“Oh look”, Darla whispered. “They are leaving together! That makes me so happy. You will have to keep your eyes peeled for this pair in the future and keep me up to date if they are still together, at least in the next few months.”
“Will they hang around here you think?”
“At least while the pup is so young, easier to get food around these parts.”
“Well, I am sad to see them go, but happy to have had them visit. If not for Pat, I would have had to endure the storm alone. Although apologies on behalf of myself and Pat for taking you out here and getting you stuck on an island during a storm. Oh and for the loss and most likely the destruction of your boat.”
“Apology taken. As I said, I’ve never actually been on one of the inhabited islands before, so it was nice to get a look see. And of course nice to meet you. You know we never really discussed your writing much?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a sore spot right now. I just had complete writers block. I made so many excuses, but I think it’s that I just don’t want to write another crime novel.”
“So you’ve written one already? What’s it called?”
“Robbery on Board the Lady Penelope. It’s a terrible title, my publishers insisted on it, but it did pretty well, which took me by surprise. So I got a new deal this last January. Write a follow-up and then the next book can be what I choose. Of course HAVING to write another certain genre is killing me. That book took me years to write, constantly finessing it and sending it out again and again, until finally somebody was willing to take a chance. So, I had half a novel written and was doing a read through and realised I hated every last word and deleted the whole thing.”
“Wow, that was brave.”
“Well, you wouldn’t say that if you were my editor or publishers, my editor Jake, almost had an aneurysm. But I promised him it was purely my surroundings. I needed to get away from the mainland and totally be solitary to get into the crime mindset. As you know, I have done nothing since I got here, but that was all mother natures fault” he winked.
“I hope you can get into the spirit of it when I’m gone then. Wouldn’t want you to be getting harassing emails from your editor!”
“Actually as I was laying here last night and I couldn’t sleep after the shed incident, I did come up with a few ideas. So, I wrote them down in my notebook this morning while you were showering.”
“That’s great. You will have to send me a note when you publish it. I’d like to read something that you were inspired to write after the ‘shed incident’,” she giggled.
Guy thought although he had sequestered himself out here on purpose, he would miss having somebody around to make and eat meals with. Actually, he thought again, he would miss having Darla around. She seemed smart and funny and would be the ideal person to bounce ideas off of.
“Here’s my email.” She wrote it down on a scrap of paper. He tucked it into his jeans pockets and asked her did she want a last game of checkers before bed. As they set their game up indoors they weren’t around to see Pat and it’s new mother seal swim off into the bay. They both ate their fill of fish and later that night slept on an uninhabited island, together.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next morning when Darla saw that Guy was still sleeping she thought it would nice for to make breakfast for them both, as a thank you for his hospitality. When she thought about it, getting stuck on an island with a strange man was such a dangerous turn of events, but not once after she realised it was going to happen was she frightened. Guy was just such a nice man! He was kind, smart, funny, silly and emotional. At least in the small amount of time they had spent together, he had been more honest about his feelings about various family members than she had with some of her best girlfriends. She thought it was a pity he was going to be spending his summer out here working, or she would have asked him to meet up for coffee or a drink. Also, a pity that the seals had probably left, as that meant there was nothing to tie them together anymore, there would be no calls to the rescue centre to see how lil Pat was doing. Ah well she thought, she wasn’t someone who believed in fate, just that if something happened it happened, no more no less. Just because they got thrown together during a storm on a tiny island together doesn’t mean it is going to be a fairytale ending. Certainly, she had had her share of what she thought was true love at the time, and had enjoyed long relationships with men she had loved, but something always came along to tell her it was not going to go on. They were cheaters, she found somebody else, they just lost interest in each other. She wasn’t sure if there had even been any sexual tension between the two of them, let alone any interest at all. Maybe he didn’t like black women, maybe he was heartbroken, he hadn’t spoken about any specific ex’s.
Darla pondered on like this for a while, wondering if she would see him again after they went their separate ways on the mainland later in the day, when her train of thoughts was interrupted.
“You are so nice to make breakfast!” he walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders giving her a little shake. “Thank you. You find everything ok?”
“Yep, scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits.”
“You whipped biscuits up? You held out on me, you knew how to bake them this whole time?”
“I can’t spill all my secrets at once! Hey, I can reimburse for all the food and the clothes I’ve used. You came here with mostly what you would need for a while, now I’ve eaten and drank up a lot of it!”
“That’s no bother, I got an advance from the book, that covers stuff like this while I’m writing. I’ll just go to the co-op when I’m in town and pick up a lot of stuff in bulk and freeze it. I actually wasn’t very well prepared for storms at all. So in a way it’s a good thing. May need to call someone out to look at the back up generator while I’m in town.”
They tidied up after breakfast and went out to look at the seals, finding them to have left they both felt a bit despondent. Each of them thinking that their link to each other was broken now, but of course neither of them mentioning a word of this. They both smiled as if to be happy for the seals finding one another and then started back to the cabin, where they each went to their own room to sort out their things for the trip to the mainland.
