Laurel Cove

by Sarah Turtle

  At the end of the dock, Willa decided to make the short walk to The Anchor instead of back to her car. She hoped that Megan might still be at the bar and she could celebrate the first big step that she had taken towards finalizing her father’s estate. A wave of disappointment swept through her, though, when it was only Tony behind the bar and the same old man in the corner. She started to turn back, when a voice came from across the room.

  “You smell like the sea today.”

  Willa squinted as she tried to adjust to the dim lighting in the bar to confirm that the usually quiet old man had called out to her. Sure enough, when she looked to the corner, he was staring right at her over his beer mug. “This restaurant is literally built on top of the ocean; everything smells like the sea,” she pointed out to him.

  “Ah, every other time you’ve come in here, you smell like flowers that spray out of a bottle. This time you smell like a true islander that has been out on the sea.”

  Willa raised her arm up high enough to sniff the sleeve of her sweatshirt, hoping that it was the salt in the air that he was referring to and not the scent of fish.

  When the old man noticed what she was doing, he waved his hand in the air to stop her. “Quit that foolishness; you smell fine. Your daddy always used to say he was raising the spitting image of his wife. Henry was right. There’s no part of him in you at all.”

  Willa shot him a disgusted glare, planted her hands on her hips, and let out an insulted huff.

  He let out a laugh that sounded more like a department store Santa Claus than a drunk man in a bar. “That ain’t no insult if you knew how lovely your mama was.”

  “You knew my mother?” Willa asked, letting her guard down a little.

  “Oh yeah, Henry, Elaine, and I have history together that goes way back. We were as close as you and the Reed twins used to be.”

  Willa yearned to know more about her mother, but her father didn’t like to talk about anything in the least bit sentimental, so she stopped asking questions about her when she was young. This stranger was the first person that seemed willing to offer a window to her past. She rounded the corner of the bar and took the seat next to him. “How is it that you claim to be such great friends with my family and yet I don’t ever recall meeting you before?”

  “After Elaine passed, neither one of us could bear to spend time around each other. That woman was the glue that held us together. Without her, nothing was the same.” He held out his hand to Willa. “Name’s Blake by the way.”

  Willa shook his offered hand that was dry and hard to the touch, most likely from years of working on a boat. “Did you have a falling out of sorts?”

  “Nothing like that. We had each other’s back if the other needed it, but we kept our distance.”

  “Can I ask you what she was like?”

  “She was the most intelligent person I’d ever met. Her family spent summers here; owned one of them big houses on the cove. She’d sneak out and come meet Henry and me down by the docks when we were teenagers. Her parents despised us island boys. Said we were good for nothing and a bad influence on their little angel.”

  Blake went to wet his mouth with a sip of beer, but he was already at the bottom of the mug. Willa motioned for Tony to refill it for him.

  Blake continued, “We went a few years without seeing her while she was overseas at college in England, but one day she showed up as if she’d never left. This time, her parents couldn’t control her every move. When she married Henry, though, they disowned her, but she was happier than she’d ever been. That girl wasn’t born here, but she was an islander all the same. She loved the sea almost as much as Henry and I did.”

  Willa motioned towards Blake’s beer. “At least you had the sense to retire, unlike Dad.”

  “No true lobsterman gives up on the sea, not by choice, anyway. The motor blew on my boat and the insurance won’t cover it.”

  “You’d still be working if you could?”

  “It’s the only way I can afford to keep my house. Retirement check won’t cover that. I’m just biding my time until they take it from me.”

  Willa reached into her purse and clasped her fingers around the little buoy key chain. When she opened up her hand, she was holding it out to Blake. “Please take The Elaine so that you can do what you love.”

  Blake looked at the key with a flushed face and shook his head. “I can’t.” He shook his head in protest. “That boat was his pride and joy.”

  “And it will rot away if someone doesn’t use it, or it will be sold to someone who won’t respect her the way I know you would.”

  “Oh, Miss Barton, I would take good care of her.”

  Willa set the keys in his hand. “All I ask of you in return is two things.”

  “Anything you need, I’ll do it.”

  “The first is that you’ll keep the boat named The Elaine.”

  “Of course. I cared for her almost as much as Henry did. The boat will forever be a memorial to her.”

  Willa nodded her thanks. “The other thing is that you will promise to sell lobsters to the Bennetts at the Sea Turtle Inn at a reduced rate so that they can stay in business.”

  “Not a problem. John and Martha are good people. It’d be my pleasure to help them out.”

  Willa got down from her stool, grateful that she wouldn’t have to sell the boat to a stranger. “Do you think that maybe someday you could tell me some more stories about my parents?”

  Blake pointed to his head. “Oh, I have some great ones saved up in here for you.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  As Willa put her hand on the door to leave, Blake called out to her.

  “Hey, what I said earlier, about you being just like your mother, I was wrong. You’ve got Henry’s heart in you too.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Willa raised her hand to knock on Brynn’s door, but there was a note taped to it, instructing her to go to the back patio. It was there that she found Brynn busily applying a coat of marinade to a rack of ribs. “Mmm, it smells delicious,” Willa complemented as a breeze wafted some of the smoke in her direction.

