Page 100 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

Why had she never seen before how weak he looked? Compared to Alex, Sean was a tiny man-child and he made her skin crawl.

Sean’s smooth smile dropped into a familiar scowl. He walked up to her, his eyes glaring at her with barely controlled temper.

In the past Hannah would have cowered from him. But not any more. Somewhere along the years he had lost his power over her, she suddenly realised.

‘Now listen,’ he hissed. ‘You’re coming with me.’

Then he made the mistake of taking her arm in a firm grip. She recoiled briefly before recalling the self-defence training that Aimee had taught her. In a swift move, she took his arm and quickly pinned him to the ground, face down. Then she sat on top of him and twisted his arm behind his back.

She felt Sean trying to wrestle himself out from under her but she was too strong for him. All that paddleboarding and baking, she figured, had made her arms strong and firm.

‘Now listen up,’ she told him as he lay beneath her, half his face hidden by the deck. ‘You’re nothing, do you hear me? You were and still are a horrible bully, but you no longer have any power over me. We were done a long time ago. You know it and so do I.’

Sean mumbled something but she cut him off.

‘If you ever, ever come back again, I’ll break your arm in half, do you hear me?’ she found herself shouting at him.

‘And then I’ll break the rest of your bones.’

She looked up to see who had spoken. It was her brother. Ben and Jake were both racing up the jetty towards them with Tiny trotting alongside.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Jake, his voice filled with concern as they stood next to her.

Hannah nodded.

‘Let me at him,’ snarled Ben, scowling down at the prone figure beneath her.

Hannah shook her head, feeling stronger than she had ever done before in her life. ‘I’ve got this,’ she told them, leaping off Sean.

He quickly stood up, brushing himself down before glaring at her.

‘One day, when you’re alone…’ he began, his top lip curling in anger as he pointed his finger at her.

But this time Hannah felt nothing but strength. ‘If you ever find me alone, I will do exactly what I just did all over again,’ she said, walking towards him. Sean began to back away, looking a little afraid. ‘Because you’re nothing but small and weak. You’re not a real man.’

Not like Alex, she thought. He was the strong one. A good listener, someone to lean on, someone to laugh with. Gentle, kind. And seriously hot too.

‘I’m not afraid of you any more,’ she carried on, feeling the strength surging through her veins.

Sean was looking a little unsure of the situation he had found himself in, although he still took a tentative step forward towards her. But Hannah knew better now and stood her ground. He was trying to threaten her but she no longer feared him. She would never fear him ever again.

However Tiny definitely felt some kind of threat towards Hannah and stepped in front of her to bark a loud and very deep woof.

Shocked, Sean staggered backwards in fear of the large dog and fell back over the edge of the jetty and into the water.

There was a loud splash beneath them and they all rushed to look over the edge to where Sean was flailing around in the lake.

‘Can he swim?’ asked Ben.

‘I don’t know. I think so,’ said Hannah, not caring either way.

‘Shame,’ said Jake, picking up a lifebuoy and throwing it over the side next to Sean, who took it gratefully before they all turned away from him.

Hannah felt nothing but relief in that moment. She didn’t care for Sean. Had she ever? Was he just the wrong person at the wrong time?

Suddenly the adrenaline wore off and she sagged against her brother.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Ben, holding her up. ‘Did he hurt you?’