‘My grandparents’.’
‘Are you staying with them the whole time you’re here?’
‘Yep.’
‘You’re sleeping on your grandparents’ sofa for six weeks?’ I ask with astonishment.
‘Yeah, their place is tiny.’
I’ve relaxed a bit by the time we reach the boat ramp, our feet slipping and sliding over the sand as we make our way down the steep incline to the beach. Two lone lifeguards in red jackets stand near the distant shoreline, and the only other people in sight are wetsuit-clad surfers and bodyboarders riding the waves. Any tourists who decided to brave the weather and visit Aggie today are long gone.
We head right towards the rocks that have tumbled down from the cliffs over time. They’re fully visible now, but in high tide, they’re almost entirely hidden underwater.
As we near the dark cascade of boulders, Finn grabs my arm and yanks me to a stop, his eyes fixed on something ahead. Heart thumping, I follow the line of his sight to a small, furry cream-coloured mound lying about forty metres away.
‘Is that—’ he starts.
‘A seal cub!’ I finish his sentence for him.
‘No way,’ he says with glee, dropping my arm. ‘I thought breeding season was later.’
‘This one must be early. Do you think it’s okay? Should we go and check?’
‘No, you’re supposed to stay well back. Its mother is probably around somewhere and we don’t want to scare her away.’ He casts me a smile. ‘Haven’t you read the wildlife poster outside the Surf Life-Saving Club?’
I give him a sheepish shrug. ‘A long, long time ago.’
‘Clearly I’ve had too much time to kill,’ he says drily.
We scan the waves, looking for the slick body of an adult grey seal.
‘What if it’s hurt? Should we wait?’ I ask. ‘Watch it for a bit?’
‘Sure. Let’s find somewhere to sit down.’
The rocks are the colour of jade shot through with white stripes, like a copse of silver birch trees.
‘The trick is finding one that isn’t covered in seaweed,’ Finn says as we navigate the slippery surfaces. ‘But this looks all right.’ He slips off his denim jacket, revealing a classic white T-shirt underneath, and lays it on top of a smooth boulder, then gives it a pat, indicating for me to sit down.
‘Such a gentleman,’ I tease as he holds out his hand to help me climb up.
‘Does that come as a surprise to you?’ he asks in a low voice, but any smart remark I might have hoped to deliver is silenced by the giddiness that comes over me at our skin-to-skin contact.
He lets go of me to climb up himself, then sits down a few inches away.
‘Did you have fun with your brothers at the beach on Sunday?’ I ask, resentful of the space between us.
‘No, it was horrible. They run amok wherever they go,’ he says in that droll way of his, emphasising the word ‘amok’. ‘My grandparents are too soft on them,’ he confides.
‘Do they live with your grandparents full-time?’
I can still feel the ghost of his hand in mine.
‘Yeah. Their dads aren’t on the scene.’ He glances at me.‘Tyler and Liam are my half-brothers. I’m not sure if you knew that?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I guess you knew all about my mum’s reputation already.’ He eyes me circumspectly through lowered lashes.
