First Class Farewell (10 page)

For half of her life, Shelby had been seeing psychiatrists,
the first being court-appointed in Oregon. Yet a dream had been one of the most
powerful forms of therapy she’d had. A dream where a little girl had had the
courage to say what her adult self had been unable to articulate. And it was
life changing.

Stretching in the white sheets, Shelby smiled. The sunlight
poured through the window, just as the moonlight had a few hours before. The
air was crisp and her mind was clear. It almost felt as though she was on the
precipice of a new beginning…that a new chapter was starting and the pages were
all blank just waiting for her to write her own story.

What a wonderful way to start the day
, she thought as
she stood and stretched again. The possibilities were endless.

As she quickly dressed and made her way downstairs, activity
had already begun. Cynthia was cracking dozens of eggs into a huge bowl and
little feet were running everywhere. Walking to the huge island in the kitchen,
she pulled out a stool and slid next to Sophia who was sipping on some orange
juice. Pleasantries were exchanged and Janie offered her a cup of coffee, which
she accepted graciously. Taking a sip, she noticed Adam shuffle through the
glass door and fall into an arm chair just beyond the kitchen in the great
room.

“Morning, sweetheart,” Janie called. “Coffee?”

Adam grumbled his reply sending Janie to the task of filling
another cup and then refilling the coffee maker, ready for the rest of the
family who hadn’t yet descended.

“You didn’t sleep well,” she frowned as she handed the cup
to her son. “Go back to bed.”

Adam thanked her for the drink as she hurried back to help
Cynthia with the task of making breakfast. He sipped from his cup slowly.

He hadn’t slept well. Tossing and turning most of the night,
he finally got up before dawn and went for a run. Since his days of playing
baseball in college, he’d used physical exercise as a way of keeping his mind
clear and focused. This time, however, it hadn’t worked.

The thought of Shelby becoming his wife had shaken him. He’d
never thought of her as a potential partner. She’d been a friend…a
good
friend but she had rebuffed his single attempt at moving past that and he’d
respected her wishes and backed off, even though he thoroughly enjoyed her
company and used every possible excuse and reason to see her as often as he
could.

But wife? No. That thought hadn’t entered the realm of
possibility. He didn’t even know that was what he’d wanted…until last night
when it had bulldozed him.

Shelby was the perfect package. Her blonde hair and blue
eyes made her look like the girl next door, but her full lips and perfectly
rounded breasts made her a candidate for Playboy magazine. She was voluptuous,
no doubt about it. And now that the thought of her as his wife, an intimate
partner, was in his head, and he couldn’t shake himself free of its grip.

He watched her over the rim of his cup. She was bright and
happy as she chatted with Sophia and Janie in the kitchen. The image that came
to his mind made him choke on his coffee as he tried to stifle a laugh. When he
and Tyler were young, they would watch Baywatch with their dad. Barely clad
women would run along the beach, everything bouncing in perfect
synchronization. As Shelby flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, in
seemingly slow motion, that Baywatch image popped into his head and had him
wiping the spilled coffee from his chin and his shirt.

Shelby swung around to see him muttering as he wiped the
small puddle from the sofa.

“Just as well it’s leather,” he mumbled to himself.

“You okay?” Shelby asked as she came to stand right in front
of him.

Adam looked at her long longs, up over her denim shorts and
button up shirt that hung open, exposing her breasts clad in a hot pink bikini
top. Her long blonde hair fell over her shoulders and her blue eyes danced with
merriment.

“Fine.”

“Need a towel?”

“No.”

“You get up on the wrong side of the bed?”

Adam frowned. It wasn’t her fault he’d fallen hopelessly in
love with her without realizing it. “Sorry.” He attempted to smile. “I didn’t
sleep very well.”

Shelby smiled and reached for his cup. “I’ll top that off
for you,” she said and headed for the kitchen.

I’m so screwed!

*****

White puffy clouds hung in the sky and warm turquoise water
lapped the sand. It was another perfect day. Matt and Bob were setting up a
volleyball net on the beach, with lots of help.

“I wanna do it!” demanded Annie as she pried the stake from
Matt’s hands.

“NO!” Amanda wailed. “Me!”

