Chapter 1
Australian Wayne Roberts (41) was seated alongside the left-hand aisle of a 3-seat row in the jet on the second leg of his domestic flight from Dubbo via Sydney to the Sunshine north of Brisbane, Queensland.
The rural veterinarian was beginning to relax, thinking sun, sand, surf while being loosely flopped on a deckchair nursing a beer and eyeing scantily-dressed well-sculptured females among the passing parade of beachgoers.
Perving?
"Call it what you wish," he sighed happily.
The local area where the veterinarian practiced with two partners was a 5-hour drive to Sydney (9 hours' drive to Melbourne). On this occasion, he'd chosen to fly to his north-eastern destination because of the longer distance.
Next to him were Martha, who lived in a retirement village in Wagga Wagga and beside the window was an attractive dark-hair woman probably in her early forties.
Chatty Martha, who was a widow and had four children and five grandchildren, returned from the toilet for the second time within the first hour. As Wayne rose to allow her get back to her seat, she apologised for disturbing him and whispered, "Bladder problem you know."
Wayne didn't know but suggested she might be more comfortable sitting in his aisle seat for easier exit.
"Oh, marvellous, you are so thoughtful, Zane (sic)," she smiled, with Wayne moving alongside the woman in the window seat who was reading what he'd guessed was a tear-jerker paperback.
"Hi, I'm Wayne Roberts."
She eyed him, curiously.
Martha called, "Ellie, his name is Zane (sic). He offered to swap seats with me so I could get out to stretch my legs easier."
"Oh, that was kind of you Zane (sic). I'm Ellie Fields."
Wayne said, "Ah, I thought you looked a little familiar. You're an Australian drama actress whom I've seen on television."
"Yes, but I switched to directing late last year."
Wayne nodded and said how interesting. He had no idea that a romance between Ellie and him was in the process of triggering and probably neither would have Ellie, who was married.
Ellie asked what his vocation was and Wayne said he worked with two other vets in a rural joint practice and he mainly attended to horses.
Ellie asked why did he choose to specialise in horses and Wayne said he was raised on a cattle and grain farm an hour and a half beyond Dubbo. He became a pony club member at the age of six, becoming enthusiastic about horses and how they related to their rider. He advanced to compete in equestrian events from the age of 12 until leaving for university six years later.
Martha called, "You two have settled in fine and I'll take a nap. Isn't she pretty, Wayne (tick)?"
"Indeed, and possesses great conformation," said the vet.
Ellie, after looking at him with one eye-brown raised over the use of the word 'conformation', leaned into him and whispered an apology for mistakenly calling him Zane.
"That's okay, you're forgiven. Wow, you certainly smell immensely better than any horse.
She giggled beautifully.
"Is you perfume Coco Chanel?"
"Oh, good boy. Does your wife wear it?"
"My wife Liz died in a sky-diving accident three years ago. I began casual dating last year and gradually noticed women's more refined perfumes and learned to identify a few. Liz, being an outdoor type, only splashed on scent when going out or when guests were due to arrive. She had little interest in make-up apart from moisturisers incorporating high-rated sunblock."
"Then you'd have little interest in me," laughed Ellie easily.
Wayne glanced at her fairly prominent breasts and then the left hand on the now-closed paperback, noticing the wedding and engagement rings.
He sighed and she intoned there was no need to reply to her comment.
"Please order me a vodka and tonic, I can hear bottles rattling on the pre-lunch drinks trolley approaching us from behind us."
"Sure, Ellie, with ice?"
"Affirmative."
Gosh, was 'affirmative' proper language for an actress Wayne mused. Hmm. she appeared to be a clear-thinker and well educated. Oh, of course, she'd need to be precise when giving instruction as a film director.
"Where do you live in Sydney?"
Ellie replied Narrabeen Beach, which was a little over 20 km north-east of central Sydney.
"I'm living in my parent's old home that they gave me as an investment. My husband Blake remains in our apartment in Bondi. We're estranged at present."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that situation," he said and thought she could be missing having regular sex. Perhaps he could...
"Don't be sorry," she sighed and then said brightly that at sunrise at Narrabeen strolling toward the beach with the rising sun on her back had been one of the constant joys in her life as a youngster. Another great joy arose when she was thirteen from finding a drifting surfboard when swimming at dawn.
"I handed in the board at the surf clubhouse and a month later it was given back to me as it had not been claimed. Until then I had no interest in surfing, but two of the guys in our gang took it upon themselves to teach me to ride the board. Within a few days of Mike teaching me before school and Eric coaching me after school, I realised I was utterly hooked."
"Do you still surf?"
"Shit yeah, oh pardon my beach language."
"It humanises attractive you," Wayne said and was startled when his arm was squeeze softly.
Omigod, he thought. She probably does feel low and disconnected.
"I feel I should explain my situation, Wayne. Our only child, a 2-year-old, died 18 months ago of meningitis and before long our marriage began to falter and then fail. Initially Blake appeared to accept our family doctor's assurance that I had acted correctly when recognising Lily's rapidly decline in health, but I believe he still secretly blames me for the death for failing to get emergency help sooner. Blake was away on business in Adelaide when the serious medical event erupted."
"Omigod, how dreadful."
"I appreciate your sympathy, Wayne. I suffered additionally in losing the friendship of some of our friends who took Blake's bitching about me to heart. I felt very much alone after my parents returned to Hawaii where they live in retirement."
Wayne eyed Ellie and said taking a break up north might provide the tonic she needed. He asked where was she heading for?
"I'll be staying with my brother Tom and his family. Tosser is a doctor at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital."
"Tosser?"
Ellie laughed and said, "Omigod, you'll think I'm a rather crude woman using that word. Tom's high school mates began calling him that because he acted rather horny. Eventually, even our initially horrified parents began using his nickname. Where will you stay?"
Wayne said he stayed at places on the upper north-eastern coast usually twice a year. This time he was returning to Mooloolaba."
"Oh, that's close to me, Wayne. Perhaps we'll meet again. Let's swap phone numbers."
