Moment in Time

by Lisa Mondello

  #

  Chapter Eight

  Bobby

  As I walk out the lobby doors, I see the lilacs in front of the Wayside Inn are in full bloom. I still remember when Aunt Beverly planted them and then was devastated when some ignorant shit in town berated her for planting something not native to the island. Who the fuck was that woman anyway? She didn’t own the place. That was a long time ago when I was young. Before the military. Before Donna and Wyatt.

  Slipping on my sunglasses as I walk down the path to the parking lot, I see the window boxes in front of the offices still have pansies in them. Pretty soon, Aunt Beverly will take them out and put in pink and white impatiens. The wild roses Aunt Bev loved so much were still green with foliage, but perfectly manicured in preparation for their summer blooms. I don’t know why she bothers to hire a gardener for the Inn when she insists on doing so much of it herself. But I suppose the grounds are big enough that she’d have a hard time doing it all, plus keeping up with the properties she owned.

  I hadn’t seen much of Aunt Beverly since Jenna had arrived two weeks ago. Jenna had her work to do during the day. I had my therapy on my leg, which was getting stronger each day. And then at night, we’d make love—okay, amazing-mind-explosive-sex—for hours. I shake my head as I press the unlock button on my keychain. I couldn’t get enough of Jenna. Maybe it was just me making up for lost time after being in an empty desert, both physically and emotionally. Whatever it was, it was great and I couldn’t wait to see Jenna again.

  Today she has a day off and we promised each other we’d spend the whole day together. The sun was shining and it was a hot May day. Perfect for a bike ride. I drive over to The Bluffs and find Jenna waiting for me on the front porch. When she sees me, her whole face lights up with a radiant smile that I feel right down to my bones. As she jumps off the porch to the path, I notice she’s wearing white sneakers and has a navy blue sweatshirt on. Perfect. She remembered.

  Jenna runs over to my SUV. “You’re late,” she says, climbing into the front seat.

  “What do you mean? I told you I’d be here at nine.”

  “It’s nine-ten.”

  I roll my eyes and laugh as I put the car and gear and pull out of the driveway.

  Jenna turns in her seat and points to the back of the SUV where I’d secured a bike rack and two bikes. “What’s with those?”

  “One is mine and one is for you.”

  “Who’d you snatch a bike from?”

  “No one. I bought it for you yesterday. I’m pretty sure it’s the right size for those shapely legs of yours. But if not, I brought some tools to adjust the seat.”

  She looks at me with her mouth slightly agape. “You bought me a bike?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Really?” The inflection in her voice tells me that she’s happy about my surprise.

  “If you’re up to it, we can take a ride out to Madaket Beach, spend the day there and then come back.”

  Her smile is wide. “I’d love that. I can’t believe you bought me a bike!”

  I shake my head. “You’re more excited about the bike than seeing me.”

  She slaps my shoulder lightly. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just excited about our day.”

  “For our first stop, how about some ice cream?”

  We drove to Seth’s Ice Cream Boat, which was located near the bike path and a bike rental store. I finished my very “boring” chocolate ice cream on a sugar cone before Jenna even ate half of her coconut and Crantucket double on a waffle cone. Seeing the way she enjoyed licking the ice cream made me wish I hadn’t gone boring and chosen something braver. The waffle cone proved too much for Jenna, so she gave me what she couldn’t finish. We then spent a few minutes adjusting the seat of her new bike before starting down the Madaket bike path.

  “How does that feel?” I ask, closing the small toolbox I keep in the back of the SUV.

  Jenna balanced herself on the bike, squeezed the brakes and then put one foot on the pedal to test her leg extension. “Perfect. Good, now get your perky little ass on your bike and we can get started.”

  “Perky?”

  She giggles. “Well, I might have a thing or two more to say about that, but not in public.”

  My insides suddenly felt like an inferno. I know how much I love that sweet little ass of Jenna’s. The memory of having her hands on my ass cheeks fill my head as I climb onto the bike. I feel my seat tighten.

