The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (010) Paying a Debt

 

Lisa Stokes had worked for Shaw Brothers since she left school aged 16 and was only a month short of twenty years’ service.

She was taken on as a trainee and had to do a variety of jobs in her first three years, both on land and sea, and soon became a very valuable asset as a relief.

But she was like a sponge and absorbed skills and knowledge covering all aspects of the business which is what led to her being appointed manager of the St Pierre operation.

Lisa was offered the job by her friend Olivia Shaw and was her first appointment after she and her sister Tanya took over the running of the company following the retirement of their parents.

She was not a native islander and was originally born in the seaside town of Sharpington, but the offer came at just the right time as she was in desperate need of a fresh start following the breakdown of a ten-year relationship.

 

Lisa never regretted making the move and is very happy in her work and in her new surroundings, she had one of the former labourer’s cottages in the hamlet of Saxvirdan close to the remains of the old Roman fort site to the north of the town which she loved.

Only one thing was missing from her life and that was Paul Holland.

Paul was the St Pierre Harbour Master, and he was the first man she had been interested in for the three years since her last relationship ended in bitterness and acrimony and having been badly hurt, she had been reluctant to risk her heart again.

However, the heart wants what the heart wants, and she fell for him.

Falling for him though was the easy part, because after three months she was no further on.

 

Now being a modern woman, of strong character and extreme confidence, she could easily have taken the initiative and just asked him, were it not for one thing, she had done that with her last partner and that didn’t go so well, so she didn’t want to jinx the next one, it was a stupid reason, she knew that, but that was how she felt.

Lisa knew that Paul liked her because he was always popping into the Shaw Brothers Office for no good reason just to chat with her, but he never said what she wanted to hear, despite her flirting with him outrageously.

 

Paul Holland was born and bred on the island and became Harbour Master about two months before Lisa moved to the Island and he fell for her at first glance, so she was right to think he was smitten with her, and despite his repeated visits to the office and her flirty-ness, but no matter how great his resolve when he walked in he seemed unable to say what was on his mind once he got inside. 

 

Of course, had she known for certain the disposition of his heart it may have made her task easier, but she didn’t, so she had to enlist the help of a friend instead, and the friend she chose was Olivia Shaw.

She hoped that Liv would be obliging, she was a good friend after all, and she was more worldly wise, Lisa just needed to work out how to broach it with her.

 

As it turned out the perfect opportunity presented itself in April when a storm closed the port, trapping Olivia Shaw and her ferry on the island, and while she was in the office Olivia was reunited with an old flame, or more precisely an old spark, that never made it to a flame.

However, thanks to the storm Olivia was presented with the opportunity to rekindle that spark, when she suggested a dinner date for that night.

“I’m staying at the Beaumont Manor tonight, so how about there?” she suggested to Josh Beaumont.

“Ok sounds good to me, what time?”

“8 o’clock”

“It’s a date” he said then blushed.

“Well, you know what I mean, see you later” he added and quickly went out the door.

“That blush was very telling” Lisa said as Olivia watched Joshua hurry away into the dark.

“Yes, wasn’t it” she agreed “I think I need to ask you a favour.”

 

Because of the possibility of getting stranded on the islands, even though it wasn’t a regular occurrence, Olivia always had an overnight bag aboard, but the bag only contained a clean uniform shirt, underwear, socks, casual shoes, and toiletries.

What it didn’t contain was girl clothes suitable to impress a man, which is why she needed to ask Lisa for a favour. 

Lisa and Olivia were the same dress size and similar height and shoe size, so the favour was in the form of access to Lisa’s wardrobe from which she borrowed a powder blue cocktail dress, black tights, and matching shoes.

 

The following morning when Olivia walked into the office she was grinning from ear to ear.

“Good morning, Lisa”

“I think it was a good night judging by the smile on your face” Lisa Stokes said.

“A great night” she agreed with a gleam in her eye.

“It was a success then?” Lisa asked.

“Very much so” Olivia replied, “I owe you one.”

“Well, it’s funny you should mention that” Lisa said with a wicked smile.

 

Over coffee Lisa explained to Olivia, in some detail, the exact nature of her dilemma, her longing, her desperation and finished off by saying.

“I need help.”

“Why?” Liv asked in disbelief.

“Look at you, you’re gorgeous” Liv said.

“But that’s not enough” Lisa retorted.

“And I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Well, I’m not sure I do either” Liv admitted.

“You are alluring, you have the looks, the personality and a great bod” Liz said, “So I’m not sure what I can add to that.”

“But if I can think of something, I will” she said and gave her a hug.

 

A week and a half later, on the Sunday morning of the Early May Bank Holiday weekend, Olivia Shaw was in bed at Woodside Farm, and was disturbed by a text message while laying with her head on Josh Beaumont’s chest.

They were enjoying some impromptu intimacy while their respective siblings, Ben, and Tanya, were out riding, they had been asked to join them but preferred a different kind of ride.

