by Annie Seaton
So Aggie was making a comment, was she?
Lily and Theo were used to the old house and the quirky noises, and in the way of children, accepted the presence of Aunt Aggie. Aggie had been gone over five years now, but she still was a presence in the old house on the hill. It had taken Taj and Sol a little bit longer to feel at ease, and Sonia wondered idly what Dave would say about it.
Sonia frowned. Why did I think that?
Last time she’d been up in the attic, she’d gone through the old trunks up there, and spotted a swimming costume. Obviously one of Aggie’s from the 1950s. She hurried upstairs wiping herself down with a hand towel she’d grabbed from the laundry as she walked up to the top floor.
When she opened the attic door the room was warm and Lily of the Valley perfume wafted out. Sonia couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips.
‘You were reminding me about the trunk, weren’t you, Aggie?’ She kneeled down in front of the old trunk and opened the lid. ‘Thank you.’
Carefully lifting up the layers of tissue, she placed the dresses on top neatly on the old timber floor, and dug deep into the recesses of the trunk.
A ha. There they were. A retro shop would love all this stuff, but she and the girls had decided while ever Aggie was around keeping them company, her things would stay. Her crystal hair brush set was still on her dressing table, and sometimes when the girls went into the room to vacuum and straighten the embroidered white linen bedspread, it had moved to the other side of the antique Queen Anne dressing table.
Sonia lifted out the swimming costume and nodded. White with little clusters of pink roses on it, the strapless, skirted swim dress would hide a multitude of sins while she got from the sand to the water.
She slipped off her bike pants and T shirt, followed by her undies and bra, and stepped into the costume. It fitted perfectly.
Sonia walked across to the old cheval mirror in the corner of the attic and looked at herself critically. She twisted and looked over her shoulder. There were no bulges apparent, and there was still no sign of the dreaded cellulite on her thighs.
She went back to the trunk and went to place the dresses back in, but a tap on the floor made her look further.
Yes!
A gorgeous white—well maybe off white now after all the years it had been in here—towelling wrap was sitting at the base of the trunk. She lifted it out and slipped it on over the costume. It was as though it had been made for her.
As she walked from the attic, she put her fingers to her lips. ‘Thank you, Aunty Aggie. You are a sweetheart.’
A rush of cool air and a fresh waft of Lily of the Valley surrounded her and the door closed with a bang before she could close it.
There was a smile on Sonia’s face as she ran lightly down the stairs. For once she felt attractive. ‘Are you ready, kidlets?’ she called as she slipped her feet into the beach shoes that were by the front door.
Theo and Lily came out of the living room, clutching towels, boogie boards and a bucket and spade each.
Theo screwed up his nose. ‘Why have you got your dressing gown on, Aunty Son?’
Sonia rolled her eyes. ‘It’s a beach robe and it belonged to Aunt Aggie.’
‘Did she say you could wear it?’Lily whispered with wide eyes.
‘She did.’
Sonia took their boogie boards and juggled them under her arms. She managed to hold the children’s hands as they crossed the road to the path that led to the beach. Bondi Beach was always busy, but a brilliant day at the beginning of January had brought the crowds out in force. From up here on the hill, it looked like the sand was dotted with multicoloured ants scurrying in and out of the water. Dark heads bobbed in the gentle surf, and Sonia was pleased to see that the northern end of the beach barely had a wave. The quad bikes that the Bondi Beach Surf Rescue used were sitting idle next to the observation tower, but the jet skis were out behind the break ensuring that swimmers stayed safe.
‘The water looks awesome.’ Theo’s footsteps quickened and he ran ahead once they were on the path. ‘I hope Dad comes to the beach when they get home and brings his board. I can have a surf with him.’
Lily turned her nose up in a grimace. ‘There’s not enough waves. I’m going to have a swim and then build a sandcastle.’
They found a small patch of sand amongst other family groups not too far from the water. Sonia took a breath and tucked her hair into a bathing cap before undoing the tie on the robe as the two children ran to the water. ‘Wait for me, you pair.’
