The Trouble with Love Read Free Page A

shoreline and made the sea glitter.
    Polly sighed as she imagined Ollie turning to her, tipping her face towards his.
    â€œI love you, Polly. I always have. I hope this feeling lasts for ever.”
    In her imagination, she wrapped her arms around his broad back, sliding her hands along his muscular shoulders. A little sigh escaped from her lips as she pictured how his warmth and strength would feel beneath her fingers.
    â€œI love you too, Ollie. I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long.”
    His lips would be cool and soft, pressing hesitantly against hers at first, and then harder as passion overwhelmed them. She could feel his fingers twining through her hair, and the sweet taste of his mouth. . .
    â€œHow could you?!”
    Polly tried to hold on to her dream, but it was sliding away from her. Now Lila was striding towards them, her cheeks streaked with tears and her eyes wide and desolate.
    â€œI thought you were my friend!”
    Polly squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She could never do what Eve had done to Rhi. Never. And so Ollie could never be hers.
    Sobs rose in her throat as the picture in her mind changed again. Everyone in her life had surrounded her now. They were pointing and laughing, or shaking their heads at her treachery . . . her bare-faced lies. . .
    Her father’s face was the worst of all. She imagined the tone of his voice.
    â€œI’m so disappointed in you, Polly. . . I thought you were a better person than this. . .”
    She wrenched her eyes open. The chance of her father ever coming to Heartside Bay, even to say such terrible things to her, was so remote that it was laughable. He didn’t care enough to visit from the US, or even to call her. His disappointment would be an improvement on his near-total absence.
    She suddenly became aware that the sky had grown darker. The sun was low, striping the grey clouds with gold. How long had she been standing here? The wind felt colder than it had earlier in the afternoon, and the sea that surrounded her was getting rough. She looked with alarm at the water lapping against the rocks she was standing on. It was a lot higher than she had realized.
    Fear clawed her throat as she gazed at the water creeping over the rocks that lay between her and the mainland. How could she have been so stupid not to realize the tide was coming in?
    Even as she watched, the water level rose again. The waves seemed to reach for her, stretching out to dash themselves against her toes. Giving a gasp, Polly scrambled higher up the rock. Her panic returned, and she could barely breathe. She couldn’t get back to the shore the way she had come – the water had covered too much of the rocks. She couldn’t swim to shore either, because the sea was getting rougher by the minute. She could be dashed against the exact same rocks she was standing on, and drown.
    â€œHelp!” she screamed. “Someone, help me!”
    Her voice vanished on the wind. The beach behind her was empty. The clouds were hanging ever lower in the blackening sky.
    Polly sat down, swamped with horror at the danger she suddenly found herself in. There was no escape. She was going to be swept out to sea!

FOUR
    The sun was almost touching the horizon now. Shivering with cold and fear, Polly clutched her knees and watched the rising water with a kind of horrible fascination. Would drowning be quick? She thought about jumping in and swimming for the shore, but the jagged rocks looked sharp and the currents strong. She was doomed either way.
    A small boat with a blue sail appeared around the edge of the cliff on Polly’s right. Hope surged through her. If she could get the sailor’s attention, she would be saved!
    You’re such a cliché, Polly Nelson, she told herself. She unfolded her numb legs and and got unsteadily to her feet. The damsel in distress, too involved in a stupid daydream to notice the tide! If she had half a