The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (128) Lust Ahoy

As much as Jodie liked Mats and Daniel and spending time with them  it was sometimes a relief to do something without them and enjoyed it when she could get out on her own or to do something with Sally.

 

Fortunately on their days off Daniel and Mats were late risers and as Jodie was always up with the lark, she managed to get away well before they surfaced.

Sometimes she would just set off through the wood or take the dinghy out and sail up and down on Roman Water Lake or on other days she would get on her bike and explore the island.

However on a Saturday at the beginning of September she had arranged to meet Sally by Roman Water Lake.

 

Even though it was the beginning of September it was still quite a mild and sunny day with a gentle breeze.

Jodie was the experienced sailor of the two, because she had been brought up by parents who loved to sail, and her mother Debbie still moored her sloop down in Spaniards Creek and they often went out together.

That day however they were in a dinghy, and she took the tiller and Sally just went along for the ride, they noticed they were not the only craft on the lake, there was another dinghy close by, but they couldn’t make out who the occupants were.

After about half an hour Jodie noticed the other dinghy appeared to be on the same tack as them but was making better headway.

On closer inspection Jodie realised it was Geoff Chapman and Adam Jackson from Crag Edge Farm.

“We’ve got company” Jodie shouted

“Are they pirates?” Sally asked and chuckled

“No they’re yummy farmers” she replied

“Oh goody, yummy pirates” Sally said in a lecherous manner.

When they were a few lengths astern of them Jodie let her sail go slack and a few moments later the other boat did the same and they came along side.

“Hi” Adam said from the tiller “We’ve been looking for you”

“Really” Jodie said

“Yes, we went to the farm and your mum said you were on the water” Adam said “so we came out on our boat”  

“Now you’ve found us what do you suggest we do?” Jodie asked the other captain

“We could change crew” he suggested

“What a great idea” Jodie said and was about to give Sally the heads up just as her friend was literally jumping ship.

Once aboard she relieved Adam who was holding the two craft together and he stepped effortlessly from one boat to the next.

“We’ll meet back at our jetty at one o’clock” she said to Geoff.

“Aye, aye captain” he said and pushed off.

They spent the next hour and a half racing up and down the lake until they both came to a halt alongside the jetty.

“That was fun” Sally said as she stepped onto terra firma

“We can do it again later” Geoff suggested

“Or we could just go into St Pierre to the pictures and a meal afterwards” Jodie countered

“That sounds even better” Sally said enthusiastically

“We’ll pick you up at two” Adam said as their dinghy drifted away

“Make it 2.30” Jodie shouted and then her and Sally waved them off.

“That was very well played” Sally said

“Not bad eh” Jodie retorted “Now we need make ourselves gorgeous” 

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (127) Love Letter’s

 

Correspondence continued between Jade Bargeron and Matt Deighton until the first week in September when Matt returned home.

His first port of call on Friday, after dumping his bags in his room was the Galleon and when he approached the shop, he looked through the window and sighed when he saw Jade.

She hadn’t seen him as she was serving another customer and he stared, mesmerised by her loveliness as he drank in the picture.

It was the thought of seeing her looking like that, which had got him through the training.

He pushed open the door and the little bell rang which caused her to throw a glance at the door.

There was a moment of hesitation and then the comprehension of what she was seeing spread across her face and she smiled.

“I’ll be with you in a moment sir” she said and went behind the counter.

Matt sat down at his normal table where he could keep Jade in full view as she finished serving a table of middle-aged women.

Jade turned around and walked to his table, but kept her eyes averted in case she gave away just how much she had missed him.

She had not wanted to miss him, Jade had not even intended going out with him, he was older than her for a start, but then she hadn’t intended to go out with anyone, she didn’t think she was ready to have a serious boyfriend.

But she did go out with him, and she really did miss him.

His love emails to her were wonderful, she would keep them forever, but he was there in the Coffee Shop in the flesh.

 

Lynn kept her eyes down until the very last second, determined to maintain her composure.

But as soon as her eyes met his she turned to jelly.

“Hello” she said soppily

“Hi” he said grinning like a half wit

“What can I get you” she asked desperately trying to keep her cool.

“A kiss” he whispered

“That’s not on our menu” she said and giggled

“I’ll get you a Coffee, for now” then she blushed at her forwardness.

 

Matt waited outside for her until closing time and walked her home, the long way round.

