Life Begins at 40- Jersey Jaunt

by Bethan Lewis

  She took off her shoes and walked barefoot across the golden shoreline, savouring the feel of the warm, gritty sand between her toes. The day was humid and the sun glistened off the still blue water, inviting her in. Hesitantly, she dipped her toe in, and to her surprise found the water to be a pleasant temperature. She immersed both feet in the tepid water and carried on walking. The shore spanned over a mile in length and ended by a rocky cliff. As she neared the rocks she left the water, and walked back towards the soft sand.

  Spreading her towel on the sand, she sat down intent on reading her book, but the exertion of the walk and the heat of the day had made her tired. As the hot sun shone down, warming her body, she lay down and closed her eyes.

  ‘Erin, wake up.’ A deep voice penetrated her sleepy head. Her eyes still closed, Erin smiled. She recognised that voice, it belonged to the handsome doctor. ‘For God’s sake woman, open your eyes.’

  Why was his voice so angry? Groggily, she opened her eyes and found herself gazing into eyes as blue as the ocean. She smiled up at him, but he did not smile back.

  ‘Erin. How long have you been asleep?’ he asked urgently.

  ‘I don’t know, not long.,’ she said, confused by his concern. ‘Why, what time is it?’

  ‘Quarter past one. You must have been here a while. Did you put sunscreen on this morning?’

  ‘Sunscreen? I think so, I can’t remember. Why do you…?’ her voice trailed off as she caught sight of her bare skin, which was now an angry shade of red. ‘Oh my god! I look like a lobster.’

  ‘Come on. We need to get you out of the sun,’ he said, as he helped her to her feet.

  Her legs refused to straighten and the pain was excruciating, like she had been skinned alive. Dan took her arm in a gentle grasp, and without warning, tears sprung to her eyes. He shook the sand from the towel and placed it around her shoulders, to protect her from burning anymore.

  ‘How could I be so stupid?’ she wailed.

  ‘Try not to distress yourself too much. Let’s go back to the hotel and sort you out.’ Dan said in a soft, soothing voice.

  ‘He must be a terrific doctor,’ Erin thought. ‘I bet his female patients invent illnesses just to visit him.’

  The walk to the Seabeach was laborious, but eventually they reached the chilly, air-conditioned lobby and Erin almost cried in relief.

  ‘Stay here a minute.’ Dan instructed, as he vanished into the dining room.

  When he returned moments later, he was carrying two large bottles of water. They took the elevator to the third floor and Dan helped her to her room. After sitting her carefully on the bed, he poured her a glass of water.

  ‘Here drink this. You need to stay hydrated. The water will cool you down and stop you overheating.’

  She accepted the glass, and drank with great thirst. The ice-cold liquid slid down her throat, reviving her. Dan disappeared into the bathroom and came back bearing a cool cloth which he placed on her burning skin.

  ‘Luckily I am staying here as well. I need to pop to my room, but I will be back in five minutes,’ Dan said.

  True to his word, he was gone mere minutes before walking back in with his doctor’s bag.

  ‘Let me take your temperature,’ he said, and placed a thermometer in her ear. ‘Good, it is not too high. Let’s try to keep it that way. I am going to run you a cool bath. Then, when you get out, we will put some aloe vera balm on you.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Erin said, liking the ‘we’ in his sentence, and automatically picturing his hands running over her red flesh.

  Her stomach chose that moment to roll, and she rushed to the bathroom with Dan hot on her heels. He grabbed her hair back from her face just in time. Erin groaned, her face flaming like a tomato. Why was she always embarrassing herself in front of this Adonis?

  ‘I am sorry you had to see that,’ she said, leaning back against him.

  ‘It’s alright, not like it’s the first time,’ he joked.

  Erin buried her face in her hands, thankful her skin was so red he couldn’t see the extent of her blush.

  ‘What were you doing on the beach earlier?’ Erin asked, changing the subject to cover her embarrassment.

  ‘I was out for a run. I spotted you lying there, and decided to pop over to say hello.’

  ‘Admit it, you were stalking me,’ she teased. ‘You can’t keep away from me.’

