Chapter 18
Will had a dusting of white paint over his hair, and a fleck or two stuck on his eyebrows.
He’d tackled the beach bungalow’s ceilings, lightening them to a bright white to lift the space; thinking it made sense to do that first. Whilst Cath had started small and achievable, focusing on the toilet’s walls – with the repairs to the wood having been completed the day before – choosing a white with a hint of pebble grey called ‘Whisper’.
If they liked it, they figured they might, in time and post-surgery, follow that shade through to the living space.
Cath grinned, looking at his speckled hair, thinking that he looked like an older version of himself. A glimpse of the grey-headed, still rather gorgeous chap, he might become in time. If they had time …
Of course, they did. Cath shook off that morose thought.
All would be well. Being Sunday, the appointment for his surgery, with Will having confirmed the decision to go for the operation, was only four days away.
She reached out to dab at the paint flecks on his brows, but they had set.
She smiled. They were so very close, his eyes smiling amusedly back, and the air suddenly felt charged between them.
Like the only natural thing to do right now was to steal a kiss.
Their lips met tenderly at first, and then all those heightened emotions became channelled into that caress.
Her heart felt so damn full of love and fear, right now.
They were soon lost to the moment. His hand clutching her back, drawing her even closer to him. Her hands ruffling through his paint-dusted hair.
‘Oh, Will.’
‘Cath …’ His voice sounded husky with need, and love. Those myriad emotions of the past weeks rolling into a wave of longing.
They’d already set up the sofa bed for later, and the two of them tumbled back onto it. Will kissed her once more, whilst expertly undoing a button at her chest, slipping a hand inside her cotton blouse, finding her breast. Every nerve end in her body now on high alert and exquisitely tingling.
His lips moved away from hers, tracing her chin, her neck, to follow his hand … Oh my. Zips undone, clothes discarded. His hips and lower body moving to press, oh so firmly, against her, like a promise, as she lay beneath him.
The smell of fresh paint, and the salt sea air. A shaft of sunlight coming in and over them. Cath only then realising that the door was still open to the deck … and the dunes. They were merely part-covered by a light cotton sheet.
‘Oh, what if someone walks by?’ Cath whispered.
‘Shhhh.’ Will’s index finger moved firmly yet gently, to press her lips closed, and that felt so damned sexy.
Sod it, a passerby would have to be bloody nosy, and very close to the deck, to be able to peer right in …
she thought, and hah, serve them right if they did.
They gazed at each other, Cath giving a giggle, and then carried on regardless, swept up in their need for each other.
More than ready to seize the moment. Oh yes, and it was the most heady and sensual moment, as she blissfully felt him enter her.
Their bodies knowing just where to take things from here …
Curled up together in the afterglow, they’d dozed in each other’s arms.
A beautiful port in a storm.
*
Afternoon rolled into early evening. They reluctantly left the haven of the surprisingly comfortable sofa bed and managed to finish a second coat of paint on the loo’s walls, as well as glossing the skirting board in there.
One small job done, on a mammoth to-do list for the bungalow, but it felt good.
Today had felt good. And keeping busy had kept them from overthinking.
They’d taken a stroll along the beach, and up to The Ship Inn, where they’d sat outside on the bench on the green for a casual and tasty supper of crab sandwiches and chips.
And here they now were, back at the deck of the beach hut with some nibbles and a small glass of fruity-red Rioja to hand; the lads having left the last bottle for them after their gorgeous Spanish-style supper.
The sky had clouded, but that only served to add soft layers to the blush of colours that were diffusing the sky as the evening drifted towards dusk.
A few seconds of quiet passed, as they gazed out over the bay. Will seemed more thoughtful, as though he were drawing back in on himself.
‘Hey, are you okay?’ asked Cath, aware of the hefty weight that her partner was trying his best to manage.
‘Ah, it’s just the waiting for this op … It’s killing me … hah.’ He managed to laugh at his own ironic joke, that really wasn’t funny.
‘I know. That must be so difficult.’ Cath reached to take his hand.
‘Not long to go now, my love.’ It was frightening for her too, but she was trying so hard to stay positive, to look on the bright side, and not listen to that ‘What-If’ voice of doom inside her head. She had to stay strong for Will.
