Down the Shore (18 page)

I walked out to interrupt the conversation.

"I told you to stop. I don't want to talk about it. I would appreciate it if you could both stop talking about me behind my back.” I put my hands on my hips, yelling at both of them.

"Sorry, love. Not this time.” He stormed out, and ran upstairs. I raced to catch up, but the door was already open and Colin was inside.

"Where is he, mate? I don't want to hurt you,” he roared at Anthony.

I grabbed his arm.

"Abby, go downstairs. Now!” he demanded, never once looking back at me.

I didn't let go, and I tried to pull him out the door. He was too strong.

"He's already gone, man,” Anthony said.

Colin looked him up and down and peered over his shoulder.

"Tell your friend he'd better stay away from her. I'm dead serious, mate. I've got nothing to lose,” he glared, his eyes fierce. Taking my hand in his, he walked me back downstairs.

I breathed in, “Why did you do that? I didn't even tell you...” He pressed his fingers to my lips.

"Please tell me that he didn't...hurt you?” He wore a look of hate and compassion at the same time.

I didn't answer. I just gave him a gentle smile and pulled him close to me. I felt his nose and mouth on the nape of my neck, breathing in.

"You'll tell me when you're ready, then,” he nodded down at me.

I nodded slowly back.

Colin pursed his lips. “Well, I hope you're open to an overnight guest for the rest of the summer? We could always stay at my place, if you prefer.” He smiled wryly.

I laughed.

"Nothing would please me more, but I think you're forgetting something,” I said. “My parents, they'll be here in a few days,” I reminded him.

He grinned his cutest Irish grin.

"Your folks will love me, trust me,” he said smugly.

I kissed him softly. “We'll see."

I grabbed his hand, leading him back into my bedroom. I read in his expression, he was completely content with my course of action. We spent the entire morning and afternoon in bed, kissing, talking, exploring each other. Of course, we never went farther than he allowed, and never really tried. We stopped occasionally to eat, taking a breather from our lips constantly on each other's. I was madly in love. Colin Murphy had become my summer. My mother was right, when true love found you, you would know, and I did. He was the one. I had never felt so special, so beautiful. He made me feel this way, he put me so high on a pedestal, and he left me up there, happy to be there.

It wasn't long enough. The clock reminded us we had to hurry and get ready for work. I had always enjoyed my new job, and now it was even better, although I had to apologize to Joey a thousand times for missing my shift. We walked in just before opening, holding hands, Colin kissing my neck and whispering into my ear. You could almost hear the voices, the comments flying through the staff.

He never really hid his feelings, but I did. But not anymore. Some looked pleased, almost expecting it, others not so much. I felt bad for Maddy. She had lost, and he had chosen me.

[Back to Table of Contents]

Promising to leave early, Colin had spent the night, slipping out early enough so my parents wouldn't stumble upon us. We'd spent the last few nights at his place, but I wanted to be in my apartment in the morning. My evenings with Colin were amazing, as always. We stayed up for hours, talking, laughing, kissing. It wasn't until I could hear the gentle snore coming quietly from the man I loved that I would wrap my body as close as I could, letting myself drift off into a deep sleep, curled around my summer.

My parents were on my doorstep early. I opened the door excitedly.

"Hi guys!” I reached out to grab each one of my family members in turn.

"Mom, Dad, you guys look great. I missed you so much.” I couldn't stop hugging my mother, as I looked over at my brother, Mike. Wow, I could swear he grew again. “You too, little brother!” I said with a teasing smile.

He laughed, nodding. “Yeah, you too."

My mom pulled me back away from her to get a better look.

"Wow, Abby, you look wonderful, so much color,” she pointed out.

"Yeah, you look great, kiddo!” my father added.

"I've been getting a ton of sun."

"Well, the shore always suited you,” Mom remarked.

We spent the day at the beach, and it was a perfect ninety-two degrees outside. The beach was crowded, not very many great places to set up camp for the day. We had a few options, and we chose to sit directly behind the lifeguard stand. Not the best spot, but not the worst. We unloaded our beach buggy full of towels, footballs and our lunch for the day. It was the same little buggy my family had used for the last ten years, but it still did its job.

