Page 23 of Suddenly Beck

‘By default,’ she remarks as she starts flipping through the rack looking for the right size.

‘Default?’

‘This was my dad’s place,’ she explains. ‘He and my mum took off about a year ago. Their idea of retirement is surfing the biggest and baddest breaks on the planet.’ She glances back at me and smiles as she nods toward the wall behind the desk. It’s covered with dozens of postcards from Hawaii and Mexico to Thailand and French Polynesia.

‘Wow,’ I mutter. ‘Looks insane.’

‘Yeah.’ She smiles a little wistfully. ‘They send me a postcard every time they move on, but I do miss them.’

‘Was it something they’d always wanted to do?’

‘My dad always talked about it.’ She shrugs. ‘But I don’t think he’d have actually gone if it hadn’t been for Sully.’

‘Sully?’ I reply curiously. ‘Beck’s dad?’

She nods. ‘Sully and Melanie are my godparents. My dad and Sully had been best friends since they were kids. My dad didn’t cope well after Sully passed away. It was too hard to be in the bay without him, so I offered to take over the surf school and swim shack so they could travel.’

‘That was good of you,’ I mutter as I watch her.

‘I don’t mind. Like Beck, I’ve been surfing since I could walk.’ She pulls a wetsuit from the rack, checking the label and then sliding it back again. ‘Beck and I are the same age, so our dads’ taught us together.’

‘I see.’ I nod in understanding. ‘So, you guys are pretty much family.’

‘Pretty much,’ she agrees. ‘I was an only child, so all the Ainsley’s became my surrogate brothers and sisters.’

‘Sounds like a fun way to grow up.’

‘It was.’ She smiles.

‘Can I?’ I hesitate a moment when she looks at me. ‘I don’t want to sound rude or insensitive, but can I ask what happened to Sully?’

‘Cancer,’ Georgie replies after a moment. ‘Very sudden and very aggressive. There wasn’t much they could do. He was gone before they could get the first round of Chemo done. It probably was a kindness for Sully. He was always so big and full of life, it would have been hard to see him so diminished, but in the end, it was really quick. It was hard on everyone because it was such a shock. One minute we’re being told he’s sick. The next he’s gone.’

‘That’s awful.’ I frown, my heart aching for them.

‘Anyway.’ She shakes her head briskly, and I know the subject is now closed. ‘Here, this should fit you.’ She presses a wetsuit into my hands and shoos me back toward the changing rooms.

‘Oh, I haven’t got my card with me,’ I tell her as I step into the changing room.

‘It’s okay, you can pay me later. Besides, I know where you work,’ she laughs as she closes the curtain.

After ten minutes of cursing and wriggling, I emerge from the shack wearing a brand-new wetsuit, although I may have to swing by the local fire station on the way back to the B&B as I’m almost certain it’s going to take the jaws of life to prize me back out of this thing.

I head over to where Beck is leaning against the railing beside two surf boards.

‘Where do you want me?’ I smile slowly with a hint of mischief.

‘Stop it,’ he laughs.

‘Oh, for the love of god will you both stop it.’ Georgie rolls her eyes behind us. ‘If you two don’t stop flirting so hard I may spontaneously combust.’

‘Here.’ Beck picks up one of the boards, which is much taller than me at around seven feet long. ‘We’ll start you off on a foam board as they’re the easiest for beginners.’

‘Okaay.’ I breath sceptically as he hands me the board... and I promptly drop it on my foot.

Chapter Eight

Beck