  Dan laughed, not offended at all. ‘Well, I have a thing for helpless women, and the red skin is so attractive.’

  ‘Yes, I can see how it would attract you.’ Erin giggled in response, completely at ease exchanging banter with the handsome stranger.

  ‘I was going to ask if you wanted to have dinner with me one evening. Then I caught sight of your sunburn, doctor mode kicked in and all thoughts of dinner went out of my head. My priority was getting you out of the sun as fast as possible.’

  Erin stared at him in surprise. When she planned the trip, she hadn’t imagined she would meet someone who would want to spend time with her. She had envisaged spending the whole two weeks by herself.

  ‘Um of course, dinner would be lovely. But on one condition,’ he raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. ‘I pay; as a way of saying thank you for helping me.’

  ‘If that is what you want. I will make sure to order the most expensive item on the menu. Come on, let’s get you back on the bed while I run your bath.’ He said, helping her to her feet.

  Erin lay on the bed with her eyes closed, listening to the splash of the running water. In the background, Dan was humming a tune as he moved around. Despite the pain of the sunburn she was relaxed, which was odd, as she should have been wary of being alone in her room with a man she didn’t know. Maybe it was the doctor persona, but she instinctively felt she could trust him.

  ‘Your bath is ready,’ Dan announced walking back into the room.

  Erin eased her sore body off the bed and stood in the middle of the room. She shifted her weight from one foot to another whilst biting her lower lip. Her eyes darted from Dan, to the bathroom, and back to Dan again, and she hesitated. Did he expect her to undress with him standing there? He might be a doctor, but she had only just met him. What kind of woman did he think she was?

  ‘Is everything alright?’ he asked, giving her a quizzical look.

  ‘Yes fine. It’s just that… I think I will be able to do this on my own. In your profession you are probably used to seeing women without clothes on, but…’ Her voice trailed off and she blushed uncomfortably.

  His eyes widened as understanding dawned on him and he grinned. ‘Right, I will leave you in peace. Here is my card, my mobile number is on it. Ring me if you become unwell. If it’s alright with you, I will pop in later to check how you are.’

  ‘That would be fine. Thank you for helping me… again. Sorry if I am ruining your holiday; you’re supposed to be off duty not looking after some scatter-brained woman.’

  He walked towards her and cupped her face with his hands. ‘You are not spoiling my holiday, honestly it’s the most entertainment I have had in ages.’

  With that he kissed her gently, and before she could respond, he left the room.

  Erin stood rooted to the spot in shock. What had just happened? Had he really kissed her or was the heat stroke making her hallucinate? Raising her fingers to her lips she rubbed them. No. He had definitely kissed her. ‘I have to tell Megan about this,’ she thought, as she caught sight of her laptop. No, first she had to get in the bath, or she would wrinkle and peel.

  She undressed in a daze and stepped into the bath, unprepared for the coolness of the water. ‘Argh,’ she squealed.

  After a few minutes, she acclimatised to the temperature, and lay there enjoying the sensation as the cool water lapped against her burning skin. Or maybe she was so hot, her body had actually heated the water to a more acceptable temperature.

  Getting out she wrapped herself in one of the soft towels, dried herself off and then smothered every inch of her bod
y in aloe vera after-sun lotion. After grabbing a bottle of water, she sprawled out on the bed with her laptop. She opened up the video calling app, and put a call through to Megan, hoping that although it was the middle of the day she would answer.

  ‘Hello.’ The call connected and Meg’s voice came through loud and clear and her picture popped up on the screen. ‘Oh my goodness, look at you. Been out in the sun by any chance?’ she laughed.

  In her haste to call Meg, Erin had forgotten about her bright red face with the white circles around her eyes where her glasses had been.

  ‘Hi there. I have so much to tell you,’ Erin said, ignoring the fact that Megan was doubled over in laughter.

  ‘Ooh, sounds interesting. Go on.’

  ‘I met someone. A man. I think he likes me,’ Erin rushed on as if Megan hadn’t spoken.

