In His Sails Read online

  I kicked out at whatever had caught my leg, trying to pull it free, but each time I struggled to get it away, it wound tighter and tighter around my ankle.

  Shit.

  I dove down into the water, trying to pull the seaweed away from my leg. It was strong and I surfaced for air before going down for a second time. I still couldn’t budge it and I began to panic. What if I couldn’t get free and I drowned out here, all by myself?

  I thrashed my leg as hard as I could. I was gasping now.

  Suddenly I was free. The last kick had done it. I was exhausted, panting and gasping for air.

  I couldn’t think of anything except to thank the stars at how lucky I was and how glad I was to have taken those swimming lessons when I was younger. I guess my mother did make good decisions sometimes.

  A hand grabbed mine and pulled me I onto a surfboard. I had to blink twice to see what was happening. David was looking down at me with a worried expression on his face. “I got out as fast as I could. You were lucky. You okay?”

  I don’t know why, whether it was because I was exhausted from the struggle or just in sheer relief at seeing someone come and save me, but I started blubbering. A grown woman, lying on a random guys surfboard and I start crying like a little girl. I’m even embarrassed for myself. Not that he was random. He was David. The guy from yesterday. And today he was wearing a very tight tank top that accentuated his rippled abs.

  They say that when you feel fear, that you transfer all your emotions onto your rescuer thinking that you are in love with them. Such an intensity of feelings did indeed wash over me, and while we were still out quite far, I sat up on his surfboard, my legs dangling over each side, threw my arms around his neck and crushed my lips to his. Here I was, literally ready to have a big make out session with him, as a thank you for coming out and saving me (even if technically I had already saved myself).

  He pulled back. “Let’s get you back to shore first,” he said.

  He paddled us back, with me still clinging to him like some koala baby on its mothers back.

  When we got to shore, two other lifeguards helped bring me onto the sand, checking me out all over, to see if I was okay.

  “I’m fine, I really am,” I said trying to stand up and get away from everyone that was staring at me.

  I took a step toward David, and away from the crowd who had started to disperse again, probably disappointed that they didn’t get to see a dead body in the excitement.

  “There are easier ways to get my attention,” he said, grinning at me.

  I blushed. I knew that because my cheeks felt hotter than the rest of my body - and that was saying something in this heat.

  He was a lifeguard. Oh boy. I was about to become a cliché, lusting after the hero of the day. Good grief.

  I didn’t know what to say. I placed my hands on my hips. “A lifeguard huh? Thought you didn’t know how to talk to women? I would say you’d get plenty of opportunity with a job like that. There are bikini babes everywhere around here.”

  He shook his head. “Work’s work. I was off duty yesterday. Although if you ever need saving again, I’d be happy to oblige. Anytime day or night.” He leaned in closer. “How about tonight?”

  I didn’t know whether to punch him or thank him again. I decided on the former and punched him (not hard) on the arm. “You should have told me.”

  “What? That I’m a lifeguard? What difference would that have made?”

  “I might have wanted to kiss you sooner.”

  Chapter 5

  I must admit, that like many of my girlfriends (with the exception of my best friend Lucy), the idea of a man saving you is a bit of a turn on. So for David to be a lifeguard did make him more appealing. It was like a male friend of mine, who was a firefighter. He said when he was wearing the uniform, woman flocked to him, all gooey eyes with lust on their minds. Take the uniform off, and he was any other regular guy, that they didn’t look twice at.

  It was more than simply gratitude though, I knew that. But what, I hadn’t yet decided.

  I had a huge grin on my face when I got back to the cabin, hardly the correct expression for someone who had nearly drowned, but I didn’t care.

  I had arranged to meet David on the beach at sunset that very evening, and was looking forward to it.

  Our first date. On the beach. At Sunset. Have I mentioned cliché yet? I grinned again.

  “I want you to watch the twins tonight,” my mother said matter-of-factly. “I have something important I need to do.”

  “But I’ve made plans already. I have a date.”

  She looked me up and down and then shook her head. “Then, reschedule.”

  “I can’t babysit. They’re old enough to look after themselves.”

  “We are,” said my sister Britney. “I don’t need to see Mia suck face with some boy. I can stay here by myself.”

  “Who said I’m going to kiss him?”

  Britney rolled her eyes.

  My mother stood firm.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll be the babysitter for the trip.”

  “Mia, you are here because you are family. We always take holidays together. You should be a part of that while you still can be. I need you to help me out tonight. That’s all. Or take them along, if you are so sure there won’t be kissing.”

  “Can’t you reschedule?” I asked, thinking that taking my brother and sister on a date would be the unsexiest thing I could do.

  She shook her head. “I really can’t.”

  “Fine.” I cringed as I thought about how lame I was going to look. Well, luckily enough I wouldn’t see him again after the holiday was over. So if he had a sense of humour (which I think I’ve established he has) then I’ve at least given him a story he can tell his friends so they can all have a laugh about it. I spritzed a touch of perfume on and rubbed my wrists together.

