Love Revealed: A BWWM Sweet Romance Novel

by Lydia Arcayne

  They pulled up to the house and Darla was sitting on a suitcase on the front steps. Adeen jumped out of the passenger seat and ran up the walk way to her mother.

  “We’re going?”

  “Yes, we are going.”

  “OH MY GOD, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. Did you pack all my writing paper and stuff? Everything I’ll need for the trip?”

  “Yes, my dear.”

  Guy walked up them both and smiled.

  “This is great! I’m so happy you agreed. So, you are going to stay the two weeks then?”

  “Yes, we’re staying the two weeks. But if I feel like we are interfering with your job, then we will leave. I don’t want to be the reason that you don’t get your book done on time.”

  “You won’t be in the way, don’t worry about it. How did Monika and Chuck take it?”

  “They were fine about it. Chuck is going back to his place tomorrow and the kids are coming back on friday to Monika, so it will all be okay.”

  “Well, I repeat myself, but I’m very happy with your decision.”

  “Okay, Mr. Murtagh, lets get on the road then. Don’t want spoiled groceries for our two week trip!”

  “Oh, yeah the groceries! Yes, lets get going you two.”

  They drove off, with Monika and Chuck waving them away. Darla looked a tad upset, Guy placed his right hand on hers and squeezed it a little. They looked at each other and he said, “It’s going to be a tough time ahead, but it will get easier.”

  “I know, thank you. And thank you for doing this. If not for me, it’ll be great for Adeen to be with a real writer.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The weather was as calm as it could be on the sea as they sailed through the islands. The boat was weighed down a bit what with the two large boxes of groceries and two suitcases. It slowed them down a little, but Darla and Adeen certainly didn’t mind. Adeen was taking it all in. The sounds, the birds flying in large circles squawking overhead, the smell of the sea, how it differed to the streams she was used to and then the fish she could sometimes see swimming near to the surface of the water. She trailed her hand in the sea and felt a smile break on her face.

  Darla was sitting towards the front of the boat with her eyes closed. She was listening to the engine of the boat, which she noticed was a little quieter than her old boat, she liked that, it meant she could enjoy the sounds of the water and the bird life. There was hardly any breeze at all, so when she closed her eyes, she felt as if she was just gliding along all on her own maybe even flying with the sea birds she could hear all around her.

  Guy noticed that both of his new guests were enjoying the boat ride, but he wanted to sail them past a couple of the other uninhabited islands first, before they made it home, as he wanted to see if any of his boat or Darla’s had made it onto land yet.

  “Sorry to bother you two, but I want to pull up onto this island here, just to check for any debris from our island.”

  “Coool. What are you looking for?”, Adeen asked.

  “Well, both your mothers boat and mine broke away from the dock and disappeared, so we are going to try to find some of mine, especially if we can find the piece with the name on. The boat was my dads, so I would like to keep that part especially.”

  “Okay. Lead the way.” Darla said.

  Guy sailed up to the empty island and got out of the boat, pulling it towards the beach. Darla and Adeen got out as it got shallow and they all helped pull it to shore.

  “Oh my, this island is so tiny and cute! Does anybody own it?” Adeen asked.

  “I think the government owns the uninhabited ones, as far as I know. The others have been owned by people for so long, but if you want to use this island for something, you would need to rent it. It’s okay to visit, like a park, say, but you can’t pitch a tent here. Coastguard will get ya.” he said and chased Adeen onto the island laughing.

  The island was about the size of half a tennis court. So it didn’t take them too long to walk around it, but they had to search in the bushes and they dug a bit through the sand. They found some debris, but none of it from Guys island.

  “Nothing this time.”

  “I’m sorry Guy. Are we gonna check some other places?”

  “Nah, not today. I just wanted to catch this one as we were going by. There is an online forum for the people who live on the islands, and I put up a notice, as did a few other people to be on the look out for the things that I wanted found. So maybe somebody else will have some luck.”

  They boarded the boat and made their way to Guy’s island.

  As they were drawing near to the island, Adeen saw it first.

  “Is that your one? It’s gorgeous!”

  “Yes, this is where you and your mom will be staying, hopefully for the next two weeks.”

  “Even from here I can see it looks pretty cleaned up. They did a great job.” Darla said.

  “Yeah, I got them to get rid of some of the bigger trees. They provide some protection from the breeze, but in a storm they can do so much damage. They left the stumps though, so you can both carve your names in if you like.”

  “Cool.” Adeen said.

  Guy carried their bags off the boat and Darla passed him the boxes of groceries. Adeen’s face was filled with excitement and wonder. She looked like she didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry.

  “Mom this place is amazing! It’s so much space to run around and play and it’s all just for me, and you guys too of course, but there are no cars to bother you when you are playing or other bigger kids to try take your bike. I think I’ll like it here.”

  Guy was happy he had asked them to come, even if just seeing the look of joy on Adeens face right now was all he got.

  “Well, how about we pack everything away and then we can go on a little stroll around the house and garden?”

