The boat was large, capable of taking about a hundred people, but it was only half full. They sat on the upper deck and James pointed. *Look, some of your friends."
Sarah shaded her eyes with her hand and watched four pelicans riding a thermal current in the sky above some more waterside houses. *It"s amazing to think that such huge birds can be so graceful."
The boat took them down one of the residential ca.n.a.ls and stopped. *Ladies and gentleman, a shoal of fish must be up here today, because there"s a group of cormorants fishing and if you watch very carefully, you"ll see some pirates attack them."
Sarah looked at James in puzzlement. *Pirates?"
He grinned. *You"ll see."
Suddenly several pelicans landed and pushed into the group of diving cormorants. One took hold of a cormorant by the neck and shook it till it dropped its fish.
Sarah gasped. *I wouldn"t have believed it if I hadn"t seen it with my own eyes!"
James chuckled. *They don"t only mug humans, they mug other birds as well."
*And here was me thinking how romantic it was to see them."
The boat set off again, stopping at a waterside restaurant, where they had lunch.
*I"ll never eat again," she said as she pushed her empty plate aside. *It was so kind of you to buy me crayfish. Such a luxury."
On the way back she said, *Do you live in one of the flats, or were you just visiting someone when I b.u.mped into you."
He hesitated.
*You don"t have to answer if I"m being too nosy."
*No, it"s all right. Only don"t let it put you off me. I own the block of flats, actually. I was just checking that some repairs had been finished properly."
So he was rich. Well, he was by her standards, which put him way beyond her reach. And wasn"t she silly even thinking that sort of thing about a man she"d only just met?
*You looked a bit sad then. Are you all right?"
She forced a smile. *Yes, of course."
When they got off the boat, he walked back to the flats with her and hesitated. *Would you come and have dinner at my house tomorrow? I"ve got to go up to Perth during the day but I"ll be back by five."
*Are you sure?"
*Certain. I"m quite a good cook, actually. Is there anything you can"t eat?"
She hesitated. So far she"d managed to hide it, because some people got upset when they found you were a coeliac. She explained that she couldn"t eat wheat and was lactose intolerant, and he nodded.
*A friend of mine"s the same. I"m used to catering for that."
The evening seemed too quiet after her lovely day so she put the television on. But she spent more time daydreaming about James than watching the programme.
The following day as five o"clock approached, she got ready, determined to enjoy this brief holiday flirtation. She wondered what James"s house was like. He hadn"t told her anything about it.
The knock came just before five and there he was, beaming at her. He had such lovely brown eyes. *Are you ready?"
*Yes."
His car wasn"t large but it was luxurious. Her son-in-law would have known what make it was, but she hadn"t a clue.
*This is the most comfortable car I"ve ever ridden in."
*That"s exactly why I bought it."
He stopped at a large house, a strange-looking place, with a garage and high walls being the main street features. It was like a miniature fortress. The garage door lifted up and he drove in.
When they went into the house she couldn"t help exclaiming as she realized it was on the water. *This is one of the houses we sailed past!"
*I"m afraid so. Don"t hold that against me. Let"s go and have a c.o.c.ktail on the patio."
*Nothing too strong."
*OK. I"ll do a strawberry surprise. Help yourself to some nibbles." He pulled a platter out of the fridge and set it on a low table outdoors, right on the edge of the water.
The only thing wrong with the evening was that James didn"t kiss her. She"d have liked to have Prince Charming kiss her, even if this was only a holiday flirtation.
He kissed her the next night, though, and the one after that. And very good kisses they were, too.
When the last evening came, she entertained him to a meal, insisting on repaying his hospitality.
*I wish you weren"t going back to Perth," he said wistfully.
*So do I."
*You could stay another week."
*My daughter would have a fit. And there probably isn"t a flat free."
*There is, actually. Or you could be my guest?"
She hesitated. *Do we know each other well enough for that?"
*Not yet. But we will. So you"ll stay in the flat?"
Did she dare? Of course she did. This was .a.a. important. Or it might be. She hoped it would be. *Yes. And thank you."
Jan did have a fit when she phoned, and they insisted on coming down on the Sunday to check that she was all right.
The next day she went round to James"s beautiful house for lunch and wandered on to his jetty as he was getting the meal ready.
There was a thump behind her and another pelican landed. This one had a malformed foot and it stumbled, b.u.mping into her and sending her flying into the water.
She let out a yell of shock and by the time she surfaced, James was there on the jetty. Without hesitation, he dived in and came up spluttering next to her.
She bobbed about in the water, laughing at him. *I didn"t actually need rescuing. I used to be a good swimmer."
