Surfing Middle Point had helped him pass the time over the summer months since he’d been back. He could spend hours out there on the water. He had even become acclimatised to the colder Southern Ocean again. Out there in the swell, his fuck-ups, the competitive bump and grind of Sydney and the loss of his job all twisted together like a clump of knotted sea grass, which he could imagine floating away as he rode the waves to the sand.
Ahead of him, the Point was his onshore reference mark. The pub was perched right on top of it and further east the Norfolk Island Pines dotted the coast. The view had changed dramatically in the years he’d been gone. Hundreds of new holiday homes lined the coastline like modern monoliths, taking advantage of the best vistas west and east along the coast, their glass windows winking back at Joe as the sun caught their eyes. Each one was bigger and grander than the next, square shapes with oddly angled roofs, in coastal colours of sea-blue and lemon-yellow, silver and taupe. He counted along the row and could pick where Julia’s old house was – now Dan’s place. It was so small and dwarfed by its neighbours that it almost disappeared behind the dunes, so low its rooftop could barely be seen. From here, it could have been a vacant block. Joe had been impressed with Dan’s pledge to keep the little green beach shack exactly as it was. Middle Point needed more of that, he decided, more history and more connection to its past, not more of the stuff that turned it into every other beach-side town in the country.
Joe raked his hands through his wet hair and soaked up the warming sun on his wetsuit. He straddled his board, legs dangling and balancing with ease, something he’d learned young and never forgotten.
‘Just one more,’ he told himself, as he repositioned himself and lay flat. One more wave, just one more, and then he’d head home.
Anna hadn’t made it to the pub for breakfast. Of course she hadn’t. That didn’t mean she was a coward, not at all. She was simply a realist. There was absolutely no point in spending any more time in Joe’s company.
She knew Dan and Lizzie would be wondering why she was a no-show after her promises the night before, but one of the perks of being a doctor was that she could convincingly feign a whole array of illnesses, depending on the needs of the situation at hand.
It was almost lunchtime before she heard her car pull up outside Dan’s house. Since Joe had left, she’d spent the rest of the morning beating herself up and hiding, trying to retreat into a novel she’d found on the coffee table. It was useless. Nothing had sunk in. The only saving grace was that after a forensic search in Dan’s kitchen, she’d found real coffee.
She was finishing her second cup when Dan walked into the house, jangling her car keys in his hand. ‘You all right, Anna?’ When she saw the genuine concern in his eyes, she felt slightly guilty for the lie she was about to tell. Sometimes it was hard being a severely lapsed Catholic.
She smiled up at him. ‘Bit of a headache. I didn’t think I’d be great company at breakfast so I decided to stay in and look at the view.’
They both turned to admire it through the windows. The promise of the morning had come to fruition – a sapphire sky, cloudless, white caps on the surf, and a light breeze taking the edge off the heat of the day.
‘It’s pretty spectacular, isn’t it?’ Dan smiled then turned back to her. ‘Hey, Lizzie was disappointed you couldn’t make it. But we did have company for breakfast.’ Dan crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Joe turned up for about five seconds and said he’d seen you and that you were heading back home. Lizzie sent me here to find out what’s going on.’
Anna looked into her lap. ‘I’ve got to get back to Adelaide. I’ve got so much to do.’
‘That’s interesting. Things to do on a Sunday,’ Dan pondered, rubbing the growth on his chin ‘What would they be?’ He sat down next to her, reached out an arm on the back of the sofa.
‘Stuff. I’ve got to do stuff. Lots of stuff.’
Dan’s cynical look said he wasn’t buying it. ‘Anna, you know that I know what’s waiting for you back in Adelaide. If you stay here, you can avoid going home to your empty house. And, double bonus, you can also avoid your family.’
Anna sighed and her twitchy fingers found good old St Christopher. ‘I know, I know, I have to tell them.’
‘That Catholic guilt will get you in the end, you know.’