Darla left the clothes she had borrowed on the bed, with a note they needed to be washed and put back on her work overalls and her slightly worse for wear socks. She hadn’t got much else with her, except a vet bag with emergency fluid bags and lines for animals and other necessities. She hadn’t expected to spend the evening there let alone two nights! She took a final look around the room, with its sweet romantic bed spreads and photos of his sister doing silly things when they were there over the years, seeing them grow from tiny toddlers to young adults in a few frames.
Guy put on some clean clothes, taking a rain jacket along for the trip back in his rental boat, until he waits to see what the insurance says about a new one. He grabbed his wallet and some boxes for going grocery shopping. He had his car parked at a garage that is purposely for islanders.
He was sad that Pat had gone, but he supposed she was out where she was supposed to be, hopefully with a new mom who will care for her until its time for her to go her own way. He slightly envied Darla getting to work with those gorgeous animals, not that he had ever considered a career as a vet, or anything to do with animals at all, but it seemed like a nice way to spend ones time, which also made him think of what a great person that makes Darla.
They met down in the living room and Guy offered to make a pot of coffee. He thought maybe the coastguard may want a cup too when they popped by. Just then, the radio came alive.
“This is Coastguard 4, coming in for Cabin Murtagh. Come in.”
Guy grabbed the radio off the table and replied, “Receiving, over, this is Cabin Murtagh.”
“Cabin Murtagh, we are on our way to you now and shall be arriving in around twenty minutes. Two people, correct?”
“Yes, two people, over.”
�
��Ok, see you soon. Over and out.”
“You wanna rain check that coffee then?” he asked her.
“Sure, plenty of time once we get back to the mainland.”
They waited down by the damaged dock. Guy observed his broken kingdom.
“I sure hope there is not another storm, my writing cant take all this manual labour I’d have to put up with!”
Laughing, Darla replied, ” You really should look into hiring someone, or maybe you have friends or nieces or nephews you could pay a small bit to work here for the summer?”
“Yeah but that would mean having them around me on the island.”
“Ah yes, you need the solitude I forgot.”
“Maybe, I’ll look up in one of those online job forums for someone willing to come out for a day and help.”
“You crazy? You know those things are filled with murderers right?”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. I’ll just do it myself. How long can it take to rebuild a shed?”
Darla laughed again and he laughed along with her too. As he was about to ask her about that rain check coffee, the coastguard pulled up. They were in a small speed boat. As the dock was damaged, they had to wade out into the water to the boat a bit. There were two guys onboard, they introduced themselves as Jack and Reese.
“How did you guys do with the storm then? Where you prepared well enough?”, Reese the Captain asked.
“Well, considering we had never met before and I was just there to rescue a seal, we did pretty well!”
“As for the damage,” Guy added, “apart from our boats disappearing and the shed being demolished, there was not too much damage. The generator failed to kick in, so I’m going to get somebody to come out to have a look at it.”
“So where’s this seal you were called out for? Little guy not make it?”, Jack asked.
“Thats actually a happy ending, it was a pup that washed up along with its mother, but sadly she was dead when Guy here went down and found them by the water. Looked like she’d been hit by the blades from a motor boat, is that what you thought Guy?”
“Yeah, thats what I was thinking all right. Took her out to the sea and let her sink down.”
“So, where’s this happy ending?”, Jack asked.
“The morning after the storm we went outside only to find another seal. This one was an adult female. She had made it all the way up to the porch of the cabin, she was in a bad way, but eventually responded to food. Then later on the two of them seemed to bond and when we came out before you showed up they had gone off into the sunset so to speak.”
“Aw, well, you can’t ask for better than that now can you?” Reese said.
“Always good to hear happy stories after a storm, it’s not a time you associate with them, especially in this line of work, I’m sure it’s the same for you, Darla.”
“Yes, we do tend to get a lot of calls after a storm, pups separated from their mothers, sometimes even otters in the oddest places.”
“So what are you doing out here on your own then Guy, if I may ask?”, said Reese.
“I’m supposed to be getting away from it all to write a novel, but there hasn’t been much time for that yet, what with the storm and cleaning up all the mess these last few days.”
“Still I’m sure you will enjoy the rest of the summer, if thats how long you intend to stay for.”
“Yes, I’m planning to stay as long as I can, I certainly don’t expect to be finished writing too soon anyway!”
“Okay, we are coming in shortly, best have all your belongings accounted for, we are straight back out again.”
They gathered their bits and pieces and helped each other off the boat, saying goodbye to the two men and thanking them for their service. Guys car was in the building next to the harbour and he offered Darla a ride into town.
Darla called her sister as they were driving along.
“Hey sis.” she held the phone away from her ear and Guy could hear squeals of what he presumed was excitement.
“Yes, I am fine. I am so sorry to have scared you. There was no reception during the storm at all, we couldn’t even the use the radio. She’s good? She figured it out? How did she do that? Oh, you spilled the beans as you were so anxious.” She rolled her eyes at Guy as she was saying this.