“Can I see you tonight?” Matt asked

“I can’t tonight” she replied “I have choir practice”

“Oh” he said

“But it’s my day off tomorrow” Jade said “we could do something then”

“That would be great” he said

“I was going to go shopping in St Pierre” she said “we could go to the pictures after that if you like”

“I don’t care what we do as long as I’m with you” he replied and then he got his kiss.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (126) September

 

September

On Friday the first of September Frank and Maya did the cash and carry run in the shop van, and when they returned to the shop Violeta opened the rear door to the shop while Frank opened the back doors of the van.

“Arron, Arron” she called, and the amiable young man appeared.

“Yes Violeta” he said attentively

“Can you help Maya unload the van please” she asked kindly “So Frank can return home”

“Yes Violeta” he said surprised at being asked to do something rather than be ordered to “of course Violeta”

He looked at Frank and he nodded sagely, and Arron smiled before going about his task.

Frank patted him on the shoulder and said

“She’s warming to you Arron”

Then he stroked Maya’s arm and said

“And I’ll see you later”

 

On Saturday Stuart Cameron was alone at home as his friend and walking companion was working all weekend.

So Stuart continued working on the piece of Perspex they found on one of their walks.

It was about the size of a cigarette packet and was made of some kind of transparent plastic.

So Stuart had been fashioning a Celtic Cross and a dolphin from the piece as gifts for her birthday and Christmas.

Deborah had a faith, but she was not a churchgoer, it was hatches, matches and dispatches only for her.

He had been working on it since June and on Sunday he had done everything he could do himself.   

One of his patients, Daniel White, made jewelry as a hobby so on Sunday he drove out to Longlake Farm so that he could finish off the pieces with gold mountings so they could be worn on a chain.

 

It was another full week of writing up at Cliff Haven as it had been the last two weeks in August as they were in such a rich vein of creativity.

 

Austin Freshwater returned to the island in the middle of the week after he had to go to the mainland for a family emergency.

 

On Thursday Frank decided to call in at Martini’s on the way to work, just to see Maya and to see how Violeta was coping after the death of her Uncle and as he walked into the shop, he could distinctly hear giggling coming from behind the bead curtain at the back of the shop.

He was met by a smiling Maya who kissed him and said

“That’s loves young dream”

“Ah” he exclaimed “no need to ask if she’s bearing up then”

“She’s doing just find” she answered and gave him a wink

“I’ll go to work then” he said, and kissed her “see you later babe”

“Bye Frank” she replied still smiling

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (125) BBQ’S and Martini’s

 

Jodie Wilson was tall and slim with lovely mahogany brown hair and a Mediterranean complexion and a wide bright toothy smile.

She was from Roman Water Farm and Jodie always had the young men dancing attendance on her, two in particular were itinerant labourers on the island for the fruit picking, they were Daniel Junca and Mats Karlsson.

They were both personable enough and were as different from each other as chalk and cheese.

Daniel was the younger man by a year, tall and dark with classic good looks.

Mats was a short, stocky with close cropped dark hair and Jodie really liked them.

But despite the fact that she liked them, she was not attracted to them even if they were attracted to her, but she liked them as friends, and they did socialise a lot.

 

On the August bank holiday they had all been invited to a BBQ at Crag Edge Farm, it was an annual event, and guests came from all the neighbouring farms.

It was a glorious day, not a cloud in the sky, and a gentle breeze was blowing off the sea.

Mats, Daniel and Jodie all arrived together, they were all of a similar age and to the casual observer there appeared to be a bit of a love triangle forming with the three of them but for Jodie nothing could be farther from the truth, but it did seem like they had been an eternal triangle for the whole summer.

 

Also there on that day was Jodie’s best friend Sally Watson who worked as a Barista at Gilbert’s Coffee House in St Pierre and when those two were together Mats and Daniel knew to back off so they could have girl talks, and most of those talks were about meeting someone suitable, as it was at every social gathering, they attended, but they were always left feeling disappointed.

However that day they met Geoff Chapman and Adam Jackson, and they were making some progress until Mats and Daniel made their presence felt.

 

In Martini’s General Store the next day Frank Neary saw Maya Davenport stacking shelves at the back of the shop

“Hi Maya” he called and blew her a kiss.

“Hello Frank” she called back, smiled, and continued working, but kept throwing glances in his direction.

He quickly dashed around the shop and picked up the few bits he wanted and went up to the counter just as Violeta’s tidy rear aspect appeared, as she reversed out through the bead curtain which separated the shop from the back room.