She slipped the robe from her shoulders, dropped it onto the beach towel, put her head down and hurried to the water. No getting wet inch by inch for Sonia; she put her head down and plunged beneath the first small wave that approached. Surfacing, she looked over to the children; they were frolicking happily in the shallow pool created by the sandbar. The water was like cool silk as it caressed her skin, and she looked down to make sure that the swimming costume had survived getting wet.
All good. It hadn’t stretched and was still covering her in all the right places. After standing in the waves for a few moments, she waded back to shore and floated in the shallow water with the twins as they tried to catch the tiny waves that made it over the sand bar. Eventually they tired of it, and headed back to the sand where they had left their buckets and spades.
Sonia looked around, there was no one looking. Only one woman was standing at the water’s edge watching a small child play in the water. Putting her head down, Sonia walked quickly through the shallow water to the sand.
‘Excuse me?’
She ignored the voice the first time.
‘Excuse me?’ This time it was louder and she raised her head. The woman had walked across to where Sonia came out of the water. She flicked a longing glance to where her robe was waiting for her before she looked back at the woman.
‘I’m sorry. Were you calling me?’ Heat rushed up her neck as the woman nodded and pointed to her swimming costume.
‘Yes. I just wanted to ask you where you bought your swim dress. It’s divine.’
Sonia stood there feeling exposed as the woman looked at her costume intently.
Bare legs, bare thighs and her entire body on display for the whole world to see.
She cleared her throat as she removed the bathing cap and ran her fingers through her hair. ‘Um . . . it’s an original from the fifties that belonged to an aunt.’ Technically Aggie wasn’t her real aunt, but she didn’t want to take the time to go into a longwinded explanation. All she wanted to do was cover up with the robe.
‘Oh, it’s absolutely gorgeous. You look stunning.’
Sonia’s eyes widened and the heat crawled up to her face. She shook her head and gave a tight laugh. ‘Me? I don’t think so. But it is a nice suit.’ Embarrassment overcame her and she nodded towards the children. ‘Excuse me, I have to go and supervise.’
The woman smiled and turned away to look after her child as Sonia hurried up to where the children were. She slipped the beach robe on and her tension eased a little bit.
‘Who’s ready to build a sandcastle?’
Chapter 8
Dave knocked on the door of the beach house on the hill, but there was no answer. He waited for a few minutes and then crossed the busy road and stood at the top of the path that led down to the beach. Once he’d changed and visited the barber, he’d gone back to the car and left his business clothes there. Since he’d had his hair cut, and put his boardies on, he’d relaxed a little. There was no point worrying over something he couldn’t fix. He’d forget about his problems for today—really, a change of career wouldn’t be too bad—and he didn’t care what the gossip mill said about him. He’d given the fashion design business his best shot, and what had happened was out of his control. He’d had a hard life lesson in trust. He’d loved his designer job; once he was back on his feet, maybe he’d build it up again.
But in the meantime I have to find a job and somewhere to live.
He’d have to commute for a while until he got enough together for a rental bond and a month’s rent in the city. He’d looked in a couple of real estate agency windows as he’d walked up to the beach house, but the rents here at Bondi were way beyond what he could afford.
Now.
A couple of months ago, he’d been cashed up enough to buy an apartment at the beach. He pushed back the anger that rose from his gut as he thought of Mitzi and what she’d taken. At least the police were taking it seriously, but they didn’t hold much hope of finding her. A false name, a false address, and a false trail of references; he’d fallen for the scam.
Like several before him apparently.
When he’d called into the police station after they’d called, the police sergeant had looked at him over the top of his glasses. ‘So you gave this personal assistant authority to operate your business account?’
Dave had nodded. ‘Yes. She’d organised a big fashion show in Japan for me, we were about to fulfil the orders the boutiques had placed after the previous show.’
The sergeant had looked at his trendy one-sided haircut and the purple spikes on the left side of his forehead.