Olivia picked up her phone and read the message and exclaimed “Oh God.”

“What?” he asked with concern.

“It’s Lisa from work”

“Is it a problem?”

“No, its personal, she asked me for my help with something last week, but I have absolutely no idea how to help her” she explained.

“I want to help because I owe her for last week and if she hadn’t, we probably wouldn’t be here.”

“What sort of help?” he asked, and she laughed.

“Matchmaking” she replied, and this time Josh laughed.

“It’s no laughing matter, I have to help her snare a guy she fancies.”

“So, who does she have the hots for?”

“The Harbour Master.”

“The St Pierre Harbour Master?”

“Yes”

“She has the hots for Paul Holland?”

“Yes,” she replied, and he laughed.

“Do you know him?”

“Of course we’re old friends, we were at school together, I’ve known him since we were 7.”

“Really?” she said thoughtfully then she asked.

“Does he ever come here?”

“Yes, often, in fact he’s coming down for the weekend at the end of the month.”

“That’s great, that’s the solution,” she said smugly.

“Does that mean we can get back to business.”

“Oh yes” she said and pulled the covers up over their heads.

 

Three weeks later Paul Holland left his home in St Pierre

on Saturday morning of the Spring Bank Holiday weekend carrying a small suitcase and got into Josh Beaumont’s waiting Landrover.

Paul didn’t own a vehicle of his own as his flat was only a five-minute walk from the harbour, car ownership was fairly uncommon on the island, as St Pierre was the only town on the island and the most densely populated part, with Saxvirdan, a small hamlet north of the town, and the fishing village of Spaniards Creek to the far south.

There was also a good bus service, so the majority of residents didn’t need a vehicle.

Most of the car owners were people who were regular commuters and travellers to the mainland, the rest were commercial and agricultural, hence the Landrover picking him up.

 

The journey down to the farm was always enjoyable for Paul, partly because of the congenial company but mainly because Woodside Farm was one of his favourite places on the planet.

 

Woodside was the largest of the five farms on the island covering the whole of the southeast corner, a large wedge-shaped parcel of land bordered by Halfway Lane to the north, Spanish River and the Eagles Crag in the west and the rugged coastline from Manor Cliff Beach to Armada Head to the east.

 

The Beaumont family had once owned the whole island but after three successive heirs were killed in action during the Great War the accumulated death duties forced the only surviving Beamont, George, to sell off the estate in 1920, auctioning off the buildings, the port, and parcels of land.

Fortunately, the sale managed to raise enough to pay off the taxman, while being able to keep Woodside Farm and retain a Beaumont family presence on the island.

 

It was that event that was celebrated on the last weekend in May every year.

There was a dinner party on Saturday night with a few houseguests and a BBQ on the Sunday for about twenty additional guests.

“So, is it the usual suspects this weekend?” Paul asked, being a regular guest.

“Yes, more or less” Josh replied enigmatically.

 

At lunchtime Paul got to meet Olivia and Tanya socially for the first time although he had met them many times professionally.

“Are you hoping to go riding this afternoon?” Josh asked.

“If that’s ok.” Paul replied.

“Of course,” he replied, “But we’re going to be tied up all afternoon so would you mind taking another guest out with you?” 

“Not at all”

“That’s great it’s their first time at Woodside and we really don’t want them to get lost” Josh said and laughed.

“You mean like I did?” Paul said and chuckled.

 

The conspirator’s kept the identity of his riding companion a secret in the hope that they would drift seamlessly into something beyond riding.

After Paul had the horses ready, he walked them out into the yard and as she turned the corner, he realized his companion was Lisa Stokes.

“Hello” she said.

“Lisa!” Paul exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Yes, I’m riding with you” Lisa said and then stared at the tall, broad, snorting beast and suddenly felt exceedingly small and childlike.

“I didn’t know it was you” he said.

“Didn’t you?” Lisa said and laughed nervously.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“Well to tell you the truth, I’m a bit nervous” she confessed.

“Nervous? you?” he asked.

“Terrified to be precise” Lisa confessed “It’s much bigger than the last horse I rode.”

“When was that?” he asked.

“When I was 7.”

“And what happened to make you so scared?” he asked.

“I fell off” she admitted.

“Well let’s try to keep you in the saddle today then” he said and for the first time since he’d fallen for her, he felt like she was not completely invulnerable, so before he helped her to mount the chestnut mare, he took a deep breath and kissed her and when he had finished, he said.

“That’s for good luck.”

“It felt lucky” she retorted.

“Now let’s help you mount” he suggested.

“Oh no you don’t, I need an awful lot more of that good luck first” she contradicted him and kissed him.

 

It was fifteen minutes later when the two horses and riders crossed the yard and out towards the woods where they stopped to share a little more luck, and they kept it topped up every fifteen to twenty minutes just to be on the safe side.