Two Days in Biarritz Read Online Free PDF Page A

protection of Josh at her side.
    Kate sprang off the blanket and ran towards the incoming tide. “Come on, let’s jump in!”
    “I haven’t got my trunks with me,” Shane laughed.
    The current was deceptive in Dublin Bay and the friends usually only swam in a crowd. It was windy and the wave crests rushed in with ferocity. The three pals left behind on the seashore sat on the tartan rug and laughed at their hardy friend. Kate didn’t seem to mind as she dived in and was quickly engulfed by an incoming wave. She bobbed out of the water and swam into the next wave. Beyond it, she raised her arms in the air, as the others waved back. She disappeared again and Annabel noticed a look of concern in Shane’s eyes.
    “Is she okay?”
    “She ’s a strong swimmer, she’s fine,” Annabel assured him.
    “She’s gone under the waves a long time.”
    “Look, there’s her arm, she’s okay.”
    Sh ane jumped up, ripped off his chunky white boots and ran to the water’s edge with his socks and the rest of his clothes still on. He waded into the sea as quickly as he could until he was waist high in the water and then catapulted his body into the air, diving beneath the waves where he had last seen Kate. She came out of the water beyond him for a few brief seconds, then disappeared again. Shane frantically swam out further. It wasn’t made easier by the fact he was still wearing his clothes.
    Kate erupted ou t of the water like a mermaid, her body glistening in the sunshine and her long dark hair clinging to the back of her neck, droplets of water spraying off her skin.
    “I k new I’d get you in here somehow!” she cried with a wicked smile.
    Shane was so relieved he grabbed her and tried to derobe her of her bikini but she was too quick in the water for him and he had to chase her all the way back to the sand dunes where the others sat laughing.
    “You’re drenched! Now you’ ll have to take your clothes off.” Annabel grinned.
    Shane sat in a pair of wet underpants while they ate Mars bars and drank coke, the staple diet of the summer. Kate had Shane enthralled with her every move. Annabel had to admit she was a foil to Kate’s charms as well. While Kate was out there in the sea causing the commotions and making everyone fall in love with her more, Annabel stayed on the sideline and that’s the way it always was. Things hadn’t changed much.
     
    * * *
     
    “You should have gone over. The view is spectacular. I can make out four surfers on the water.” Kate was shaking the spray from her hair. “It must be some buzz.”
    “Come on , let’s take a closer look,” Annabel said, linking her by the arm. “I want to get a photo on my phone and send it to Sam – he’d love it.”
    The two walked along the edge of the seafront until they came to another viewing point that was near the winding roadway. They stood watching the brave young men fighting through the waves, trying to get as far out to sea as they could. The power of the ocean was relentless and continued pushing them back towards the shore. When they did get up on the waves they didn’t last long before tumbling back under the water like skittles.
    “Do you miss the sea?” Annabel asked.
    “Sometimes, but I love the mountains. The ir colours are spectacular and they really enhance my painting.”
    Annabel steadied her phone and took a shot of a surfer before he fell beneath the waves.
    “I think I’d miss the mountains more if I left them,” Kate said, staring out at the waves. “What do you want to do now?”
    “ I think we’re due some shopping time,” Annabel said, putting her phone back into her bag. “What do you think?”
    “Now this is your area , Annabel. You’ll have to show me the way – after all I’m a country bumpkin now.”
    “It would be my pleasure. I saw a sign for your favourite clothes shop, Galleries Lafayette , on my way in the taxi.”
    Annabel and Kate meandered down the curved sidewalks past the town square and