His set remained empty under Thomas's blue gaze. It was almost as though he could will the boy into being with force of mind. After the lesson he foun... himself in the art block. As if in a daze, he wandered into the art studio and located the smiling figure of Sera. The slim Latino was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt that lay open at the collar, and a pair of long denim shorts. He was chatting to his friends as they all sat about in a rough sort of circle, smoking and laughing. Thomas. “So, you finally accept my invitation,” she said with good-natured scolding. “Maybe you don’t like Colombian women.”“I work with a lot of Colombians,” I reminded her. “Beautiful people.”“You are a good man.” She was grateful to me for keeping her boys on the straight and narrow during school holidays. She leaned against me.“Can I give you a de-stress?” she offered insistently. “Good for you. Very relaxing.” Her hand was on mine and she was looking into my eyes. “Go on.”“Okay, that would be. ’ He shook her hand and then excused himself for a moment. He approached the juke box, inserted a dime into the slot and then searched through its library for a song. The same song he’d played thirty-five years ago. He found it and pressed the play button. Seconds later Sinatra’s voice floated out of the speakers crooning about summer winds blowing in from across the sea. Arnold came back to her and extended his hand. ‘Deidre, would you please honour me with this dance?’ She smiles at him and. Kate lay under the umbrella as Julia and Jake swam. Jake made his way further out to catch larger waves. With his strong torso arching then bending his arms, he manoeuvred ever forward up then down the face of the wave. He was a powerful body surfer she thought. He always had been. Kate adjusted her bikini bottom as Julia approached. It was embarrassing enough as it was, she thought to herself. At her age all your body parts drifted south, let alone having hair appear from under your bikini.