Two months later

No work for two days, sunshine, a warm north-westerly, perfect waves and an afternoon of surfing them ahead of him. Could this day get any better Jack thought, as he wandered down onto the beach with his board.

"Going for a surf?"

Jack grinned as he saw her emerging from the waves. She was wearing a simple black one-piece and he couldn't help but notice how incredibly sexy she looked. Those legs! They seemed to go on forever, and her gorgeous hair…snap out of it Jack!

"What does it look like Einstein?"

Martha leaned her head to one side and smiled sarcastically.

"Don't be smart, it doesn't suit you."

"Don't ask dumb questions then," Jack retorted and laughed at her. "The waves look good. Not that you'd know of course," he quickly added with a smug tone.
"Excuse me?"

"Well you don't surf, do you?"
"There's a thing called body-surfing Jack, and it requires waves. You should try it some time."
"Please! Bodysurfing?" Jack scoffed. "Why would I bother when I've got a board? There's not even a comparison."

"Oh, you're such a typical surf snob. Thinking anyone who's not on a board can't appreciate the waves."

"I'm just saying it's not the same, and if you tried it, you'd realise how great surfing is."

"Nah, I don't want to embarrass you," Martha replied.

"Excuse me?" Now it was Jack's turn to demand an explanation.

"Well, I could surf you off your board," Martha paused for effect, "so to speak, any day of the week." Her eyebrows raised, and a smirk on her lips, she placed her wet hands on her hips and stared Jack down.

Jack didn't say anything immediately but then slowly a mischievous smile appeared on his own lips in return. "OK, how about this then? After a one hour lesson, I bet you can't stay on this board for more then five seconds."

"Five seconds?" Martha retorted, mocking Jack's challenge. "Are you kidding me? Make it ten!"

"Confident aren't we?"

"Yep, I'm a bronze medallion."

"That doesn't mean you can surf."

"We'll see."

"I guess we will."

"I guess so. In fact I think this is the perfect moment for revenge."

"What do you mean?" asked Jack, confused.

"I mean," Martha explained, "if I stay on your board for ten seconds after a one hour lesson, you have to run naked up this beach."

Jack started laughing and struggled to stop.

"Martha," he managed, in between chuckles, "you do realise you're going to lose again, and you are going to be forced to do another nudie run."

Martha shook her head at him. "Uh, uh," she said decisively. "There's no way I'm losing this time."

"That's what you said last time if I recall correctly."

"Yeah, but this time, you can't cheat."

"I didn't cheat," Jack said defensively.

"You cheated. Anyway, this time I'm in control and I'm not losing. Now are we going to have this lesson or not?"

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"So what is this big news you have to tell me?"

Rob and Kim were sitting in the Hunter/Holden household opposite Beth.

"Well," Robbie started, "I've decided to defer uni." Robbie had completed his VCE just before Tasha's death and as expected, had done stunningly well. He had applied and been accepted into Engineering/Science at the University of NSW, and Tash and him had been planning a move to Sydney. But then of course everything changed. It was now February and Robbie had been expected to start university in a month.

Upon hearing Robbie's news Beth looked slightly shocked but then smiled and reaching out across the living room, patted her son's knee. "So you've decided to stay in the bay," she said happily. "I totally understand sweet. A move right now, after all you've been through, it's no wonder you're not ready."

"No Mum, that's not what I meant." Robbie gently corrected his mother. "Kim and I have been talking and we're going to go travelling, through Europe. You know, do the whole backpack thing."

"Yeah, we both feel it's the right time to do something new, a little different," Kim added.

"Oh," Beth said, shocked. "I hadn't expected this. For how long?"

"A year. I'm going to start my course next year."

"When did you decide this? I mean you've never mentioned this to me." Beth appeared a little confused and flustered.

"Yeah I know, but I've been thinking for a while now I'm just not ready to start full-time study, not after everything that's happened. I still have so much to process. Anyway I kind of got chatting to Kim about it last week, and he was saying how he was thinking of moving on from the bay."

