Chapter 32
Erica
Erica showered, dressed, and was back at the pool in forty-five minutes. Archer was already there, which was no surprise to her as he was on time for everything.
“Being late is diva behaviour,” he said as he greeted her with a kiss.
“I have been known for my outrageous behaviour. It’s been fully documented.”
It wasn’t a lie. Erica had very little concept of time. She was ready when she was ready. Everyone put up with it, so she made no amends to change her ways. Archer got her to focus on arriving where you said you’d be when you agreed. Fifteen minutes late was a record for her.
“Good job Maggie doesn’t start cooking until we get there. Let’s go,” he said, holding out his hand.
Erica took it. It only took a few minutes to get to the kitchen door. Archer ducked under to walk through the door opening, and Erica followed, clutching his hand. Each time she met a new person, the expected reaction was familiarity. When Archer didn’t know who Erica was, it was refreshing and wonderful to be normal. But as soon as Erica locked eyes with Maggie, she knew she was busted.
“Oh my, Erica,” Maggie said, rushing over to take her in a hug. “It’s so wonderful to meet you. Erica Taylor in my kitchen, whoever would have thought it.”
“All right, Maggie, bit over the top, isn’t it?”
“You brought Erica Taylor to meet me,” Maggie said.
“Because you asked to meet her. You also promised you’d feed us. We’re starving from the morning workout. What’s on offer?” Archer said, rounding the kitchen table and dropping onto the bench seat. He patted the space next to him for Erica to join him, but she stayed rooted to the spot. She was pleading internally that Maggie didn’t mention anything further. Erica waited for Maggie to turn her back and begin preparations for breakfast. When she thought the coast was clear, she shuffled along the bench to sit next to Archer.
“Ignore Maggie. She is beside herself there is more than Bailey and Jennifer in the house, along with my aunt. We’ve swollen the numbers.”
“Who is Jennifer?”
“My aunt’s maid, dresser, I don’t know what the modern word for it would be. She gets my aunt up in the mornings and dressed these days and then gets her ready for bed. Years ago she would accompany her everywhere she went. Overseas or to the mainland. A lady’s maid would be what she would’ve been called back in the early 1900s. My aunt still lives in those times, so she treats Jennifer as a personal maid even though my aunt never leaves the house.”
“Will I meet her? ”
“Maybe. She is the same age as my aunt and stays upstairs most of the time.”
Maggie turned to face them, looked to Archer, and then pointed to the teapot. “Pour the tea, Archer. Erica, what can I make you for breakfast?”
“I love some scrambled eggs and bacon,” she replied, having given it a lot of thought when she was showering. Her lateness gave her the diva tag out in the movie world, but for everything else, she tried to make sure she wasn’t too fussy, keeping things simple.
“Cheese in your scrambled eggs?”
“Ohh, why not? I’ve never had that before,” Erica said.
“All right, sit tight, and I’ll get the food on the go. Archer, I assume you’ll have your usual?”
“Absolutely. I’ve earned it. And I’ll probably earn it later too. We’re going to Little Lagoon after we’ve eaten.”
“Oh, you’ll have a fabulous time,” Maggie said, aiming her comment at Erica. “Archer, Jason, Luke, and Daisy spent a lot of time down there when they were younger.”
“No more information, Maggie. It’s a surprise,” Archer said.
He’d dropped his hand to Erica’s leg, his palm resting on her thigh. Archer poured the tea one-handed and pushed a cup and saucer her way. The pretty blue and white flowers on the dainty cup were a contrast to the sturdy mugs in the cottage.
“I know. They’re tiny, right? Three sips, and the tea is gone. I have eight cups when I have breakfast here, but Maggie won’t hear of having a mug in her kitchen. I guess we’ve all got our old school traits.”
“What’s yours?” Erica asked.
“I’d have to think about that. What do I still do now that I’ve always done?” Archer was talking out loud, looking to the ceiling and tapping his finger to his chin.
“Family, no matter what, I suppose. I could never walk away from being a Turner, even though I happily stayed away from my childhood home. I’d do anything for Jason, Luke, and Daisy.”
“Admirable, Archer,” Bailey said as he entered the kitchen. “You have another name to add to the list now.”
Archer turned to Erica and kissed her cheek. “I do,” he said.
Should she tell him now, Erica thought? Now she wished Maggie had outed her. It would be a lot easier than at the vicarage.
“Here is your food,” Maggie said, placing two plates in front of them. “Enjoy.”
