The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (216) August Days

 

August

 

Olivia Carter, the new locum Vicar at St Clara’s had, at the behest of Vicar Arielle Archer, accommodated Danny Nightingale and Molly Barrington by fitting them in at short notice.

 

It was a glorious August day with not a cloud in the sky when Danny and the wedding party arrived at St Clara’s, he had spent the previous night with his best man George Wood, and the Harrison’s at Beacon Farm.

Molly and her Matron of Honour Arielle Archer and bridesmaids Nicola Harrison and Hayley Stock got ready at Cliff Haven cottage and rode to St Clara’s in a horse drawn carriage.

 

It was a beautiful ceremony, very moving and was well attended and when they left, they were seen off by all the well-wishers as Molly and Danny left the village in the carriage which took them to the reception at the Beaumont Manor Hotel and Molly felt like a princess.

 

At the same time Danny and Molly were tying the knot, a group of friends from Spaniards Creek were on the golden sands of Norman Beach where they were enjoying the hot weather, and among them were brothers Paul and Ryan Parkin and Ryan’s girlfriend Ellie Watson.

But despite the blue skies there was a black cloud hanging over the day because Paul knew that his brother was going to dump Ellie and he was not happy with what Ryan was going to do, because he was doing it so he could make a play for someone else.

 

About an hour after seeing Ryan and Ellie in a heated exchange by the cliffs, Paul was walking along the beach towards the steps when he saw Ryan kissing someone else.

He climbed the steps up to the cliff path and found Ellie behind one of the trees and he could tell by the movement of her shoulders that she was crying, so he closed the distance between them.

“Are you ok Ellie?” he asked when he reached her and as she turned to face him, he could discern that her eyes bore the evidence of crying, and then before he knew what was happening, she had buried her tearstained face in his chest and began to cry anew.

“I’m sorry” he said

They stood in the shade of an oak tree in that embrace for ten minutes as she cried, until the pattern of her breathing changed and he could feel feather light kisses from her soft lips on his naked chest, before her lips journeyed upwards until they reached his and she kissed him, a deeply passionate and electric kiss, but he curtailed it.

“We shouldn’t be doing this” he said

“But it’s what I want” she retorted and tried again to connect her lips to his.

“But you were crying for Ryan ten minutes ago” he pointed out

“No, no, you mustn’t think that” she said with alarm

“I wasn’t crying because we broke up, I was glad, I was distraught because I didn’t think I would see you again”

And then the kissed again.

 

On the August Bank Holiday, on a hot sultry Sunday afternoon in the Hamlet of Saxvirdan and Samantha Lucas was as hot and sultry as the weather, and the children running in and out of the house every five minutes either bickering or telling tales or saying, “Can I have?” was not cooling her down in the slightest.

So, she just carried on watching TV with her husband Eddie and tried to think happy thoughts, which was proving very difficult. 

“Thank God” She exclaimed when she heard the tell-tale chimes of the ice cream van playing “I wish I was in Dixie” in a neighbouring road.

“Nothing says come and get an ice-cream more than a jolly racist tune” Eddie said as the children came running in from the garden
“Ice cream, Ice cream” they called
“Just a minute kids, Dad will give you some money” Samantha shouted to them and he dug around in his shorts pocket and brought out a couple of two pound coins which he handed over to the children and they were out the front door in ten seconds flat, and the moment the door closed Eddie took hold of her hand and pulled her onto his lap.
“Behave Eddie” she protested “it’s too hot”

“Just give me a kiss” he said

“That’s not going to cool me down, that will just make me hotter” she said but kissed him anyway.

“Well, if it’s cooling down you need then I can help with that too” he said

 

Ten minutes later when the children returned with their ice cream, they found their mum and dad in the back garden where Eddie was spraying their mum with the hose pipe.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (215) Lookie-likie

 

August

 

30 something Anelita Gordon lived and worked at the Seaview Hotel where she was the Hotel cook.

Although she had no man in her life she had some very good friends, and they did a lot together, but her three closest friends, sisters Rebecca and Sally Root and Cordelia Caldwell, had all recently found themselves partners, and to her immortal shame she was jealous, but she didn’t tell them that or even let it show, because her girlfriends were very important to her, and she would never do anything to jeopardize that.

One of their regular meeting places was the Hotel Kitchen for coffee and chat.

Three of them were sitting at the table eating ice cream while Anelita was standing at the sink and someone caught her eye.

“It can’t be” she suddenly exclaimed “it’s just not possible.”

“Why can’t it?” Cordelia asked.

“Why isn’t it possible?” Rebecca added.

“Never mind all that” Sally retorted “what the hell are you all talking about?”

“I’ve no idea” Cordelia replied.

“Um” Rebecca said.

“Very helpful” Sally said and turned her attention to Anelita “Well?”

“I just saw Jason Bagg” she replied vaguely.

“But he went to Canada” Cordelia pointed out.

“That’s what I thought” Anelita said.

“It can’t have been him” Rebecca said.

“Lookie-likie” Cordelia exclaimed.

“Do what?” Rebecca asked, “Have you got brain freeze or something.”

“He must be a lookie-likie, you know a dopple thingy” she explained.

“You mean a doppelgänger” Anelita said.

“Yes” Cordelia said and smiled.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out” Sally said and stood up.

“What are you doing?” Anelita asked.

“We’re going to find out if it’s Jason or not” she replied.

