The Next Season (novella) Read online

  ‘If I don’t get a job soon, I could be in serious strife,’ Zoe admitted.

  ‘Oh honey.’ Sandee reached out and squeezed her hand and Zoe thanked the Lord she didn’t ask how she could have been so stupid. That question had sat heavily on her mind ever since it all went down. ‘You know you can stay here as long as you like. I’ll move Daniel out of the single room and put him in with Jax and Mark. We’ll get through this.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Zoe guessed she might not be very popular with Daniel, but short of volunteering to sleep on the couch, she didn’t have a lot of options. ‘First thing tomorrow I’m heading out to look for some work.’

  ‘Good for you.’

  Zoe’s eyes caught on a copy of The Wildwood Whisperer lying on the coffee table. Keen to change the subject, she picked it up. She half-heartedly flicked through the pages, not really taking anything in. And then, before she could stop herself she said, in what was meant to be a casual tone, ‘I hear Hannah Elliot is pregnant and getting married?’

  Sandee put down her glass and raised her eyebrows. ‘News travels fast. You’ve barely been back five minutes. Who told you that?’

  Zoe swallowed and then confessed. ‘I may have run out of petrol just outside of town and Shaun may have rescued me.’ She looked down at her now empty glass and spun it round between her fingers. ‘He told me all about it.’

  ‘Did he now?’ Sandee’s eyes bored into Zoe as if they were actual drills. ‘And how did you feel running into Shaun?’

  Zoe attempted a nonchalant shrug. ‘Okay. Why?’

  Sandee snorted. ‘No one forgets their first love. You were smitten with that boy once.’

  ‘That was years ago. We’ve grown up.’ Which didn’t account for the way her belly quivered at the mention of him.

  ‘That’s good, because I wouldn’t want you getting hurt again. Shaun’s a changed man since what happened with Melissa and—’

  Having been about to remind Sandee that it was she who’d hurt Shaun by turning down his proposal of marriage and not the other way around, Zoe’s heart slammed into her ribcage at the mention of another woman’s name.

  ‘Who’s Melissa?’ she demanded, hating her jealous tone but unable to control it.

  ‘Oh.’ Sandee put her wine glass down on the coffee table and leaned back on the couch. ‘So, he didn’t tell you his story, then?’

  Three

  Shaun tried to put all thoughts of Zoe from his mind as he parked in front of the soon-to-open Chocolate Dreams Café. Although most of the shops on the main street were closed for the evening, the lights were on inside his sister’s new project, and judging by the silhouettes he could see through the window, at least half his family were inside. Fighting the urge to drop his head onto the steering wheel, he looked to Eeyore sitting in the passenger seat and let out an almighty groan.

  ‘I should have told her,’ he said. The dog cocked his head to one side as if he understood. When Zoe had asked him if he was married, he should have told her then. Now all he could think about was her hearing about him and Melissa from someone else and finding out what a drongo he was. Two marriage proposals, two rejections—the statistics spoke for themselves. But one thing was certain; he was never going to make that mistake again.

  With these thoughts mulling round his head, the last thing he wanted to do was go inside and talk furniture, but he’d promised Hannah and Matt he’d come by and discuss possible relocation of the mammoth counter they’d commissioned him to make for the café. Knowing his family, if he didn’t show, someone would come looking for him to check he was okay.

  Hannah and his mum’s constant fussing and worrying and cake-baking had been bad enough these last couple of months—it was like they thought him incapable of taking care of himself, which was insulting—but recently his older brothers had gotten in on the act, and that was just plain painful. They kept offering to take him out for him a beer, and then when he accepted they would ask if he was okay and start making obvious hints about him getting back into the game.

  The Dating Game, that was. Everyone seemed to think that two months was long enough to mourn the end of a relationship you’d thought was going to last a lifetime. Well, it wasn’t. Shaun wished they’d all just bugger off and leave him alone to wallow.

  Eeyore barked and scratched his paw against the window, obviously impatient to get out and far happier at the prospect of company than his owner.

  ‘Too bad you have to stay outside,’ he told his dog as he finally undid his seatbelt. ‘Chocolate is bad for dogs.’ Not that there was any actual chocolate yet, but Eeyore didn’t know that.