Erica looked at her cheesy scrambled egg on a bed of spinach. Cherry tomatoes cut in half were in with the eggs giving the whole plate a look of decadence and healthiness at the same time.
“This looks fantastic. It certainly beats my usual toast and marmalade,” Erica said.
“Exactly,” Archer replied, pointing his fork at Maggie. “Who wants toast when you have this?”
Two slices of bread popped out of the toaster, and Bailey dropped them onto a plate. He smeared butter and then jam.
“As toast offends you so much, I shall take this to my office,” he said in a haughty tone.
Archer and Maggie giggled as Bailey walked away.
“Is he okay?” Erica asked, feeling guilty about her comment.
“Yeah. Bailey has a routine and likes to stick to it.”
“That’s his old school trait,” Erica muttered before taking a forkful of eggs. She resisted moaning after her spectacle eating a petit four at the formal dinner with Archer’s aunt. Instead, she squeezed her thighs together at the buttery, cheesy eggs and closed her eyes.
“You eat like you have never tasted food before,” Archer commented.
“I’m not a great cook, fairly plain and basic, so if someone so much as puts pepper in a meal, I swoon.”
“I’ll remember that when I need to apologise.”
“Is that likely?”
“I’m a man, so I’ll likely do something that will need some kind of sorry.”
The three of them laughed at his comment. When breakfast was over, he put the dishes in the hot soapy water to wash up. Maggie told him to leave the dishes to her and get going to the surprise date. Erica loved their relationship. It was easy going with a healthy dose of ribbing, even from Bailey, who came back in with his plate of crumbs and then grabbed the bacon warming in the oven Maggie had put to one side.
Archer told her they would walk to where they were going. It would give them time to digest their food before they got there. Curious about what he had planned, she had convinced herself he was taking her to a fete where there were fairground rides.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
They arrived at a pale blue painted wooden shack with wetsuits hanging outside. The door was wedged open. Archer went inside and returned with a man with shaggy hair still wet. His wet suit was peeled down to his waist, showing off his tanned chest. His wiry frame looked strong.
Archer beckoned her over to where they were standing on uneven ground, a mix of pebbles and dirt .
“You need to wear a wetsuit for what we’re doing. The water can be cold out of the sun. Do you want a wet suit to the knee or the ankle?”
She instantly thought about tan lines and hated herself for that being her initial reason for her decision.
“A full wetsuit if you have one in my size,” she said.
“Okay,” the shaggy-haired guy said and disappeared back into the shed. He popped his head back out and said, “what size feet are you?”
“Five.”
If he recognised Erica, he didn’t give any indication. Coming to the island was a genius idea of Yanny’s, and maybe she could risk going into the town if hardly anyone knew who she was.
“That’s Keith, my brother Jason’s best friend growing up. They fell out a while back, and I don’t think they’ve spoken for years. He runs the sports tours. Keith is an amazing surfer, but his day job is working the tourist boats.”
“Is that what we’re doing?” Erica asked.
“We’ll go out in the boat, and then when it’s safe, we’ll go in the sea. It’s a small lagoon around here. Keith will take us out, and we’ll snorkel back.”
“Oh cool, sounds great.”
“With the seals,” he added.
Erica’s mouth dropped open and then grinned hard at Archer. “Oh wow, that’s amazing.”
“I haven’t done it for a long time. Back when we were kids, we didn’t have any safety measures. There was no ringed area, to make sure we didn’t get swept out to sea or encounter a curious shark.”
“Sharks?”
Archer laughed. She put her hands to her cheeks in fright .
“Don’t worry. We’ll be in the lagoon the whole time. No sharks can get in there unless they can jump the rocks.”
Keith came out of the shack carrying a wetsuit on a hanger. The navy blue with a white stripe suit down the side had arms and legs.
“This should fit you fine. You can change in the shack. Just move the pebble to close the door. There’s a latch.”
Erica thanked Keith and went to change in the dark shack with no windows. She folded her dress and draped it over the back of the chair rammed up against a wooden table. The only things on the desk were an open laptop and half a mug of tea. She noticed there was no password protection screen, just an open tab for a social media site. The whole island seemed to be trusting.
Wedging the door back open, Erica headed back to where Archer and Keith looked to be in a heated discussion.
“I haven’t spoken to him for years, and I don’t plan to change that.” Erica heard Keith tell Archer.
