Shadows in the Dark

Chapter 11

Wendy just wanted to go back to England and every day she woke she was one day closer to her goal. Even going home a failure would be better than being here where no one cared about her. That wasn't true, since Rick and Alice were kind. Todd and his niece Lynn were nice too, even Dr. Will cared when he looked at her ankle. Unfortunately, when the good doctor came to help her, he was included in the web of lies being spun about her.

The pain of Harry's betrayal kept her on edge all the time. It didn't help there were constant rumors about her spreading like a bride on her wedding night. She kept telling herself, they were just jealous, but it still hurt her feelings.

Wendy was thankful for the weekly tourists, because they were not part of the grapevine. Her only real friend was Andrew, who talked to her whenever he brought in his daily catch.

It was a joke, because every day she would say the same thing. "How was the sea? Did you see any mermaids?"

The first time, he was flustered and tried to explain lobstering took place close to shore not in the deep waters. "No such things as mermaids, at least not in Maine. Water's too cold for just a bikini top."

Wendy laughed thinking he was a rather simple man. She would tease him a bit about finding himself a mermaid. She embarrassed him, but then they'd talk about the weather or other things amounting to nothing. She thought of him as a friend, even though they had very little in common.

Todd's niece Lynn, who also worked at the market was nice to Wendy. At seventeen, Lynn knew the teenagers' gossip, including Todd's daughter and her boyfriend shagging. Wendy wasn't sure why the people were judging her when their own kids were up to no good.

Actually, she liked the boyfriend, Drew. She worked with him at The Landing. She didn't call him Andrew, because she saved it for her friend, the lobsterman. He complained a lot about his father, who planned for Drew to be a lawyer, but he wanted to go to California and work in Hollywood.

"Not as an actor. I want to work behind the scenes where the real magic happens."

Wendy didn't know anything about how movies were made but Drew should do what he had a passion for - like his girlfriend who he was already doing.

Wendy liked spending the summer at the beach, if only her circumstances were different. Maine was different from when she went to the sea on holidays back home. Still, it was nothing like their honeymoon in the Canary Islands. Don't think about it, she yelled at herself inside her head.

She was angry all the time. When she wasn't angry with Harry, she was angry with herself. She trusted him and naïvely moved with him to a new country thinking everything would be better. She must have been lured by Hollywood images, because she expected America to be different. Portland was like any seaport city in England. They lived in a flat much like they could have found in London. When she was with Harry, she didn't have any friends except Mark, but even he was really Harry's mate. The men liked to drink beer together. Mark always had a new girl, but they never stayed around long enough for Wendy to become friends. She once overheard him tell Harry, he wanted to find a girl he could love like Harry loved Wendy. She was bloody stupid to believe him. Mark believed it and so after he helped her when she left Harry, she stopped answering the phone when he rang. She didn't want to listen to him telling her how great Harry was.

All heads turned as Wendy walked down the beach towards the water. She was dressed in a t-shirt and Bermuda shorts, in fact, she started dressing conservative every day since the rumors of her and Dr. Drake started. Only two heads didn't turn her way, Will wanted to see how she was walking on that ankle, but he didn't dare and Nora had her eye on Will proving she didn't trust him one-hundred percent.

Melissa didn't comment, since her only company was the Drakes and there was nothing she could say. What she wanted to say was she felt sorry for her. When she looked her way Melissa only saw sadness and a hint of anger. Perhaps Melissa was seeing what she felt herself and imagined it to be the same for the English girl.

Melissa took Maribelle and Davis back to her house and made dinner for the three children. She knew Mason wouldn't mind she fed them. After his visit the night before, she didn't think he would mind much of anything she did. The memory of his soft warning made her heart race. She wondered what he meant by 'I'm going to do more than just kiss you'. Did he want to make love to her? Her body shivered at the thought. How could she shiver on such a warm day? Her hairline was damp from the short walk from the beach, as was her shirt under her breasts. She was certain she looked a fright and quickly retreated to her room to freshen up. She didn't want Mason to see her looking that way.

The minute she thought about looking nice for Mason, she felt guilty, because Mason wasn't her husband. Her husband chose not to be with her over the weekend. She knew what he was up to, but he didn't know what she'd been doing. She and Mason had only kissed, but she was afraid it was as Mason had indicated, just a matter of time. Melissa snapped out of her daydream when she heard a dog barking.

Mason passed Mary walking Fitz on Shore Drive. "Hello, Mary. You look lovely in blue." He smiled and winked, as he stepped off the street into Melissa's backyard. It was the same route he had taken the night before. The difference was it was still daylight and his children were playing in the yard.

"Hello my little sea urchins. You're barefoot, don't you have shoes?"

Maribelle laughed. "Daddy, are you being silly?"

"Yes, very silly." He agreed and failed to think of anything else to say, when he looked and saw Melissa standing in the door watching him.

Slowly he walked to the door and wordlessly she pushed it open to let him in. His body brushed hers, as he walked through the narrow passage.

Neither spoke until they both started to at once. She said, "I..." While he began, "How...?"

Both laughing nervously, he motioned for her to go ahead. She started again. "I fed them. You don't mind do you?"

"No, thank you. I was going to ask how they were? Did they behave?"

"They always do"

Mason had slowly moved while they spoke and cornered Melissa against the counter. The screams of the children in the backyard told him they were having too much fun to come near the house. Children knew there was a window of time, they needed to stay away or they may be forced to stay inside. For the younger ones, it happened right at dusk. They knew, as long as, he was inside, he wouldn't dragging them home for a bath and perhaps some television before bed.

"You look beautiful."

He stood not quite touching her. Only she could look so fresh on a hot day. She smelled like vanilla and something else unique to her. It was a scent he could recognize blindfolded. He reached out and lightly touched his fingers down her bare arm, when he reached her hand he intertwined his fingers with hers. Hearing the children's laughter, he pulled her against his body. Feeling her curves stirred his loins.

Her words were breathy. "We can't."

She pulled away, so abruptly he could still feel her body heat. "If I can sneak out later." He stated without forming a question.

"Your kids."

"Will be fine if Lucy is home." He wouldn't leave them in the middle of the night in Atlanta, but everything was different here. The way of life was the same, as it had been when he was a boy. Just like nobody locked their doors, no one worried.

She looked into his eye and he was lost in her blue orbs. "The door will be unlocked."

It was an invitation to come right in. He nodded. "I need to get them home. They'll need a long soak to get clean."

Melissa watched as he gathered up his children. "Come on, time for your bath."