“Yes, we have just arrived on land and Guy is driving me to the house. Guy? He’s the man whose house I’ve been in for two days! No, he was fine,” she looked at him again, smiling.
“Look, we are almost there. I will see you soon.”
“How’d that go?” Guy asked her.
“My sister has a severe case of dramatics. She’s great, but she can be a bit much some times. Especially as she’s the eldest, she likes to be the bossy one, thinking she knows best, but it’s all coming from a good place. I love her really,” she giggled.
Darla gave him the directions to her home. It wasn’t too far from the centre, just a couple of blocks. She was needed at work but wanted to go see her baby girl first. She thought about asking him in for a minute, but figured he had his own stuff to get to so she decided against it.
He pulled up to the address she gave him and he admired the garden.
“Oh thats my sisters hard work. I work weekends so she does this with her daughters and Adeen. They plant veg out the back garden and they are thinking of investing in a greenhouse to get some fruit trees growing”
“What about you, do you have any interest in gardening?”
“I’ve no interest in the hard work involved to be honest but I love the fresh veg on hand and what it teaches the kids. Ideally we’d have a couple of chickens too so we could teach them where meat and eggs come from, but I think the plan is to go on a farm visit some time.”
“That sounds great. I have to say, as a kid I loved being taken to farms with school and my folks. There was this one farm that had all the cows, sheep and goats. I just fell in love with the goats. They were just really fun crazy animals. I begged my folks to get a goat for our house but of course I never got one.
“You should get one now. What’s stopping you?”
“Well, I’m 37, single I don’t want to become known as the goat man.” he laughed.
“You ever get close to settling down?”
They were stopped in the car few minutes now, the engine running.
“I’ve dated but never found someone willing to stick around that long. I think close to a year is my record.”
“How about you? After you broke up with your kids father?”
“I saw a couple guys over the years, nothing serious. It’s not just difficult dating while being a single parent it’s difficult TO date! Once they find out you’ve got a kid, things either get way too serious too fast or he wants nothing to do with you”
“I can imagine, I mean it’s harsh for you, but as a human who has no kids, it puts you in a tricky situation to find out on a first date there is already a kid around, but then if you don’t mention it up front you will get it then for not mentioning it sooner!”
“Yeah, I’m screwed either way, but the sad thing is, once men find out I have a kids, I’m no longer a sexual being, I’m a mom, to somebody else’s kid too, at that. I mean I would never introduce a guy to my daughter until at least a couple of months in, unless it’s completely unavoidable.”
They just sat there in the quiet for a few moments. Both of them feeling defeated, although neither of them could tell why.
“So.” Darla started, “I better go in and hug my daughter, I can see her twitching at the curtains in there.”
“Really, boy she has some restraint to not run out to you!”
“Yes, she’s a very polite kid, she wouldn’t charge in when I’m with another grownup.”
“Okay, so, I guess this is goodbye then, unless I find another seal washed up on my island.”
“Yep, drop me an email, I’m in the office a lot. You’d be surprised how much paperwork a place like that will generate.”
�
�Okay.”
“So, thanks for letting me stay over.” she laughed.
“It was the best storm I’ve endured yet.” and he smiled
“Actually, do you mind if I ask for your cell phone number? It may be easier to get a hold of you that way. If I have another seal emergency,” he asked her.
“Of course,” she regretted her eager response and could feel her face flushing. She scribbled it down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. He stuck it in his shirt pocket and said thanks.
Darla opened the door of the car and stepping out felt the heat of the day on her face. Guy helped her get her bag out of the trunk and they had a brief hug and she was gone up the garden path. He stood there watching her go and felt a pang of jealousy and curiosity as the door was opened and she walked into a house full of open arms and squeals of happiness. The door shut behind her and he got into the car. He didn’t know where to go next. It felt like all his plans had just melted out of his head. It took him a few moments to remember what he was here on the mainland for. He decided first, he would go for a coffee and a bagel at the local diner.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Betty’s was a very quaint little diner. It looked like it hadn’t changed at all since the early sixties. They still sold milkshakes and pie, and coffee was refilled free of charge. Betty was the owner, but no longer the head waitress, he had last remembered seeing her in the early nineties. She had still looked very beautiful, with her silver hair tied up in a loose yet neat bun. Her daughter-in-law and some grandchildren - he had heard-ran it on a daily basis now. It still held the same charm for him as it had all those summers ago as a young boy. Coming to the main land while on the island for the summer was one of life’s big treats back then. Sometimes it would just be for a quick trip, when something was needed in an emergency, or sometimes it would be a family day out. Or that time he had broken his arm and him and his father had had to spend the night there at the towns hospital and he had had two milkshakes that weekend. He had never forgotten that, Betty had given them a free cherry pie, specifically for his mother whom Betty had remarked was probably worried up to her eyeballs for her little boy. The whole family had eaten the pie straight from the plate that night upon their return and it was one of his most cherished memories.
Love Revealed: A BWWM Sweet Romance Novel Page 4
