Love Revealed: A BWWM Sweet Romance Novel (3 page)

"You know I think we need to find a name for this little guy, maybe something gender neutral?"

"How about Jamie, or Pat?" Guy was laughing as he imagined calling the seal Pat.

"I think Pat is a great seal name. We have never have one at the centre before. How do you feel about it Pat?" Darla asked the seal.

The seal looked at her and raised its head and squeaked.

"I'll take that as a yes." They both laughed and then gave Pat another fish.
 

The wind was worsening. Darla asked Guy should they close the storm shutters.
 

"Storm shutters! Damn it." He ran outside and Darla could hear him closing all the storm shutters. She ran upstairs and realised the upstairs windows opened into the room so she closed the shutters from the inside.
 

"Phew," Guy said, "I think I got them just in time, it's really taking off out there."

"I got the upstairs shutters."

"Thanks. We would have glass everywhere if it wasn't for you, maybe we should try and think of other.. THE BOATS!"

"Oh man, the boats, should we have taken them in? Or tied them tighter?" Darla asked.

"My dad would haul up our small boat in the old days, but both of ours are much bigger and with heavier engines. It was easy enough for me to haul it out of the boat shed, but it would take too long to set up the pulley system to bring them in. We'll just have to hope for the best."

"Do you mind if I take off my shoes? I feel out of place sitting here in my big work boots."

"Of course, hey, there might be some clothes from my sister up in your room, if you want to change into something more comfortable to...Oh man I can't believe I said that." Guy blushed.

Darla blushed too and laughed. "Well, that would also be great. I'll go check out the closet?"

"Yeah, there's a big double closet and maybe some boxes under the bed too."

Darla went upstairs, she admired the family photos on the walls, showing kids, guessing which one was Guy and then his siblings, having fun, fishing, sailing, doing the dishes. It all looked so happy and carefree. The kind of life she had had, without the summer island, but the kind of life she wished she could provide for her daughter. She felt a lot of guilt working so much, especially as the summer was their busy season, but she always hoped that her daughter would join her on the job as she got older and more proficient at swimming and would learn to sail. It could be a great bonding experience.
 

She looked through the closet and under the bed. In the closet there were some old board games and bed linens and under the bed was a plastic storage box filled with clothes. She took them out and went through the items. Mostly summer island clothes, some strappy dresses, bathing suits, shorts, but luckily for Darla, a pair of tracksuit pants and a couple of T-shirts that she guessed were used as nightwear. She gave them a shaking out and then changed into them. She was lucky that she had lost a couple of pounds in the last few months as she started walking more instead of relying on her car. She did it for her health, mostly she wanted to be around for her kid and she knew that diabetes was in her family and had seen what it had done both diagnosed and undiagnosed to various relatives. Of course while the health aspect was good, it also made her feel good to be down a dress size. She still had a shapely bottom half, but she was happy with how she looked now and unless the doctor told her it was deathly, she was happy to stay that way. Also, since Guy himself was looking a little pudgy around the middle, she didn't feel too self conscious about walking downstairs to a complete stranger in some sloppy clothes. Her mother had always said, "It's about the confidence and the aura you give off Darla. In the end the right person will choose you for the whole package, not just the wrapping."
 

Guy looked up out of the side of his eyes as he heard Darla coming down the stairs.
 

"I found some board games up in the closet. They look pretty old, I bet you guys had a tonne of fun here back in the day."

"Oh man, those board games. They were the thing my parents always pulled out when things were getting a little cabin crazy and everyone was picking at one another, they felt, as my dad later told me as an adult, that having us play competitive games against each other that it was a safe way of letting us get our anger out, and forgetting whatever the hell we were bitching and moaning about."

"And did it work?"

"Sure, we would fight about the rules of the game, but dad always laid out the rules on paper at the start of each summer season, so we just had to look them up to see that we had all agreed to the rules and nobody could complain over that. Most of the times the games would devolve into laughter and messing around. My dad had a great sense of humour and hated to see us kids fighting, so he would just pull our legs all the time, till we were ganging up on him and mom. It was fun mostly."

"They sound like good parents."

"Yeh they were. I miss them a lot. Especially now that I'm here alone, for the first time since they are both gone."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Has it been long since they passed?"

"My dad was a year ago and mom was a year before that. That’s kind of why I was having trouble using their room, it's silly I know, but nobody has been in there since they were last here three years ago. It just feels too soon."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. I completely understand. My father is gone five years now, heart attack. My mom is at now and is still as sprightly as ever. She comes over and helps out with my daughter when I'm working and my sis is busy. She loves her grandkids. When my father died, it was so difficult to go through his belongings and sort out what was being given to family and what was being given away. It ended up being joyous though, in a weird way, my sisters and my brothers and I bonded again after what felt like years. We hadn't lost touch or anything, but it felt like being back as kids again, looking through all the old photo albums, finding out things about our family history we didn't know. You'll get to that point I'm sure. Maybe you could ask one of your siblings to come over and help you sort out the room?"

"My brother said they would probably visit with his family this summer at some point. My sister is married to an army man, so they live on base in the South at the moment and I don't think fancy being stuck on a tiny island with their extended families as a break away from the base."

"Oh yeah, I can understand that,” she smiled.
 

They decided to make some soup and coffee while the electricity was still on. Darla lit the fire while Guy was in the kitchen. Little Pat seemed to have gone asleep, it was off to the side of the fireplace now and she could hear it just breathing very low. Walking into the kitchen she asked if she could help. Guy asked her to gather the cups and cutlery. She went looking through the cupboards and found them.
 

"Do you have sugar?"

"It should be in the pantry back there, I brought over a huge bag. You can pour some into that sugar container."
 

