Chapter Four #2
Kate was in her bedroom. She was naked as she clambered out of bed to rummage through the items on a drinks tray, placed on an oak console table beneath the window.
She had a raging thirst that only a cup of hot milky tea would quench and as Kate waited for the water to boil, she searched for something to eat.
A pretty tin sat by the kettle and she picked it up and eased the lid to reveal a stack of home-made biscuits.
She broke off a piece and crammed it in her mouth.
Kate was absolutely ravenous.
The biscuit melted in her mouth as she brewed her tea and, wrapping her hands around the welcoming drink, she sat down on the bed to enjoy it.
Glancing at the disorderly pile of sheets, Kate hoped that Andy remembered to ruffle his bed linen when he got back to his room.
The ladies in housekeeping would be alert to every detail of Boomerville’s guests’ behaviour and Kate was sure that there was plenty for staff to relish.
But as she thought about the night she’d spent, Kate wondered if she cared about gossip.
For Andy’s walk of shame a few moments earlier, as he gripped Kate’s bathrobe around his naked body and clutched his clothes, would not have gone unnoticed.
She placed her cup on the floor and, lying back on the rumpled duvet, placed her cheek on the cotton pillow where a trace of Andy still clung to the fabric. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply, savouring the smell of lust and excitement.
Kate Simmons had a man!
She felt like shouting out loud. For she’d just spent a most exhilarating night of passion and it was tempting to jump up and throw the windows open to scream out to the world.
In the biblical sense, she reasoned; whether anything long-term came out of the relationship would remain to be seen.
But right now she couldn’t care less. Sex and Andy Mack were a match made in heaven and Kate wanted more.
Much more!
Feeling a chill on her naked skin, she nestled into the billowing cloud of bedding and as she succumbed to the warmth that enveloped her body, Kate thought back to their time together the previous day.
It had been a glorious morning and Andy had driven to Ullswater where they’d parked by a river, then walked over a bridge to a steamer waiting to take passengers on a cruise along the lake.
As it headed to Glenridding Pier a few miles away, the boat ploughed through the crystal water and they stood by the rails and stared up the valley to the Gateway of Helvellyn, England’s third highest mountain.
Mist rose to reveal streaking white waterfalls that gushed down the peaks and crevices, while a brisk wind whipped the swell into white horses that danced across the glassy lake.
Kate’s hair flew across her eyes. She shivered and Andy reached for her hand to tuck it into his own. But her shiver was of anticipation and had nothing to do with the weather.
Having disembarked at the pier and wandered around the former mining village, they’d followed a path back along the lake where sun filtered through the trees, dappling the water with light.
They stopped at a waterfall to admire the dramatic drop as red squirrels scampered up and down the mossy hillside, in and out of bushes.
Hand-in-hand, they’d walked through the woods where leaves crunched underfoot as they chatted and Andy quoted Wordsworth: ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills. ’
It was a perfect day, topped off with a pub meal.
When they arrived back at the hotel, tired yet elated from their outing, they’d settled by the fire in the bar and, after a restorative brandy, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for Andy to follow Kate up the stairs and along the galleried landing to her bedroom.
When he reached to turn the key, he’d raised an eyebrow and Kate had nodded.
Kate wriggled under the duvet and felt herself colour.
Down in one date! Was that the way to behave at her age?
She threw her legs over the side of the bed and wandered into the bathroom then stepped into the shower.
But as the water gushed over her body, she closed her eyes and knew that she didn’t give a damn.
It was years since she’d felt like this.
Andy made her feel alive and not just between the sheets.
After all, they had a great deal in common.
Both had sold successful businesses and were of similar age with mutual interests.
They’d even booked the same writing course.
Over lunch she’d told him more about the difficulties she’d experienced with her father and he held her hand and said she was an amazing woman to have given so selflessly for so long.
She mustn’t feel guilty if she enjoyed herself; it was time for her to have some happiness and take advantage of the opportunities that came her way.
For the first time in years Kate felt excited. Andy had woken long forgotten feelings and she was determined not to feel guilt for making the most of it.
She was going to enjoy every minute of her time at Boomerville.