Page 37 of Outback Secrets

Chapter Ten

On Thursday morning, Henri watched, her heart in her throat, as Liam paddled towards the biggest set he’d attempted since they’d started lessons two days ago. He was a quick learner—which was probably a good thing as she wasn’t known for her patience—and she had to admit she enjoyed watching him much more than she probably should. Even if he was hopeless that would be the case—his broad shoulders, strong hips and muscular thighs were a thing of beauty, not to mention those arms—but he was actually pretty good. Not that she’d gush to him; it was never a good idea to blow smoke up a guy’s trumpet.

He gripped the edges of the board, then pushed to a stand and she bit her lip as he quickly disappeared into the barrel. Would he come out the other side or tumble into the water and get ragdolled?

Long seconds passed and then he appeared again, still upright on the Malibu. The breath gushed from her lungs and Henri couldn’t help grinning.

‘Woohoo!’ she shrieked, the sound lost in the waves and the wind as she paddled over to him.

‘Well?’ Liam asked, his board under one arm, his wet hair flopping over one eye.

‘Well, what?’ she joked.

‘How good was that? I can’t believe it; I did it.’

‘Yeah, it was pretty good.’

‘Pretty good?’ His lovely grey eyes widened. ‘You’re a hard taskmaster, aren’t you, Ms Forward? If I’d known surfing felt like this, maybe I’d have got someone to give me lessons years ago.’

‘Okay. It was great.’ She rolled her eyes, still smiling madly. His excitement was catching, almost as good as conquering a big wave herself. ‘What do you want? A bloody medal? Maybe I should get the medal for being such a stellar teacher?’

‘I don’t know about a medal, but how about I buy you breakfast instead?’

‘Two days in a row, Mr Castle? Tongues will start to wag, you know.’

He winked as they started towards the shore. ‘Isn’t that exactly what we want?’

He was right of course, but sometimes Henri found herself forgetting why they were actually spending time together. Since Monday, she’d spent two out of three nights at the pub, chatting to him down at the bar before retreating upstairs to his bed, and every morning here on the beach. They’d known each other less than a week but it somehow felt much longer. And having Liam to focus on as well as her daytime labour on the farm meant that she was finally sleeping better again.

Her heart still raced every time she thought about what had happened to her on the Riverina, but she felt much more relaxed than when she’d first arrived home.

‘Good morning. How was the surf?’ sang Frankie as they entered the café ten minutes later, Liam holding the door open with one hand, his other firmly clasping Henri’s. All for show of course.

‘Fantastic,’ Henri replied, fighting a blush. As comfortable as she was around Liam, it still felt weird pretending they were together. Especially to people like Frankie.

But it wasn’t only her best friend in the café. Most of the tables were taken and there was a small queue at the counter, where Frankie stood making coffees at her whiz-bang machine. Busy noise drifted from the kitchen and two waiters were rushing about, taking and delivering orders.

‘What are you having?’ Liam asked, retrieving his wallet from his pocket as he nodded towards the menu decoratively scrawled on a large blackboard.

‘Oh, no, no, no, no, no,’ Henri countered, pulling her purse from her handbag. ‘This one’s on me. You paid yesterday.’

‘Already bickering like an old married couple,’ said Sally the vet, standing in front of them in the line.

They smiled at her, both playing along.

Henri inhaled the mouth-watering aroma of fresh sourdough bread and sizzling bacon coming from the kitchen. ‘I’m gunna have the big breakfast with the lot.’

Liam nodded. ‘I’ll have the same.’

There were a number of healthier options on Frankie’s breakfast menu, but Liam and Henri had more than worked up an appetite.

Once they’d placed their order, they scored a table just vacated by the window so they could keep an eye on Sheila who was tied to a post outside, in her element, enjoying the attention of everyone who stopped to stroke her on their way past.

‘Where’d you get Sheila?’ Henri asked as she absentmindedly began to flick through a copy of the Bunyip News that someone had left on the table.

‘Someone abandoned her at the pub when she was just a pup.’

‘What?’ Henri looked up. ‘You serious?’