He smiled. “My wife, Elizabeth, and I met some time before we married. She went out walking with me a few times when were sixteen then told me she wasn’t interested. I think I was a bit beneath her. She was going to become a school mistress and I was working on the boats – books were never my thing. Five years later I had my own couple of boats thanks to hard graft and a bit of luck and I saw her on the beach and tried my luck. We got married three months later.”
“What was Elizabeth like?” Claire asked.
Edward smiled. “Dark hair, slim, argumentative. She laughed a lot too and we never went to bed on an argument. In fact, arguments were quite good for just before bed, if you see what I mean.” He gave Claire a knowing wink.
“That’s enough,” I said. “I don’t need to think about that. I remember Elizabeth and she’d have had your hide speaking like that.”
He stood up, his eyes glinting with amusement. “I’ll be off then. Make sure you come fix my roof.” He glanced out towards the sea. “Good day for being in the water. Been a few jellyfish around so make sure you wear a wetsuit, if you’ve got one that fits.” He eyed me and shook his head. “Navy made you a man, boy. Maybe that’s why she’s interested now.”
We both laughed as he walked away, starting to whistle the same tune I remembered as a kid.
“He’s a character,” Claire said. “I like him a lot.”
“You’d have liked Elizabeth too. I never knew she’d turned him down first though. I thought they’d gotten married younger.”
She shrugged. “Maybe they both had things they needed to do first. Shall we go to the beach?”
I nodded. “Let me dig out my wetsuit.”
The cold water kicked my adrenalin into rush mode as I started to paddle out into the waves. It was a good day to be out in the sea, Edward had been right. Around a dozen other surfers were already there, some I recognised, others were strangers. The beach was relatively busy, mainly with teenagers and adults walking. There were better beaches for children further down, nearer to the seaside towns such as Bude, which was also another surfers’ hotspot.
Claire had settled down on a thick blanket with a book and a camera, her feet bare and her hair scraped back from her face. Part of me hadn’t wanted to leave her, and I’d tried to encourage her to get into the water with me, but I’d been turned down outright. As I’d ran towards the sea with my board I’d felt her eyes on my back, watching my ass and damn, if it didn’t feel good to know I had her attention above everything else that was around her in the cove.
I ducked my head under, feeling the current, my senses alive at being in the water. I loved the sea, the energy I could take from it. It had been part of my drive to join the Marines as being in water had always felt like home. It took me a couple more minutes and then I was up on my board, catching the waves and harnessing their power. For the first time in what felt like years, I was content.
“You should wear that more often,” Claire said as I approached her, dripping with sea water. My beard and hair were salty and my muscles already felt as if they were tightening. “Or at least let me take a photo.” The camera clicked and I pulled a face. Revenge came through me dripping onto her.
“You’re freaking freezing!” she said, shifting away quickly. “Don’t even think of coming near me!”
“That’s not what you were saying last night,” I said, shifting towards her. She started to run across the course sand so I followed, knowing I’d catch her easily when I chose to. I followed her into a cave, her laughter echoing around us and caught her in a darkened corner.
Laughter turned into anticipation and had it not been the height of summer with the possibility of child explorers walking into the cave at any point, I’d have taken advantage of the desire I saw in her eyes. Instead I kissed her thoroughly and picked her up, causing her to yell as she was pressed against my cold wet body. Her legs flayed and kicked and she complained about the cold and the wet against her. I laughed, keeping hold of her till she stilled and then kissed her till she was quiet.
“I’m soaked and cold,” she said. “How are you going to get me warm again?”
“I can think of a few ways,” I said, placing her down on the blanket. “You ready to head back to the cottage?”
Claire nodded, picking up her book. “I can’t believe it’s nearly five. I didn’t know time could go so quickly.
“Missing London?”
She laughed. “No. Maybe I need to get away more often.”
We walked back to the cottage, Claire telling me about the photos she’d taken while I was in the sea and the few people she’d spoken to. She asked about my time in the Marines, something we’d not talked much about and then she was quiet.
The unspoken event was still left between us.
Chapter Seventeen
Claire
After about ten minutes I’d managed to calm myself, convinced that if Killian was going to fall off Edward’s roof, he’d have done it by now. Living mainly in London, watching someone I knew well and had a lot of feelings for participating in manual labour on a fairly high roof was up there with sky diving and swimming with sharks. I wasn’t used to it and I’d spent the first five minutes silently convinced that this was the moment where Killian would fall to his death and our second chance would be over, with me living like Miss Havisham for the next half century.
“I think you’ve done it,” Edward said, chewing on a stick of liquorice. It was nine in the morning and we’d been here since seven-thirty, Edward having a list of jobs he wanted Killian to do. It hadn’t been a problem, most of the jobs were easy, just too high for Edward to reach or requiring too much strength and we didn’t have anywhere we needed to be. Marie was headed into court today on my behalf and from the text that had appeared on my phone when we got a wave of reception, she was beside herself with excitement. What surprised me most was how I wasn’t missing it. I didn’t feel the urge to be there, nor did I crave the adrenaline rush. Here in the sunshine, watching the man I spent last night in bed with, felt just right and I wondered if I had enough money saved up to retire already and simply be.
“Can you see anything else while I’m up here?” Killian shouted down? “I don’t know when I’ll be back, so speak now or forever hold your peace – for the next few weeks anyhow.”
“Think you’ve got everything,” Edward shouted back. “Now bugger off and leave an old man in peace for the rest of the day.”