  “Yeah, I’ve kind of perfected the art of cooking out on the barbecue. Griff and I have a deal that half the year I do the cooking out here and the other half he does it in the kitchen.”

  “Griff in the kitchen making something other than protein shakes? I can’t imagine that.”

  “He doesn’t have much of an option if we want something cooked on the stove. It’s too high up for me to see what I’m doing and there’s too much of a risk of me getting burned.”

  “Was the transition difficult, having to relearn the world from a whole different perspective?”

  “Essentially, I got shorter, wider, and only able to roll, which was enough of a challenge, but I also had to adjust to the concept of leaving behind high school and becoming an adult all at the same time. The psychological aspect of my injury was more damaging than the physical side of it.”

  “It didn’t help that your best friend ditched you either, did it?” Willa nervously bit at her bottom lip.

  Brynn rubbed her hand at the base of Willa’s back. “Hey, we both know who’s to blame for that and it’s neither one of us. I have you here now, and that’s all that matters to me.”

  Willa noticed place settings set up on the patio table next to the grill. “There’s a game on tonight. Why don’t we eat in the living room like we always used to?”

  “You hate watching sports on the television. Even at my live games, your face was buried in a book.”

  “Between Griff’s games and yours, it was the only time that I had to get homework done for the three of us. I doubt any of us would have graduated if I hadn’t done that. Besides, I miss watching you get excited over watching a game.”

  “You like to watch me yell at the screen?”

  “Mm-hmm, it’s very entertaining.”

  “Ha, well, I’ll finish up here while you move our little party
inside.”

  ****

  Willa sank back into the couch with a full stomach and wiped the remnants of the barbecue sauce off her fingers with a napkin. She smiled as she watched Brynn point a rib bone at the television as one of the players hit a ball high in the air towards the back of the stadium. When it dropped down into the stands and the crowd began to roar, Brynn pumped her fist into the air and let out a congratulatory shout. Willa sighed in contentment.

  Brynn finished her last bite of food, and Willa scooped up her plate. Brynn reached to release the brake on her wheelchair, but Willa stopped her.

  “It’s the last inning. You finish watching while I clean up.”

  Willa placed the last dry dish in the cupboard. She found that everything was in the same general place that it had been located back when she was young, helping Ms. Reed put away the dishes after dinner, except now everything was kept in the lower shelves and drawers so that they were accessible to Brynn.

  By the time the game ended, and Brynn entered the kitchen, Willa was blowing across the surface of her mug of hot tea while leaning against the counter. She smiled after her first sip and pointed out the second mug that was waiting for Brynn on the table.

  “You’ve been quieter than usual tonight,” Brynn observed.

  “I gave away Dad’s boat today.”

  “That’s not an easy task to deal with.”

  Willa shook her head to show that it wasn’t.

  Brynn approached her, took the steaming mug out of her hands, and set it on the counter. Before Willa could comprehend what was happening to her, Brynn had swept one arm under her legs and the other around her waist to pull Willa into her lap. Willa gasped with delight at how weightless Brynn had made her feel with her strong arms supporting her, but within seconds, a kiss suppressed the sounds escaping from her mouth. Willa wrapped an arm around Brynn’s neck to pull her closer and deepen the kiss.

  She held Brynn’s chin back to separate from her long enough to ask, “What’s all this about?”

  “When I was feeling down, twice before, you cheered me up with a kiss. I hoped it would have the same effect on you.”

  “Mmm, more please.”

  They joined once again, lips pressed together, tongues dancing from one mouth to the other, and nipping playfully at each other’s skin. Willa was so overwhelmed with the energy between them, that she didn’t realize that Brynn had stopped kissing until she opened her eyes to see the intense blue of Brynn’s irises inches from her own.

  “May I kiss you everywhere?” Brynn asked, her face riddled with sincerity.

  Willa nodded her approval before dipping her head into Brynn’s neck, not wanting to break their physical connection. She was in the process of leaving a row of delicate kisses along Brynn’s neckline, when she became aware that they were in motion. Brynn’s hand safely tucked her legs to the side as they squeezed through the doorway into what used to be Ms. Reed’s room but now must belong to her daughter.

  In one swift movement, Brynn lifted Willa onto the bed and seconds later, Brynn pressed her body against Willa’s. Brynn commanded a powerful presence with her upper body hovering above her. Willa ran her hands down the length of Brynn’s arms, taking in every accented curve of each muscle. She had been admiring her arms for days and to have full access to them made her dizzy with desire. Brynn winked at her from above and Willa blushed at the idea that she was aware of how turned on she was just by the perfectly sculpted muscles of her arms.

  Brynn showed off how powerful they were, by bracing all of her weight on one arm to simultaneously lower herself to kiss Willa while using the other to unzip her sweatshirt. At the memory of earlier in the day, Willa became self-conscious of the comment that Blake said to her. “Blake told me that I smelled like the sea because I was out on the boat.”