Darla did that and spotted some Fig Newtons while she was in there.
 

"Hey, there are some Fig Newtons in here, is it okay to take them in too?" she was peering around the corner of the pantry doorway and making what she hoped was a cute face, like the kind her daughter makes when she wants some candy.

Guy laughed and said, "Of course, take anything else in there that strikes your fancy. We are pretty stocked on cookies and tinned soup around here, oh and coffee beans too."

"Well, thats good, because you would hate me without my morning coffee."

"Oh, me too. I don't feel alive until I've had my first cup."

They both laughed and Guy filled up their bowls with the chicken soup and poured out the coffee.

They sat at the coffee table in the living room and ate in silence. Listening to the wind roaring around the cabin and the waves crashing against the beach, they could also hear the boats banging against the dock, not too badly they both hoped. Darla had finished her soup and opened the packet of Fig Newtons, taking one and dipping it into her coffee.

"What are you doing?" Guy asked laughing in shock at her.

"What? You don't do this?"

"Eh, no! Maybe with a chocolate covered cookie or something with chocolate in it, but a fig newton? That is just bizarre."

"No way! This makes the fig bit all rich and flavourful and the cookie bit all soft," she said rolling her eyes in pleasure as she bit into the soggy cookie, "mmmsoogooood." she said with her mouth full.

Guy couldn't help himself and laughed so hard coffee almost came out his nose, she was so damn cute.

"Okay, you have to try this. Just dip half it in, for two dunks only. Anymore and you've got cookie coffee and thats just gross."

"Okay then, but I hold you responsible for any gagging I do."

Guy gripped the Fig Newton and dunked twice.
 

"Now quickly bite the soggy bit, it's not nice when it gets cold."

"Now you tell me." He bit off the coffee bit and ate it. Damn, she was right, way better than the original.

"Sooo, tell me. Whad'ya think? Are you a dunk convert or what?"

"You were right, that was a way better way to eat it. How did you discover that?"

"Well, a lot of time drinking coffee and eating fig newtons, working at the front desk at a shipping company in my early twenties."
 

As they sat there enjoying the figgy goodness, a huge gust of wind arrived and whacked the cabin from the north side, shaking the place. Then immediately after, the lights went out. Guy grabbed the flashlight he had stowed on the sofa beside him and turned it on. Okay, he thought, why isn't the generator kicking in.
 

"I think I should go out and see why the generator didn't kick in, heres a torch for you."

"Do you think you should go out, the weather is just getting crazier out there!"

"Well, if we want to have any heat in the house we need the generator working. I don't know what happened, the oil was all connected… I think. It's been a while since I had to fiddle about with that old thing."

"Look, we have the fire. As you said, the gas is connected to the stove, so we have that if we feel peckish during the night. I am fine sleeping here on the sofa and you on the chairs in front of the fire if it means you not going out into a huge storm."

"Hmm, well when you put it like that,” he winked at her, although it was so dark, she probably didn't notice.

"Okay, well if we are having a slumber party in the living room, lets go and gather our pillows and duvets. I'll grab my stuff and you go grab what you need from the girls room."

They each went their ways, treading carefully up the torch lit stairs. Guy changed into his nightclothes. Some old track pants a T-shirt and a huge sweatshirt with a hood. He grabbed his pillow and duvet and an old crocheted blanket that his grandma had made many, many years ago.
 

Darla took her bedclothes and also grabbed some kind of woollen blanket. They both emerged at the same time and walked even more carefully down the stairs laden down with their beds for the night.
 

"Okay, so you take the sofa and I'll push the two arm chairs together closer to the fire. Hey, what about Pat? Do you think she needs any blankets?” Guy said.

"Nah, I think she'll be fine. Seals have an amazing fur, she may even be too hot sitting right by the fire, which is why she probably moved away a little."

"Okay my bed is made. Are we going to sleep now? I'm not tired after all that coffee. What time is it even?"

"It's ten thirty. I'm not sleepy either. Maybe we could play a board game? Or try the radio?"

"Okay, lets try the radio first then a board game."

They tried the radio, but all they got was static. Guy thought, wouldn't it be a great idea if they made popcorn to have while they played their board game. He had a couple of those pop in the pan packs. Darla admitted it had been a very long time since she had made one of those and it had always reminded her of her cousins and staying over in their house. It was always their Saturday evening treat with a rented movie. Guy loved popcorn too. It was a tradition for board games in the cabin, usually their mother would make up two packs and they would munch away all evening, and as he said the games could go on for a while, sometimes even another game would be started after one team refused to believe they had lost, usually his father.
 

They took all the things off the coffee table and set up the game. They decided on a game of checkers, easy enough for a first night of gaming together. They both sat on the sofa, each under their own duvet with a bowl of popcorn and a whisky each. Darla had added some melted butter along with her salt on her popcorn and to her disgust, Guy had added some grated cheese.
 

"I still can't believe you are eating cheese on your popcorn Guy."

"Hey, this coming from the woman who dunks strange cookies in her coffee."

"You liked that though. Cheese on popcorn is just gross and you know it."

"It’s savoury just like butter. Go on try some, I swear you'll like it,” he said waving the bowl in front of her.
 

"Ok, I suppose it's only fair, but if I barf you have to clean it up,” she laughed.

She took a small handful and ate it with mock disgust on her face. Guy could see her face change from irritation to wonder to what looked almost like satisfaction.

"So, do they pass the test?"

"It was okay."

"Admit it, you liked it!"

"Yeah, it was pretty good,” she laughed.
 

"Okay, well next batch you have to try all cheese then."

They tossed for colours and Guy got black. While they were playing Darla noticed the seal was ever so slowly inching it's way over to them.
 

"Guy", she whispered.

"Yep"

"Look at Pat."