  “Sounds good to me” Darla said.

  After everything was packed away, and Adeen had picked her bed, Guy brought them through each room and talked about the photos of his siblings and parents and some silly stories of things that had happened over the years, like the time him and his older brother were fighting over a toy, he can barely remember now what it was, but his brother was at the top of the stairs and Guy was half way down and they were pulling on the toy. Guy, suddenly let go! His brother came tumbling down the stairs, crashing into Guy and ultimately breaking his collar bone. His parents had been so angry. The toy, whatever it was, had been taken from them and locked away in a box under his parents bed. Adeen had thought this was the funniest story ever and Darla asked how his brother felt about this today? Guy said, his brother never failed to bring it up at parties and especially in the summer when he had his shirt off, he would point to his collar bone, where it looked slightly misshapen, and say to whomever was around, “Guy did this. Guy broke my collar bone, when I was eight,” and proceed to tell the whole story all over again. Guy told Darla she was sure to hear it if she ever met him.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Their first morning on the island was almost like a dream for Guy. He woke up in his bedroom and remembered they were in the next room. He allowed himself to think what it meant, that Darla had brought her daughter here to spend time with him. He was eager to get to know both of them, and since there was a small child there with them, he didn’t foresee any intimate moments happening this time around. He didn’t mind though, if it was going to happen, it would happen at the right time. He was a grown man and not in any kind of rush. This was a woman he was beginning to think of as someone he could spend his life with, not just a fling.

  He tried to sneak downstairs, but as he passed the girls bedroom, the door creaked open and out snook a tiny little Adeen. She was all sleep faced, with her gorgeous black hair loose in its tiny ringlets sticking up every which way from sleeping. As she rubbed her eyes and wrapped her little dressing gown around her tiny nine year old frame, she asked Guy, “Are you making breakfast?” and yawned.

  “If you want, I can do that. Is y
our mom awake?”

  “No, she’s still snoring away,” and she giggled, then shushed herself and snook down the stairs with Guy.

  In the kitchen, Guy sat Adeen on the counter top and first made her some hot cocoa. As he waited for his coffee to brew, Adeen told him about the funny dreams she had had the night before, about sailing to an island that was owned by a group of giant ducks and their quacks had been deafening. Adeen wanted some honey nut cereal, which they both ate at the table. Guy hadn’t been around kids like this since before his father had died and he had stayed over at his older brothers house. He had two young boys, 3 and 5 at the time. No matter the personality of kids, they all seem super placid and cute at breakfast, but slowly came into themselves as they woke up and would be running around the house while their parents tried to get them dressed for the day. He could already see that Adeen, by the fact she was a girl or just from her upbringing, was a much more gentle, and thoughtful child. He felt he could handle her, she seemed more curious than anything else. Just interested in the world around her and trying to understand things.

  Guy heard some movement upstairs and as he poured himself another cup of joe, he took out a bowl and spoon and mug for Darla. She came down and greeted them both with a cheery good morning.

  “How did you sleep last night?” Guy asked her.

  “Really good, the best sleep I think I’ve had since mom got sick. I think I was gone after my head hit the pillow!”

  “She was, I could hear her snoring.” Adeen snorted herself, as she laughed at her joke.

  After breakfast and everyone had got ready for the day, they sat around the table and talked about what the plan was going to be, since this was supposed to be instead of Adeen going to writers camp. The plan was going to be, after breakfast each weekday morning, they would do a morning workout, a swim in the sea and some laps around the island. After this they would decide on what Adeen was going to write her short story on and then her and Guy would spend until lunch time doing some writing, in the afternoon they would read the book that had been chosen to read and discuss. After dinner was for relaxing, time together and board games. As it was Sunday, they decided to go out in the boat and do some fishing for the morning.

  The weather was fine for sailing, clear sky with a little breeze, but not cold. The summer was just around the corner and they could feel the change in the air. They passed a few other boats as they sailed out to the edge of the bay. Guy didn’t recognise any of them as residents of the islands, but they wished them all a good day. They stopped when Guy felt they were in a good place. He didn’t have any tech for finding fish, it was a simple boat, and he fished just how his father always had, by just stopping the boat and going for it.

  Adeen was less icked out by the bait then he thought she would be. His own sister had hated fishing, preferring to stay at home with their mother and garden or bake bread for the boys return. Thinking about it, she may have hated it as they teased her relentlessly with the worms, chasing her around the garden with them, she never had a chance.

  He had given Adeen the use of one of his and his brothers old shorter rods and she made a good job of her first cast off. Darla joined in too and when they were all sitting there waiting for a bite, Darla started to sing a song. Low at first, almost under her breath, but then Adeen joined in and they both looked at each other and smiled, then began bobbing from side to side, singing a song about sunshine together.

  When they finished singing, they both laughed. Guy gave them a round of applause and told them they did a great job.

  “Wow, two ladies in my boat that can sing! I got real lucky.”

  “Can you sing Guy?”