  Disapproval gleamed in Brynn’s eyes. “And since when do you take the word of a drunken old man for advice on the scent of a woman?” She twisted one lock of Willa’s curly hair around her finger, lifted it to her nose, and inhaled with the intensity of someone properly testing the aroma of a fine wine. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  Brynn sat up and pulled Willa upright with her. She kept her occupied with kisses long enough to remove her sweatshirt, blouse, and bra before using her palm against Willa’s chest to guide her back down to the pillow. Willa seemed surprised at how quickly Brynn exposed her from the waist up, when she glanced down at Brynn circling her bare nipple under her thumb. She grasped at the comforter to get some sort of cover for herself, but it was too taut to pull it around her body. Brynn pulled her fingers from the comforter and Brynn kissed each one. “You’re absolutely gorgeous,” Brynn whispered before sucking her nipple into her mouth.

  Willa moaned and arched her back, pushing her breast further into Brynn’s mouth. After a few minutes of watching Brynn’s pleasure at moving from one breast to the other until the flickering motion of her tongue brought them alive, she felt a hand wander down to the waistband of her yoga pants. In one fluid motion, Brynn had managed to slide both her pants and her underwear down to her ankles. Willa gave her a scolding look, but went along with it and helped by kicking them the rest of the way off as well as her socks.

  They actually knew each other’s bodies quite well from years of gym locker rooms and changing in front of one another during a countless number of sleepovers, but the intimate touches that Brynn was now bestowing on every inch of her inner thigh made Willa feel as though Brynn’s feelings had run deeper for longer than she had believed. Willa reached her fingertips down and brushed them on Brynn’s cheek to still her for a moment. “When did you first know?”

  A flash of recognition swept across her face and the words, “Since the beginning,” flowed out of Brynn’s mouth.

  Willa could tell that the release of such an emotional statement was out of the ordinary for Brynn and she was now struggling with the aftermath of how to deal with it. Willa didn’t want to scare Brynn off from any future moments of sharing her true emotions with her, so she decided to help distract her from what she had revealed. Willa slid her legs up and spread them open as wide as they would go and guided Brynn’s head down between them. She was sure that she could feel a smile spread across Brynn’s lips just before they wrapped around her clit.

  Two hands came up underneath Willa and held her firmly in place while she writhed in ecstasy as Brynn’s tongue played out a steady rhythm that she could feel vibrate throughout her entire body. She was only partially perceptive of the sounds of pleasure that were escaping out of her own mouth, which caused Brynn to increase in pressure and speed.

  When she thought that Brynn couldn’t possibly be any more attentive to her needs, she began to feel one of her fingers enter inside of her, ever so slowly, as if Brynn was exploring her one millimeter at a time. Willa wanted more and faster, so she attempted to slide down onto her finger to push it in deeper. Brynn wasn’t about to give in so easily, though, as she moved back with her.

  “I know what you think you want, but trust me, this will be better,” Brynn insisted between swirls of her tongue.

  It didn’t take long for the sensation of the circular motion that Brynn was making just barely inside of her to overcome Willa. “Oh,” was all she could manage to say, as her body shook with the fury of the orgasm as she let herself go.

  Brynn stayed between her legs long enough to settle the tiny convulsions that continued after her release, but Willa soon found herself swept up into her arms in a comforting embrace. Her friend that had always provided the brute strength and protection when she needed it now showed a gentle side that held her as though she were made of porcelain. She settled in the warmth of her arms until her breathing returned to normal.

  When their lips collided together once more, Willa could taste herself mixed in with Brynn’s kisses and it made her crave for her turn to give the same attention back to Brynn. Willa lifted the bottom of Brynn’s shirt and placed her palm against the perfectly chiseled abs
hidden underneath. A burning heat radiated from her skin and it excited Willa to free her from the shirt that held it in. Before she could, though, a firm hand stopped her from lifting it up. Willa looked into Brynn’s eyes and smiled warmly before trying again, but once more, Brynn denied her access to remove the barrier that separated them.

  “Please,” she pleaded as the desire built up inside of her.

  Brynn shook her head and covered Willa’s hand to block her from trying again. “Not this time,” she said quickly and attempted to cover up her words with kisses to Willa’s brow to avoid an explanation.

  “Why?” Willa asked, dodging the distraction.

  “Can I taste you again?”

  “I’d like to make you feel as good as I do. Please let me.” She waited for a moment but Brynn turned her face from her. Willa guided her chin back in her direction with her free hand. “If there’s something in particular that you need me to know or do for you, just tell me and we can do this together.”

  “I don’t want to, okay?” Brynn snapped at her coldly.

  Willa sat up higher against the headboard, covered her breasts with one arm, and closed her legs together tightly. She became self-conscious at being the only one nude, and without the comfort of Brynn surrounding her, she needed to get away. In a hurried frenzy, she leapt from the bed, gathered up her clothes in her arms, and rushed from the room.

  In the bathroom down the hall, she searched for a washcloth under the sink and once again came across another sharps container rattling with needles and she silently cursed the damage that she had caused to Brynn, even more so now that it somehow affected her physical relationship with her.

  After cleaning herself up and getting clothed again, she opened the door and made her way to the kitchen, where her shoes and purse were waiting for her, but also Brynn. She silently slipped on her sneakers and slung her purse sloppily over her shoulder in a mess of straps tangled together with stray strands of her hair.