‘Hmm.’
Now he almost looked like a normal bloke. If he was going to get a job, Dave knew the purple trendy haircut had to go. The barber at Bondi had barely blinked as he’d cut out most of the purple, and chopped the ponytail from the right side of Dave’s head, before tidying up the leftovers.
The barber had stood back and observed the neat square cut short back and sides. ‘You look like you’ve had a touch of magic silver white on one side, but it’ll grow out in a week or two if you keep the short cut.’
‘Thanks.’ Dave had broken his second last fifty dollar note to pay for the haircut and knew he had to find a job fast.
The breeze was refreshingly cool on his neck as he stood and looked down at the beach. A dozen or so young people leaned against the fence along the paths, music blaring from their phones. A game of volleyball was in full swing at the base of the concrete wall, but the majority of the crowd was in the water, or lying on the sand. As his gaze scanned the edge of the water, a tall woman wearing a white swimming costume and a bathing cap came out of the water and stood next to another woman. Dave let his gaze linger.
Oh wow. She would be a perfect cat walk model. Tall and beautifully proportioned with legs that went forever. She reminded him of Megan Gale at the peak of her career.
Feminine with a womanly figure and curves in all the right places. As he watched the woman removed the bathing cap and shook her hair out and his eyes widened. A tangle of long blonde curls rippled down her back and Dave caught his breath.
It was Sonia. And she was drop dead bloody gorgeous.
With a smile, Dave kicked off his shoes and headed across the sand to the edge of the water where they had set up camp. By the time he reached them, she’d put on a robe and was sitting on the sand beside the children.
‘Hey, there. I found you all.’
Sonia looked up from the sandcastle that was under construction and the pink of her cheeks deepened into red, but her tone was casual. ‘Oh hello, Dave. Did you finish your meetings?’
That low husky voice sent a ripple of something down his spine, settling low in his stomach.
‘I did. Unfortunately, they didn’t go my way.’ He dropped to the sand and picked up the pink spade that was lying on the sand. ‘Want a hand?’
‘Yes, please,’ Lily said.
Dave sat across from Sonia, and they both focused on digging the sand and piling it on top of the sandcastle.
‘Can we go and get some shells for decoration, Aunty Son?’ Lily asked.
‘And a stick for the flag,’ Theo chipped in.
Dave looked up as Sonia nodded. ‘As long as you don’t go out of my sight.’
‘Aunty Son?’ he asked once the children had scampered off. ‘Not a real aunt?’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Rosie and I are like surrogate sisters. Taj calls the three of us Aunt Aggie’s strays. She was a wonderful lady who fostered a lot of children over the years,’ she explained. ‘It was her house.’ She gestured to the house up on the hill.
‘You were a foster child?’
Sonia shook her head. ‘No, Aggie took Rosie in when she was eight, and Sal and I were high school friends. After school when Aunty Aggie started to go downhill, we moved in to help with the costs. We’ve stayed. We had a great business going for a few years, the Divine Soul Sisters.’
Dave frowned. ‘I thought Sol said the house was in Taj’s family? Sol’s always loved this place. We used to walk past it when we’d come to the beach and he’d almost drool with jealousy.’ His hand brushed hers as they both dug at the same time, and he pulled his back.
‘Lots of coincidences. Rosie and Taj met at Aunt Aggie’s funeral—well not really, they’d met when they were kids when he’d visited— but they met for real at the funeral. She’d left the house to both of them on the condition that Taj moved in for three months. Aunt Aggie knew what she was doing; she was an old matchmaker.’ She looked up and met his eyes pretty much for the first time since she’d read his leaves—or dregs or whatever—this morning. ‘And look at them now. Married five years and gorgeous twins.’ Her gaze dropped back to the sand almost instantly.
‘And you and Sally stayed?’
