by Nell Dixon
“Will’s always been wild. He had too much to drink and got in a fight at a nightclub. He’s been in jail for the last couple of months.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She could understand now why he’d been so keen to get his brother on a plane.
“There’s nothing to say. I should have told you about him.”
She raised her chin, and he kissed her again. She revelled in the feel of his lips against hers. Her heart skipped a beat as he smoothed her hair with his fingers. “So long as there are no more secrets.”
“You’re cold. Let’s walk,” he murmured.
Dan wrapped his arm around her waist. The sun had started to sink in the sky, painting a soft pink hue on the scudding grey clouds. Erin snuggled against the lean hard length of Dan’s body as they turned and walked back towards her digs together.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dan kissed Erin goodbye just out of sight of Mrs Fuller’s window. When Erin had given him the cold shoulder earlier, he’d been worried. Thankfully she’d understood about Rose and believed him. The last girl he’d dated had been suspicious every time he’d even spoken to someone else. He and Erin had talked and kissed their way back to her boarding house. It had been a long time since he’d felt the way about any girl the way that he did about Erin.
She’d promised to meet him in the morning to join him on a planned trip with his youth group. It wasn’t going to be the most romantic of dates, surrounded by fifteen teenagers, but he was already committed to taking his group hiking. At least Erin would meet Rose and Rose’s fiancé, Tom, who were also chaperones for the trip.
While they had walked Erin had confided in him a little about her previous boyfriend. It was hardly surprising she’d jumped to the wrong conclusion when she’d seen him with Rose.
Her last boyfriend had treated her appallingly, cheating and lying to her constantly. It was no wonder she’d decided to take a year out from her course to put some distance between her ex and her best friend who had betrayed her by going off together behind Erin’s back. Dan knew from personal experience only too well how much those feelings of betrayal hurt.
He rolled his shoulder to ease the cramp from his injury as he walked back to his car. The tension of the day hadn’t helped and he was late for his daily swim, so necessary to keep his shoulder mobile. He always went at the end of the day when there were fewer people in the pool and he kept a light tee-shirt on as he swam.
The scars on his shoulder embarrassed him. In a town filled with young people in good shape and with fit, toned bodies, he felt awkward and out of place. He would have to pick his moment to tell Erin and to show her his chest and shoulder. He could only hope she wouldn’t react with the same revulsion his last girlfriend had shown when she had seen the livid, puckered flesh for the first and only time. That relationship had ended the same day and left him wary of any involvement with anyone new. Until Erin.
No more secrets.
* * * *
Dan was a little late arriving at the community centre the next day. He’d been almost out of the door when his mother had called to thank him for looking after Will and putting him on his flight. Relief at his brother’s safe arrival was tempered with mild irritation as the conversation delayed him. He didn’t want Erin to think he wasn’t going to show up again. After yesterday’s misunderstandings he wanted this date to run smoothly.
Rose and her fiancé were already sorting the excited youngsters into groups when he arrived. He climbed out of the Mini and looked around for Erin, only to see her walking across the car park towards him. He bit back a smile as he took in her appearance. She had taken his instructions from the previous night to heart and looked as if she was more ready to walk down the catwalk than hike around the base of the cliffs to a barbecue point.
“What’s the matter? Why are you grinning?” she asked, her face anxious.
“Nothing. I’m glad you’re here.” He bent his head to steal a kiss. The scent of roses filled his nose as his lips brushed hers.
“I’m overdressed, aren’t I?” She bit her lower lip as she glanced down at her sturdy boots and bright pink waterproof coat. Erin had topped her outfit off with a jaunty matching pink baker-boy cap and a knapsack shaped like a carton sheep.
“I did as you said, I’ve got good shoes and a waterproof coat.”
“You look fine, very colourful.” He tweaked the brim of her cap.
“Ratbag!”
“Come and meet Rose, she’s with her fiancé and the youth club kids.”
