by CJ Morrow
‘Penny for them?’ Lily said, licking her fingers.
‘What’s that?’ He turned back to face her, his mouth smiling broadly, his eyes echoing sadness.
‘You’re looking out to sea a lot; I just wondered what you were thinking?’
‘There’s a storm brewing. The sea can be an evil beast.’ He stood up, took her empty plate and marched back towards the hog roast.
Evil beast. That sounded ominous and melodramatic, Lily thought as she waited for him to return.
‘We have an ice cream van, if you’d like something sweet.’ He sat down on the rock again. A sudden, sharp blast of wind blew his hair across his face; he swiped it back just as sharply. Will did that.
‘I’ll just let my hog roast digest first,’ Lily said. She sounded pompous and old fashioned. ‘It’s getting dark early tonight,’ she added, twirling her own windblown hair around her fingers in an attempt to restrain it. Jackson leaned over and caught an errant spiral, tucked it softly behind her ear.
‘Clouds.’ Jackson’s voice was full of melancholy. He seemed to be breathing deeply or was he sighing?
In the distance, far out to sea the horizon lit up, then faded into darkness.
Jackson took her hand again. ‘Let’s get that ice cream before it’s too late.’
They walked back up the beach, past Tess and Gemma who were still giggling on their rock with the debris of their hog roast scattered around them. Lily turned to speak to them but Jackson urged her on.
The ice cream van was parked on the tarmac path, the driver joking with Jackson that he wasn’t chancing the sand tonight. Lily chose strawberry ice cream; Jackson chose vanilla. They walked along the sand venturing into a second cove that Lily hadn’t noticed before. She looked back and could still see the fire from the hog roast, groups of people standing or sitting, the occasional peal of laughter wafted towards her.
‘They’ll be packing up soon,’ Jackson said, sitting down on a grey stone wall.
Lily watched him, his tongue darting in and out of his mouth as he licked his ice cream. He looked up and caught her eye; she looked away and concentrated on her own ice cream. And when she dared another glance, he was watching her. He didn’t look away embarrassed as she had, just smiled before biting into his cone.
A loud rumble made her jump. Squeals came from the party; people were getting up, moving quickly up the beach. The hog roast fire had already been extinguished.
Lily finished her cone and began licking her hands clean. ‘It’s melted all over me,’ she said as Jackson watched her. ‘I’m all sticky.’ She waved her hands around like a child.
‘Mmm,’ he said, taking her hand and running his tongue over her fingers.
Common sense told her he shouldn’t be doing that, told her she shouldn’t let him, that she shouldn’t be enjoying it. But something else let a slow moan escape her lips.
He stopped, smiled, placed her hand carefully on her lap.
‘Better?’
‘Yes. Thank you.’ She sounded prim.
The first drop of rain was big and fat and splattered on her spread hand; the one Jackson had just licked clean. She looked up to the sky; the second splat hit her full in the eye. She shrieked. Jumped up.
There were no intervals between the raindrops now, they fell fast and heavy.
Her hand was in his and they were running.
‘In here,’ he said, pulling her into a doorway, closing it behind them and leaning against it. Lily could see only darkness.
‘I’m soaked.’ Her clothes were sticking to her, clammy and cold.
‘Me too. But at least we’re out of the lightening.’ As if to prove his point a sudden flash illuminated the beach hut and, momentarily via tiny gaps, its interior.
‘I can’t see a thing now,’ Lily said, her eyes temporarily blinded. She shivered.
‘I have lights.’ He fumbled in the darkness then two small bulbs screwed into the walls glowed and flickered. ‘Sorry, it’s a bit weak, battery needs charging.’
‘Is that a bed?’ Why did she say that?
‘Yes. Sometimes I sleep here.’
As her eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, Lily absorbed the details of the hut. Walls painted blue and white, drawers and cupboards beneath a double bed which spanned the width of the room. A soft blue duvet and four pillows. A tiny table, two chairs.
She shivered.
‘You’re cold,’ Jackson said. ‘I’ll light the stove.’ He bent down to an ancient potbellied stove, struck matches and lit kindling. ‘Soon be warm.’
