PART ONE: THE SUTHERLANDS
CHAPTER ONE
20 years later…
He got out of his car and looked around. Summer Bay has changed-a lot. The Summer Bay surf club was demolished and in place was a flashy new restaurant. It looked very out of place there.
What else has changed? Man, I can't believe I haven't come back since my high school graduation. Max Sutherland had to admit, he missed this place.
He climbed back into his car and headed for his old home, the Summer Bay Caravan Park.
He drove towards his old home and the caravan park. Which was still there. It was old and falling apart. It looked as though nobody has maintained the place for years.
After the Sutherlands had moved on, Max left the place to his dear old friend and long time local Colleen Smart after she had to sell her mobile home because of gambling debts. This happened when he was thirteen years old. Colleen had to live in a caravan park for a number of years before moving into the house.
Max was eager to see Colleen again. He hadn't seen her since the year he moved to Perth to reconcile with his first love Tamara Simpson (now known as Tamara Sutherland).
He parked his car, got out and strode towards the front yard where two twin blond boys were playing.
A ball bounced towards him and he picked it up.
" Hey mister!" one of the boys shouted out, " Can we have our ball back please?"
Max gently threw it back and walked closer to them.
" Do you guys live here?" he asked, gesturing to the house.
" Yeah. Who are you?" the other blond boy asked him.
" I'm Max. I used to live here years ago."
" Really? How old are you?"
Max smiled, " Thirty-two. How old are you?"
" We're both eleven. We're twins." The first boy told him matter-of-factly,
" I'm Tim and he's Matt."
" Are your parents home?"
" Mum is." Tim told him and Max walked to the front door and peered inside confused. What happened to Colleen? Since when did she sell this house to some strange family? And why didn't she tell him?
A tall, thin blond woman was dusting the mantle-piece and Max watched her for a while. She looked familiar and his eyes went wide with recognition.
" Jade? Is that you?" he blurted and the woman whirled around, startled.
" Max!" she exclaimed and ran over to give him a hug, " I can't believe it's you! What are you doing here? My, look how tall you've gotten."
Max hugged her in return. He felt guilty for not visiting Summer Bay often. He still remembered Jade as a 22 year old. That was the last time he saw her after his final year of high school. She was engaged to Nick then and a year later they were married.
" I decided to visit. Are those kids yours?"
Jade grinned, " You've met the terrors have you?"
" Yeah. Cute. You've done well Jade. And let me guess, the husband is Nick?"
" However did you guess?" Jade rolled her blue eyes, " Of course it's Nick. He's not at home though. Would you like to stay for a cuppa?"
" No, I don't think so. I'd like to visit some of the other locals. Where's Colleen?"
Jade's eyes grew sad, " Didn't anyone tell you?"
" What? What happened to her?"
" She passed away three years ago. It was a stroke. When my family moved back to Summer Bay, I discovered this house was on the market and I snapped it up before some stranger did. This house has to remain in the family."
" Colleen is dead?" Max whispered, " and nobody even bothered to tell me?"
" One of tried to contact you but we couldn't find you. You up and left after graduation and the only thing you told us you were going to marry Tamara."
" You should have asked around! Tamara lives in Perth and that's where I was going!" Max shouted, " I didn't get a call or a letter saying Colleen is dead. Am I that unimportant to this family? Maybe I had always been unimportant."
" That's not true Max," Jade protested grabbing his arm but he yanked it away.
" Forget it. I'm going." Max stormed off.
" Max!" jade called after him but he didn't heed her.
He stalked towards his car and saw a solidly built blonde man wearing shorts and a tank top heading towards the house. It was Nick Smith. Max was too angry to stop and talk. He revved the engine and sped off without a backwards glance.
CHAPTER ONE
20 years later…
He got out of his car and looked around. Summer Bay has changed-a lot. The Summer Bay surf club was demolished and in place was a flashy new restaurant. It looked very out of place there.
What else has changed? Man, I can't believe I haven't come back since my high school graduation. Max Sutherland had to admit, he missed this place.
He climbed back into his car and headed for his old home, the Summer Bay Caravan Park.
He drove towards his old home and the caravan park. Which was still there. It was old and falling apart. It looked as though nobody has maintained the place for years.
After the Sutherlands had moved on, Max left the place to his dear old friend and long time local Colleen Smart after she had to sell her mobile home because of gambling debts. This happened when he was thirteen years old. Colleen had to live in a caravan park for a number of years before moving into the house.
Max was eager to see Colleen again. He hadn't seen her since the year he moved to Perth to reconcile with his first love Tamara Simpson (now known as Tamara Sutherland).
He parked his car, got out and strode towards the front yard where two twin blond boys were playing.
A ball bounced towards him and he picked it up.
" Hey mister!" one of the boys shouted out, " Can we have our ball back please?"
Max gently threw it back and walked closer to them.
" Do you guys live here?" he asked, gesturing to the house.
" Yeah. Who are you?" the other blond boy asked him.
" I'm Max. I used to live here years ago."
" Really? How old are you?"
Max smiled, " Thirty-two. How old are you?"
" We're both eleven. We're twins." The first boy told him matter-of-factly,
" I'm Tim and he's Matt."
" Are your parents home?"
" Mum is." Tim told him and Max walked to the front door and peered inside confused. What happened to Colleen? Since when did she sell this house to some strange family? And why didn't she tell him?
A tall, thin blond woman was dusting the mantle-piece and Max watched her for a while. She looked familiar and his eyes went wide with recognition.
" Jade? Is that you?" he blurted and the woman whirled around, startled.
" Max!" she exclaimed and ran over to give him a hug, " I can't believe it's you! What are you doing here? My, look how tall you've gotten."
Max hugged her in return. He felt guilty for not visiting Summer Bay often. He still remembered Jade as a 22 year old. That was the last time he saw her after his final year of high school. She was engaged to Nick then and a year later they were married.
" I decided to visit. Are those kids yours?"
Jade grinned, " You've met the terrors have you?"
" Yeah. Cute. You've done well Jade. And let me guess, the husband is Nick?"
" However did you guess?" Jade rolled her blue eyes, " Of course it's Nick. He's not at home though. Would you like to stay for a cuppa?"
" No, I don't think so. I'd like to visit some of the other locals. Where's Colleen?"
Jade's eyes grew sad, " Didn't anyone tell you?"
" What? What happened to her?"
" She passed away three years ago. It was a stroke. When my family moved back to Summer Bay, I discovered this house was on the market and I snapped it up before some stranger did. This house has to remain in the family."
" Colleen is dead?" Max whispered, " and nobody even bothered to tell me?"
" One of tried to contact you but we couldn't find you. You up and left after graduation and the only thing you told us you were going to marry Tamara."
" You should have asked around! Tamara lives in Perth and that's where I was going!" Max shouted, " I didn't get a call or a letter saying Colleen is dead. Am I that unimportant to this family? Maybe I had always been unimportant."
" That's not true Max," Jade protested grabbing his arm but he yanked it away.
" Forget it. I'm going." Max stormed off.
" Max!" jade called after him but he didn't heed her.
He stalked towards his car and saw a solidly built blonde man wearing shorts and a tank top heading towards the house. It was Nick Smith. Max was too angry to stop and talk. He revved the engine and sped off without a backwards glance.