  “No, not at all I’m afraid. I was blessed with the desire and need to sing, but sadly not the ability. You may or may not catch me singing in the shower if you stand outside the door though.”

  Adeen giggled.

  After about two hours Darla finally felt something on her fishing rod. She reeled it in and it was a decent sized halibut, so Guy thought anyhow. After that, they each brought in another one. Guy decided that was enough fish for a few days for them, so they sailed back home.

  Darla told Guy she had the perfect recipe and said she would cook dinner for them. She took one of the larger fish to share for herself and Guy and a smaller one for Adeen. She sliced up a lemon for the fish which she was going to grill on the barbecue. Guy followed her instructions and took some of the large potatoes from the kitchen and slicing them crossways, filled them with a couple knobs of butter and some fresh herbs from the pots of plants he had picked up at the supermarket with Adeen. Adeen had insisted they needed fresh herbs in the cabin, that now that she grew her own in the garden, she would always use them in cooking. So he added some chopped basil and parsley. Adeen helped him to wrap the three potatoes in foil and they brought them out to Darla. She put the spuds on first, it was a lovely old coal grill, which Darla loved as it added more of a flavour to the food. They set about gutting the fish. Guy was happy again, when Adeen surprised him by not being grossed out by that. He himself as a kid had been thoroughly disgusted when his father showed him how to gut and debone a fish the first time. Now he was an old hand at it, which of course Darla was too. Adeen had watched it done many times before, but her mother felt she was too young to handle the sharp knives. It’s a pretty messy job and with her young hands it would get too dangerous. She was happy to watch them get to work though. Darla was leaving the skin on and as the potatoes were getting closer to being done, she placed the fillets skin side down on the grill. The flames quickly singed the skin, giving it a nice crispiness. Flipping them over quickly she waited a few minutes, not too long and they were done. She served the fish and the baked potatoes with some mixed salad and some balsamic and olive oil dressing.

  The meal was enjoyed by all, and was followed not long after by Adeen asking what was for dessert. They decided on vanilla ice cream in a bowl with toffee sauce poured over. As the evening drew on, Adeen said she was going to her room to read and then to sleep, it had been a long and adventurous day and she was feeling pretty tired. Her mom followed her up and they sorted out the sleeping arrangements and made the beds. After Adeen was dressed for bed and snuggled in with her book, her mom gave her a kiss on her forehead and told her she loved her.

  “Thanks mom, I love you too. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight darling.”

  When Darla came downstairs, Guy was sitting outside on the porch swing. She went outside and joined him.

  “She settled for the night?”

  “Yes, she’s reading, but I’d say she’ll be out like a light in a few minutes, she had a pretty fun filled day.”

  “Yeah, I had fun too, thanks for taking me up on the offer to come out. I know it must be tough to leave your sister right now, after your moms close call.”

  “Well, I know she has a nurse with her, so I’m not feeling too bad and Monika’s kids will be home by now. It’s good for us to get away. I feel like all I’ve talked about lately is sickness and hospitals. It’s nice to talk to somebody who isn’t family you know.”

  “I get that, I went through the same thing when both my folks were in the hospital. I found a glass of wine with a close friend always helped.”

  Guy reached down beside him and brought up a bottle of wine and two glasses.

  “I hope you like white?”

  “Yes, I do,” she said smiling.

  “Cheers” Guy said, as they clinked glasses.

  “Cheers, heres to having a nice island getaway and getting to know each other better.”

  They each took a sip and were looking into each others eyes. Darla put her hand on Guys knee and he leant in and kissed her. He pulled away, smiling, hoping to see a similar reaction on her face. Darla was smiling too. They both moved in closer, this time placing their glasses on the table. Guy wrapped his arms around Darla’s waist and she draped hers around his neck. They kissed and this time it was more intense, his tongue moved over her to
ngue and their lips brushed gently together. He moved his hands up her torso, gently stroking her back, she ran her fingers through his hair, gently stroking his neck. After a few minutes, they pulled away together and Darla giggled.

  “I’d like to make love with you. It doesn’t have to be now, but…” Guy was saying as Darla cut him off.

  “It can be now. I mean, I want to too and why wait until tomorrow what you can do today?”

  Darla took him by the hand and walked into the cabin. She paused and looked up towards the upstairs bedrooms. Guy took the lead this time and led her towards his parents old room.

  They walked in and closed the door behind them.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Adeen woke up early, she looked at her mothers phone, which was sitting on the night stand. It was eight o’clock. She saw that her mothers bed was made and presumed she had snook out at some point to make breakfast. She threw on her dressing gown and slippers and walked to the window. It was a beautiful blue skied day, there were some birds in the garden pulling up worms from the ground and flying though the air eating tiny insects she couldn’t even see. Excited about her writing class today with Guy, she skipped out the door and down the stairs. She walked into the kitchen, but there was nobody there and no food cooking up. Hmm, she thought, hoping they hadn’t gone out on the boat without her. She looked around the living room and then from outside heard a persons laugh, it sounded like her moms.