Lily folded her arms across her body; her jumper, which had previously been so cosy, was sodden.
‘Take it off,’ Jackson said. ‘Hang it on the chair.’ She let him help her pull it over her head, watched him spread it carefully over the chair back. He rubbed her arms before hugging her tightly, pulling her into his chest. ‘Warmer? Better?’
‘What are we doing here?’ she asked.
Jackson exhaled a laugh through his nostrils. ‘Sheltering from the storm.’
‘No, I mean what are we doing here?’
‘Nothing you don’t want to do,’ he said, loosening his grip.
Lily thought of Will, thought of how he had arranged a special dinner to tell her he was buggering off on holiday for a month without her. Wondered what he was doing now. Right now. This very moment. Then she stopped thinking about Will.
She concentrated on Jackson.
‘That’s okay then. Just so we’re clear.’ She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer. What had Tess recommended? A holiday romance. Was that the answer? Was this it? Or was it just a quick fumble in a beach hut? Did it matter? Did she care? She tilted her head up towards his; their eyes met.
He kissed her and she kissed him back and it felt good. Unfamiliar. No expectations. No disappointments. No history.
‘Okay?’ he asked.
‘Okay.’ Whether he was seeking approval or permission she didn’t know or care. ‘Safe sex?’
‘Of course.’
Lily followed his eyes to a drawer beneath the bed. Well prepared then. He probably did this every week – a different girl, a different storm or some other excuse.
This time, she kissed him first.
And when he kissed her back her knees almost buckled.
Eight
Tess grinned then raised her eyebrows in question as she let Lily into the cottage the next morning. ‘Everything okay?’ she asked, quietly.
‘Great,’ Lily replied. ‘Is there any hot water left?’
‘Yes, plenty I would think. Gemma’s not been in the bathroom yet.’ Tess kept her voice low and nodded towards the sofa where Lily could see Gemma sitting with a towel-wrapped ice pack pressed to her face.
‘Hangover?’ Lily whispered.
‘I’m not deaf. And, no it’s not,’ Gemma snapped. She pulled the ice pack away and turned to face Lily.
Lily caught sight of Gemma. ‘Oh my God, what happened to you? Did you have an accident or get into a fight?’ She had visions of Gemma doling out her insults to someone who was less indulgent than she and Tess were.
‘No I didn’t.’ Gemma pressed the ice pack against her lips, wincing audibly as she did so. She had tears in her eyes.
Lily actually felt sorry for her. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing. Nothing happened. I woke up like this.’
‘Let me see.’ Lily prized the ice pack away from Gemma’s lips. They looked like a pair of giant bruised plums.
‘Happy now?’ Gemma snapped before covering her mouth again.
‘I think it’s something she ate,’ Tess said. ‘An allergy or something.’
‘You ate the chilli dip? Didn’t you?’
Gemma shook her head. ‘It wasn’t that. It wasn’t even hot’. Her voice was muffled by the ice pack.
‘You didn’t have it, did you Tess?’
‘No. Can’t stand the stuff.’
‘I think what you’ve got,’ Lily said, tryi
ng not to laugh. ‘Is a chilli trout pout.’
‘What?’
‘Apparently that chilli dip is deceptive and packs a belated punch.’
‘Says who?’ Gemma said, getting up to fetch a fresh ice pack from the freezer. ‘Oh, your surf bum, did he tell you that?’
‘Warned me off it.’
‘Ha. We wondered where you were all night.’ Gemma flumped back onto the sofa with her fresh ice. ‘You might have messaged, Lily. We were worried about you.’
Lily’s eyes flicked between Tess and Gemma’s faces. Tess raised her eyebrows, Gemma’s eyes bored into Lily’s.
‘Don’t worry, I was fine,’ Lily said, dismissively. Better than fine. Amazing. But she wasn’t saying that out loud, especially not to Gemma.
‘Did you manage to get under cover before the storm broke?’ It seemed Gemma wouldn’t be put off.
‘Yes. I did.’
‘Where did you go? Because we got soaked. I was freezing.’
‘You should have worn more clothes.’ Lily sounded as catty as she felt.
‘Says the dirty stop-out.’
‘Gemma,’ admonished Tess.