Matt was no longer amused with his nieces. They had turned a
ten minute operation into twenty-five and they still weren’t done. “Paul?
David? You wanna come get your daughters so I can finish here?”

Paul jumped up from the fort he was building with Gregory
and ran in Annie’s direction. David, on the other hand, was fighting a battle
with Rachel who kept trying to toddle into the water.

“I’ll get her,” Adam smiled, as he leapt from his chair and
ran to rescue Matt.

Without additional help, Matt and Bob finished the set-up
quickly and Matt headed back to the house to find the volleyball. Adam sat with
Amanda on his lap and sang nursery rhymes.

“The incey wincey spider climbed up the water spout,” they
sang, Adam even doing all the actions. “Down came the rain and washed the
spider out.”

Amanda giggled at his exaggerated hand movements and Adam
laughed and tickled her until she fell off his lap onto the soft sand.

“My turn!” yelled Charlie, who’d been playing in the sand
with Gregory. He jumped onto Adam and clapped his hands. “Bob the builder CAN
WE FIX IT?” he shouted.

“Bob the builder YES WE CAN!” Adam continued.

Joseph hurried over to the chair and stood next to Adam as
he sang. Annie ran over and stood next to him and then joined in.

“Bob and the gang have so much fun, working together they
get the job done,” Adam sang out with gusto. “Okay, all together now,” he
yelled, with squeals coming from the kids.

“Bob the builder CAN WE FIX IT? Bob the builder YES WE CAN!”
They all sang out.

“Yay!” Adam clapped. “You guys are great singers.” And one
by one they left to go back to what they’d been doing, playing in the sand.

“I didn’t know
you
were such a great singer,” Shelby
chuckled as she climbed into the chaise next to him. “How do you know all the
lyrics?”

“I’m a pediatrician,” he laughed. “I
have
to know my
stuff. It’s part of the job requirement.”

“So do you watch Nickelodeon on the weekends,” she grinned.

“Yes,” he nodded. “It’s how I relax and unwind.”

Shelby laughed.

“Actually, we have a TV in the waiting room and Bob the
Builder is a favorite among the crowd I hang with,” he smiled. “I have been
known to dream about Bob and Scoop, you know.”

“Oooh, how very erotic,” she winked.

“Ha ha,” he smirked.

“I think it’s great, actually,” she smiled. “You must be a
very good doctor.”

“I’d like to think so. Ella and Christopher haven’t
complained
too
much about me.”

“Are you talking about me?” Christopher yelled from a few
yards away.

“Yes,” Adam yelled back. “About how you cried like a baby
when you had your shots.”

“I did not cry at all!” Christopher rebuked. “Not one tear.”

“Just kidding ya, bud,” Adam chuckled. “You were very
stoic.”

“I was,” he nodded with a serious expression. “What’s
stoic?”

Adam and Shelby laughed and Christopher turned his attention
back to the action figures he was burying up to their necks.

Shelby leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes, a smile
on her lips. Adam watched her from the corner of his eye. He watched her
breasts move up and then down with each breath she took. As she relaxed, her
lips parted slightly and Adam couldn’t tear his gaze away. For several minutes
he focused on her…on her lips…her breasts…her hands placed innocently over her
stomach. The thoughts that ran through his head were as far from Bob the
Builder as a man could get.

Yep! I’m royally screwed
, he thought.

*****

Shelby had opened her eyes with a start. Not knowing where
she was, she sat up and looked around.
On the beach…I remember.
Adam was
no longer beside her. He was running on the sand trying to hit the volleyball.
Diving with one arm extended, he missed. Cheers erupted on the other side of
the net.

“Match point!” yelled Mark. “Come on you pansies. Put up a
fight,” he tormented his opponents.

Adam stood, brushing the sand from his chest and stomped
back to his brother. They were playing two on two. Adam and Tyler against Mark
and Paul. It wasn’t even close.

Paul served and Tyler got his hand under the ball, shooting
it into the air. Adam timed his jump perfectly and smacked it over the
net…right into Paul’s hands. The ball came down at Adam’s feet.

“Oh, yeah,” Paul chest bumped his brother. “Unstoppable!”