  The overgrown pup made a noise like a moan of disappointment, and then made a mad dash to escape when Shaun opened his door. A giant paw landed in his groin and he let out a screech of pain as the dog crashed onto the pavement with a loud thump. Shaun winced, imagined his balls would be bruised within a matter of minutes. Good thing nobody had any use for them at present.

  ‘Eeyore,’ he yelled at the top of his lungs, his face contorted with pain as he tenderly climbed out of the ute.

  The dog paused for one millisecond, turned his head to look back for another, and then followed his nose. Shaun frowned; for a café not yet in operation, Hannah’s shop sure emanated some tantalising aromas. He threw himself into a limping jog, ignoring the throbbing pain downstairs, and lunged at Eeyore, his fingers closing around the leash that shot along the ground behind him. He yanked hard, putting all his weight into holding back the sixty kilo animal before he ploughed right on through the shop window.

  After leaving Zoe with a full tank of petrol at the side of the road, he’d driven home and collected his dog, deciding he could bring him along tonight and use him as an excuse not to linger. The pain now radiating from his nether regions made him question whether this had been a smart move after all. Using all his strength to control the giant beast, he looped the leash over a post outside the shop, hoping Eeyore wouldn’t pull it over.

  The mutt looked up at him with his floppy ears, eternally sad face and stab-you-in-the-heart puppy dog eyes. Usually Shaun cracked under this expression, but not today. His balls hurt too much and he was all on edge from running into Zoe.

  ‘I’m going inside to eat your weight in chocolate,’ he snarled, and then turned and pushed open the café door without a backward glance.

  ‘Shaun!’ Hannah rushed forward the moment he stepped inside, her hand pressed against her belly in that way only pregnant women do. Although she was almost five months along you could barely see a rise on her stomach. She gave him a peck on the cheek and then grabbed his hand. ‘I’m so glad you’re here tonight. I want you to meet Toby, our new pastry chef.’ She stepped aside and gestured behind her to where his family were standing around a man who looked like a Latin American cover model. All dark, chiselled looks, smouldering eyes and perfectly mussed up jet-black hair.

  Shaun nodded a greeting and stepped forward to offer his hand. ‘Hola, nice to meet you.’

  Toby, who Shaun thought should have been called something like Enrico or Jose, closed his hand around Shaun’s and shook hard. ‘Good evening.’

  Although the man’s exotic accent did nothing for him, Shaun saw his mum, sister and his two sisters-in-law melt a little. He didn’t know where Matt and Hannah had found him but one thing was certain, the minute word got out about Toby, the café would be full of local women hoping to get his number.

  Greetings were exchanged with the rest of his family and then Hannah announced, ‘You’re all in for a treat. Toby christened the kitchen this afternoon and you’re going to be our taste-testing guinea pigs.’

  ‘Such a hard life.’ Tina, Troy’s wife, pressed her hand against her forehead theatrically and flopped onto one of the seats that had been specially crafted by Shaun and his two older brother’s for Hannah’s debut into the world of business. That’s if chocolate could be classified as business.

  Everyone laughed. And then Matt encouraged them all to follow suit. �
��Sit down, relax. Hannah and I are going to play waitress and waiter tonight and we want to hear exactly what you think of every dish.’ He shot his future bride a look of absolute adoration that in Shaun’s current mood made him nauseous.

  If he’d known tonight was going to drag into some happy family occasion, he’d have cancelled. With a grim smile on his face, Shaun pulled out a seat and sat at a table with his three nephews Ned, Clancy and Banjo, who were behaving more angelically than usual—likely because they’d been told they wouldn’t get any chocolate if they didn’t.

  ‘Hey guys.’ He high-fived them all. ‘What’s the latest?’

  All three of them opened their mouths and spoke over the top of each other in an aim to fill him in on the first few weeks back at school. The good thing about his nephews was that they all seemed happy with one-sided conversations so he could drift into his own world and not get caught. The problem with his own world was that the moment he arrived there his thoughts turned to Zoe. He supposed it was a pleasant change from thoughts of Melissa, but still, he’d rather not think of women at all.

