Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (7 page)

"I
would
love to join you only if one day t
his
week you allow me to drive you around and show you our
his
toric town," he asked
with
out thinking about it, he
was
anxious to get to know t
his
woman. Excitement rose throughout
his
body when he got to touch
her
hand.

She
didn't hesitate
. "Sure."
She
guessed
they had
a date. For the past six years after
her
divorce
she
decided
she
didn't want to
date, or at least not much.
Her
friends did introduce
her
to a few men, but
she
they
never connected
. Because of the
horrible
ness
her
marriage
,
she
didn't want to get seriously involved
with
anyone.
She
couldn't be any happier
with
her
life.
She
had a wonderful family, children, friends, and work. James always wanted
her
to meet someone wonderful. He
joke
d around
with
her
and told
her
that
whomever
she
dated
had
to pass
his
approval.
She
wondered if he
would
like Mike.
She
would
never know. Yea,
she
definitely
like
d the idea of spending
the day
with
t
his
great looking guy.

She
needed to get lunch on
the table for Mike and herself
.
She
got out the vegetables and spread them on the bar. "Tell me what kind of veggies you want or don't want in the salad."

He looked over the veggies and began to separate them. Lettuce to the right, cheese to the right, salad peppers to the right, smoked turkey to the right, onions to the left, mushrooms to the right, and finally bacon bits to the right. "I want everything to the right in the salad and everything else, nil."

"You don't like onions?"
She
loved onions and couldn't imagine him not liking them.

"
I love them, but you never know
I might have to kiss someone today."

Panic ran through
her
body.
What if he
was
hinting
he had
a girlfriend
?
She
kept
her
cool. "Okay,
no onions!"

Surprisingly, Mike help
ed a great deal
in t
he kitchen, and he
impressed
her
. He got out the dishes and set the table, and he put the few dishes away
that
were in the dish
was
her. He noticed there were no paper towels and he ran out to
his
truck and brought a roll in and put it on the rack.

When they sat down to eat
she
tried to make small talk. "How long have you owned t
his
beach house? I
couldn't imagine not living
here every day."

He stopped eating and looked around the house, reminiscing. "My wife and I lived here for years and
she
passed away several years ago. I couldn't stay here
with
out
her
, but I couldn't sell the house either. So
I decided to put it on the market
to rent it out and let others enjoy it."

She
cou
ld tell he deeply loved
her
.
Later
she
would ask him about the details, when they felt more comfortable with each other.
She
didn't want
to tell him
about
her
own dilemmas because i
t
was
too early in their relationship to talk about intimate feelings of grief.

After an hour of talking,
she
finally stood up and Mike followed. It
was
a tense moment
between them
because neither wanted their talk to end
.
He picked up
his
plate then stacked
their plates
.
She
got the two glasses and the walnut raspberry salad dressing.
H
e helped clean up the kitchen
, and
she
thought maybe he
was trying
to find an excuse to stay.
All s
he
could
only
think about how much
her
heart
raced every time he walked near
her
.
She
wondered if he felt the same way,
she
desperately hoped he did.
With
everything cleaned up and small talk over, Mike put on
his
coat to go to town and politely asked
her
again.
"Do you want to change your mind about heading to
town
with
me?"

"I have been here almost twenty-four hours and I still haven't got to run my toes in the sand."

He laughed and agreed
she
needed to feel the sand in between
her
toes.

She
walked him to the door and
she
noticed
she
didn't even go to the top
his
shoulders in height. Not only
was
he tall but
his
shoulders were broad, well over three feet wide.
His
coat looked massive in size and
she
found herself wanting to touch him, but refrained from doing so.
She
noticed he lingered and
she
hoped
that
he didn't want to leave either.
She
thought.
Mike if you turn around and take me in your arms and kiss me I will go to town
with
you.

He winked at
her
and walked out the door. "I'll see you in a little while."

"If I'm not in the house I will be on the beach."

"Enjoy."

She
smiled and took a long deep breath as
she
watched him drive away.

*****

She
exhilaratingly stood in front of the fire to warm up before
her
cold walk on the beach.
She
tried to get the adrenaline pumping to help
with
the cold. A walk on the beach excited
her
so much
she
couldn't stand still.
She
grabbed a thick old Indian designed blanket to wrap up in for the bitter cold. Earlier in the day
she
noticed a bright multi-colored striped lounge chair on the beach and decided it
would
be
perfect for
her
to sit and enjoy the view.
She
fixed a mug of hot raspberry tea, added some honey, grabbed
her
cozy warm blanket and walked the short distance.

The sky
looked
overcast, but the deep blue ocean
was
a lovely sight. The fierceness of the winds seemed to ask the water questions, and the waves answered
with
rambunctiousness. They rolled in and smacked the beach
with
full force. Then the salt water rolled out leaving lines of white foam reaching for
her
toes.
She
just stood there in awe. Then
she
wondered how many people stood in t
his
very spot for the last three hundred years looking at the same scene.

All around
her
were small sand dunes. Some still had a few discolored weeds sticking out
of the sand
.
She
noticed old driftwood lying around the beach, far from the shoreline.
Some boards were
pointed and some were gray, but all of them were aged
with
holes in them.
She
only imagined it
was
wood from ships
that
were lost at sea, and at one time those ships carried treasures. The wood wanted to be found, to tell a story.

In the far distance one could see the hungry sea gulls sweep
down
to the beach to pick at their fish dinner. It
was
easy pickings for the gulls, since most of their competition went south. The fish must have been swept in by the rolling waters and launched on the beach.
That
's Mother Nature's way of offering a meal to the birds, survival of the fittest at work.

Her
imagination led
her
to visualize families running around and sitting under beach umbrellas as they watched their children building sandcastles, throwing Frisbees,
and pl
aying ball. Young couples took
long strolling walks along the beach and snatch a kiss when no one
was
watching
them
.
She
pondered many people stood in t
his
one spot, seeing the ocean for the very first time in their lives, absorbing the feeling of euphoria as they look at the great vastness of the Atlantic.
She
took a deep breath just like they
would
, remembering t
his
incredible sight, storing it to memory.

She
cleaned off the chair and made herself at home lying back. Then
she
took a sip of
her
now warm tea.
She
watched the old lighthouse turning its light just like turning the pages in a book. Each turn
started
a new page. Each day
began
a new chapter.
Lana
wished it co
uld talk, and if it could, what might
its chapters say.

The
Gurnet
lighthouse
was
built over two hundred years ago.
She
wondered if it's the oldest lighthouse in Plymouth. Most lighthouses
are
currently run by the coast guard, but years ago they hired caretakers.
She
wondered how many caretakers t
his
lighthouse saw, how many ships of immigrants it guided. How many families were excited to see the light, knowing they
would
have a new start in America?

She
remembered reading if you came out at night you can see the past caretakers take their lanterns up the stairs. Listen to
her
, if
she
witnessed a lantern carrying ghost at
that
lighthouse,
she
would
pack and head right back to Tennessee.

Contently
she
thought t
his
was
the life, sitting and listening to the waves, watching the gulls, and looking at the lighthouse. T
his
trip certainly brought
her
heart happiness. Meeting Mike just added pleasure to
her
soul.
She
never thought in a million years
she
would
have
met such a nice guy on vacation.
That
only happened in the movies, and
she
liked being in t
his
movie.