"Yeah," Kim interrupted. "I've been thinking for a while now I need something new, a break from the gym. Anyway I told Rob I was thinking of going travelling, and he asked me if he could come."

"I kind of invited myself along," Rob explained.

"Yep," Kim agreed. "I tried to talk him out of it…for my sake," he said, emphasising the last point.

Beth laughed, but then looked at Robbie concerned. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" she said, adopting a serious tone.

"Yes," Robbie said decisively and without pause. "I need this."

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"Yeah I get it: jump up immediately. Can we get out on the water soon?" Martha didn't hesitate to hide her irritation and impatience.

"Martha, you have to learn the basics on land. I'm trying to help you."

"More like trying to sabotage the bet."

Jack shook his head in an exasperated fashion. "I can't teach you the basics out in the water," he said, starting to become irritated himself.

"Yeah yeah, just get on with it will you? I want to hit the surf and try this baby out." Martha grinned and pointed to the board with her toe.

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Following the announcement of the boy's travel plans, Kim had soon said his good-byes and now it was only Rob and his mother left in the latter's living room. Beth came out from the kitchen and handed Robbie a cup of tea. She placed her own down on the coffee table in font of her and took a seat on the couch next to her son.

Resting her hand on her chin she turned her attention to Robbie and studied him earnestly. Robbie aware of the attention focused on him opened his palms and raised his eyebrows. "What?" he questioned.

"I'm worried Rob," she stated. "Are you sure this is the right thing you're doing? I mean you need your family right now. Being away from them, what if you can't cope? You've got to give yourself time."

"I am giving myself time Mum, that's why I doing this."

"But Rob, you'll only have Kim and maybe he can't provide you with the support you need. I could come along if you like…" she suddenly suggested brightly, as though she had found a magical solution to a troubling problem.

"Mum," Robbie quickly interrupted her and laughed incredulously. "Thanks, but no thanks. Seriously," he continued, aware of her concern and both touched by it but keen to reassure her. "I'm not doing this to run away or anything. I'm doing this because I genuinely believe this is what I need, that this is the right thing for me. Losing Tash…I realise that life, you just have no idea which way it's going to go," he said shaking his head, clearly still trying to grapple with that day, that moment. "You've got to get on with things, take every opportunity, and I have always wanted to travel, Tash and I both did. Now I have a chance to do that, before I get tied down." There was a pause and Beth smiled at her son affectionately. "Besides," he said, smiling in return, "I won't be alone, I will have Kim, and if that doesn't comfort you, Kim and I are definitely going to go visit Scott and Hayley. Kim really wants to see little Noah and it'll be great to catch up with my big bro again."

"Well I know he'll be over the moon to see you love," Beth said. "He still feels guilty about not making it back for the funeral."

Beth looked at Robbie and shook her head suddenly as if struggling to understand something. "You know you've taught me one thing sweet," she started. "Strength. It has nothing to do with how many weights or muscles or all that rubbish. Your strength Rob, it stuns me every day."

"I haven't felt strong."

"Maybe not, but you are strong. Stronger than maybe even you realise. I am so proud to call you my son. I know that Jack wasn't the best father to you, and I know I should have done more at the time to stop the things he said, and did…"

"Mum it wasn't your fault," Robbie said emphatically.

"Please love, let me finish," Beth said. "What I'm trying to say is maybe I didn't have the same strength as you."

"Mum," Rob protested.

"No," Beth continued earnestly. "I love you so much Rob, I could never have dreamed for a more remarkable and astonishing son. I am honoured to call you my own, and I am so sorry for the pain you've had to endure, I'd do anything to take it away." Beth was now crying and Robbie was doing his best to keep silent tears from spilling down his own cheeks. His mother drew him into a warm hug and this time, for the first time in a long time, he did find comfort in someone's embrace.

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Jack looked at her out on the water, paddling furiously to catch up with the wave and smirked. There was no way she was going to stay on that board for ten seconds. The lessons had been a disaster; she had barely managed to stand up at all, let alone for any length of time. She'd be nude again, Jack thought, and he couldn't say the thought disturbed him. Shifting his attention back to the present he wondered if he was in fact still day-dreaming. In front of him out on the water, Martha was standing up on the board, and what's more, she was completely ripping up the wave – with ease.