Shelby watched with amusement. The family was tight but when
it came to friendly competition, it wasn’t
friendly
at all. Adam and
Tyler looked dejected. They were younger and faster than Paul and Mark, but had
still lost…badly. Being the good sports that they were, the four men fist
bumped each other and headed for the bucket of ice that held cold beers Beth
had just delivered from the house. The men collapsed in the shade with a bottle
and rested briefly before Paul rescued Nic from a very tired three year old.

Adam emptied his bottle and then stood and turned to Shelby.
“Wanna go for a walk?”

“Sure,” she replied. Lowering her sunglasses to the bridge
of her nose, she stood and followed Adam down to the hard wet sand then fell in
alongside.

They walked for a while in companionable silence. Adam
kicked at the water lapping at his toes and stared off out at the sea.

“It’s so beautiful here. Almost makes you want to not go
back, huh?” she sighed.

“Sadly, I’d run out of money very quickly,” Adam chuckled.
“And really. How long can you live in paradise before you get bored?”

“Bored?” Shelby was shocked. “I feel like I haven’t had
eight hours of continuous sleep in years. It feels so good to crawl into bed
and stay there without the alarm going off, or my cell phone or pager. I think
I could crawl into bed and stay there for a few days.”

“And then?” Adam grinned. “Once you’d caught up on your
sleep you’d get bored.”

Shelby shrugged, but grinned. Adam waded into the water past
his knees. “Wanna swim?”

She shrugged off the shirt she wore and unbuttoned her
shorts, once again hesitation as she exposed her scar to the world. Adam noted
the slight pause but ignored it and waded further into the calm water. He stood
and waited for her to join him as the water lapped gently at his waist. He
heard her behind him and as he turned a wall of water crashed across his face.
Shelby erupted in laughter as Adam wiped the water from his eyes. “You’re
mine,” he growled.

“ARGH!” she shrieked as he dove for her. Flinging herself to
the side, she swam as quickly as her arms could paddle but he was too agile and
dove underneath her.

Grabbing her waist Adam tugged and pulled her backwards as
she squealed with laughter and under the water she went. As they both came up
for air, they found themselves with barely any space between them and when
Shelby lifted her arms to wipe the hair clinging to her cheek, her breasts
grazed across his chest.

He gasped. She noticed…and froze.

“I can help you,” he offered in almost a whisper, and
cautiously…carefully…gently pushed the strand of hair from her face. He leaned
in and placed a sweet kiss where her hair had been. As he pulled back, Shelby
closed her eyes and licked her lips.

For such an innocent and unconscious act, it sent lightning
bolts through Adam’s body, his awareness of her body so close creating tension
where tension shouldn’t be. Falling backwards, he put some distance between
them and laughed. “I
always
win a water fight.”

*****

On the balcony of the house sat Janie and Katy, each nursing
a Piña Colada and relaxing.

“Did you see that?” Katy shot up from her chair.

“I did,” Janie replied.

“Well, it’s about flippin’ time!” Katy turned to Janie and
smiled.

“Do you think there’s something going on?”

“I don’t know but I sure hope so.”

The two women watched as Adam fell backwards into the water
and swam back to the shore. He and Shelby were laughing and obviously enjoying
each other’s company.

“I’ve wanted her to meet someone who would be kind and
understanding,” Katy said. “I never thought she would see what was right in
front of her the whole time.”

“Well, we don’t know what this is…yet,” replied Janie.

“No,” Katy agreed. “But it doesn’t mean that we can’t help
define it.”

“Remember how much you liked Maureen
helping
you and
Mark,” Janie chuckled.

“Oh, that was different.”

“How?” Janie asked.

“Well, we were already together…already madly in love with
each other and we both knew we were committed to the relationship. This,” she
pointed down to Adam and Shelby on the beach, “is obviously still in the
exploratory stages. And besides, we aren’t anything like Maureen!”

“Oh, yes?” Janie grinned.

Katy snorted and ignored her friend. “You can tell by their
body language. They haven’t slept together. They’re very awkward around each
other.”

“You seem to be able to tell an awful lot by one little
kiss,” Janie chuckled.

“I know Shelby. She’d going to need some prodding…some
encouragement.”