‘Well, just saying. Next time Lily, let us know if you’re not coming back. We waited until very late before we locked the door. You could have been kidnapped or drowned or anything.’
Maybe Gemma had a point. ‘Okay,’ Lily said. ‘If there is a next time, I will.’ She then reminded Gemma that she was an adult who didn’t need Gemma’s permission and could come and go as she pleased.
‘Please yourself,’ Gemma snapped, adjusting her ice pack. ‘Just concerned for your welfare, that’s all.’
‘I’ll have a bath if no one’s using the bathroom,’ Lily said, throwing down the gauntlet. ‘We’re not surfing today are we? Only I need to wash my hair after getting caught in the storm last night, but I won’t bother if we’re surfing.’
‘No. Tomorrow. Thank God. I could hardly go like this.’ Gemma whisked the ice pack away from her lips again to emphasise the point.
‘Oh, I don’t know, salt water might be just the thing.’ Lily dodged the cushion Gemma threw at her, but only just. At least Gemma wouldn’t be planning any shopping trips today, which was just as well because Lily had plans of her own.
Jackson had wanted to escort her to the cottage door, having walked her up the lane from the beach hut, but she hadn’t let him. The last thing she wanted was him being interrogated by Gemma – even with her chilli trout pout.
‘I love your hair,’ Jackson said much later when Lily joined him on the path just out of sight of the cottage. He too had showered and changed. ‘It’s very glossy.’
Lily had been about to tell him how she’d just washed and conditioned it with Gemma’s very expensive hair products, but hadn’t had time to blow dry and straighten it properly so it wasn’t as glossy as it could be, but she decided to spare him the details. ‘Thank you.’ she laughed, striding out in front of him, keen to get away from the cottage in case Gemma came out to interrogate him with her big, puce lips.
‘And it smells rather nice.’
Lily turned back just in time to see her hair, caught by the breeze, wafting over his face. ‘Sorry,’ she said, grabbing hold of it and twisting it into a fat roll at the nape of her neck. ‘I’ve got a hair clasp in my bag; I’ll tie it up.’
‘I’m not complaining.’ He laughed. ‘Come here.’
Lily glanced back towards the cottage – the trees were now providing enough cover to prevent any prying eyes from seeing them. She stopped and turned towards Jackson.
He kissed her.
‘Everything okay?’
‘Fine.’
‘Only you seem,’ he paused and frowned. ‘On edge.’
‘Just Gemma. I don’t want her spying on us.’
‘Really? She’s the one with the…’ he paused, ‘hair, um head dress.’ He made a shape like a helmet around his own head.
‘Yes, that’s right. She was wearing her surfing Hermes headgear yesterday. She’s a bit… how shall I put it? Nosey. And she thinks she’s in charge. I’ve just had to remind her that she’s not my mum and I’m old enough to look after myself.’
‘She doesn’t look that old.’ Jackson grabbed Lily’s hand as they walked along.
‘She’s not. But she is a mother. She’s sort of appointed herself as our leader. Don’t know why. She shouldn’t even be here.’
‘Why’s that?’ Jackson slowed Lily’s pace, put his arm around her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around his waist. It felt so comfortable; she imagined they looked like a couple of love struck teenagers. Somewhere deep inside a tiny spark of guilt flared up, then immediately died down.
‘She’s Tess’s sister-in-law and came along last minute.’
‘Why?’
‘Don’t know,’ Lily lied, suddenly feeling disloyal to Gemma, so much so she decided she wasn’t going to mention the chilli trout pout either – tempting as it was.
‘I hope you’re hungry,’ Jackson said when they reached the car park just before the beach. ‘I’ve booked us into a lovely restaurant for lunch.’
‘Oh, um, yes. That’d be great. I haven’t had anything to eat.’ Between Gemma’s lips and wrestling with her hair there had been no time for food. ‘I just assumed we would go to the café on the beach.’
‘We can go there anytime.’ Jackson laughed. ‘Anyway the beach is windswept and the sea fierce today so I think the café might be busy with holidaymakers looking for a safe bolthole.’
‘I thought you said it would be lovely today.’