  “Hey, no more sex talk. And make sure you ride beside me, not in front of me,” I say quietly.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want to have to fight a massive hard-on the whole ride watching your ass sway back and forth in that seat.”

  She giggles again. “The woman at the ice cream counter said the sunsets at Madaket Beach are beautiful. It has epic views. Can we stay there all day?”

  “Too much planning has gone into our little sojourn. Let’s just take off and see where the trail takes us, okay?”

  “You lead and I’ll follow.”

  “I thought we’d already settled that?”

  “We didn’t settle anything,” she said wickedly. “I want to see your cute ass sway back and forth in the bike seat.”

  We rode down along the trail, laughing and oohing and ahhing over the sites and things we see. We reach a section of the trail where it opens up to cliffs and wild surf below. I’d seen beautiful scenery all over the world but there was something about sharing this picturesque view with Jenna that made it special. Looking at the wonder on her face as she took in the beauty only made it more beautiful.

  The Madaket bike path was a twelve-mile loop. We pass cranberry bogs that are still a mixture of green and light maroon. In the fall, they will be dark red with plump berries ready to be harvested. For most of the ride, Jenna stayed by my side. But when the beach came into view, Jenna pedaled harder, rushing in front of me to take the lead.

  “Hey, slow down.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, you don’t want to push yourself.”

  Jenna slammed on the brakes. When the bike stopped, she straddled it with her toes touching the ground.

  “Why, Bobby? Because I had cancer? Don’t baby me. I hate that. I’m fine.”

  “Good to know. But I’m not,” I say, looking at her directly. She had been pissed at me, but now her expression is changed from anger to regret.

  “Oh, Bobby, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “Is your leg bothering you? Are we going too fast?”

  “Now who is babying who?”

  She squints and makes a face. “Are you bullshitting me?”

  I chuckle. “No. My leg is fine. Well, as fine as it can be given the fact that I still limp as if one leg is six inches short than the other. You are fine, too. I know that. But the closer we get the beach, the more sea shells or rocks might be on the path. You don’t want to be riding too fast and then wipe out.”

  “Oh.” She gives me an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

  We ride the rest of the way to the beach as if it were a stroll, slow and leisurely, taking in the sites around us with care. When we reach the beach, we prop the bikes up against a wooden Jersey barrier in the parking lot.

  I grab Jenna’s hand and we walk in the sand to the water’s edge, passing a lifeguard chair as we go.

  Jenna looks around. “It’s too early in the season for lifeguards, huh?”

  “Wait until next week. Memorial Day weekend everything explodes here. The tourists will be like ants crawling over spilled sugar.”

  Jenna remained quiet, just looking at the surf and the colors the sun made on the ocean as it moved.

  “When are you leaving?” she asks softly.

  Her question feels like a punch to my gut. “Soon.”

  “I know I don’t have any right to ask you this, but how soon is that?”

  “I need to make a decision in a week. Maybe two.”

  “Have you?
Made your decision?”

  I sigh. “No.”

  She simply nods. “Then maybe we should head back.”

  “Are you tired?”

  She shakes her head. “I want to get naked with you.”

  I feel a stirring my belly that is hard to ignore. “There is a perfectly good sand dune over there if you can’t wait.”

  “Weren’t you the one who said I could be thrown off the island for being nude on the beach?”

  “So true.”

  “Madaket Beach is not a nude beach. I know this because I looked it up.”

  I chuckle. “Oh really?”

  “Yes. Besides, I want to make love and then fall asleep in your arms like we’ve been doing every night.”

  Warmth spreads through my whole body. “That sounds like a good plan.”

  Taking Jenna’s hand in mine, we run up the beach toward the parking lot as if we were racing, laughing the whole way. When we reach the parking lot, my leg starts to give way and I fall behind. Jenna turned to see if I was behind her and then lost her footing. She tumbled to the ground in slow motion before I could reach out and catch her.