Dan slipped his arm around Erin’s waist and steered her across the car park to where Rose and Tom were surrounded by a noisy gaggle of excited teenagers.
“Phew, what time do you call this?” Rose raised her voice to greet him.
“I’m sorry I’m late. This is Erin; she’s coming with us today.”
Rose beamed at them both. “All is forgiven if you brought another pair of hands with you.”
* * * *
Erin waited next to Dan as he and Rose split the group into two teams. She gathered from the maps that Rose and Tom would lead the cliff-top walk, while she and Dan led their group along the shore. The plan appeared to be that they should rendezvous at a barbecue point where the parents would meet with them and hold the cookout.
They set off towards the beach. Erin flushing with self-consciousness as she tried to match her stride to Dan’s. The children walked on ahead of them, chattering like magpies as they reached the sea. Gulls shrieked overhead as the waves crashed onto the sands in the distance. The wind from the day before had died down but although the sky was blue, the air remained crisp and keen.
“Are you okay?” Dan’s voice broke into her thoughts.
“Fine, it’s a lovely day. It’s good to get out of the café.” Heat stole into her cheeks as she spoke, conscious of the group of teens walking just in front of them.
“Yeah, it’s a good day to do this. The parents are starting up the barbecue so there’ll be burgers and sausages when we reach the rendezvous.”
“I’ll look forward to it so long as I’m not waiting on the tables.” Erin couldn’t resist the joke as they approached the rock pools at the cliff base.
“Don’t worry, today will be a nice, stress-free day.” Dan grinned.
The tide was out and a long ways down the beach, so they were able to skirt the rocks as they walked. The kids explored the pools and Erin found she and Dan were in constant demand to look at the finds the teenagers made. It had been a couple of months since Erin had walked so far along the sands. In the summer, she had gone straight from her shift at the café on to the beach with her swimsuit and a book. After hours on her feet, it had been sheer bliss to settle straight down on the warm sand.
As they rounded the base of the cliffs, the rocky strand petered out and they entered the next bay. Dan called the kids together and they sat down as a group on the dry sand, shielded from the breeze, and had a drink from the sports bottles they all carried in their back packs. Erin snuggled closer to Dan, enjoying the feel of his body next to her and the gentle warmth of the autumnal sun on her face.
She took a long drink from her bottle and gazed along the golden curve of the bay. Unlike the beach at New Bay where there were always a few people out walking, the sands here were deserted all except for one lone surfer. The familiar figure in a black wetsuit rode the waves on a board further down the beach.
“It looks as if Brad’s out practicing early today. He doesn’t usually use this bay.” Erin watched as Brad rode the surf onto the sand.
“It’d be better if he had someone with him. The currents are treacherous in this part of the bay, and it’s easy to get caught out.” Dan shifted his position, moving his arm as if uncomfortable.
“Brad’s an experienced surfer.” She popped her bottle back into her backpack.
“Even so, it’s still risky to be surfing alone on this part of the beach.”
She looked at Dan in surprise, he sounded unusually vehement.
He called the teenagers, and they set off again across the beach.
“We need to round the next headland before the tide turns to make it to the picnic spot.” Dan consulted his watch and looked at the tide timetable he had in his pocket. “Brad needs to finish his practice soon. The currents will start to sweep in with an undertow in the next half an hour.”
Erin glanced at Brad, belly down on his board as he paddled out waiting for the waves. “You sound as if you know a lot about the sea. I didn’t know you surfed.”
“I don’t.”
The clipped tone of his response made her look at his face. “Then how do you know so much about the currents?”
Dan sighed. “I used to surf – both Will and I did. A couple of years ago we were surfing together in this bay. Will wouldn’t come out of the water when the tide began to change. He got into trouble with the undertow, and I went in to try and save him. I smashed up my arm and shoulder quite badly against the rocks. I haven’t surfed since.”
“Was Will hurt, too?” She drew in a deep breath. Dan continually surprised her the more she learned about him.
“No, he escaped without a scratch.”