“Okay, none of my business. You both seemed close when we were teenagers.”
“A lot of time has passed. We all grow up.”
Archer turned his attention to Erica, ending the friction and uneasy atmosphere.
“Let’s get you out on the water,” Keith said, heading back to the shack. He went inside and came straight out, kicking the pebble and closing the door. There was a padlock at the top, and he clipped it shut. Not so trusting, after all, Erica thought.
Archer and Erica followed Keith to the small boat with a motor at the back. In the time Erica had changed, so had Archer. His suit was short sleeves and ended at the knee, showcasing his muscular calves. They walked over the large pebbles and then onto the sand. The small blue boat was hooked up to a small jetty. Archer got in after Keith and held out his hand for Erica to throw her leg over.
She fell into the boat unceremoniously in fits of giggles.
“Graceful,” Archer commented with a smirk, helping her up.
Erica sat on a bench seat opposite Archer and looked out into the lagoon. She hadn’t noticed on the sand, but the breeze picked up, making her hair fly about. She took the ends and held them while the boat bounced on the water. Archer sidled across, grabbed her hair at her nape, and then tucked the wayward strands into the back of her wet suit. She gave him a shy smile at his consideration. It wasn’t long before Keith slowed the boat and turned off the motor. The silence fell around them as they floated in the middle of the lagoon. Then from nowhere came the sound of seals. She spotted one on top of the rocks, and then more appeared.
“Let’s get in the water. I’ll fix your snorkel and mask first. Then I’ll put mine on.”
Erica let him do what he said. This was the first time she’d snorkelled, and she couldn’t wait to dip her head under the water. They sat on opposite sides of the boat and dropped into the water at the same time. Archer swam around to her side and took her hand as they swam using their free arm. It was something he’d made her practice in the pool for upper arm strength. For hours over the weeks, they swam up and down the pool switching sides every ten laps. Now she knew why he’d done it. The seals joined them once Keith had powered away, leaving them isolated.
Erica snorkelled around in circles, following one seal in particular. A while later, Archer indicated they swim to the shore. As soon as Erica could stand on the sea bottom, she stood up, and pulled off her mask, smiling wide .
“That was amazing, Archer. Thank you so much for arranging it.”
“Seeing the wonder on your face when the seals joined us was worth it.”
“It was magical.”
The water was up to her chest. Erica swayed back and forth with the movement of the water. Archer brought her close and kissed her. She was grateful she wore a wetsuit because Archer turned the kiss indecent as he devoured her mouth, tasting every inch of her. She let the water give her buoyancy and wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling his erection as she pressed her pelvis to his hips. Still, with their tongues entwined, Archer walked them out of the water and onto the sandy beach. It was a secluded cove surrounded by rocks. He dropped to his knees and covered her body while still kissing her. She was frantic, trying to get closer in thick wet suits. Finally, he broke the kiss and stared down at her.
“Turn over,” he said, his chest lifting up and down with his panting.
She did as he asked. Archer pulled the flap across and then pulled down the zip of the wet suit exposing her back. When he realised she wasn’t wearing anything on top, he pushed her onto her back again.
“You’re not wearing a bra,” he said.
“Was I supposed to?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been this close to a woman wearing a wet suit.”
Archer curled his fingers under the collar and peeled it down. It trapped her arms at the side. He looked left and right and then tugged the wet suit to expose one of her breasts .
“Archer,” she said as he sucked on her nipple, pulling it hard into his mouth.
“I know, but I can’t help myself. You’re naked under here.”
He left her breast alone, covered her modesty, and left her arms where they were. She sank further into the soft sand under his weight, looking up at his handsome face. He was playful. Her earnest, focused, and resolute man was being daring and playful.
Except he wasn’t her man, not really.
“We were the last people to go out and see the seals today, but I’m not going to risk stripping you and having my way with your body,” he said.
Archer let out a pretend sob and tugged her wet suit up to her neck. “Goodbye, boobies,” he said.
Erica laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck when she was free to move. She cuddled him close, loving the feel of his body on hers, wishing they’d met under different circumstances at a different time. Archer rolled them, so he was on his back. He pulled her to his side, arm wrapped around her shoulder, and they stayed like that in silence for an endless time. Erica could hear the seals in the distance calling out to each other. The water lapped at the sand a couple of feet from their position. But all she could feel was her thundering heart. Sneaking a hand over Archer’s muscles, she put her palm over his heart.
It was hammering too.