  * * *

  Jenna

  My feet came out from under me before I could right myself. My main concern had been Bobby. Had I pushed too hard during the run up the beach? Had he fallen and hurt himself? What an idiot I am.

  Sprawled out on the sand and gravel parking lot, I feel a sharp pain in my thigh. Bobby is beside me instantly.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Yeah,” I say.

  “Tell me where. What hurts?” The concern he’s showing in his expression and the way he tends to me makes my heart melt.

  “My pride,” I say.

  The shocked look he gives me make me laugh. And then he laughs too. But only for a second as he starts to help me to my feet and notices the blood on my thigh.

  “You are hurt,” he says.

  I lift the hem of my shorts up enough so I can see the source of the blood. Bobby holds the material up higher and inspects the damage.

  “You must have scraped some shells when you hit the ground. It doesn’t look deep.”

  “I’ll survive,” I say as he helps me to my feet.

  “Can you ride the bike?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  His look of concern remains.

  “Don’t baby me, Bobby. I don’t you. I want to live.”

  “Yeah, right,” he says as he stoops down to unchain the bikes from the Jersey barrier. “If you call falling flat on your face living, be my guest.”

  “I fell on my hip, not my face. Don’t make more of this than it is.”

  “Okay, fine. We’ll take it easy going back, okay?”

  A few hours later we pulled into the driveway of The Bluffs, the tranquil summer house that had become my home away from home. The music filtering in from the house was loud and nothing I’d ever heard before. As Bobby and I walk through the door, I see Lily in the living room. She’d moved all the furniture against the wall to leave a wide open space for herself in the middle of the room. Her body moves gracefully to the music. She hasn’t heard us in the room yet and part of me feels like I should say something so we don’t startle her. But just as I’m about to open my mouth, she turns and jumps as she sees us. She quickly runs to her iPod speakers and pulls the iPod out of the cradle.

  “I didn’t want to scare you,” I say.

  Her chest rises and falls quickly, more from her workout than her fright. “I didn’t see you two come in.”

  Not knowing what to say, I turn to the obvious. “I loved what you were doing. Maybe you could show it to me some time.”

  She shakes her head quickly as if she’s embarrassed. For what I haven’t a clue. Her dancing was beautiful and graceful. Nothing like I’d ever done.

  “These days I dance for myself,” she says. “And of course that pervert who's watching me on the beach every day.”

  “Pervert?” Bobby asks. “What pervert?”

  “Some guy. I think Penny knows him. She knew who I was talking about anyway when I told her about it at breakfast this morning.”

  “You’d better be careful,” I say.

  Lily glances down at my stained shorts. “Hey, you’re bleeding.”

  I touch the spot on my shorts that is stained with blood. “Yeah, it’s nothing. I’m going to go upstairs and clean off. You can go back to dancing.”

  She shrugs. “I’m done for the day.”

  Bobby and I disappear upstairs in the room that has become my sanctuary. He follows me into the bathroom and kisses my neck.

  “I’m sweaty,” I say, pulling back.

  “So am I.”

  “I need to clean this off.”

  “I’ll help.” Bobby reaches behind the shower curtain and turns the water on. “Any objections?”

  I chuckle. I have none at all.

  #

  Chapter Nine

  Jenna

  I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to making love with Bobby Callahan. I know I won’t get used to his leaving so early in the morning. Light was just peeking in the window when I felt Bobby start to get out of bed.

  “Just stay a little longer?” I say. I sound pathetic. And if I think I sound that way, I know it’s worse for Bobby.

  “Aunt Beverly is always up at the crack of dawn and roaming around the Inn. She almost caught me going in the other morning.”

  I grab the white sheet that my leg is wrapped around and clutch it to my chest. “Something about that makes me feel cheap.”

  He smiles wickedly at me and then bends his head to kiss me as I lay there. “Okay, ten minutes of snuggling.”

