The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (214) Beau Vista

 

August

Tim Cunningham was staying at the Beau Vista Villa on Beaumont Island high above St Pierre, which was the family home of his best friend Kenneth, and the reason for that was a gathering of the Wade’s to celebrate the engagement of Kenneth and India, and there was to be grand party that evening at the Beaumont Manor Hotel, so Tim decided to freshen up.

He stepped out of the shower and had just wrapped a towel around himself when he thought he heard a noise in the bedroom, but he assumed he had probably imagined it but went to investigate anyway and to his surprise he found an intruder.

It was his best friend’s younger sister Charlotte Wade and there was a momentary pause before she took him completely by surprise when she reached forward and jerked the towel off him, then she stood back and gave him an appraising look and bit her lip as she stared at his naked body.

She had been planning her stealth attack on him from the moment the date was in the calendar, and she had executed it like a military operation.

She flicked her eyes up and made the briefest contact with his, enough to cause her to blush but not enough to prevent her from returning her gaze to his arousing manhood.

He sat down on the bed and Charlotte turned and locked the door before she sat on a chair and removed her shoes and socks, before returning to the middle of the room.

“Well don’t stop there” he said

“No, you have to do it” she replied, so he stood up and stepped towards her, and her eyes were still fixed unashamedly on the prize.

“We shouldn’t be doing this” he said

“Why not?” she asked, “Don’t you want me?”

“You know that I do” he replied

“Then have me” she said and kissed him the way she had dreamed that she would since the first time Kenneth brought him home.

While they kissed again her small hands busied themselves caressing his naked flesh, while his began to unwrap the perfectly packaged delight, which was the final part of her plan, so mission accomplished.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (213) The Green Eyed Monster

 

July

 

In the sleepy hamlet of Saxvirdan divorcee Tracey Theobald lived with her daughter Carli and brother Mason.

Mason was a farmer and worked up at Roman Farm and it was there, where he met and fell in love with Kelly Harper who also worked there.

This made Tracey immensely pleased and incredibly jealous in equal measure and that made her feel guilty because she loved her brother and really liked Kelly.

Of course she may have felt differently if she had known that things were about to change for her.

It happened when there was a party up at the farm to celebrate Kelly and Mason’s engagement which wasn’t a big affair with only around twenty guests.

Tracey’s daughter Carli was having a fun day, dividing her time between playing with her peers and being spoilt rotten by the grownups.

In fact everyone at the party appeared to be enjoying themselves including Tracey, although in her case she was merely putting on a brave face, and when things quietened down she slipped quietly away and wandered down to the lake, and as soon as she was out of sight she leant against a tree and cried.

 

Tracey may have slipped quietly away from the fun, but her departure did not go entirely unnoticed, as Kelly’s cousin Tom saw her, and the reason for that was he had barely taken his eyes off her all day.

They had been introduced just after she and Carli arrived and as his daughter Becky was of a similar age to hers, they spent half an hour or so in conversation, and the only reason they stopped then was because they were instructed to take their seats, and they got separated.

When he saw her leave the party, and it was clear by the direction she took that she wasn’t off to use the facilities, he got up himself and headed in the same direction, and he saw she was heading towards the lake, so he followed.    

When he caught up with her, she was leaning against a tree and as he closed the distance between them, he noticed that her shoulders were shaking.

“Are you ok?” Tom asked

“No” she sobbed

“Why?” he asked, “what’s wrong?”

“I’m a terrible person” she replied

“I find that hard to believe” Tom said brightly and put a hand on her shoulders and in response to his touch she leant into him.

“It’s true”

“You’d better explain then” he urged and tried to turn her to face him.

“No don’t look at me” she snapped

“Ok but you still need to explain”

“I love my brother, I really do and I’m so pleased that he and Kelly are going to get married, she is so lovely, and they really are perfect together” she said

“But?” he asked

“I’m jealous” she admitted “I’m jealous of his happiness, God I’m so despicable”

“No you’re not” he said and tried to turn her again and this time she yielded and buried her face in his chest

“You just want to be happy too, that’s perfectly natural” he assured her

“It’s not natural to be jealous though, is it?” she retorted 

“Did you ever wish that they weren’t so happy?” he asked

“No, not for a second” she snapped “They deserve to be happy”

“So why do you feel so guilty?” he asked

“I don’t know, but I still feel guilty” Tracey said, “I always feel guilty because of my jealous thoughts”,

“Well you’re not the only one who felt jealous today” he confessed

“There’s someone else?” she asked “Who?”