  ‘So, what do you think of Toby?’ Hannah asked, jolting him from his daydreaming as she placed a platter full of tiny chocolate desserts in front of them.

  Before Shaun could open his mouth to respond, six hands dived for the food. He chuckled, knowing only too well what it was like to worry about losing out to brothers.

  ‘I only just met the dude,’ he said eventually, picking up some kind of chocolate mini-tart, one of the few things left on the plate. ‘I don’t think anything of him yet. Anyway, I thought you wanted to talk to me about moving the counter.’

  ‘The counter is fine where it is,’ she said, resting her hand on her non-existent bump yet again. ‘You’ve become such a hermit these last few weeks that you wouldn’t have come by if I’d told you the truth. I don’t remember the last time you let anyone talk to you about anything other than work.’

  Shaun shifted in his seat. Just because her life was peachy perfect all of a sudden, that didn’t give her the right to pick his apart. What would she say if she knew he’d been talking about her only that afternoon with someone who had nothing to do with Elliot’s Emporium?

  Unable to think of a comeback, he shoved the mini-tart in his mouth instead. The flavours exploded on his tongue. ‘Wow,’ he said, taking another look over at Toby, surprised that someone who looked like he spent hours in front of the mirror could make food like this. ‘He can cook, that’s for sure. Where did you meet him?’

  Hannah looked torn between pursuing her line of enquiry about his life and moving on to talk about her new project. In the end the chocolate won. She beamed. ‘An acquaintance of Matt’s found him for us. Now all we need is to do a few finishing touches on the interior, hire a couple more waitstaff and we’re ready to go. Grand opening is on Saturday.’

  ‘I’m pleased for you, Han.’ And he meant it. Hannah had dated her fair share of losers and never been able to pinpoint exactly what she wanted to do with her life until she’d met Matteo Della Bosca and everything had fallen into place like a winning game of Tetris. Just because his own life had taken a right turn down the gurgler at about the same time, didn’t mean he couldn’t be happy for his sister.

  But sitting here amongst his nearest and dearest who were all high on good fortune and chocolate wasn’t doing anything to ease the tension in his muscles or the hole in his heart. He looked around the room at his brothers and their families, his sister and her new man. Two months ago he’d thought himself on the cusp of all of this—a devoted wife, cute kids, the contentedness he’d worked towards his whole life—and now he had nothing.

  Despite knowing that what he was about to do would confirm all of Hannah’s suspicions and justify her accusations, he needed to get out of here. He pushed back his chair and stood, trying not to grimace with the pain still in his groin. ‘Sorry, if I’d known this is what we were doing tonight, I wouldn’t have brought Eeyore, but I can’t leave him hanging out the front any longer.’

  ‘Are you okay?’ Hannah frowned, scrutinising him up and down.

  ‘Fine.’ He didn’t want to go into the details of his injury in front of his nephews, who’d no doubt find the incident hilarious. ‘See ya later.’ Before Hannah could ask any more questions, he turned and wove through the tables towards the exit of the shop, pausing only to kiss his mum goodbye on his way.

  Outside, Eeyore leapt to his feet and greeted him with his usual enthusiastic jump-and-lick. Unlike people, his dog never held a grudge. Shaun unhooked the leash and ruffled him on his ears as they walked towards the ute. Right now, what he needed was a beer, his bed and a good night’s sleep.

  With any luck tomorrow would be free of unexpected meetings with ex-girlfriends or painful altercations with Eeyore’s paws.

  ***

  ‘I’m sorry, we’re not hiring anyone at the moment, but you can leave your résumé with us if you like?’

  Zoe had heard those same words—or slight variations of them—so many times today she felt as if they were burnt into her brain. Her feet ached from pounding the pavement and she’d lost count of the number of résumés she’d handed out. Bless Sandee, who’d willingly offered her printer and paper for the task and then scolded her when she made mention of paying her back. The only place she hadn’t gone and begged work was at Elliot’s Emporium, for fear Shaun might be there. She didn’t want to go home to Sandee in this downer of a mood, but perhaps she’d been a little optimistic about the easiness of picking up a job in Wildwood Point.