There was a bitter note in his voice, and she guessed the injury and its consequences had had a major effect on his life. She watched Brad stand up on his board, spreading his arms for balance as the wave roared home, and tried to picture Dan being pulled into the sea trying to rescue his brother. A shiver ran down her spine, and she wished Brad would end his session.
Even as the thought entered her head Brad lost his balance and disappeared into the foam. His board appeared momentarily, the neon pink and yellow tip sticking up from the water. She watched the broiling surface of the sea, expecting to see Brad’s blond head to reappear. A long moment passed.
“Dan, I don’t see Brad.” She tugged urgently on his sleeve. Panic built inside her as she waited for a glimpse of Brad’s wetsuit.
Dan turned and together they scanned the surface of the sea. Brad’s board swooshed up onto the beach.
“Did you see him go under?”
Erin nodded, her heart thumping against the wall of her chest with fear. Where was Brad? Why hadn’t he surfaced?
Dan muttered a curse and peeled off his backpack. He tugged off his windcheater and called the kids over from where they, too, had paused to scan the sea.
“Get the rope from my bag,” he instructed Erin as he kicked off his boots.
She fumbled and obeyed, unfastening the zip with clumsy fingers to reveal a coil of blue nylon rope.
“Dan, you can’t go in!” Alarm coursed through her.
“I see him!” One of the boys shouted a warning.
Erin’s heart skipped a beat as she saw Brad’s body floating face down on the surface of the sea. Dan took the rope from her hand and fastened one end around his waist.
“Use my phone and call the lifeboat.”
The boys in the group ran forward to take hold of the end of the rope as Dan picked up the surfboard and plunged into the sea towards Brad. Erin scrolled through the numbers on Dan’s phone with trembling fingers until she saw the one she needed. She had barely finished giving the details of their location when she heard the crack of the emergency flare in New Bay calling the crew to the lifeboat station.
The boys in their small group held on tight to the end of the rope Dan had fixed around his waist. Erin could only assume it was a precaution in case the current pulled him under too. She shuddered and kept her gaze fixed on Dan as he made his way through the waves to Brad. She could see him fighting to keep his grip on the board and muttered a silent prayer under her breath.
“I’m scared,” one of the girls whispered.
Erin placed her arm around her shoulders. “Dan will reach him in a minute and the lifeboat is on its way.” She did her best to sound confident but inside she was as frightened as the shivering teenager next to her. Dan didn’t have much strength in one of his arms; she could see that for herself. How would he manage? Brad would be a dead weight to haul onto the board. What if the current proved too strong?
A huge wave started to break and Dan and Brad disappeared from view. The girls screamed and Erin thought her heart had stopped. She breathed again as the surf broke in a crest of white foam, and she spotted Dan trying to tug Brad to safety.
“The lifeboat’s coming,” one of the boys announced.
Dan slipped from the board and Erin gave an involuntary start forward, only to check the impulse as she realised he was manoeuvring Brad to safety. The roar of the lifeboat’s outboard engine grew louder, and Erin breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the bright orange flash of the boat rounding the headland.
It seemed to take several agonising minutes before the boat roared up next to Brad and Dan. The crew hauled them both over the side and out of the water. Bile rose in the back of Erin’s throat as she realised they were resuscitating Brad on the floor of the boat. The lifeboat turned and roared off towards New Bay, leaving Erin on the shore with the small group of shell-shocked teenagers.
“Okay, we’d better get moving if we’re going to meet the others.” She gathered up the rope from the sand where Dan had discarded it on boarding the boat.
“What about Dan?” The girl who’d stood next to her earlier turned a tearstained face toward Erin.
“We can call the hospital when we reach the barbecue, but we need to get a move on or your parents will be worried.” She tucked the wet coil of rope inside Dan’s backpack and tied his sweater around her waist. A quick glance at his map told her they would have to alter their route to walk over the top of the cliffs as the tide was in too far now to risk rounding the base.