“Me”

“Why were you jealous?” she asked and lifted her face from his chest for the first time to look at him “Who were you jealous of?”

“The people sitting either side of you” he replied, and she gasped

 

When Tom and Tracey left the lake, all evidence of her tears had been wiped away, apart from a damp patch on the front of his shirt, and as they walked, he was standing tall, and she was smiling, and they were holding hands.

As they neared the party again, they were greeted by their excited children, Carli and Cassie, running in the opposite direction towards them.

When they got closer, they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the joined hands, then they looked at each other, giggled and ran away

“I think we can take that to mean we have their seal of approval” Tom said

“It would appear so” she agreed and kissed him.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (212) Early Bird

 

July

 

It was on the outskirts of St Pierre where Tim Hardy and Sarah Terrell worked at the Beaumont Manor Hotel.

They were both students at Abbottsford University on the same Degree course and were between their second and third year.

Tim and Sarah were staying, with a group of other students in a hostel  owned by the Hotel, which was used by the summer staff, which was not unlike their first-year university accommodation. 

Which was a very noisy and boisterous place in which it was very difficult to get any peace and quiet for yourself, let alone develop any romantic feelings you might have for a housemate.

 

So, when the rare phenomenon of an empty house presented itself to Tim, because his housemates, that weren’t working, were off trekking or climbing, he decided to take full advantage and have a bit of a lay in and then spend the rest of the day doing very little.

However, he was awoken earlier than planned, much earlier than planned in fact, and what woke him was the rattling of crockery from the kitchen and the sound of water running.

He determined that the water was probably filling the kettle, and the crockery was for whatever beverage they were making.

He looked at the clock and it was 6.05am and he had an unexpected houseguest, which he assumed was either a housemate or a very bold burglar, he didn’t know for sure who it was, but he knew who he wanted it to be.

He got out of bed and threw on his robe and wandered downstairs but as he approached the kitchen he suddenly hesitated as he caught sight of Sarah sitting on the kitchen counter looking at something on her phone.

Tim’s heart started to pound in his chest as he watched her through the crack in the door, she was the world to him and he had never been able to tell her how he felt for a variety of reasons, but now fate had presented him with a perfect opportunity to share his feelings with her.

Sarah wasn’t fazed when he suddenly appeared, or when he walked into the kitchen.

“What are you doing here?” he asked

“My shift got rearranged” she replied and smiled

“How long have you been watching me?”

“What do you mean?”

“You were watching me from the hall” she said and smiled again

“I thought you were a burglar” he replied feebly

“No, I think you were ogling me” she said and put down her phone

“No, no”

“Yes, yes, you were ogling me because you want to do this” she said and leant forward and kissed him and when the kiss ended the toast popped up.

 

They sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee, and eating toast

Well now you can tell our grandchildren where we had our first kiss” she said

“I didn’t know we were going to have grandchildren” he retorted

“You don’t know much” she said wryly

“What do you mean?”

“Well you wouldn’t have even known I was here if I hadn’t made enough noise to wake the dead” she explained

“You did it on purpose?”

“Of course I did” she admitted

“Why?”

“Because I fancied you” she replied “and so I could get you down here for a kiss”

“Oh”

“When exactly were you going to get around to telling me you fancied me?” she asked

“I was actually on my way to tell you when you attacked me” he lied

“Liar” she mocked “I think you wanted to, but you would have lost your nerve, just like you did at Halloween, Christmas, New Years, and the summer Ball and every party we’ve ever been to together”

“Probably” he admitted, and she laughed so hard she spilled some coffee.

“But I think that now I know where we stand, we should be doing less talking and more kissing” he said

“That’s a great idea” she said and kissed him again.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (211) Escaping the Friend Zone

 

July

 

Sophie Brierley lived in St Pierre, across the street from Simon Cranidge, and she was a kindly soul in her forties, recently divorced, with three grown up children who had all flown the nest.

Simon liked her as a neighbour but had never looked at her in a sexual manner, he had had a brief affair with her sister Lisa but that was only sex, he didn’t like her as a person, but Sophie was different she was nice, but even then, he had seen her more as a good friend or a big sister.