My father and I spent most of the day in the water, as it was hard not to. It was so much fun. We tossed the ball around, dodged the seagulls while hiding under our umbrella eating lunch. One of the seagulls clipped my brother's head, which was quite funny. As much as I missed spending time with my family, thoughts of Colin raced through my head. I hated to be away from him. I felt like I needed to spend every waking hour with him.

I had made sure I had work off for the evening, knowing my family would want to spend some quality time with me. We spent the next forty-eight hours together, barely separating. We either went out or spent time at their beach rental, which was a place they had rented thirty blocks away from mine. They didn't like staying so close to the boardwalk because of the noise, which worked for me.

I had been able to squeeze in a few barely comatose hours with Colin. He came by each evening after work, refusing to let me be alone at night. He never had to say it, but I knew he was worried that Nick would suddenly show up, and he wanted to make sure he was there to protect me if he did.

He tugged playfully on a strand of my hair, “So when are you gonna introduce me to your folks?"

I didn't answer. I just lay in his arms.

"Abigail, did you hear me, love?” he asked again.

I nodded quietly in defeat, taking in a quick breath.

"I'm not sure if they're ready for you, yet,” I said apologetically. “I mean, I wasn't even ready for you.” I laughed, poking him in his stomach.

"Abigail Hardy.” He pulled my chin to his lips. “When are you going to realize what you mean to me?” He frowned, and pulled me to him so that our lips met.

I pulled away, looking down nervously at my hands. “I don't want to. I don't want to freak them out,” I told him quietly.

He chuckled at my response. “Freak them out, and why would you think that?” he wondered, his eyebrows cocked up to a new level I hadn't seen before.

I forced my eyes to his, pleading without saying anything at first. He just kept his eyes on me, waiting for my answer.

"Colin, I have never...” I paused. “I'm eighteen years old, my parents wouldn't understand, this, us, what we have, trust me,” I pleaded. “I barely understand myself."

"Abby, honey, you're an adult, you can see whomever you want. They can't stop you,” he retorted.

"It's not that, it's just they have these expectations of me.” I sat up on the edge of the bed and pushed my hair back away from my face. “College, career. I don't think boy from Ireland ever came to mind,” I whispered.

His arms wound tightly around me again, pulling me back down on the bed.

"I told you that I loved you, I don't care what anyone else bloody thinks but you,” he reminded me. “I know you're worried, lass, but I promised you.” He grabbed both my hands in his. “You and me....forever. Our summer doesn't have to end in four weeks. We'll figure it out,” he assured me.

His body pushed against me, his lips warm and crushing down on mine. It was passionate, nervous, almost frantic. I tried to pull myself together, but my head was reeling from his kiss.

It was coming to the end of July; we had only four weeks left together. When he said that, it was a painful reminder.

It had been three days since I had worked at the restaurant. I hated to leave my family, as we had been having a great time. We spent the days on the beach and the evenings out dining, walking around town, getting ice cream.

I couldn't help but be excited to see Colin in the daylight. I missed his face glowing in the sun. I had only been able to see him after work. He came over every night after eleven. I had become fond of our midnight romance, but I looked forward to seeing him today. He stood in front of our bench as usual, smoking a cigarette, waiting for me to join him. He quickly tossed it away into the sand as he saw me approaching. He knew how I felt about his smoking, and promised to keep it to a minimum around me. I loved kissing him, but I hated the ashtray taste.

His face glowed in the sunlight as I expected. I had to catch my breath every time I looked at him. He was mine, only mine and no one else's. I couldn't help but grin. As I walked toward him, he extended both arms to pull me in, and as his arms tightly wrapped around my waist, he playfully kissed my neck.

"It's about time. I was about to send out the guards,” he joked.

I stood on my toes to get a better reach to his perfect face and gently kissed him softly on his chin. “Sorry, I'm late."

"No worries, love.” He grazed my cheek with the back of his hand. He quickly tucked his nose into my hair, breathing me in, “Mmmm, I missed that smell all day,” he whispered in my ear.

I laughed.

"I'll have to send you home with a case of my shampoo,” I suggested, laughing.