  Bobby climbs back into bed and wraps his arms around me. I rest my head on his strong shoulder, my favorite place to be these days.

  “Why haven’t you told her about us?” I ask. I swore I wouldn’t. That’s the kind of question a girl asks when she expects something from a guy. I don’t want to look beyond this morning. And yet, I can’t help it.

  “Because she wouldn’t approve.”

  “Of me?”

  “No. Yes.”

  I chuckle. “Which is it?”

  “I know she adores you. How could anyone not adore you? But she wouldn’t approve of us.”

  Heat coils in my stomach and burns like acid. “Why not?”

  He hesitates a moment and then says, “It’s not you.”

  “Yeah? It sure feels like me.”

  Bobby sighs heavily. “You don’t understand,” he says. “Aunt Beverly had it rough coming onto the island and picking up as the owner of all this island property after my uncle died.”

  “I’m sure it was hard losing her husband.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s not that. Everyone accepted Uncle Charles. But it took a little time for Aunt Beverly because she was new. She’s not a business woman. Well, she wasn’t a business woman. She had to learn everything. And being so isolated, the only resources she had were here on the island. It was touch and go for a while. People didn’t like changes she was making to a one hundred year old Inn that they felt defined the beach. She was unhappy for a long time. Not just because of Uncle Charles. But because native islanders found fault in everything she did. I remember hearing my father say that she might even have to sell the Wayside and all the property she had on Nantucket.”

  “Just because people were giving her a hard time?”

  “She was lonely too. My dad came over for a while to help her. And she learned because she loved my uncle and this was what he had wanted for them. Renting out the summerhouses was her thing. It was just for her. So messing with that is like messing up her thing.”

  “I’m not following why she wouldn’t approve of us.”

  “She doesn’t like scandal. She had too much of it when there wasn’t any. She works hard not to give those native islanders a reason to talk. That’s why she’s protective and doesn’t want her girls having summer flings with the guests.”

&n
bsp; My stomach drops and I’m finding it hard to think straight.

  “And we’re a fling.”

  He chuckles softly. “It doesn’t matter what we are. I’m not a guest at the Inn. Not really. But people talk and…”

  “And what?”

  “It doesn’t matter if I’m an official guest of the Inn or not. I don’t want you to jeopardize your summer job or place here at The Bluffs for something someone might make out as being sordid.”

  I roll over on my side, away from Bobby and his words. “Are you aiming too low on the social ladder or does she not want you to get involved with someone who might not be here in five years?”

  He lifts up on the bed and tugs at my shoulder until I’m looking at him. “I didn’t tell her about the cancer. Did you?”

  “No.”

  “As far as social ladder, I’m sitting on the same rung as you, Jenna. My aunt is the one with money, not me. So don’t give me this ‘you’re not good enough’ bullshit. It’s got nothing to do with that. I want to be with you. But I don’t want to make trouble for her or for you.”

  “I know what I said at the beginning…”

  “What?”

  I know I shouldn’t go there. I’d been the one to say I wanted to stay in the moment. And saying more feels like I’m going back on my word. Maybe this is all that Bobby wants. Maybe having a summer fling while he heals is enough for him. But as I look at his face and see the strong lines of his jaw and his thick hair that has grown so much in the short amount of time I’ve been here, I know that’s not enough. Not for me.

  “Finish it,” he says.

  “Never mind.”

  “Dammit, finish it!” he says, sitting up in bed.

  “This isn’t a fling for me.” I wait and watch his expression and see the shocked look on his face. But then it’s gone and I don’t know what he’s thinking and I hate that. I need to know. “I know I said that this was all it was going to be but…apparently I don’t know how to do that. The summer fling thing.”

  Bobby’s lips lift into a smile, which fuels anger in me. I feel naked like I’ve never felt before. This man has seen every damned inch of me. He’s examined my scars and my tattoos and places I can’t even see. And now he’s laughing at me!