But that was before a particularly over indulgent and boozy lunch at the Sword and Shield on a hot July Sunday, which resulted in them standing in her hallway while her tongue energetically explored his mouth, and with every passing moment he was warming to her and seeing her less like a friend or a sister, in fact he saw her in an entirely different light, so the kissing lead inexorably to her bedroom.

 

Simon undressed quickly and got under the covers while she disrobed in a dimly lit corner.

“Why are you hiding over there?”

“My figure isn’t up to bright lights” she replied

“Nonsense you have a lovely shape” he corrected her as he watched her pulling her pants and tights off

“Well I’m not as firm and toned as my sister” she said “but then you would know that better than I do”

“The importance difference between you and Lisa is that I really like you” he said as she joined him beneath the duvet.

 

After they had made love she lay with her head on his chest and said

“Well that’s not a very good start, is it?”

“What do you mean?” he asked puzzled

“Well I was married to Jack for 25 years and was never unfaithful once” she replied

“Now I have a new man in my life, who I’ve only been dating for 3 weeks, and I’ve already been unfaithful to him” she replied and laughed out loud before adding in a more serious tone.

“We haven’t even… you know…. done it yet, I’ve only ever been with… I had only ever been with Jack and wasn’t sure about what to do with a new man, but I don’t suppose there’s any need to worry about that now” And she laughed again

“Now I’ve been unfaithful numerous times, now I am a serial adulteress,” she confessed

“You’ve only done it once” he pointed out

“I know” she said “but I thought I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb” 

“Well I think that’s a good philosophy” he said “But there’s just one thing”

“What’s that?”

“Well as we’ve already broken the ice, so to speak” he said “I wouldn’t mind being the new man in your life”

“I would really like that” she said and kissed his chest “But Lisa won’t like it”

“Lisa’s not going to get it” he retorted and pulled her beneath the duvet.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (210) Life’s too Short

 

June

 

At the beginning of June local lass Evie Martyn and two friends left the island to play in a football tournament, they had been selected to represent Downshire in the under sixteens girl’s squad.

Evie was a chorister at St Clara’s and was particularly popular in Spaniard Creek, so everyone was devastated when they heard the news of the tragedy.

The girls where travelling back down the Expressway after having reached the latter stages and narrowly losing the semifinal when the caravan in front of them, jack knifed, and they crashed into it.

Evie’s father, who was driving, and two of the girls escaped with cuts and bruises, however Evie and the other driver died at the scene.     

 

When the day of her funeral came it was greeted with a glorious sunny late June day and such as Evie’s popularity was everyone wanted to pay their respects, however seating in the church was quite inadequate for the numbers of people wanting to attend.

So, St Clara’s was packed to the gunwales, and it seemed like the whole village had turned out to say goodbye, so well-loved was she in the village as her young life had touched so many,

Every inch of the lane was crammed with the throng of mourners for what was to be the last service that Locum Vicar, Justyna Krajewska would officiate at as she was leaving the island at the end of the month to become the spiritual head of St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat in Pepperstock Green.

 

The service was a very moving one and when it came to the moment for the readings, Danny rose from his pew where Molly had been holding his hand and walked slowly to the lectern.

He stood and looked out at the sea of faces watching him and he was suddenly afraid, but then he remembered the courageous young girl they were there to honour and how she embraced every moment of her life, so he took the folded paper from his pocket and began.

“I would like to read a poem to you which I think sums up the loss of such a young and vital girl taken in the early summer of her life,

It’s called “Ode to an athlete dying young” by A.E.Houseman.

 

The time you won your town the race

We chaired you through the marketplace.

Man, and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder high.

 

Today, the road all runners come,

Shoulder-high we bring you home,

And set you at your threshold down,

Townsman of a stiller town.

 

Smart lad, to slip betimes away

From fields where glory does not stay,

And early though the laurel grows

It withers quicker than the rose.

 

Eyes the shady night has shut

Cannot see the record cut,

And silence sounds no worse than cheers

After earth has stopped the ears.

 

Now you will not swell the rout

Of lads that wore their honours out,

Runners whom renown outran

And the name died before the man.

 

So set, before its echoes fade,

The fleet foot on the sill of shade,

And hold to the low lintel up

The still-defended challenge-cup.

 

And round that early laurelled head

Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,

And find unwithered on its curls

The garland briefer than a girl’s.

