Playing for Love (Summer Beach Vets 1) - sweet vacation romance Read Free

because of a meeting. Sara felt a twinge of guilt. She hoped Ellie wouldn’t be too tired at work today—the two of them had gossiped until the early hours of the morning.
    Rummaging through the fridge and pantry, Sara helped herself to some milk and cereal, and made a cup of coffee. It was strange seeing the different supermarket brand names on the same everyday groceries: Watties Tomato Sauce, Dairy Farmers Milk, Coles Free Range Eggs, Tip Top Multigrain Toast, Skippy Cornflakes… She had heard that Australia was pretty Americanised now and, on the surface, she supposed that it was—but in many ways, it still felt so foreign .
    Sara glanced out the kitchen window. She was excited to get out and explore a bit. Night had been falling by the time they had gotten back to Summer Beach yesterday and she hadn’t seen very much of the seaside town. Ellie had told her that the first place she should check out was the beach, which was only about ten minutes’ walk from here. Sara stood up decisively. She would go for a walk now.
    After washing up her breakfast things, Sara slipped her feet into a pair of flip-flops and let herself out of the house. Ellie was renting a cute little fisherman’s cottage, which was sandwiched in a row of beach bungalows. Sara strolled down the street, admiring the houses with their beautifully kept gardens behind white picket fences. Everything is so clean , she thought. And there was a friendly, relaxed vibe about the place, with many windows left wide open and front doors ajar, covered only by fly screen. It almost reminded her of pictures and stories she’d heard of America in the 50s and 60s, when the pace of life was slower and it was still safe to let your children play unsupervised in the streets.
    She passed a house where a young woman was wrestling with a baby stroller as she tried to manoeuvre it out of the front garden gate. Sara jumped in and held the swing gate back for her. The young woman smiled gratefully as she reversed the stroller out onto the sidewalk.
    “Ta very much,” she said. “It’s a right pain, this pram. Should’ve waited to shop around instead of rushing out to buy one as soon as I got preggers.” She grinned at Sara. “You got any sprogs?”
    “I… what?” Sara was baffled.
    “Sprogs. Littlies. Kids,” the young woman explained.
    “Oh! No, no… I don’t have any children.” Sara smiled. “Gotta get married first.”
    “No, you don’t, these days,” said the young woman darkly. “I oughta know. Can’t get Gary to put a ring on me finger—not for quids. But it’s okay. I got bubs here.” She smiled down at the baby in the stroller, then looked up at Sara again. “I’m Libby. Haven’t seen you around—you just moved here?”
    “Oh no, I’m only visiting,” said Sara. “I’m from California. L.A., actually.”
    “Ah, you’re a Yank. Thought so from your accent. What d’ya think of Oz so far?”
    “It’s beautiful,” said Sara, smiling. “And everyone’s so friendly. It’s… it’s almost a bit like a dream. I can’t quite believe I’m here.”
    “Reckon I would say the same about L.A.,” said Libby with a grin. “Well, any time you want a chinwag, just come on over to my place. Doors always open. See ya!”
    The young mother waved and pushed the stroller away down the sidewalk. Sara watched her go in amusement. She had a feeling that if she ever wanted to visit Libby, she would have to come armed with some kind of Australian slang dictionary! Turning in the opposite direction, she continued on her way.
    Sara crossed several more roads and turned a few corners before she admitted to herself that she was lost. She was sure she had been heading in the right direction, but somehow she seemed to have gone wrong. She had been walking for over thirty minutes—she should have reached the beach by now. In fact, looking at the houses around her—which looked worryingly familiar—it seemed that she had simply gone in a huge circle