‘God Dan, when did you get so smart?’ She felt a lump in her throat. Maybe this was part of feeling safe, she thought, knowing that Dan had her back.
‘What do you think? I learnt from the best. Six months ago, you helped me get my head out of my arse enough to see how much of my life I was missing. I’m just returning the favour, sweetheart.’
Anna wiped away the tears that had spilled down her cheek. ‘I’ll tell them. I will. I don’t know what they’re going to say. You know this will be the first divorce in the family? And by that I mean, ever, in the whole family. Even my Uncle Peter didn’t get divorced when his wife ran off to Darwin with the lead singer from that Cold Chisel tribute band.’
‘Oh yeah,’ Dan grinned. ‘I remember Maria. She used to wear that very, very short leather skirt.’
Anna smacked him playfully on the arm. ‘Why am I not surprised you remember her? When she got sick of the touring and the Jimmy Barnes wannabe, she came back home with her tail between her legs and he took her back. The whole thing was swept under the carpet. It was like nothing had ever happened.’
Dan lifted his feet and rested them on the coffee table. God, she envied how relaxed he seemed to be now. He was stretching out beside her while she felt as wound up as a slinky.
‘You don’t think things have changed?’ he asked. ‘You reckon your parents would want you to stay with Alex after what he’s done to you?’
Anna huffed. ‘Maybe you’re right. I don’t know. I can’t think.’ Anna leaned forward, rested her elbows on her knees, and let her head fall into her hands. Dan patted her back reassuringly and she took comfort in the simple gesture.
‘Look, you know you have to tell them. It’ll cut you up inside until you do. Just don’t do it today. Wait until your Wednesday night family dinner when everyone’s had a bellyful of food and wine. You still have those, don’t you?’
Anna turned, looked at Dan. ‘You remember our Wednesday night dinner?’
‘You kidding? They used to scare the hell out of me, sitting there with your dad. He never liked me, you know.’
‘I know.’ Anna laughed at the memory of what seemed like a million conversations she’d endured with her father about Dan. His opposition to their relationship with Dan wasn’t the reason they’d broken up all those years ago. It seemed they were better friends than they ever were lovers. And the kicker was that they’d loved Alex from the day they’d met him. Hell, they still did. And out of Dan and Alex, who was the better man? Hands down, it wasn’t her husband.
‘You’re right, Dan. I’ll tell them on Wednesday night. That gives me three whole days to figure out what to say.’
Anna flopped back on the couch, looked out to the sky and listened to the white noise of the distant waves on the beach. Getting up and driving away now would require a whole lot of energy. Energy she wasn’t sure she had. And she needed to make sure her reserves were topped up because when she returned home that evening, with everything of Alex’s gone, it would really be the first day of the rest of her life.
‘No one’s cracking the whip here, Anna. Don’t go racing home just yet. You’ve been through a whole lot of shit in the past few months. It’s time you kicked off those damn high heels and got your feet wet.’
She symbolically toed them off and her red heels toppled to the floor. ‘Done,’ she announced.
‘See? How easy was that?’ Dan asked with a smile.
‘Shoes are the easy part. Now I need to find a new life for myself. And, to be honest, Danny, I don’t know where to start.’
‘You start down here, Anna. You start by taking one step, then another, down there on the beach. And then, one deep breath, a
nd then another. When you want to escape, this is the place to escape to.’
She nudged him. ‘Is that what you did?’
‘Yeah, I did. And I found that new life for myself. Right here.’
Anna smiled, felt lighter just being able to talk about it with someone. ‘How about you show me this beach I’ve heard so much about?’