"What the?" Jack said out loud to no one but himself, running closer to the shore. "How could she…." but Jack didn't need to complete the sentence. He realised he'd been done. There was no way Martha could ride that wave the way she was if she'd never surfed before. He couldn't believe it; she'd promised revenge and she'd got it. Jack, you idiot!

Meanwhile, Martha, running triumphantly out of the water, board under one arm, breathlessly approached Jack, laughing as she did so.

"How'd I do?" she asked innocently, digging the board into the sand in front of Jack.

"You lier, you said you'd never surfed before."

"I never said that – you chose to make that wild assumption. In fact, my brothers and I used to go surfing up the coast all the time on family holidays."

"So why don't you surf here then?"

"Don't know really; I didn't have a board and never got round to buying one. Anyway, I told you I love bodysurfing, I don't need a board. Now stop stalling, aren't we forgetting something here?"

"Martha I can't, I'm a cop," Jack whined feebly.

"Hello Jack? Wouldn't it be 'un-Australian' not to pay up when it comes to a bet," Martha exclaimed in a mocking fashion, making exaggerated quotation marks in the air as she reminded Jack of his words to her after their infamous pool game.

"Martha," Jack said, giving puppy-dog eyes and begging for mercy.

"Don't Martha me. Now drop the boardies and get running baby." Martha teasingly pointed her finger up the beach to indicate the direction Jack was supposed to take his naked butt.

The latter groaned and closed his eyes. Before he could think any further of the embarrassment he was about to endure, he quickly took off his shorts and started running.

"All I'm saying is Paris Hilton is hot," Ric exclaimed sheepishly.

"What?" Cassie said in disgust. "She is soooo fake. How can you say that?"

"C'mon Luc, back me up here." Ric turned to Luc, who along with Cassie, Matilda and himself, were sitting on the beach killing time.

"Angelina as Lara Croft," Luc said instead. "She's my ideal."

"Awww, give you wet dreams does she Luc?" Cassie teased, and nudged him with her elbow.

"Oh my God," Matilda interrupted, whom had been ignoring the conversation and staring the other way. "Lucas, is that your brother?"

"Huh?" Luc said in a disinterested fashion and shifted his body to see was Mattie was referring too.

"Oh my god," Luc exclaimed, echoing Matilda's reaction. "I'm scarred."

"What is he doing?" Matilda screeched, as Jack came running towards them in his birthday suit. Cassie and Ric meanwhile, having directed their own attention to Jack's nude dash, were rolling on the sand in near-hysterics. "Nice look constable," Ric shouted, upon which Jack looked up, and seeing his brother and his three friend's staring back at him, went pale with horror, dropped his hands to his nether region, turned on his heel and fled in the direction he had come, leaving the threesome to enjoy a view of his rear while Lucas buried his head in the sand in despair.

Martha was finding it hard to stop laughing. "Stop whinging Jack – you're just lucky your boss didn't see you. Anyway," she said, picking up her towel and passing Jack his board, "it's not like I haven't seen it before."

"Yeah but last time I checked the rest of Summer Bay hadn't," Jack said, mortified.

Martha giggled and then sighed contentedly. "I haven't laughed that much since," she stopped abruptly but it was clear to both of them what had been left unsaid.

Jack looked at Martha. "Well if I could put a smile on your face again, I guess it was worth it."

Martha smiled at Jack, and then quickly she tried to break whatever moment may have been forming.

"Well, I guess I better be going."

"Martha," Jack started, but she cut him off.

"I'm sorry Jack. I promised Grandad I'd cook tonight; got to do the shopping and stuff. So I'll see you later hey? Thanks for the lesson." She quickly ran off up the sand, leaving Jack to stare after her, with a mixture of both fondness and regret. In his heart he knew that friendship wasn't enough; but he'd take it. He had no choice.