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Sandra opened the bathroom door, and her smile was seductive. ‘Oh, look what’s in here. You’d better get two glasses. It’s a bath for two!’
##
By the time their dinner was delivered, it was almost ten p.m. The hours had passed quickly with an hour-long shared bath, a bottle of champagne, and a very enjoyable interlude of being led astray in a soft and luxury king-sized bed.
Sandra yawned and pulled the plush bathrobe close around her as Graysen held out the platter of cheese that had followed their meal. They each wore one of the soft bathrobes that came with what Sandra had discovered was the luxury suite.
‘I’m glad we’re facing this way,’ Sandra said as she looked up at the brilliant star-studded sky. Her eyes were heavy and she forced them wide to take in the beautiful vista above them. The balcony overlooked the McDonnell Range, but they faced the east, and not the west where they had spent the days of the trek.
‘To see the sunrise? We never got to Mt Sonder,’ Graysen said. ‘Will we come back and see that one day?’
‘No. I don’t think I could trek here again, too many sad memories. That’s why I’m pleased we’re looking away from the trail.’ She shook her head as he passed the cheese plate again. ‘But I have read about a couple of tracks in New Zealand that might be good.’
‘As long as you let me come with you,’ he said.
‘That’s a given.’ Sandra yawned again. ‘Sorry.’
Graysen stood and held out his hand and she took it. His fingers wrapped around hers and she smiled.
‘Now I know we’ve got two rooms—’
‘Yes?’
‘Which bed are we going to share?’
Sandra smiled. ‘You choose, but I do have one thing to say.’
‘What’s that?’ Graysen’s arm looped over her shoulder as they walked inside.
‘I have a wonderful king-sized bed in my apartment and if you’re coming to Darwin, I’d like you to stay with me. However, unfortunately, my guest room is set up as a sewing room, so there’s only one bed.’
‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘I guess we’ll have to share then. What about your girls?’
‘No,’ she said cheekily. ‘There’s not enough room for them.’
Chapter 32
Two months later-Darwin
‘Sandra, have you seen my lens cloth?’
‘I put it on your camera bag last night.’
‘Ah, I can see it. I was having a boys’ look.’
Sandra smiled. One of the things she’d discovered about Graysen over the past two months he’d been staying at her apartment was that he was disorganised. She’d never picked that on the trek when they’d first met. He’d been good for her, because she knew she spent too much time having everything in the right place and not being able to go out unless the apartment was perfectly clean and tidy. She’d also discovered he was impetuous, and a spur of the moment person, like the morning he’d woken up beside her and said, ‘Let’s go to Bali today!’
Just as well she’d got her passport. They’d been over there in time for dinner. Sandra had learned to be flexible, and with her newfound independence and Graysen living with her, their life together was very happy.
Her phone rang, and she walked into the bedroom and took it off the charger beside the bed.
‘Hey, Els.’ Sandra sat on the bed ready to settle in for a chat. ‘How are you, sweetie?’
‘Fat and bored stiff.’
Sandra chuckled. ‘It’s going to get worse before it gets better.’
‘Mum? You know how you said with that couple who did all the stuff on the trek no one could identify them because there were no photos?’