It was the feel of warm sand between her toes that triggered the memory. When Anna was a child the Morelli family spent a lot of time at the beach. It was the only way to escape Adelaide’s relentless, scorching, suburban summer days. Her family would pack up their car – all three kids, an esky full of food and drink, fold-out chairs, tables, towels and beach shelters packed inside – and head to the coast for the day. Along the journey, they would stop and beep their horns outside other houses – her grandparents and other families – and convene a convoy. The whole extended clan would think nothing of blowing half a tank of petrol on the drive to Aldinga on the western side of the Fleurieu Peninsula, where the warm waters of the Gulf St Vincent washed on to the beach. It was the only place along Adelaide’s metropolitan coastline where people could drive from the road directly onto the sand and, despite her father’s niggling concerns about premature rust on his Holden, he would acquiesce and drive slowly along until they found the perfect spot to set up camp.
In no time flat, the families would construct a mini-village; the cars would park in such a way as to create a central area that could be shaded with a tarpaulin strung up between slammed car doors. The kids would spend the whole day in the water. The men would argue and smoke and the women would prepare lunch and gossip.
‘Anna?’ Dan looked back for her. He was already on the sand.
‘Yeah, I’m coming.’ The view stirred so many vivid memories of her childhood. She’d always loved the road trip but never the beach. She remembered the peculiarly teenage pangs of self-consciousness about appearing in her bikini in front of the boys from the other families, who were all too rambunctious and teasing for her liking. She’d never been a great swimmer, either, and as soon as she’d seen them grab her younger brother Luca and dunk him under the water, she’d steered clear of them all. And the waves. Instead, she buried herself in books and lingered near the mothers and aunts and her Nonna, quietly listening with great intent to the conversations they thought she wouldn’t understand.
That’s why now, twenty years later, she was more than surprised to find herself walking along the white warm sands of Middle Point in bare feet and kind of enjoying it. It all felt new to her, somehow. The way the sand abraded her toes as she walked, like a mini workout for the soles of her feet. And the splash of the water on her ankles cooled her off from the legs up and was quite refreshing.
With one hand she shielded her eyes from the hot midday sun. Despite wearing a pair of Audrey Hepburn-style sunglasses, she still had to squint it was so bright, the light bouncing off the white sand and the shallows of the water. With the other, she tried to control her hair, which was whipping about her face and her shoulders. Anna wished she’d brought a hair band with her. And perhaps some thongs.
She breathed deeply and, mysteriously, miraculously, some of the tension seemed to leave her. The feeling was so delicious and unexpected that she stopped, turned to look out to the distant ocean and breathe some more. She wondered if the cleansing sensation would make it further than the muscles of her neck and shoulders, reach right down into her chest and soothe her heart as well.
‘You okay?’ Dan ambled beside her.
Anna found a smile. ‘It’s kind of nice down here, isn’t it?’
Dan took in the sweep of the view, from the Point to the Coorong. ‘You’re preaching to the choir, baby.’
Anna laughed as the wind played with her hair some more and she struggled to control it. ‘I get why you love it. You look a million bucks and you’ve got the sweetest woman in the whole world to love you. I think she’s what makes Middle Point special for you, no?’
The smallest shadow passed over Dan’s face but quickly lifted. Anna knew him well enough to know he was thinking back to his recovery from the car accident and all he’d been through during the past six months.
‘Yeah,’ he grinned, suddenly happier than she’d ever seen him. ‘I’d live anywhere as long as I’m with Lizzie. But,’ Dan thought for a moment, ‘There’s something else, too. There’s a magic here. I can’t describe it.’ Dan shrugged his shoulders. ‘All I know is that once you feel it, it snares you and you never want to let go.’
Okay, maybe Dan had a point, just a small one. So the place looked like a postcard and the sun tingled your skin, warming you up from the inside. The views for miles along the coastline were good and the old stone pub up on the Point looked impressive, if you liked old buildings.
It was nice for weekends but Anna was a city girl through and through, from her high heels to her coffee addiction, and knew for sure that she was totally impervious to the charms of a sleepy beachside town. She wasn’t so sure about her immunity to one of its residents, however.
She was so lost in thought that she hadn’t realised Dan had stopped until she heard him behind her.