‘And it is up here; sunny and warm. It’s just the sea really. It can be evil.’ His face took on a wistful, faraway look and when he became aware that Lily was looking at him, he suddenly snapped back to the present and smiled. ‘There’s no surf school today.’
‘We weren’t going anyway. Our next lesson is tomorrow. Not that I’m looking forward to it.’
‘You did okay.’
‘Gemma did okay. After the boards donked us on the head and body several times, I had to comfort Tess quite a bit.’
‘I noticed you sitting it out along the shoreline for quite a while? I thought you were crying.’
‘Crying? No. Well maybe. Tess was a bit upset, that’s all. We were fine. Really. Anyway, were you watching us?’
‘Not watching. No. I just noticed.’
‘Like you noticed my exposure in that awful wetsuit.’ Lily smiled and waited for his reaction.
‘I’ve seen rather more of you than your lovely backside now,’ he laughed, pulling her in close and kissing her again.
‘Ditto,’ she said eventually. ‘I think I’m going to pay and hire a better wetsuit tomorrow.
‘I probably have a wetsuit you can borrow.’
Lily stood back and looked Jackson up and down. He was tall, okay, not as tall as Will, but considerably taller than Lily.
‘I don’t think it would fit,’ she laughed. ‘I’d be going from one extreme to the other.’
‘It’s not mine. It’s my sister’s. You’re about the same size.’
‘Won’t she mind?’
‘No. She’d be pleased.’
‘Okay. Thank you.’ Lily felt humbled and obliged. She just hoped his estimation was correct – though she doubted that his sister had her thunder thighs.
His car was a silver-grey, hard top convertible. He unlocked the doors as they approached.
‘Lovely car.’
‘Also my sister’s. Do you think it’s warm enough to have the top down?’ he asked as they got into the car.
The sun was out and shining on the car and inside it felt hot, too hot.
‘Yeah, why not.’ Lily fished in her handbag for the hair clasp – it would definitely be needed now.
‘Let me know if you don’t like it,’ he said, starting the engine and pressing the button which allowed the roof to fold away.
Lily pulled on her sunglasses, buckled up her belt and settled into the reassuringly com
fortable and luxurious seat.
He drove them along the coastal road, then into a sweeping valley before veering down a narrow lane. They rattled across a cobbled car park and pulled up outside a large thatched building, its multi-layer roofs undulating in the sunshine; a sign hanging from the eaves said The Watermill Restaurant. Jackson turned off the engine and they listened and watched the water tinkling over the mill wheel in front of them.
‘Wow,’ Lily said.
‘Don’t be fooled; it’s ornamental.’
‘Still lovely, though.’
‘It is. I just wished they’d sort the car park out.’ He laughed. ‘Might spoil the look though.’
‘Yes. It does look idyllic.’ Lily put her hand on the car door to open it but Jackson leaned over and stopped her by placing his hand over hers.’
‘And the food is amazing.’ He stopped speaking and looked into her eyes. ‘Lily, there’s something I need to say.’
This sounded ominous. Was this the part where he told her he had a wife and three kids down the road; was actually gay – no couldn’t be that if last night was anything to go by – or had an incurable illness?
‘Lily,’ Jackson said, pulling her back from her musing.
‘Sorry.’
‘Look. I don’t know how to put this without sounding…’ his voice trailed away. ‘Insensitive,’ he added finally.
Lily definitely didn’t like the sound of this. She stared straight ahead and waited for his pronouncement.
‘It’s just that, well, I don’t know what you’re expecting from me.’
Lily turned and frowned, then quipped, ‘Lunch?’
He smiled. ‘Yeah, and I’m more than happy to treat you to lunch.’
‘But?’
‘Well. Umm. Look, the truth is I’m not in a position to pursue a relationship.’
Lily laughed out loud; he sounded so prim, so proper.
‘I’m glad you’re amused.’ He gripped the steering wheel and now, he too, stared straight ahead. ‘I just want to be honest, not lead you on.’
‘You mean you only want a holiday romance?’ Lily whispered, sounding sad and pathetic. ‘A quickie in your beach hut.’
‘Yes. Well no, not the last part. Look, I’m sorry if you are expecting anything further; I’m not in a position to offer it.’