He grinned at her, water streaming down his face. *Don"t say that. I"ve always wanted to be Sir Galahad and save a fair damsel in distress."
*Is that what I am?"
*Oh, yes. A very fair damsel." He pulled her to him in the water.
This time his kiss was very different, full of pa.s.sion. When they clambered out of the water, he held her hand as they dripped their way into the house.
In the guest bedroom, she changed out of her wet clothes into his silk dressing gown and came out looking like a drowned rat, she thought.
He was waiting for her with a tender smile on his face. *Dear Sarah, you seem as if you belong here. Would it be too soon to ask you to stay with me tonight?"
She gave up fighting the attraction. *No. Definitely not too soon. In fact, it"s perfect timing."
*And would it be too soon to ask you to stay on here with me, with a view to making that permanent?"
Joy flooded through her and she gave up fighting her own feelings for him. *No. Not too soon for that, either. If you"re sure, James?"
*I"m very sure, Sarah darling. I"ve felt happy with you since the first time we had lunch."
*I"ve felt the same."
*It"s amazing, isn"t it, how two strangers can suddenly feel attracted. I thought I was past all that, but I"m not."
She gestured around her to the magnificent house. *I feel like Cinderella, only I"m staying at the palace, not going home."
*In that case, you"d better marry the prince. It"s the obligatory ending to the story, you know."
She couldn"t help chuckling. *Strange kind of fairy G.o.dmother, a pelican."
*I shall never think badly of them again." He drew her into his arms, gentle as ever, and it felt so right she pulled his head down and kissed him rather less than gently.
Take A Chance.
Anna"s Notes.
I"m not a big gambler, but I do like to buy a Lotto ticket every now and then. I once won $700, and as this came at a time when we were a bit short of money, it was very exciting.
I enjoyed giving my heroine a much bigger win, and this story led to me writing my book Licence to Dream.
I love writing about happy ever afters and fantasies that lift people"s lives out of the ordinary.
Louise got herself a cup of coffee and sat cradling it in her hands, staring into s.p.a.ce. Thirty-eight! No husband, no family, nothing she"d once hoped for. She was just good old Auntie Louise. She sighed and opened the Sunday paper.
As usual, she checked the Lotto results last. She liked to dream about winning for as long as possible. It was the only thing she ever gambled on. She was definitely not the sort of person to take chances. But one dream a week wasn"t much to ask. She picked up a pencil and a minute later it dropped from her trembling hand.
*It can"t be true!" she whispered. She checked the numbers again. A whole line of them. She"d won the first division! She was a she might be a rich.
The day pa.s.sed in a blur after that. She lived alone and didn"t want to ring her elder sister Rosemary, who would come over and start telling her what to do with the money. Of course, it might not be a lot of money. You didn"t find out until the next day whether it was shared among several people.
She didn"t tell anyone at work, but when she phoned the Lotto office and discovered that she"d won just over a million dollars, she pleaded a headache and left work quickly.
Two days later, she walked into her boss"s office. *I"d like to hand in my resignation."
He gaped at her. *But Louise, you"ve been with us for ten years! What"s wrong?"
*There"s nothing wrong. I just need a change."
Her whole life needed changing because time was running out and her biological clock was ticking. Now she had the money to do something different, get away from her sister and her sensible ways, take a chance or two. Even, perhaps, meet someone who .a.a. no, that would be wishing for too much.
Although if you could win Lotto, maybe you could win the other things that gave you the chance of a happy life .a.a. like a husband and a family. And if that made her old-fashioned, so be it.
She was going to have a go.
In the end Louise told her family she was taking a holiday because she felt rundown. She ended up in the south-west, in the wine country. She"d always loved that part of Western Australia: the forests and beaches, the clean tangy air, the vineyards, the winding tree-lined country roads.
She had enough money now to manage without working, if she was careful, but she couldn"t imagine sitting around all day. She needed to do something that would let her meet people.
With the help of a friendly real-estate agent she investigated several businesses, and ended up buying a run-down cafe just outside the holiday town of Margaret River.
She still hadn"t told her sister about her win and didn"t intend to do so until after she"d signed the contract to buy the cafe.
She took the coward"s way out and rang Rosemary. *I"m back in Perth, but only temporarily."
*Oh? Have you found a job somewhere else? I think you were very foolish giving up your job like that."
*No. I"ve bought myself a business near Margaret River."
Silence. Then, *What sort of business? You surely haven"t cashed in your superannuation?"
*It"s a cafe with the chance of putting a B and B behind it."
*How can you afford that?"
Here it came. *I won Lotto."
*Ha! Ha! Very funny."
*I really did."
Dead silence. *When?"