“Just do it the way I asked for God’s sake” she snapped and as she turned around her face looked tired and drawn but her frown melted away when she saw a friendly face.

“Frank” she said “I didn’t realise it was you”

“How are you doing?” he asked

“Oh not bad” she replied “Maya has been a terrific help, but she can’t be here as many hours as I need her, with Uncle Francisco in hospital and with Louisa spending so much time with him its difficult”

“Is there anything I can do?” Frank asked

But before she could answer the bead curtains parted and there appeared a nice-looking young man a year or two younger than her and she tutted loudly at his arrival.

“Frank Neary, this is Arron Coffey,” She said, and they shook hands.

“Arron is here to help us out while Uncle Francisco is in hospital, it was decided by the family to send him”

Then he slipped back through the curtain.

“It’s just a shame the family have sent me an idiot” Violeta said somewhat harshly and loud enough for him to hear.

 

The day after he walked into the shop where he found no sign of Maya and Violeta in a blue funk.

“What where the family thinking?” she asked me

“What kind of an asset is he supposed to be when he can’t even drive the shop van?”

In an effort to calm her down Frank took Violeta outside the shop to talk to her and managed to pour oil on troubled waters and calm her down sufficiently and then he heard himself volunteering to drive the van to the cash and carry for her on Friday, provided he had someone else with him.

“Maya perhaps” he suggested

 

Later that evening he was out on a date with Maya when she took a phone call from Violeta saying that Francisco had died during the evening.

 

It was just after lunch on a damp Thursday afternoon in August when Frank called into the shop to offer Violeta and Louisa his condolences, but Louisa wasn’t up to seeing anyone and Violeta was in bed asleep.

He did however speak with Arron at length, and he found his original assessment of him to be borne out, finding him to be a very likeable young man.
He thought that Violeta could do a lot worse than to set her cap at the young man before him and he thought they would make a good match.

He was very timid, and he would be perfect for Violeta to manipulate and shape, in the shop as well as in her bed.

“Look after her” Frank said to him “she needs your support”

“I will,” he said earnestly

“She might talk tough but inside she’s really just marshmallow”

Frank said as he shook his hand.

 

Caroline Wells was a little frustrated that despite all the coffee dates, lunches and having spent most of the Summer Fête together they hadn’t progressed any further than a kiss on the cheek, and she was mindful that his secondment was up at the end of October, so she formulated a plan.

She knew it was his birthday in September, so she thought that was her chance, but on the weekend, she was going to strike at the end of August he had to go to the mainland for a family emergency which, as is the way with emergencies, appeared from nowhere, and the chance was gone.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (124) The Postman Always Rings Twice

 

Frank Neary was a postman and was on the way back home at the end of his shift on Monday and he decided to call in at Martini’s General Store between Saxvirdan and St Pierre to see the lovely Maya.

She was a small skinny young woman, but not in an emaciated way, she just had a slight, narrow frame, and she was couple of years younger than him.

Her hair was the colour of ripened corn, and her eyes were big and brilliant blue, and she had a delicious toothy smile, which lit up the whole shop, if not the street.

Frank always flirted dreadfully with her, and she always flirted back, and when it came time to pay there was always a lingering exchange where their hands would almost touch but not quite, occasionally he would caress her hand with his fingertips, and she would blush and get very flustered.

The shop was owned and run by Francisco Martini, although it was his young Niece Violeta and her Aunt Louisa who did all the work.

He was a surly old goat, and bone idle, and he always sat on his arse in the back room watching cricket, or Golf.

Violeta and her Aunt were both lovely though, Violeta was a few years older than Frank, tall and slim with thick black hair.

They were on their way out to the cash and carry as he approached so they exchanged pleasantries briefly before he went in the shop, and he smiled because if they were gone that meant Francisco and Maya were running the shop, and one of them would be watching TV.

When he entered the corner shop, he knew she would be on her own

in the shop.

When she saw him walk in, she quickly fussed with her hair which he thought made her look even lovelier.

Her toothy smile lit up her face, so knowing there were no prying eyes Frank blatantly held her hand and he would have asked her out there and then if another customer hadn’t entered the shop, so he gave Maya’s hand a final stroke picked up his milk and left.

 

Frank didn’t get in the shop the next day as he had to work late which meant he didn’t get to see her toothy smile, and later in the day he heard the news that Francisco Martini had collapsed in the shop that morning.

