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the window up and drew in a deep
breath of salt-laden air. Peace stole over her and Jilly couldn’t help the big
grin that crossed her face.
    Eight whole days of solitude and bliss ahead—no frantic trading and
no emails that must be acted upon immediately.
    She put her dishes in the pink porcelain kitchen sink. But although
tired and dated, everything in the place was in good condition and clean. She
shook her head remembering Dominic’s agitation last night. He was worrying
about nothing; the cottage was old, but fine. She smiled; it was retro
in an original sort of way. He could sort out the rental issue with his family;
it wasn’t her problem.
    As she pulled up the bedcovers, something slid from the end of the
bed and Jilly bent to pick it up. She held the unfamiliar plastic bag in her hand and frowned as she
turned it over in her hands. She was sure it hadn’t been on the bed last night.
She opened the bag, and peered into it and her frown deepened. The shorts,
T-shirt and towel, and undies which she’d assumed had blown off the verandah
last night were folded neatly inside.
    What the…
     After Dominic had left, she had gone outside with her torch and
searched around the long grass and beneath the low verandah but there’d been no
sign of her clothes. How the hell did they get into a bag and onto her
bed through the night? She put the bag aside and folded her arms, her temper
building.
    What the hell was he playing at? How dare he come into the
cottage while I was sleeping? The cottage belonged to
his family; he must have another key.
    Well, she’d be paying Mr Smythe-Phillips a visit and telling him to
stay away from her. While she was on vacation she didn’t have to kowtow to his
imperious demands.
    ##
    Jilly detoured via the cottage up the road on her way to the beach.
Slipping her beach bag over her shoulder, she passed Dominic’s silver Audi. It
was parked in a small lean-to on the side of the cottage. She climbed the
stairs identical to the ones at her cottage, took a deep breath and pounded on
the front door. The cottage was the same design as the one she was staying in.
Same colour paint peeling from the exterior weatherboards and a small bathroom
on the far end of the verandah. Her legs were trembling as she practised her
prepared speech. She cleared her throat.
      Stay right away from the cottage and from me. The shakiness
in her legs, and the funny curling feeling in the pit of her stomach had
nothing to do with the anticipation of seeing him again.  No way.
    Jilly dug deep to bring back the anger that had coursed through her
when she had realised that he had been in her bedroom while she was sleeping.
    Ergh. Forget the anticipation that was
skittering through her. It was almost creepy;
Dominic had certainly conned them at the bank with his gentle and polite
manner.
    All was silent inside the house, and she pounded on the door again.
Perversely, she hoped he was sleeping and she pounded harder, hoping she’d wake
him up. But after a third go of trying to raise the dead with her curled fist
on the timber door, all remained silent. Jilly stood there for a moment, biting
her lip, before she shrugged and turned away to walk to the beach.
    He’d keep till later.
    She drew in a gasp of delight as she stepped through the row of
she-oaks fringing the sand. Sapphire blue water filled her vision for as far as
she could see and the morning sun sparkled on the water. Snowy-white
cumulo-nimbus clouds sat low above the far horizon in the distance, the same
colour as the foam on the breaking waves that rolled into the beach. The long,
lazy swells rolling in across the Pacific steepened and broke into gentle waves
as the ocean floor bottomed out, before they pushed up the white sandy shore.
    Dad was right. This was one of the most beautiful beaches she’d ever
seen. And it was almost deserted.
    Far away in the distance, a couple walked ahead of a dog frolicking
in the shallows. The rest of the beach was clear,