He sighed. “It won't be the same.” He picked up a strand of my hair and took a deep breath in again.

We were both startled when I was picked up from behind.

"Hey, sis. You better watch out, the folks are forty feet behind me,” he teased, putting me back down. Mike stood there with a cocky grin on his face, staring at Colin.

I gasped in shock.

"Colin, this is my little brother, Mike.” I glanced over his shoulder looking for my parents.

"It's nice to meet ya, mate.” He reached out to take his hand. Colin grinned back in my direction, like he had won the game. He would meet my family.

I rolled my eyes, “Mike what are you guys doing here?"

Mike peeked over my shoulder, “They wanted to surprise you.” He was too busy staring at the girls walking by to go any further in his explanation.

"Great!” I gasped.

Colin's fingers tried to find mine. I quickly released his hand as my parents came into view.

"Relax, Abigail. It'll be grand, you'll see,” he assured me, whispering into my ear.

I breathed in deeply again, “Hmm,” I said to myself.

I closed my eyes momentarily, letting his fingers find mine again and turned toward my approaching parents. I saw their faces, so loving, walking hand in hand like two kids in love. I also noted their reaction as they got closer, realizing my hand was snuggly wrapped in his. My dad spoke first, looking straight into Colin's eyes. There was tension in my father's eyes as his hands balled up into fists by his side.

"Abby, are you going to introduce your friend?” he asked in a tone I was not familiar with, especially the way he emphasized “friend."

I let go of Colin's firm grip.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you,” I said as I paused briefly. “This is Colin Murphy, my....boyfriend,” I said as I turned to him. I had never said the word out loud before, but he
was
my boyfriend, and I couldn't help but smile as the words left my mouth.

"Colin, these are my parents, Anne and Robert.” I looked down as I spoke softly, closed my eyes for a brief second, and waited for something. I heard Colin laughing under his breath and he looked at me with his impish grin at my reaction. He reached out to my father, but the handshake was quick and purely obligatory on my dad's part.

"Hello sir, Mrs. Hardy. It's a pleasure to meet you both. I've heard so much from Abigail. Well, I feel like I know you already.” He reached back down and grabbed my hand to give me a reassuring squeeze.

My father studied our hands clasped together. “I wish I could say the same.” He glared at Colin.

I wanted to grab Colin and hide under a rock, disappear, pretend this wasn't happening. It was obvious my dad wasn't happy.

"Daddy!” I gasped.

I couldn't believe the way my father was acting. I had never seen him like this. I guess since I hadn't brought anyone around, that would explain it.

Colin turned to me, “It's all right. I'll see you inside.” He turned back to my father, “Sir, ma'am it was a pleasure, really."

He leaned in and kissed the top of my head. I felt both sets of eyes staring at me anxiously. My brother kept himself busy, ogling every girl that crossed his path.

"Abigail, he's a little old for you, don't you think?” my mother pointed out.

I was mortified that I had not told them about him. They were my parents, and I wanted them to know that I had found him. Colin was the one. The one my mother had spoken about so many times when I was little.

I looked down at my feet. “Mom, he's only two years older than I am. He's not that old for me, really,” I answered coolly.

My father grabbed my hand. “Abby, what could you possibly have in common with that kid, or should I say, man? He's not what I would expect from you, or why you're here for the summer,” he said, letting him see his disappointment.

I felt Colin's eyes watching me, studying my emotions from behind the bar.

"Mom,” I pleaded. She looked at me, understanding in that brief moment what I needed.

She took my father's hand back in hers, “Robert, Abby's a big girl, she knows what she's doing,” she said. “Abigail, we'll talk later, after work. I expect a phone call, young lady,” she said, giving me a stern look.

She grabbed my father's hand tightly and pulled him toward the restaurant, “Let's go get some dinner, shall we?” she suggested.

I watched them walk away, right into Clancy's. I saw my father's eyes shifting toward Colin, with a look of pure disgust and a head full of questions. I followed them in, escorting them quickly to one of my tables, keeping them as far away from the front of the restaurant as possible. Once they were seated, I darted back outside. I was so ashamed of my parents’ behavior.