  ‘You have only been there a day. How could you have hooked up with someone already?’ Megan said intrigued. ‘Tell me all. Where, and how did you meet? What does he look like?’

  ‘He’s tall, dark and handsome, with lovely blue eyes,’ Erin answered. ‘I know it sounds clichéd, but it is true. I met him on the aeroplane; he was sat opposite me. I didn’t travel well, and ended up being sick all over him. It didn’t put him off though.’

  ‘You threw up over him?’ Megan exclaimed. ‘Poor man.’

  ‘He is a doctor, so is used to things like that,’ Erin laughed.

  ‘A doctor! Lucky you.’

  ‘Anyway, he helped me with my case at the airport, and then this morning he rescued me off the beach when I fell asleep in the sun.’

  ‘That explains the sunburn,’ Megan giggled. ‘Go on.’

  ‘Turns out, he is staying at the same hotel as me. He helped me to my room, run me a cold bath and invited me to dinner,’ Erin finished.

  ‘Wow. So let me get this straight. You were sick all over him, but he still offered to help you with your bag, then he rescued you and despite looking like a lobster he invited you to dinner? This man must be a saint.’

  ‘I know right?’ Erin responded. ‘Most men would have run after the first encounter. Oh one other thing… before he left… he kissed me.’

  Megan fell into a stunned silence, her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. Eventually she found her voice. ‘He kissed you?’ she shrieked. ‘How could you have missed out the most important part?’

  ‘It was a quick peck on the lips, not a proper full on, passionate kiss.’

  ‘So what did you do after?’ Megan asked.

  ‘Nothing. He kissed me and left. He gave me his card with his phone number, and said he would be back to check on me later.’

  ‘When he comes back, accidentally leave your laptop on, so I can ogle him,’ Megan said laughing.

  ‘I don’t think I will be doing that,’ Erin laughed.

  A doorbell tinkled in the distance. ‘Sorry babe, I got to go,’ Megan announced regretfully. ‘One thing though; be cautious. This man may give the impression he’s a gift from God, but it might all be an act. Sometimes people aren’t always as they appear to be.’

  ‘I know, I will be careful. I have only just come out of a long-term relationship, I have no intention of starting something so soon. Speak to you later in the week.’

  After ending the call she opened up her blog and then sat wondering what to write; it wasn’t as easy as she had first thought it would be. Her fingers moved over the keyboard slowly.

  Day one

  Got up early and went for a long walk on the beach then lay sunbathing. Ended up with bad sunburn and heat stroke. Got rescued by handsome doctor.

  Well that didn’t sound interesting at all, who would want to read that. Hitting the delete button she erased the words, and stared at the blank page willing the words to jump into her head, none came, and she gave up and turned on the television. After ten minutes of flicking from one channel to the next she turned it off. This was going to be a very long evening indeed.

  She looked at her watch and was surprised to discover it was almost six o clock. Where had the day gone? ‘I can’t go down to the restaurant looking like this.’ She thought catching sight of herself in the mirror. ‘I will order room service.’

  She perused the menu and finally decided on a pizza. Her stomach was still a little delicate, and she didn’t think she could manage one of the fancy meals from the restaurant. Picking up the phone she called the reception desk.

  ‘Good evening Seabeach Hotel.’

  ‘Hello, can I order some room service please?’

  ‘Of course. What room are you in?’

  ‘305.’

  ‘What would you like to order?’

  ‘I would like a cheese and tomato pizza please and some garlic bread.’

  ‘Thank you, Ms Turnbull. Your order has been placed, and should be with you in half hour.’

  What could she do for the next thirty minutes?

  The sun had moved position and left the balcony, so Erin grabbed a bottle of water and her book and went to sit outside. A slight breeze blew, cooling the air. Voices drifted up from the patio below as the other guests enjoyed a pre-dinner drink. Everyone seemed so relaxed and laid back. Erin picked up her book and started reading and was soon engrossed in the storyline. She was so captivated that when a knock came at the door signalling the arrival of her food it took her by surprise.

