Page 8 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘Tia! Ethan, sorry. You don’t have to,’ Sera said.
‘It’s totally cool. Give me your phone, Tia. I’m an expert.’
He took the phone from Tia’s trembling hand, shuffled them into the furthest corner from the dog, slung an arm across her shoulders, rested his head gently on hers and took the photo.
‘Have a look and let me know if it’s okay,’ he said, handing the phone back.
Tia let out a giggle. ‘It’s amazing,’ she said without even looking at it. Then she giggled again and scurried out the door.
‘That was nice of you,’ Sera said.
‘It was my pleasure. If it wasn’t for fans, I wouldn’t have a career.’
‘I’m sure talent comes into it somewhere.’
He laughed. ‘Hopefully. But if no one’s interested, it doesn’t matter how talented you are.’ He gave a half shrug and flashed her a smile.
Her stomach lurched. All she could see was dimples; deep, adorable and cute as hell. ‘Um… so… uh…’ She stopped, took a beat and a slow, calming breath and tried again. ‘Ernie was about to go for a walk. Would you like to take him?’
He tilted his head. ‘C’mon, Sera, I think you know the answer to that. But, if you’re walking him, maybe I could come too? I have something I’d like to run past you.’
They strolled along the bush track that ran off the back of Sera’s property, shaded by imposing gum trees as they climbed the small rise, navigating chunks of ancient sandstone long buried in the dirt.
Ethan was out in front, glancing back over his shoulder at Ernie ever few steps. Sera kept the dog close as she tried not to marvel at the way Ethan’s back flexed as he moved.
‘This is such a great area,’ he said, pushing aside a bough of bright yellow wattle blooms. ‘It always blows my mind that we have bushland like this so close to the beach.’
‘We’re pretty lucky,’ she said, feeling vaguely shitty for perving at him. ‘Though it must also be nice waking up to a view of the surf every day. I think I’d like that.’
‘Unfortunately, I don’t get to be there much. But when I am, I love it. I bought the place off my grandparents a few years back, when they moved into assisted living. The idea was to knock it down and build something fancy, but I just can’t seem to do it. That house has so many memories, and there are so few beach cottages left. I guess I’ll eventually renovate it, if I’m ever home long enough.’
‘I’m the same. I haven’t done much to my place either. I inherited it from my Grandma Rose. I was going to sell it. I mean, what do I need a lump of land like that for? Yet, two years later, here I am.’ She glanced down at Ernie, as he trotted calmly beside her. He walked well on the leash. Someone must have loved him once because he’d obviously had some training.
‘You named the rescue after your grandmother?’ Ethan asked.
‘Mm-hm.’
‘I like that. Did you grow up around here?’
‘Not far from here. My parents are about twenty minutes away.’
‘Mine moved up the coast to be near my brother. The good James boy. The one who got married and had kids and didn’t waste his life playing make-believe.’
Sera was glad he was out in front and didn’t see her eyebrows shoot up. ‘I’m sure they don’t think you’ve wasted your life.’
He laughed. ‘Yeah. They do.’
‘Oh. Um. Well, if it’s any consolation, I know the feeling.’
They walked on in silence, the crunching of sticks under their feet and the call of the whipbird sounding in the warm air.
‘Have you always wanted to rescue animals?’ Ethan asked, breaking the hush.
‘Maybe? I don’t know. I’d bring home the odd injured creature when I was a kid, visiting my grandparents. There were frogs and birds, and I found a baby possum once. And I was always trying to get my parents to adopt a dog,everydog, but they wouldn’t. We never had pets growing up. Dad’s allergic to cats, and Mum to mess, so I made them donate to the RSPCA instead. Like, made them, as in stood over them while they filled out the form.’ She laughed. ‘But I never thought about it as a full-time job or anything. I’m a writer. I do website copy and stuff like that. The shelter was… an accident, I guess? I knew nothing about rescuing animals, other than what I’d seen on the wayyyy too many Dodo videos I watched on Instagram, but Toby inspired me and supported me every step of the way. He taught me a lot about animal care and what I needed to open a shelter. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have done it. I would have sold the place. Can’t imagine that now. So glad I didn’t throw away my grandparents’ legacy. I’ll always be grateful to Toby for that.’
Sera saw him nod, as if thoughtfully absorbing her words.
‘What about you?’ she asked. ‘Did you always want to be an actor?’