Erin shouldered Dan’s knapsack as well as her own and took another look at the map. “The sooner we meet the others, the sooner we’ll get the news.”
The little group nodded in agreement and they set off once more. All their former high spirits had been extinguished by the turn of events and the group walked quietly, conversing in subdued tones. Erin hoped she’d read Dan’s map correctly. She had no experience of leading this kind of group and she hadn’t explored this far down the coast since she’d arrived in New Bay.
Relief flooded through her as they cleared the steps up the cliff path towards the barbecue point. The rest of the group was already seated on benches near to the car park. Rose and her fiancé hurried to meet her, concern showing on their faces when they saw Dan wasn’t with the group.
The children rushed forward to meet their respective parents, spilling out the story of what had happened on the beach as they ran.
“We heard the flare!” Rose exclaimed as she drew Erin to one of the benches and poured her a mug of tea from a thermos flask.
Erin sipped the sweet, scalding hot fluid wincing as the tea burnt the tip of her tongue. Tom pulled his phone from his jacket to call the lifeboat station. At least the pain was a temporary diversion from Tom’s activity. She dreaded what the news from the hospital might be. Brad had looked in a bad way when the boat had sped off. Poor Dan had been nursing his damaged shoulder and she worried that he might have caused himself further harm.
“They’re both okay. Brad’s conscious. He’s broken his leg, but he’s alright.” Tom relayed the news to the group.
A murmur of relief ran through parents and children alike. A tear escaped and slid down Erin’s cheek, plopping onto the wooden surface of the table.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Rose sat next to her and placed her arm around Erin’s shoulders.
“I’m sorry. I was so scared.” Erin dashed her hand across her eyes.
The mood changed amongst the group and the parents started an impromptu celebration. The level of noise rose as the children chattered and laughed, hugging one another with joy at the news.
Tom took a seat opposite Rose and Erin. “I’ve organised a lift for us back to New Bay. Dan will need some dry clothes. If you have his bag, Erin, we can collect some things from his flat and take them up to the hospital.”
>
“That’s really kind of you.” Erin was overwhelmed by the support and kindness of Dan’s friends.
“Poor you, what an introduction to our group!” Rose gave her another hug.
“So much for the stress-free day Dan promised me.” Erin managed a wry smile.
“Oh well, that’s Dan. Life’s never dull around him.” Tom laughed.
Erin took another sip of her tea. Her first impressions of Dan had certainly been wide of the mark. She wondered what other surprises he had in store.
CHAPTER FIVE
The father of the girl who’d stood next to Erin on the beach gave them a lift back to New Bay where they collected Tom’s car. Rose and Tom offered to go with Erin to the hospital once they collected some dry clothes from Dan’s flat.
Erin found Dan’s keys in the pocket of his windcheater. She felt awkward about going to Dan’s flat without him being there.
“I’ll run up and get his stuff,” Tom offered as he pulled his battered old Ford into the car park.
Erin waited in the car with Rose as Tom packed a bag.
“I’m so glad Brad and Dan are okay. It must have been awful for you, Erin. Thanks for taking care of the kids today, you did a great job.” Rose smiled at her but Erin sensed the other girl had something more to add.
“I’m glad they’re okay, too. It was so frightening, at one point they both vanished, and I thought they’d both gone under.”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect when Dan called me last night to say you were coming with us. It’s been a long time since he was serious about a girl. His last girlfriend hurt him really badly when she dumped him after the accident.” Rose frowned.
“Dan told me he’d been hurt.” Erin had noticed for herself, how Dan had struggled to pull Brad onto the board. “It sounded terrible.”
“It was. His shoulder was smashed when the wave pulled him down. He was in and out of hospital for months.” Rose sighed, her pleasant face troubled. “The surgery left him with a dropped shoulder and bad scars. He’s very self-conscious about how it looks. That’s why he doesn’t surf anymore. It doesn’t help that his ex dumped him because she said the scars made her feel sick.”