  “Don’t embarrass me,” I said as I pointed to my brother and sister. “And stay close enough so I can see you, but not too close.”

  My mother had already left and I let the twins walk ahead of me as I locked the cabin door behind me, and set off for the beach rendezvous point. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. They were old enough to look after themselves, but it wasn’t like I was going to leave them at home. They were my family after all. I just wished I could have gotten to know David a little more on my own. Especially now that I’d seen him dripping wet in the surf.

  He was already at the beach when we showed up. He had bought two deck chairs and a blanket. The blanket lay neatly on the sand and the deck chairs to one side. He’d also packed a picnic dinner. Brownie points.

  “You bought chaperone’s?” he asked with a wink.

  “Can’t have you getting too friendly. We have just met after all,” I said.

  My little brother Paul thought he was the coolest thing ever. Britney had her headset on, oblivious to everything. She sat down on the rug and looked out at the sea looking bored.

  “Sunset will be in ten minutes,” he said. “Did you bring a camera?”

  Damn, I’d left my phone back at the cabin. Where was my head? I usually took it everywhere.

  “A good excuse to get my details, so I can send you a picture, huh? Give me your number and I’ll send it to you.” He got out his phone, keyed in my number, and snapped one of the view.

  “There, sent.”

  He turned the phone around to me so I could see the picture. I had to admit, it looked lovely and quite romantic if you are into that sort of thing. I was surprised that we were the only ones on the beach. I thought sunsets over the water got everyone excited. Guess people are too busy watching bad television or playing Angry Birds to enjoy natures wonders these days.

  “Want one with you all?” he asked.

  I nodded and went to sit next to Britney on the blanket. Paul sat beside us, a huge grin on his face as David snapped a shot of us.

  “Are you really a lifesaver? Have you ever seen anyone die? Did you have to kiss people to bring
them back to life?” Paul peppered David with questions all evening. David explained about a few lifesaving techniques, enough to make my brother happy enough to return to his iPod to immerse himself in his current Minecraft obsession.

  We shared the food sparingly so there was enough to go around and the evening flew by with jokes and easy conversation. Often I’d laugh so loud I’d nearly snort. I didn’t realise how funny lifeguards could be.

  I shivered as a breeze from the water blew in to us, and thought about returning my brother and sister back to our cabin at the park.

  As we stood up to say goodbye I leaned in closer to David. “Sorry about the tag alongs, I know you wanted a little more action.”

  David laughed. “Actually I’m glad. After today, when you were all over me on my board, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I told you I’m not used to talking with someone new and someone so hot.”

  “I find that very difficult to believe. You seem to be quite at ease with me tonight. You even got a smile out of Britney.”

  “You make it easy.”

  He pulled me in for a quick hug and then ruffled Paul’s hair. “Nice to meet you,” he said holding out his hand to shake. Paul shook it enthusiastically and when he offered his hand to Britney she looked at him and rolled her eyes.

  “When are you going home?” he asked as he walked us back to the park.

  “End of next week,” I said.

  “Then I have plenty of time to get to know you better.” He nodded but furrowed his brow deep in thought. “If you want to.”

  Did I?

  “Sure. Got nothing else to do here.” I winked, so he knew I was being playful, but the intense look in those deep blue eyes didn’t falter from his face. I bit my lip and waved as he turned around and walked away.

  Chapter 6

  I knew something was up with mum the moment we walked in the door to our cabin. She was sitting at the small round table, a glass of wine next to her, still full. Her face was white and she was staring at a sheet of paper that she tried to hide as we walked inside.

  “I didn’t expect you back so soon,” she said. Her voice was shaking and a little too high pitched.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Mum?”

  She waved her hand in the air, putting back on her smile. “Look at the time. Aren’t you all tired?” I wasn’t, but I could see the drowsiness in my siblings.

  After we got them off to bed, I asked her again what was wrong.

  “It’s your father.”

  My father hadn’t been around for a while. He was like that. Came and went as he pleased. While him and mum had never married, they’d always remained close. He used to joke and say that we were all old enough to look after ourselves now, that we didn’t need him. That now I was an adult, and the twins were old enough to understand his ways, he didn’t need to conform to what society thought a father should be. Mum just thought he was a lazy sod.

  “What about him?” I could feel a shiver brush across the back of my neck.

  “He’s suing me for the house.”

  “Our house?”

  I couldn’t believe it. He wanted to take away our house. My mother loved that house. I figured she’d live there forever. It seemed that was no longer the case.

  “Why?”

  “His new girlfriend. She wants him to break ties with us. And I guess I have no legal right.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “We never married, Mia. It’s in his name.”

  I couldn’t believe my father would do this to us. Not after all these years.

  “Where are we going to live?”

  “I’ve just been to visit a lawyer. He says I could get a settlement. Not the house, but half its value. Common law wife or something. But that means we can’t return to Sydney. We can’t afford to buy there.”

  “What about here? In Nambucca?”