Will had sent a couple of pictures of the hut and the beach view to his girls, with Sophie and Maddie responding that they couldn’t wait to come and see the family inheritance for themselves.
This was evidently on his mind, too. ‘It’s getting harder, keeping it from the girls …
They’ve been talking about coming up. Jeez, what if they turn up out of the blue the same time as I’m booked in for the op?
I’ve been putting Maddie off … pretending I’ve got stuff on with cycling competitions for the last couple of weeks.
But I can’t keep stalling them for much longer. ’
The moment would soon be here to tell Maddie and Sophie about their dad’s cancer and his operation.
His daughters really did need to know, Cath was certain of that.
She had tried to persuade him to at least warn them that he was having some kind of surgery beforehand, perhaps without having to spill all – she was sure the girls would never forgive themselves, or her and Will for that matter, for not being in the know if something were to happen or God forbid go wrong.
And yet, she knew this was Will’s call. She had to respect that.
Knowing how much of a shadow this news was about to cast on them was so hard.
It would certainly dim that new sense of hope they’d been trying so hard to build as a family, trying to reinforce their lives positively for the future.
‘They’ll soon get suspicious. It’s almost time,’ Cath agreed.
‘I know. As soon as Sophie’s exam is done,’ he confirmed.
He intended to tell his girls this news in person, together.
He’d ask them to come home. None of it was going to be easy.
He gave Cath a nod, glancing her way with a look that was filled with a mix of love, fear and trepidation.
‘Maybe you can help me with that, telling the girls, when the time comes?’ he continued.
She felt a little nervous about how the girls might react to her being there for that particular ‘domestic’ scene, and yet answered, ‘For sure.’ The girls might in all honesty prefer her not to be there, but if Will needed her support in this, then that was all the encouragement she needed.
Cath’s hand squeezed his. Cath was looking forward to their first night staying over at the bungalow, even with the limited arrangements.
But hey, who needed a posh hotel with that sea view.
She was also excited about waking up together, and if they were perhaps early enough, watching the sun rise over the bay.
Sitting here this evening, side by side on the wooden deck, sipping wine and watching the flame-coloured tones of sunset begin to settle over the bay, despite all the fears, the surgery to come, it still felt magical.
The beauty of nature was awe-inspiring; the dramatic transition of sea and sky, with colours and motion ever-shifting, ever-changing … very much like life.
Once they got through this next difficult chapter, once Will was well again, this place really would feel like the gift it was. A fresh and beautiful new start. And Cath couldn’t wait to share it with him.
Looking out over the tranquil sea, that now reflected the molten peaches and golds of the summer dusk, this run-down little bungalow felt a place to pause, a place to just be. A place of hope …
*
Will seemed tired now. It had been such an unusual and stressful few weeks.
As the light outside began to fade, Cath took the storm lantern in with them – a great find she’d discovered in the Kirkton charity shop.
It was stylish as well as practical, as of course, they still had no electric.
No TV here to settle down in front of, and their phone batteries might just last ’til the morning, though the signal wasn’t great here, anyhow.
But that was refreshing in itself. It left them time to talk, or just quietly to be.
With its fresh white cotton bedding on, the opened-out sofa bed looked rather like an island in the brown wood interior of the seaside hut.
It was too dark inside to read a paperback by mere candlelight.
Her Kindle Paperwhite was the thing to bring next time, fully charged; Cath made a mental note.
And, they hadn’t thought to light the log burner – or even to bring logs for it – on such a gorgeous summer’s day.
Lesson learned, that was the thing to do, to light it in the evening, so the hut was warmed inside for bedtime.
Even in early summer, there was a definite chill in the air once dusk had passed.
So, for now, it was a time to tuck themselves in under the duvet.
With the sofa transformed to a bed, this was the only comfy space.
But hey, it wasn’t a bad one. Cath had actually brought pyjamas in her overnight bag, thinking she might need them whilst padding about in the morning, picturing herself sitting outside on the deck with a coffee.
The pyjamas were in fact needed for the chill tonight.