 of The Storm Boys Series Collection

Even if that was my Plan A, I’d still need a Plan B, C, and D.

I’d need contingencies to prove to him I was serious, that I’d thought it through. That I’d exhausted every possible option before I had to leave in two days.

Two days.

God. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye again. Even if it wasn’t permanent, even knowing I’d be seeing him again soon, it wasn’t enough.

I didn’t want to leave in two days.

The destination for the day was the site of some Indigenous rock art. There was a sheer rock face and trees that afforded some much-appreciated shade, an impressive overhang, a lookout, and a cave that was more of a slit in the ancient sandstone, all spotted with rock art. There were wooden paths to protect the ground, and the rock art itself was fenced off to stop people from trying to touch it.

It was sacred and beautiful and utterly amazing to think it was over tens of thousands of years old.

We took a moment to sit in the shade and take it all in. “It’s peaceful here,” I mused. Norah nodded, and Paul gave me a small, approving smile.

“It is. The First Nations people here, the Gundjeihmi-speaking people, call this place Burrunggui,” Paul said. “And according to traditional owners, this was shaped by Ancestral beings in the creation period of the Dreaming. They would meet here, prepare food, and hold ceremonies. It holds a remarkable significance.”

“I can see why.”

It was true. There was a peacefulness here that was hard to explain.

Kari said something in Norwegian, and Marit translated for her. “She said it feels like the earth and the heart are happy here,” Marit said.

I stared at her because that was exactly how it felt. I nodded, struggling to find my voice. “That’s how it feels for me too.”

I could feel Paul watching me, and when I was brave enough to meet his gaze, he smiled. A soft, private smile that cemented something in me.

Yeah.

I wasn’t leaving in two days.

* * *

I wasglad to get back into camp. The late afternoon was warm and humid, the view of the valley below shimmered in the rising heat. Clouds rolled in again for a late afternoon shower, a sure sign that summer was on its way.

It wasn’t in the distance this time. It was right over us.

I managed to get my mattress back into my tent before the storm hit. I had no intention of sleeping on it, but I didn’t want it to get ruined. Marit, Kari, and Norah were all in their tents, waiting for the rain to hit.

I made a run for the communal kitchen as the skies opened up, getting myself drenched in the dash.

I laughed, my arms outstretched, water dripping off me, my hair plastered down my forehead. “Holy shit. I feel like I walked out of the ocean.”

Paul smirked and threw me a dishtowel to dry myself off with.

I shook my head like a dog and patted my face dry, and he was still looking at me, his eyes full of heat and desire.

“You should probably get out of those wet clothes,” he said over the sound of the rain on the roof.

“Wanna help me with that?”

“Hell yes,” he replied.

But a shriek of laughter came across the way and we turned to see Marit and Kari running into the rain, barefoot, still in their shorts and singlet tops. They laughed and danced, and then Norah pulled off her sandals and joined them.

I couldn’t help but laugh, so I pulled off my shoes and socks. “Get your boots off,” I said to Paul before I ran into the pouring rain. I was already wet, so it was no big deal.

But if I was ever going to have the chance to dance barefoot in the rain in the middle of Kakadu, I was going to take it.

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