on the tanned athlete, who was so filled with confidence it made her heart ache just to watch him laughing with friends, playing touch football on the beach or surfing the biggest waves. When he moved away, she'd thought she'd never see him again. Then, a surfing competition in Emerald Cove had resulted in an encounter with Meg that'd changed both their lives.
That'd been over a year ago, and since then, their whirlwind romance had taken Meg by surprise. She still couldn't quite believe that world surfing champion Brad Taylor had fallen for her and was now her husband. She was just a hairdresser, a nobody, from the tiny beachside hamlet of Emerald Cove. Yet he loved her. The realisation surprised her during chance moments, whenever she let her mind wander back to memories of a childhood filled with pain, doubt and unfulfilled wishes.
"Can you believe these waves?" Alice Levin pulled a beach chair up beside her and sat with a huff, looping her arms around knees folded against her thin chest.
"I know, it's crazy."
"It's Hawaii." Alice chuckled. "Glad I'm not competing today though."
"Did you think about surfing?" Meg often felt out of place in the group of Australian surfers, since most of the wives were surfers themselves or at least knew something about the sport. She knew almost nothing. She'd surfed herself, of course, having grown up at the beach, but had never competed or even watched a competition before the one where she'd met Brad. He'd told her that her complete lack of interest in him or his sport was what'd sparked his interest in her, that and her wild red curls.
"Nah…now that we have the three rug rats, it makes it pretty tricky if both of us compete. We tend to try and take turns, that way one of us is watching the kids." Alice's husband, Nick, was one of the older men in their crew of surfing champions. He was a household name, but in Meg's experience, he was down to earth, a thoughtful husband and a loving father to their three small children, who were, at that moment, seated on a picnic rug eating snacks out of a basket.
"I'm sure it's hard to manage it all…"
"You've got no idea." Alice sighed and ran a hand over her blonde hair. Freckles were scattered across her tanned face, and her blue eyes flashed above a pair of round sunglasses that hung low on the bridge of her nose. "They're only quiet while they have food in their mouths, so I figure I've got about three more minutes to talk, then I'll be on my feet chasing them again." She laughed.
When Meg turned her attention back to the surfers, she was dismayed to see Brad had already ridden a wave to shore while she'd been speaking with Alice. She sighed, then watched as a jet ski pulled him back out beyond the break.
"Oh, I missed it."
"Sorry, I'm distracting you."
"It's okay." She flashed a smile in Alice's direction, even as the woman jumped to her feet and rushed off after her escaping toddler.
The sun beat down on Meg's shoulders, and she reached for the sun cream to slather another thick layer over her exposed skin. The wind helped to keep the heat from becoming oppressive but was wreaking havoc with the tents and other structures that'd been set up by the event organisers. Men were hammering stakes into the sand, working to hold the temporary shelters in place. A few stray hats bowled across the dunes behind the crowd.
Meg inhaled a slow breath as memories of the morning washed over her. Before they'd caught a taxi to the surf competition, they'd risen early and spent an hour snorkelling in the small bay by their cottage. She'd seen some brightly coloured fish as well as the typical silver ones. More than that, she remembered the feel of Brad's skin against hers as he enveloped her in an embrace or tickled her ribs with his fingertips, sending goosebumps up and down her body.
If marriage was going to be anything like it'd been during their first week, she could hardly believe how blissful her life had become. Brad was the kind of man she'd only ever dreamed of meeting. She'd been raised in Emerald Cove, moved with her parents to Port Macquarie when she was sixteen, then left home the very first moment she could manage it after dropping out of school. She’d hated it there, in large part because she’d left