Chapter 5: A Late Night Walk

Emma didn't think about Kane again that night, by the time she got in, she was far too tired and when she got up to see to Jordan during the night, the only thing that she was focused on was her baby. And she didn't think about him at the breakfast table either, even though the rest of her family were discussing the party and the local residents. Jess had arranged to meet up with Sally while Benny was at work, it seemed that they had gotten on very well the night before. But during the morning, when she and Allee were babysitting for Leah Patterson, who was Allee's cousin, he suddenly popped into her thoughts.

"Allee," she said quietly, gently encouraging her son to eat his mashed cottage pie. "I don't suppose you know Kane Philips?"

"I've heard of him," her friend scowled. "His aunt is friends with my gran. He's not a very nice person, he's had a lot of trouble with the Sutherland family and he has quite a bad reputation around here. He left town a while ago, before I arrived here away. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," Emma said, deciding not to tell her friend that he was back. "I heard some of the locals talking about him and I was just curious, that's all."

"Fair enough," Allee smiled. "Anyway, what are we going to do today? Stay in and watch movies? Take a walk? Sit in here all day?"

Apart from that brief chat with Allee, Emma did not think about Kane at all, not any more than she thought about Alf or Donald Fisher or any of the other residents of the Bay. In fact, what with caring for Jordan and everything else, he had become just a vague memory by the time she saw him again three days later…

It had been just another normal day for the family. Benny had been at work, Jess had been with Sally and Flynn, Lucy had been hanging out with Kirsty and Jade, and had been bugging her mum about letting her get a part time job ever since she had come home and Emma had gone with Allee and Gina to the beach with Jordan where they had met up with Dani, Josh, Hayley and Noah. Shadow and Laddie needed a late night walk at about ten o'clock before the family retired to bed and usually Benny took them, since Susan couldn't handle them both together and Lucy wasn't strong enough. However, he had been complaining of having a headache ever since he came home from work and Emma volunteered to take them out. Her family could see no reason why not and so the oldest daughter left Jordan with her mother and left the house, the two dogs in tow.

Although Emma had not taken the dogs out alone at night since the family had moved to Summer Bay, she had done it for the last year where they had lived before and she enjoyed it. She enjoyed walking along the dark, quiet streets at a time when there were few people around. It was nice to get away from her family for a while, to be able to relax and briefly forget the pressures of being a daughter and a mother.

As she stepped onto the beach, she released the dogs and they tore off across the sand towards the sea. Emma slipped off her shoes and walked slowly after them. Occasionally she lost sight of them as they darted behind rocks and into the water, but she knew that they would both come back when she whistled, so she just let them get on with it.

As she came up to the jetty, the young girl noticed someone standing there, staring out across the ocean. As she got nearer, he turned and she recognised him as the boy she had spoken to a few days before.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "I knew that we'd meet again. Emma, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Emma gave him a brief smile in return. "And you're Kane."

"You remembered," he seemed pleased by that. "You here with your dogs?"

"Yes."

"Mind if I walk along with you," he asked. "Just for a bit."

"Well," Emma hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. He seemed nice enough, despite what Allee had said, but she didn't know him and she wasn't in the habit of trusting men. "I suppose so," she said finally, figuring that even if he did turn out to be a rapist, she still had the dogs at hand. "If you like."

They turned round and walked back the way she had just come, the dogs running in front of them. At first their conversation was awkward, but soon they were chatting away like old friends. Although she didn't completely let his guard down, by the time she had reached the street again, she felt at ease with Kane. He was very polite, friendly and he made her laugh. She found out that he was almost nineteen, that he stayed with his aunt when he was in town and he liked boats, surfing and being by the sea. Emma told him a little about herself, her age, where she lived, a little about her family. She was almost disappointed when she had to go.

"It was nice talking to you, Emma." Kane said when they reached her corner. "I'm not around here much during the day, but do you think that maybe you will be on the beach again tomorrow evening?"

"Oh, I don't know," Emma smiled and shrugged. "Anything is possible. See you, Kane."

"Bye Emma," he said as he turned and began to walk away. "See you later."