Eight
‘So,’ Bel said once they were alone. ‘Here we are.’
‘Here we are.’
‘You’ve come on a great day for exploring Wessex. It’s normally not this busy,’ she said.
‘I know. I remember from when I drove through here the other day. This is a vast improvement.’
Bel felt a moment of discomfort as she recalled that first day. It was a blessing, really, that he didn’t remember her.
‘This is the pub,’ she said, deciding she may as well jump into tour-guide mode. ‘We have the Chinese restaurant across the road and, just outside of town, we have the truck stop, which actually does a decent burger.’
‘Ah, yes. The Big Burger.’ Tate nodded wisely.
‘Yes. That’s the one. The grocery store,’ Bel continued as they strolled down the street. ‘The bakery and chemist.That used to be the newsagent, but it closed down, which is why we now sell lottery and scratchies at the general store.’
‘We?’ he asked.
‘Uh … as a collective, I mean.’ It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to know they’d already met; it was just that since it hadn’t come up before, it coming up now would be awkward.
‘Why do you still live here, Bel?’ he asked after a few beats of silence.
The question took her by surprise. ‘I don’t know. It’s home, I suppose. The only one I remember.’
‘Don’t you want to go out and explore the world?’
Bel moved her shoulders slightly. ‘Well, yes. I guess. I keep meaning to do it, and it just hasn’t happened. I mean, I was all set to leave town when I was younger, but then Gran got sick. I guess it kind of stretched out longer than I originally thought it would.’
‘But there’s nothing stopping you leaving now?’ he asked, glancing across at her.
‘I guess not,’ she said.
‘So why don’t you?’
She considered the question before answering. ‘I don’t really have anywhere to go.’
‘Go anywhere.’
‘Oh sure,’ she said with a chuckle, then looked at his face and sobered. ‘I’m not like Larkin. My side of the family doesn’t come from money. I don’t have rich parents to pay for a holiday.’
‘I wasn’t talking about a holiday. Study or get a job somewhere in a field you’ve always been interested in. Go out and experience another city.’
She shook her head quickly, wondering why, when Dean had questioned her the other day about the same thing, it had annoyed her. Yet now, when Tate asked, she found she wasn’t irritated at all. ‘It’s not as easy as just deciding to leave.’
‘It’s exactly as easy as that. You have to make the decision and then the rest will all fall into place.’
Inwardly, she scoffed at his oversimplified advice. He came from money. They all did. They had no idea how most people lived when there was no trust fund to draw from. Like she could click her fingers and get a job and find a house.
‘You should think about it.’
Bel sent him a noncommittal smile and they walked on. A group of boys rode past on skateboards, artfully dodging a few pedestrians ahead of them, but Tate instantly pulled her towards him, holding her firmly against his side as the boys went past in a blur of colour. After they’d gone, he kept his arm around her and Bel thought that if her heart continued to beat so erratically, it might actually burst from her chest.
‘You said you worked for a mining company. Is the company itself based in Perth?’ she asked as a way to distract herself from the warmth of his arm against her waist.
‘It’s actually up in the Pilbara, a couple hundred kilometres from Port Hedland.’
‘Do you spend much time onsite?’