 

Having heard the news he resolved to pop into Martini’s sooner rather than later, which happened to be 7am the next morning.

As he got close, he was delighted to see the lovely Maya opening up.

“Hello Maya” he called as he approached

“Oh Frank” she said flustered, not quite knowing what to do or where to look.

“Where is everyone?” he asked, he knew Francisco was in hospital though he didn’t know why 

“Louisa and Violeta are still at the hospital so I’m opening up on my own today”

“Let me help” he offered

“Thank you, Frank,” she said smiling coyly

Between the two of them they soon made light work of it and when the last stack of plastic goods came out through the door he stood in the doorway and said

“Well that’s everything”

“Thank you, Frank,” she said and beamed a beautiful smile

“If there’s nothing else to do I need to get to work” he said, and the smile left her face

“No, no, that’s everything” she said

“If you’re not too tired later perhaps I could take you for a drink” he suggested

“Oh yes” she agreed

 

Unfortunately, he didn’t get to have his drink with Maya as Louisa and Violeta were at the hospital all day and had to man the shop on her own right up till closing time, so he turned up at the shop at closing time to help her and walk her home.

They repeated opening and closing together on Thursday and Friday.

Frank finally got to take Maya out on Saturday night and the drink turned into dinner.

They also spent much of Sunday together on Centurion’s Beach.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (123) Love Sojourns

 

It all began for Jade Bargeron and Matt Deighton with a first date to the Forum Cinema in St Pierre to see a Mission Impossible movie.

That first date led to a second and a third, a fourth and a fifth, there would even have been a sixth, but in the middle of August, Matt had to go back to Sharpington to help train some new members of staff.

Jade missed him while he was away, she missed him coming into the Galleon each day and ordering his coffee’s, she missed his smile.

She also missed holding hands with him at the pictures, but most of all she missed his kiss, the goodbye kiss before he left, was incredibly special.

 

So she counted the days while he was away and looked forward to his return, by the middle of the second week Jade was beginning to think it was a terribly slow count down.

The lengthy emails helped as she consumed every word and digested every romance laden syllable, they were proper love letters which she read over and over again.

The correspondence helped the day’s race by.

 

Following their eastern European tour Danny Nightingale and Molly Barrington had a wealth of material they had gathered and spent the whole week locked in Cliff Haven metaphorically getting it all down on paper.

The trip was so successful they had a wealth of material and ideas, so much so that by Friday they had surprised themselves as they had more than enough to not only complete the Sharon Jacques Book, they were working on but had some very sound plots and ideas for another in the Fraser Markham Book Series.

 

Elisa Ghelardoni and Henry Noble had been conspicuous by their absence all week, with Elise going out early every morning and returning late every evening, so when Molly and Danny walked into the kitchen at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning they were surprised to find Elisa sitting at the kitchen table drinking a mug of tea.

“Hello Elisa” Molly said and kissed her “Not walking today?” 

“Hello dear, no not yet” she replied “I wanted to talk to you first”

“Oh ok” she said, “What about?”

“I’ve got a job” she said smugly

“Really, where?”

“The Seaview Hotel”

“On St Giles?” Danny asked

“Yes, I’m to be the cook” 

 

At roughly the same time Reverend Henry Noble was having a similar conversation with Arielle Archer about him starting to work at the St Giles Retreat.

They would only be working on St Giles from Monday to Friday, they would get the Water Taxi to Cabot Town on Monday mornings and return to Spaniards Creek the same way on Saturdays.

“So I will be here every Sunday to help with the Services”

He said

 

“Of course, that will change when we get married” Elisa said

“Married?” Molly asked and Elisa nodded

“You’re getting married” she squealed, and they hugged

“I can feel a celebration dinner coming on” Danny said

 

There was indeed a celebration dinner at the Beaumont Manor that evening, where the six of them were joined by Victoria and Harold.

 

The Sunday service was much more subdued than usual because Arielle and Henry were both nursing colossal hangovers.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (122) Mending Bridges

 

It was a damp drizzly Sunday morning and Lily Nunthorpe and Barney were not disappointed when the walk was over.

Lily owned a vintage clothes shop, “Then for Now” and specialised in repairing and rejuvenating old garments, as well as stocking a large quantity of Vintage wear.

When they arrived at the back door, she opened it and the dog beat her through it.

It wasn’t the rain that got her down so much, it was the fact that her usual companion, David Lee, and her had had a falling out, because she had told him she had feelings for him, that she loved him. 