‘Yep, the three soul sisters became two. Sally does yoga, and I do the leaves and clairvoyant readings, as you know. When Taj is on the circuit, Rosie and the kids go with him, and they mainly live in Hawaii when they’re not here. I visited them late last year. They have a gorgeous house on a couple of acres near the beach. Much quieter than this.’ She lifted the spade and gestured to the traffic and the crowd around them. A clod of wet sand flew off and landed in the middle of his forehead.
‘Oops, sorry.’ Her smile was wide and he got the impression she wasn’t really sorry.
‘You don’t like me very much, do you, Sonia?’
Her face reddened even more, and she looked away with a lift of one shoulder. ‘I barely know you.’
‘I’m sorry I made that crack about the fruit basket for your head on Christmas Day. I wasn’t in a good place and you wore my temper. Besides we’ve already had this conversation earlier and I believe it ended with me inviting you out for dinner?’
She bit her lip before looking around for the children.
‘They’re okay. I can see them over there at the base of the rocks.’ Dave persisted. ‘So dinner?’
‘I guess I could.’
Dave swallowed as embarrassment kicked in. ‘I was thinking something casual. Maybe a stroll along the beach walk first, and then fish and chips on the grass? Or we could go to the pub down on the corner?’
She nodded and kept digging. ‘A walk, and fish and chips sounds good.’
‘Okay, it’s a date. I’m meeting Sol for a bit of a chat when they get back, so I’ll be around. So whenever you’re ready.’
‘I—’
He wasn’t sure what she’d been going to say because the kids came back with their booty and the next half hour was spent decorating the sandcastle.
Finally, when it was done, Sonia sat back on her heels and seemed to relax for the first time.
‘Absolutely super dooper special, guys. How about a photo?’ She reached down to her beach bag and pulled out her phone.
‘Pass it here, and you sit with Lily and Theo and I’ll take it,’ Dave said.
‘Oh, no way.’ She shook her head, and clicked the photo as the kids posed behind the castle.
‘Why not?’
She lifted her chin and stared at him. ‘I don’t do photos, especially . . .’
‘Especially?’
‘Nothing.’
Dave stood as Sonia got to her feet. She held the camera in one hand and pulled the old fashioned beach robe around herself with the other. He sniffed as a strange aroma wafted around them.
‘What’s that smell?
‘Pro
bably mothballs.’ Her whole face lit up when she smiled and he couldn’t take his eyes from her face. ‘This was Aunt Aggie’s beach robe. It’s probably been a very long time since it was last on Bondi Beach.’
‘And the fabulous swim suit? Was that hers too? I thought it looked vintage.’
The smile disappeared instantly. ‘When did you see the swimsuit?’
‘When you came out of the water I spotted you. When you were talking to your friend.’
‘Oh.’ Instantly her voice was cold.
‘I was thinking what a great model you’d make, before I even realised it was you.’
This time her eyes were as cold as her voice. ‘No need to lay it on thick, Dave. I’ve already said yes to dinner.’
He raised his hands, sensing something deeper behind her words. For someone who came across with such confidence and sass, he was beginning to wonder.
Sonia gathered up her bag and the towels, and Dave bent down to pick up his shoes.
‘Kids, you get the bucket and spades, and I’ll bring the boards.’
‘I’ll get them.’ Dave bent down and picked up the two boards. ‘I’m coming back to the house anyway.’
She nodded and they set off across the sand. Dave walked beside her because he didn’t want Sonia to think he was checking her out. Her reaction to his comment had been strange.
He shrugged. He’d be extra nice to her at dinner until he got to the bottom of it.
Chapter 9
‘What are you doing?’ Sally poked her head around the door of Sonia’s room, her eyes wide.
Just about every item of clothing that Sonia owned was on the bed, over the back of the dressing table chair, on the window seat, and over the top of the wardrobe door. Sonia was sitting on the floor in the middle of a pile of shoes and she looked up at her twin.
‘Help,’ she squeaked.
Sally came in and shut the door behind her.
‘What’s wrong? It looks like you’re packing to go away again.’
Sonia shook her head mutely. ‘I have a date.’