“Oh, I don’t know about that” Anelita protested.

“We’ve got to, he was the love of your life after all” Sally insisted.

“That was a very long time ago” Anelita said.

“I know but just the possibility that it was him has made you glow” Sally said, “and that’s just on the outside, I wouldn’t like to speculate what’s going on the inside.”

“Stop it” Anelita said and blushed and the other three laughed dirtily.

“Oh, ok then” she conceded “You’re not going to shut up until we do.”

“Good decision” she said, and they headed towards the door, all except Cordelia who was still sitting at the table eating her ice cream.

“Come on hoover-head” Rebecca called.

“I haven’t finished my ice cream” she retorted and shoveled down the last three spoonful’s before getting up.

 

“Ok, which way did he go?” Sally asked.

“That away” Anelita replied and pointed towards the lighthouse.

“What’s he wearing?” Rebecca enquired.

“A green barber jacket and black trousers” Anelita said.

“Seriously? Everyone at the sanctuary is dressed like that” Sally said, “we need more than that to go on.”

“Well, he’s 6ft 5” with bright red hair if that helps” she retorted.

“Yes, that’s definitely better” Sally said, “right Rebecca shin up the lamp post and see if you can spot him.” 

 

“Well?” Anelita asked after a couple of minutes had passed.

“No, nothing yet… hold on though I think that might be our man, yes, yes that’s him” she announced triumphantly and began her descent.

“Are you going to share?” Anelita asked impatiently.

“Yes, he’s down by the Wildlife HQ” she replied smugly and then Anelita rushed passed her and they were off.

 

Jason Bagg was indeed the love of Anelita’s life, the one that got away, the one she let get away, but equally she was his lost love.

They began dating at college and were together all through University but after graduation he was offered a job in Toronto, it was a great opportunity that he felt he couldn’t pass it up, and he was thrilled at the prospect, and he thought she would be too, but he was wrong.

Anelita didn’t want to leave Downshire, all the people she loved most in the world were there, and she knew no one in Canada.

So, she said she didn’t want to go, she thought that if he loved her as much as she loved him he would stay, while he thought that if she loved him as much as he loved her, she would go with him.

But they both miscalculated neither would give ground, and angry words were exchanged which served to entrench them further, up to the point that they stopped talking, and he left Downshire a month later, and she hadn’t seen him since, until he walked past the Hotel.

 

The girls made their way quickly along the path past the cottages but by the time they got to the Wildlife HQ he was nowhere to be seen.

“Right Rebecca shin up the lamp post again and see if you can spot him.”

“Oh ok” she sighed and started climbing and thirty seconds later she was back on terra firma and said.

“Hastings Lake”

 

Jason liked Hastings Lake, it held great memories for him, and he had thought of it often when he was away, it was one of his favourite places in the whole world and although he hadn’t been there for years it hadn’t changed a bit from when he used to fish there.

 

The girls soon tracked him down and followed at a safe distance.

Anelita wasn’t entirely convinced that it was in fact Jason Bagg that they were following and secretly feared that they would feel extremely foolish when they realized they were stalking some random lanky ginger.

But her fears were allayed when he paused by the water’s edge and scanned his surroundings and she and the others got a proper look at his face.

“That’s him” Rebecca said.

“Without a doubt” Sally confirmed.

“Oh yes” Cordelia agreed.

“It is him” Anelita said quietly.

“Well come on then let’s go and say hello” Sally said.

“That’s ok I’ve got it from here” Anelita said “You lot wait here.”

 

On that warm sunny August day by Hastings Lake Jason made a bee line for his favourite spot on a little peninsula beneath the shade of a familiar old oak tree and he was just gazing across the lake and was enjoying the gentle breeze off the water when a soft voice from behind him said

“Hello”

He turned around to see that the voice belonged to an attractive looking woman, pretty face, blue eyes, short brown hair, 5ft 5 or 6, early thirties, nice figure, wearing a t-shirt, knee length shorts, and flip flops, whom he recognized, though that recognition left him speechless.

“I’m sorry” she said and began to walk away “You clearly don’t remember me.”

“That wouldn’t be very flattering” he said, “Especially after we shared our first kiss beneath this very tree.”

“Ah so you do remember me” she said.

“How could I forget Anelita Gordon” Jason said.

 

Sally, Rebecca, and Cordelia were watching events from a safe distance, but their view was obscured after the arrival of a delivery van.

“Damn it” Sally exclaimed.

“Get up the tree Rebecca and have a look.”

“Why do I have to do all the climbing?” she protested.

“Because you look like a monkey” her sister said unsympathetically, and Cordelia giggled “So climb.”

Once she had clambered to a sufficient height her sister called up

“Can you see anything?”

“Yes, I can see them now” she replied.

“And?” Sally snapped.

“Oh my” Rebecca exclaimed.

“Oh my?” Sally retorted “What does that mean?”

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting that” Rebecca added.

“What? What weren’t you expecting?” Sally shouted.

“Kissing” Rebecca replied.

“What kind of kiss?” her sister asked.

“What do you mean what kind of kiss?”

“Well, was it an air kiss, a peck on the cheek, both cheeks or full on the lips” Sally explained.

“Oh, I see what you mean” Rebecca acknowledged.

“Definitely lips”

“And?” Sally snapped.

“Well, I think it would be best described as a pash” she replied.

“Wicked” Cordelia said.

“And it’s still going on” Rebecca called.

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