 

Afterwards he returned to his seat with tears in his eyes but at the end of the service he was in no hurry to leave, and he and Molly were the last two in the Church and as they were walking slowly to the door Danny stopped suddenly and said

“There’s something I need to say Molly”

“That sounds ominous” she retorted

“I hope not” he said and turned to face her

“Oh?” she said, “Is everything alright?”

“I know this may be a strange time to do this” he began “but I’ve been putting it off, and putting it off, but it has to be done”

Molly was speechless, she knew he’d had something on his mind she was puzzled as to why it had come to a head at the funeral.

“The thing is” he continued.

“You’re going away aren’t you” she said sadly, “Another research trip”

“No” he said and looked at her

“Why would think that?”

“Because….” she began

“I am not going anywhere without you; we have an amazing future together ahead of us”

“So why are you behaving so oddly?”

“Because today has shown me that life is too short and I want the next time that I stand in front of this congregation in this church to be our wedding”

“But we’re already engaged” she pointed out

“I know, but I don’t want people saying I’m just marrying you for your money” he said

In October on the occasion of her 25th birthday she will inherit her grandfather’s estate and overnight will become insanely rich. 

“So don’t you want to marry me then” she asked sadly

“What?” he exclaimed

“No, the opposite”

“I don’t understand” Molly said

“I don’t want to wait until you’re a billionaire” he explained

“So will you marry me as soon as we can arrange it?”

“Yes, of course I’ll marry today if you want” she replied and kissed him

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (209) Nesting

 

June

 

The morning after Andrea ambushed him in his room, he rose late again but this time when he headed to the shower the door didn’t suddenly open, and Andrea did not appear.

This time he was already in the shower and had already given himself a good soaping before she joined him and on that morning, he had no need to undress her as Andrea was already naked.

When Andrea got in the cubicle, she was only wearing a broad grin, so he kissed her smiling lips and made love to her.

And after Andrea’s timely arrival there followed an exhausting but rewarding union which culminated in Andrea screaming out in orgasm.

She clearly enjoyed it sufficiently that she ambushed him in his bathroom the next morning after which she once again left him exhausted.

 

There was no repeat the following day however, as Wednesday was Andrea’s day off at the Hotel, but being a really hard worker, on her day off she had another two jobs, because she also worked part time at the Wildlife HQ, and the Meteorological Station.

Andrea finished at the Met Station at 1pm and then she went on and did her other job cleaning out the Wildlife huts and sheds, and that job finished at 4pm and the plan was for him to meet her afterwards and they would go and do something together maybe just a walk in the woods.

 

So, he had a quiet morning at the Hotel followed by an early lunch before he left to go birdwatching.

But his heart wasn’t really in it, he was really missing Andrea, so after about an hour he decided to go and meet her from work. 

Garwood followed the path up from the lighthouse and when he was approaching the hides the rain came and so he took shelter in one of them for five minutes and then he got going again, and then ten minutes later the rain came again, heavier this time there was no convenient hide to shelter in.

But he did see, some thirty yards or so ahead of him, the Wildlife huts and thought even if it wasn’t the destination he was looking for, it was still the most likely source of shelter, so he ran in that direction.

Once he got close he noticed that the door was a jar, so he pushed on it softly.

“Hello” he called as the door opened and inside, he was surprised to find Andrea in the hut sweeping the floor wearing only a baggy sweater and wellington boots.

“Oh” she gasped “it’s you.”

“And what are you up to exactly?” he asked as he gave her a thorough appraisal.

“I’m not doing anything wrong” she said defensively and giggled “Honestly I’m not.”

“Really?” he quizzed.

“I got caught in the rain and my shirt and leggings got wet so I’m drying them on the heater, and this is the only dry thing I had to wear” she blurted out and was almost breathless when she had finished.

“Well, you look really hot” he said.

“Really?” she said coyly and blushed deeply “I think you’re biased, I know I look like a nutter.”

he said, “A lovely nutter” and kissed her.

“What are you doing here anyway?” she asked.

“I missed you” he said and kissed her again.

“Well, it’s lovely to see you” Andrea said, “But I have to work, and I can’t leave until I’m finished.”

“I know but I can help you and we’ll have it done in half the time.”

“Why would you want to do that?” she said, “you’re on holiday.”

“I’m doing it so I can be with you” He said.

“That’s so sweet” Andrea said but looked at him a bit glumly.