  Sighing, she drove without really knowing where she was going and soon found herself parking on the familiar stretch of beach where Shaun had taught her to surf. She’d thought she’d fallen on her feet when she’d been billeted with Sandee in Margaret River, right next to sand and sea that looked as if it had stepped right off a postcard of paradise. But when Shaun Elliot had taken an interest in her and chosen to spend time with her every day on that slice of perfection, she’d known she was in heaven. Her eyes closed of their own accord as she remembered his ‘lessons’, the way he’d always spoken encouragingly and the way he’d found an excuse to touch her at every opportunity. His hands could light her skin in a way no one else had ever managed to since.

  She pushed that memory aside, not wanting to dwell on Shaun any more than she wanted to dwell on her immediate ex or her dire need for employment. But want to or not, her mind had drifted to him more times than she cared to admit during her hunt for work that day, so it wasn’t surprising it had led her here.

  Staring out through the windscreen, she scoured the beach in front and on either side of her for any sign of him, however the three figures she saw bore no resemblance. The late afternoon waves weren’t anything a surfer would rave about, which likely accounted for the fact her favourite patch of sand in the world looked near deserted. And that suited her just fine. She might not be able to catch a wave but she suddenly craved the calming feel of the water on her skin. She didn’t have her bathers or wetsuit with her, but just like the lack of waves wasn’t going to hinder her, neither was a lack of suitable attire.

  With that thought, she escaped the warm air of the Kingswood and dragged her board out the back. She toed off her sandals and, leaving them at the boot, ran—Josie under her arm—towards the sand. She moaned in bliss as her feet hit the water and then paddled out about twenty metres or so. For half an hour, she lolled in the ocean, hoping the waves would work their magic and wash away her woes, but try as she might to look to the future, the direness of her current situation weighed her down.

  Eventually, when her skin started to prune and even her heart was shivering, Zoe paddled back to the shore and began the trek up the sand towards Jemina.

  She’d gone barely halfway up the beach before her legs gave way and she fell to the sand in a heaving, sobbing mess. Her head dropped against her knees and she drew her arms around them as the tears that had been contained until now broke free and cascaded down her chee
ks.

  It might have been quite a cathartic release of emotions had she not been interrupted by the most enormous dog she’d ever laid eyes on. She felt its tongue first—pressed into her ear like an erotic fantasy gone wrong—and then she looked up and fell back against the sand, shocked by the size of the beast.

  Argh! That was a mistake. A blur of grey landed on top of her, its front paws planting themselves in the sand on either side of her head as it began to lick the tears off her cheeks. It was like being assaulted by a giant, friendly teddy bear.

  She couldn’t help laughing. And as she struggled to shove this over-friendly, over-sized pup off her, she heard footsteps pounding the sand towards her and a deep, alluring voice she’d know anywhere shout, ‘Eeyore! Get off her!’

  Before she had time to register that this must be Shaun’s canine, a shadow fell over them and the dog had been yanked back. Trying to recover from the fright and also her giggles, she looked up to see Shaun panting almost as much as the dog, his cheeks red from exertion.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he puffed, looking down at her. ‘We were just jogging and he took off. I don’t know what got into him.’

  Trying to ignore all six feet of gorgeousness standing above her, and forgetting that she looked like some kind of drowned rat in her wet summer blouse and tailored dress shorts—not to mention her tear-stained eyes—Zoe raised an eyebrow at Shaun. ‘Did you just call that beast Eeyore?’

  The idea that a big, strong, sexy guy like Shaun Elliot had a dog called Eeyore made her giggle. She started gently, and soon there were tears of hilarity running down her cheeks. In seconds she was shaking with laughter but, judging by the stony expression on his face, he failed to find it funny.

  Four

  Shaun scowled as he tried to catch his breath and keep his grip on Eeyore, all the while endeavouring to clip the leash onto his collar. Generally when he jogged the dog stuck close to his side, but he’d seen the figure of a woman ahead sitting on the beach and something had snapped. He’d raced off—sand kicking up behind his strong hind legs—before Shaun had even registered it was Zoe.