Read The Next Season (novella) for Free Online

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 cheeks.
    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