‘G’day,’ he called out to the waves. Anna stopped and turned to see who Dan was talking to.
Oh, this was just perfect.
CHAPTER
12
Joe Blake was walking up the beach towards them, carrying a white surfboard under his right arm and flicking the water from his hair with his free hand. Anna was glad she was wearing sunglasses so he wouldn’t notice the way she rolled her eyes at his look of smug self-satisfaction. She’d just rejected him and there he was, looking all athletic and beautiful and sun-drenched and strong. Could he have planned this any better?
He lifted a hand in the air to wave at them as he approached. ‘Hey.’ She didn’t need to be looking at him to hear the smile in his voice.
‘Hi Joe,’ Anna replied, trying her hardest to sound indifferent. She glanced back to the road. Didn’t he just know he looked amazingly handsome in his half-nakedness? He was actually half-naked because he’d pulled down the top half of his wetsuit and the inside-out arms were flapping around his thighs like soggy origami. So what, she thought? It’s not as if she hadn’t seen thousands of men in a similar state. She was a doctor after all. Bare skin and muscles were just body parts. Organs and musculature. Biceps. Deltoids. Triceps. Their combination in the six-foot-two frame of Joe Blake had no more affect on her than if he were one of her patients lying on her examination table and she was listening to his heartbeat with a stethoscope.
‘Waves any good?’ Dan asked.
‘Yeah, west of the Point, five footers. What are you two up to?’
Anna felt his gaze on her. And when she looked back at him, the sun was shining so bright that she could make out individual hairs glistening on his chest and tiny drops of water clinging to his flat belly, down low where his wetsuit was unfolded. When he lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun, muscles moved in his upper arm and Anna couldn’t look away from the elegant way they moved under his tanned skin.
‘I was just helping Anna blow out the cobwebs by showing her all the things I know and love about Middle Point.’
Anna lowered her gaze slowly from his pecs to his abs and finally back up to his smiling face, just in time for him to register what she was doing. He directed his next question to her with a sexy grin.
‘So what do you think?’ Joe shifted his weight from one foot to the other and adjusted his grip on his board. ‘You like it?’
‘Huh?’
‘I was asking if you like what you see,’ Joe said.
‘It’s okay.’
‘Okay?’ Joe laughed and the sound of his voice did strange things to her stomach.
‘Yeah, tell me about it,’ Dan said with a shrug. ‘She needs to spend more time at Middle Point, don’t you think?’
Dan’s words sent a shiver of horror across Anna’s shoulders. More time in Middle Point?
And more running into Joe Blake? There wasn’t enough valium in the world for that situation. And suddenly things got worse. In a humiliating rush of self-awareness, Anna realised she’d slept with both of these men. A flush of heat stampeded through her body, from her toes to her teeth, and her cheeks burned. She took another look at the two of them. Merda. She certainly had a type, didn’t she? Tall, smug, bad boys. With sexy grins and wide shoulders and eyes that mesmerised and sweet words that melted your bones. Men who made you forget who you were and what you were supposed to be. Exactly the wrong type of men for a good girl like Anna Morelli.
She fought hard to regain her equilibrium. ‘C’mon guys. I’m a city girl. Where are the cafés, the restaurants, the shopping?’
Joe snorted. ‘Why would you want to come down here and shop?’
Dan let out a belly laugh scaring the seagulls. ‘You need Lizzie and Julia for that. I think they need to take you to Port Elliot.’
‘There’s shopping in Port Elliot?’ Anna asked.
‘And cafés and bookshops,’ Joe said. ‘If you want to check them out, let me know. I could give you a tour.’
Anna’s determination wobbled slightly but she dug deep. ‘Thanks, but I’m about to head back to Adelaide.’
She flicked a glance at her wrist and the sudden move stiffened her neck. Damn, all the calm she’d felt just minutes before had washed out to sea.
Our Kind of Love Page 7
