Page 16 of Coming Home to Sturcombe Bay
“And everyone will be fighting to squeeze into a space in the car parks, struggling to figure out how to use the parking app. I bet there’ll be a few road-rage incidents before the weekend’s over.”
“Lucky us, eh?” Cassie nodded towards the steps down from Cliff Road. “Out of the front door and straight down onto the beach.”
“Mmm. It’s just . . . Oh, I know it’s good for the businesses that rely on the tourists. I suppose that’s the compensation for the way the town gets overrun every summer. It just makes it so hard for anyone else trying to find a place to buy or even rent when so many houses are second homes or Airbnbs. I worry what it’ll be like for Noah and Kyra when they’re grown up, whether they’ll even be able to live here.”
“That’s a long time ahead,” Cassie reminded her gently.
Lisa laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, ignore me, grumbling like some old bloke at the end of the bar. I’m not really complaining — I love it here. And it’s perfect for the kids.” She pulled her phone out of her bag. “Hey, that’s a fine-looking castle,” she called out to them. “I’m going to take a photograph.”
The castle was indeed magnificent — three feet square and two high, ready to repel all invaders. The construction team posed proudly behind it as Lisa took several snaps. “I can show these to Nanna. She’ll love seeing them.”
Robyn came bouncing over. “Auntie Cassie, Auntie Cassie, we’re going in swimming. Are you coming too?”
She slanted a swift glance up at Liam. Swimming. He’d be taking off his T-shirt, his jeans, stripping down to his swimming togs. She could cope with that. Of course she could . . .
“Yes, I’m coming swimming,” she confirmed.
The little ones all whooped with delight, racing to scramble out of their T-shirts and shorts. They all had their swimming togs on underneath, so this was clearly planned for.
“Wait,” Lisa called sternly. “No one goes till everyone goes.”
“Are you coming in?” Cassie asked.
Lisa shook her head, indicating the baby sleeping in her carrier.
Cassie slipped out of her shorts, then they all lined up to race down the beach to the sea, the dogs bounding ahead, barking with excitement. They splashed into the water, squealing and jumping over the waves as they rippled in over the sand.
The children could all swim, though more with enthusiasm than style. After splashing around for a while, they decided on a race. The two grown-ups were instructed to stand twenty yards apart to serve as the start and finish posts, and Liam called, “One, two, three . . . go!”
“Come on, come on!” Cassie cheered them loudly, clapping her hands as they surged towards her with whirling arms and flapping feet. A little to her surprise it was Amy, the smallest, who won. “Well done!” she applauded. “That was brilliant. You all did really well.”
Liam smiled across at her, and she smiled back, and for that fleeting moment she felt as though she had slipped back in time . . .
“Daddy, Daddy, throw me.”
Liam laughed, his delight in his little daughter evident. “Come on, then.” He made a stirrup with his hands and liftedher up. Giggling, she leaped off, curling up her knees to make the biggest splash she could as she landed on the water.
“Me too!” pleaded Amy.
He lifted her, and she did a star jump from his hands. Of course, Robyn wanted to do that too, then Noah joined in to do a rather ungainly back-flip.
What was it about seeing a man playing like that with small children? Somehow it made him seem sexier than ever.
And dammit, he was sexier than any man had a right to be. His skin was bronzed by the sun, every muscle defined, his wide chest smattered with dark, curling hair. She ached to reach out and touch . . .
To cool her heated blood she plunged under the waves, staying down for as long as she could. She came up to find Robyn hanging around her neck. “I fort you was drownding!” she protested.
Cassie laughed, hugging the child. “No, I wasn’t — don’t worry. I was holding my breath.”
“Holding your breath?”
“That’s right.”
“Me too!” Clinging tightly to Cassie’s hands, the child took in a huge whooping breath and ducked down below the surface, staying down for a few seconds, then bounced up again in an explosion of bubbles. “I did it, I did it!”
Of course, they all wanted to play that game, competing to stay down the longest. Finally, they began to tire, and reluctantly trudged back up the beach to Lisa.
“Phew!” Cassie laughed as she strolled up out of the water with Liam. “They’ve got some energy.”