She towelled Barney dry before kicking off her boots and hanging up her coat and afterwards she went in search of the kettle.

When she reached the kitchen her niece Poppy was sitting at the table pouring a cup of tea from a large tea pot.

“Is there another one in there Poppy?” she asked

“Yes Aunty, get yourself a mug”

After Poppy had done the honour’s Lily took a tentative sip.

“Oooh that’s nice” she said 

“Did you enjoy your walk Aunty?”

“No not much it’s a bit miserable out there today” she replied

“Have you been out walking with the David lately?” Poppy asked

David Lee was the owner of the Forum Cinema, and Lily had been friends with him and his wife Brenda for many years.

“No, why?”

“It’s just that I thought you two had become inseparable”

“That was just a coincidence”

“Oh that’s a shame” Poppy said

“Why?”

“Well you’ve had a bit of a spring in your step for the past few weeks” she replied

“And you didn’t let a bit of rain dampen your enthusiasm, you’d have been out there for hours on a day like this”

“Oh I don’t know about that” Lily protested

“And you looked good together” She added

“Now you’re just being silly”

“And I’ll tell you something else Auntie, I think Brenda would have been pleased”

“Would she?” Lily asked with surprise

“Yes, she was very fond of you”

Lily was thoughtful for a few moments as she finished her tea, then she stood up and walked around and kissed the top of Poppy’s head

“You have wisdom beyond your year’s sweetie”

“It’s a gift” she replied

“Come on then dog, it’s time to get wet again”

 

David had had a very troubled night’s sleep and was still wearing his dressing gown while he was sitting in his study drinking black coffee.

 

The reason for his lack of sleep was due to a recurring series of dreams about his last exchange with Lily, interspaced with images of his deceased wife Brenda.

 

Lily and Barney walked past his house five times before she plucked up enough courage to go and knock on the door.

The drizzle of earlier had turned into proper rain and there were rivulets running down her face and large droplets on the end of her nose as she knocked.

But when there was no answer, she suddenly felt very foolish, he clearly didn’t want to see her, and he couldn’t have made it plainer.

She imagined him to be looking out the window and wishing she would go away.

 

But unknown to Lily the reason David didn’t answer the door was that he was upstairs getting dressed.

After musing over his nocturnal trials he shook off his earlier torpor and galvanized into action and he was going to call on Lily.

But he had to make himself presentable, he was nearly finished, with only his trousers to go when he heard a knock at the door.

He did indeed look out of the window but his thought process when he saw who it was not to hide and hope she went away.

But it did throw him into a blind panic about how he could get his trousers on and get downstairs before she did go away.

After several false starts, firstly putting them on back to front and secondly trying to get both legs down one leg hole, he made it downstairs and opened the door just as Lily had reached the front gate.

“Lily!!” he called, and she turned around

“Come on in Lily, you look soaked to the skin”

Still thinking herself foolish she thought about ignoring him and just going home, but she didn’t.

Once through the door David closed it behind her and he handed her a towel to dry her face

“Thanks David”

He then used a second one to dry Barneys coat.

“There you go” he said when he was finished

He then helped Lily out of her coat and asked

“So what brings you out on a filthy day like this?”

“That’s a good question” she replied enigmatically

“Well come into the kitchen and you can tell me over a hot drink”

He suggested.

When they were seated at the table with a steaming beverage in front of them, he repeated his question

“So what does bring you out on a filthy day like this?”

She had been desperately trying to work out what to say but it was all such a jumble in her head and all she could think to say was

“I’ve been thinking”

“Oh”

“Yes”

“What about” he asked

“About the other day”

“Oh I see” he said and bowed his head

Lily then took a deep breath and said

“I don’t regret it”

“You don’t?” he asked as he looked up

“No I don’t” she said proudly “In fact I’m glad I did it”

“Oh” was all he could manage

“And I don’t think that Brenda would mind”

“No nor do I” he agreed and reached across the table and held her hand

“So that’s what I’ve been thinking” she concluded, and she squeezed his hand

“Well that is a lot of thinking” he said

“And have you done any thinking?” she asked coyly

“Yes, I have” he replied but didn’t elaborate

After a minute had elapsed, she could wait no longer and snapped

“Well?”

“Well I was thinking I should take you out tomorrow for your birthday and we can take it from there” he said and leant across the table and kissed her.

“Good thinking” she responded and then she returned his kiss with interest.