“What’s the matter?” he asked but she just shrugged and then tears welled up in her eyes and he hugged her.

“I’m sorry” she sobbed.

“What for?” he asked.

“I’ve spoiled everything” she said.

“How?”

“My period started this morning” she howled and buried her face in his chest.

“So, I guess you won’t want to be with me now.”

“When I said I wanted to be with you, I meant I want to be with you, to be near you and to hold you” he said, “that’s the only place I want to be, with you.”

“So, you don’t mind that we can’t make love?” she sobbed.

“We don’t need to make love all the time” he replied, “We can just have a cuddle.”

And when she looked up at him through teary eyes he knew he was now in her heart forever.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (208) Birders Paradise

 

June

 

Garwood Grimm was a 25-year-old singleton and was what they used to call a twitcher, although nowadays they prefer to be called birders, and he was staying at the Seaview Hotel on the Pepperstock Bay island of St Giles du Cabot.

It is beautiful and relatively un-spoilt, and three quarters of the island is a Wildlife Sanctuary, a lot of avid bird watchers gravitated to St Giles which was the reason he chose it for his holiday, that and Hastings Lake which would facilitate his other passion, Angling.

It was both idyllic and peaceful, and there was little, or no noise pollution and the lake was free from boats or jet skis.

Garwood was a bit of a loaner so birdwatching and angling were the perfect hobbies for him.

He would have preferred not to be such a loaner but unfortunately, he was a bit socially awkward, but the main reason he was alone was because he was shy and preferred to go unnoticed, which was difficult to do when you’re extremely tall with wild unruly hair.

Not that he wasn’t attracted to the opposite sex, he was very much indeed, in fact while he was on the island he took a liking to a girl at the Hotel, Andrea Stephan, who he seemed to run into a lot as she was very industrious and turned her hand to everything, but he was too shy to initiate a conversation with her.

Fortunately Andrea was not so shy and made a point of chatting to him every time she ran into him, which was a lot, and one evening she suggested he take a trip to the neighbouring Beaumont island and visit Bellevue Woods to enjoy some different sights so on his fifth day on the island he got up bright and early and took the Ocean Breeze water taxi from Cabot Town to Spaniards Creek then he headed up towards the woods but first of all he went up to Cragg Edge which Andrea had recommended it to him. 

Andrea had also given him a number of popular birding sites and one in particular where she said a Green Woodpecker had been sighted so he made his way there and what he found waiting for him in the clearing, sitting on a blanket was a girl, and after a few seconds he realized it was Andrea herself.

He was standing on the edge of the clearing and moved a little closer and was about to announce himself when she stood up and took off her dress to reveal a green bikini.

“Oh my” he said to himself as he studied a most interesting scene.

“This is much better than a Green Woodpecker, “Much better.”

It wasn’t the usual type of bird he was spotting for, but it was a rare sight indeed.

Andrea was a year or two younger than Garwood, shorter in stature, with straight brown hair and a rather plain, heavily freckled face, but lovely blue eyes, a cute nose, and a thin-lipped smile, she also had nice legs tights tiny feet always which was a bonus for him.

 

It was his habit to write down his more exotic sightings in his little book, not that he had anything in his book to equal Andrea, however as pleasant as the diversion from birdwatching was he wasn’t comfortable to spy on her further.

However, as he prepared to slip quietly back into the woods Andrea turned around and looked directly at him and smiled, and then she gestured him to join her.

“I’m so sorry” he said as he approached “I didn’t mean to stare.”

“That’s alright you were meant to” she retorted.

“Wwhat?” he stammered.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention all week” she said and slithered up to him and embraced him and when the kiss was over she said.

“Now don’t you think that’s better than bird watching?”

“Oh yes definitely” he replied and leant in for another helping and thought.

“This is definitely going in the book.”

 

The morning after Andrea had successfully lured Garwood to the clearing in Bellevue Woods and they shared an extended period of kissing he rose late and was trying to figure out when he would get to kiss her again.

And it was with those thoughts about kissing the girl in the yellow bikini that he decided he would take a shower and then go in search of her, however just as he got midway between the bed and the bathroom, naked and aroused, the maid, receptionist, waitress and all-round dogs’ body, Andrea Stephan, suddenly appeared at the door.

There followed a delightful interlude, in which she declared that she was his girlfriend, which culminated in them making love in his bed.