  “No, I’ve already made plans to go and live with my sister, your Aunt Josie.”

  “I’m not going to Aberdeen!”

  “Mia, you don’t have to. You can have the money, a third of it, anyway. I don’t want anything from him. You kids take it. Go buy something, live where you want. Go and be happy.”

  “Did you know about this already?”

  “I had my suspicions. He’d been acting strange for a while now.”

  “That’s why you wanted us to pack heavy. In case we couldn’t go back, isn’t it?”

  She looked down at her feet. “I’m sure he’ll let us get our things. He said he’ll pack them all up and send them to us at our new address.”

  “You can’t let him get away with this. Fight him.”

  She placed her hands on my shoulders and I could feel the strength and fight slipping away from her. “What’s the point? I have you three. If I have you, then I don’t need anything else.”

  I hugged her close. She didn’t deserve this. And neither did my brother and sister.

  Chapter 7

  I tossed and turned in the bunk bed all night, unable to think clearly. I had less than two weeks to figure out what to do with my life.

  Dragging myself out of bed, I looked in the mirror. The dark circles under my eyes were evident. I tried covering them with concealer. Not happening today. I sighed.

  Lucy texted me, asking about the details about the date. Shit, David. I almost forgot. Almost. He was the only good thing happening right now. I should forget all this mess Dad was putting us through and just drown into his arms. He could save me from this.

  Mum was on her phone, making plans to move to Aberdeen with Aunt Josie. It was all happening so quickly. Two days ago I was surly at my mother for dragging me here, and now I didn’t even have a there to return to.

  My father had already hired someone to clean out the house and pack our things for us. He wasn’t wasting anytime, now that my mother had agreed to the terms.

  I tried calling him, to ask why he was doing this to us. I’d left several messages. He didn’t return any of them. I knew the avoidance game when I saw it.

  My fingers were trembling. I couldn’t breathe. It was too much of a decision to make right now. I needed air. I needed to get away from the craziness.

  I decided the lagoon would be quieter than the beach and headed in that direction.

  I sat on the same rock as two days ago, without realising it. I wasn’t expecting David to show up, after everything that had happened last night with Dad, he’d been pushed from my mind.

  “Alone again?” he asked.

  Startled, I smiled weakly. “Sorry, things are a bit crazy at the moment. I think I need some alone time, actually.”

  “Everything okay?” He sat down next to me. He was wearing a short sleeve shirt today. Buttoned up neatly. Just the top button undone. His hair was messy, deliberately so with wax or gel. I bit my lip thinking about running my hands through his hair, ripping open that shirt and letting the buttons pop onto the floor as I ran my hands over his chest.

  Where did that thought come from? I looked away shaking the picture from my head.

  “You can tell me. I’m a good listener.”

  His blue eyes stared at me with the same intensity that made my pulse quicken every time he did it. I wondered if he realised the effect that he was having on me.

  I nodded. Sometimes it is easier to tell a stranger how you are feeling rather than your own family, and that was the case here, as I poured out my heart about how hurt I was by my father, and how angry I was that my mother let him do this without fighting. How confused I was about where to go, what to do. It was a good hour before I stopped letting the words pour out of me. Just saying them made me feel lighter.

  “What are you going to do?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I need some thinking time.”

  “Hard to think here, with the crowds.”

  “There’s nowhere else to go.”

  “Have you ever been sailing?”

>   I looked at him in confusion. “What a weird question.”

  “No I mean, out there, on the ocean, it’s peaceful, quiet. It’s a good place to think. And I don’t know - answers seem to come easier when you are out there.”

  I knew what he meant. That’s why I liked floating on the surface of the water and letting it transport me away from my problems. Except when seaweed tangles in your foot, of course.

  He brushed the back of my hand with his fingers, sending goose bumps up my arm. “I’ve got a boat, I could take you out if you like?”

  “So you could have me all to yourself? All alone?”

  He laughed. “True. But I’d stay out of your way. I’ve got some work to do anyway.”

  “On the boat? What could a lifesaver do on a boat in the middle of the ocean?”

  “The lifeguard gig is my a job. My other passion is writing. I have a book in the works. I write my best stuff when I’m alone at sea. Helps me think. It might help you think, too. What do you say?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “It’s fine. I understand. But if you want to, the offer is there.” His fingers entwined in mine and my heart beat faster. He looked away at the sea, lost in thought.

  “Okay, when?”

  He turned back to look at me. “How about this afternoon? I’ll grab us something to eat and we can get away, and be back before it gets too late.”

  Chapter 8

  David’s boat was a white sailing boat with the name Drummer Boy painted black on the side. The sails were down, but it was still impressive enough for me to murmur appreciatively. It was about the size of our whole cabin back at the holiday park.

  “You like?” he asked, as he placed a wicker basket full of food on board.

  “It’s amazing. I’ve never been on a boat like this before.” I ran my hand over the silver railing to steady myself as I stepped on deck. The ground shifted and rocked under my feet.