  Thanking the waiter she went back out to the balcony to eat as she read. An hour later, as the sun was setting and darkness was drawing in, she put down the book and yawned. The excitement and stress of the previous days travelling and the heat stroke had wiped her out. Checking the time she saw it was only half past seven. Too early for bed. Or was it? She looked longingly at the king-size bed.

  She was trying to decide whether to call it a day or turn the television on, when a tap sounded at the door, surprising her. Hurrying to open it she flung back the door and came face to face with Dan. She had forgotten that he said he would return to check on her.

  ‘Hi, come in,’ she said.

  ‘Hello again. I wanted to make sure you were alright, and you didn’t need anything,’ he said. ‘You are looking much better already, less red.’

  ‘I am not feeling too bad. Still warm, but the sickness has subsided. I ate some food and am drinking plenty of water. I put after-sun lotion on and will reapply before I go to sleep.’

  ‘Sounds like you have everything in control. Let me check your temperature, just to be on the safe side, is that okay with you?’

  ‘Yes it’s fine,’ she answered sitting still as he put the thermometer in her ear.

  ‘A little higher than normal, but down from earlier which is good. Don’t think you need to worry too much. Keep hydrated, place cool flannels on your skin and as you said, reapply the after sun before bed. Should be back to normal in a day or two.’

  ‘Thank you. Sorry to be such a bother to you.’

  ‘No need to apologise, I am happy to help. If anyone should be apologising it should be me. I overstepped the mark earlier, when I kissed you. You were vulnerable, and I took advantage of the situation,’ he held up a hand as she went to interrupt. ‘I am a doctor, I am used to situations like this, and usually I am able to control myself. My actions were inexcusable and I apologise.’

  ‘Dan, don’t beat yourself up, these things happen. You took me by surprise, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest.’ Oh god, she made it sound like she was kissed all the time. Like it was a regular occurrence. ‘Not that I do things like that often. In fact, not at all,’ she amended, so he didn’t think she was a slapper.

  ‘Okay, we shall put it in the past then and move on. I will leave you to rest now. If you need me, don’t hesitate to call. Good night Erin.’

  He closed the door gently behind him, and Erin sunk down on the bed, how could she have been so stupid as to think he liked her? He clearly regretted kissing her. Deep down Erin was disappointed, but one moment of madness was not going ruin her holiday. They had only met yesterday, and
she knew nothing about him, he was hardly in a position to break her heart. So why was she so hurt and upset? Hadn’t she vowed only last week never to let a man treat her badly again?

  ‘Pull yourself together Erin,’ she chided herself as she climbed into bed. ‘No man is worth your tears.’

  Chapter 9

  Erin entered the dining room the next morning, and straight away spotted a familiar dark head. Dan was sitting with his back to her, so engrossed in reading the morning paper, he didn’t notice her approach. As she neared his table he put down his coffee cup, folded the newspaper and pushed back his chair getting ready to leave.

  ‘Good morning,’ Erin said politely.

  Dan jumped in surprise and turned to face her. ‘Morning. How are you today?’

  ‘Much better, thank you.’

  ‘I am pleased to hear it. I am just on my way out, otherwise I would ask you to join me.’

  ‘Another time then,’ Erin said, then curiosity got the better of her. ‘You up to anything exciting today?’

  ‘Sorry, I can’t discuss it,’ Dan said, raising Erin’s interest even more. ‘Take it easy today and stay out of the sun. I have to go, catch you later.’

  ‘Bye.’

  Erin watched him walk away, then seated herself at one of the tables overlooking the seafront and ordered a cup of tea and a full breakfast. Her appetite had come back with a vengeance, and she was ravenous. It was probably a good idea Dan was not there watching her make a pig of herself, she thought with amusement.

  The dining room was fuller than the previous day, and whilst she waited for her food she sat staring out at the ocean. As she cradled her mug of hot tea, her mind went into overdrive. Why was Dan so secretive earlier? What was he doing that was so important he couldn’t tell her?

  Erin stopped her train of thought. It was none of her business, he was free to come and go and do what he wanted. He didn’t need to explain anything to her, a relative stranger. But Erin was always curious about other people, and loved to find out everything about them, so the suspense was killing her.