Adrift

milk chocolate truffles rolled in powdered cocoa. A large thermos held hot salted caramel cocoa for after the champagne ran out.

  They laughed and fed each other decadent delights while they caught up with the events of the past few days.

  Later, they snuggled close to each other and watched the fog roll in toward the village.

  Sarah looked up into Daniel’s eyes and smiled happily, “It’s getting late, would you like to spend the night with me?”

  Daniel looked down into her hopeful face and leaned in for a gentle kiss. Her lips opened beneath his and his tongue darted in for a taste. Heather groaned and moved closer to him pressing more of her body onto his. His hands moved up her back and tangled into her hair holding her still so that he could control her mouth.

  He moaned into her mouth and laid her back on the blanket covering her with his body. Heather could feel how hard he was and she squirmed trying to rub his hardness against the spot where she ached the most.

  Daniel let out a growl of lust and began to lay gentle bites down the side of her neck and onto the upper mounds of her breasts. His hands slid under her blouse and under her bra to gently caress her nipples. She arched against him offering herself to him without reservation.

  “Please love me,” she whispered and then froze waiting to see if he had caught what she had said.

  “Oh yes, I’ll make love to you.”

  She relaxed and let his mouth and hands build the tension in her body until she was ready to beg for release.

  “Please,” was all she could manage to say, Daniel smiled and reached down to open his pants so that he could grant her request when suddenly there came a loud bang.

  They both jumped but Daniel moved to defend Heather. They stared at each other in confusion.

  “What was that?” Heather whispered.

  “It sounded like it came from inside the cottage.”

  “The wind?” Heather asked.

  Daniel shook his head and looked around the yard, “It’s been calm all night.”

  “Do you think someone is in the cottage?”

  “Can’t be, I locked everything up. Unless someone broke in.” Daniel stood up and started straightening his clothes.

  “Daniel, you can’t go in there?” Heather whispered urgently.

  “I’m not going to let someone vandalize the cottage.”

  “Then call the police.”

  “No, they won’t get here soon enough. I’m sure it’s probably just some taggers or bratty kids. Stay here and I’ll be right back.” Daniel picked up a flash light and headed into the cottage.

  Heather hugged her knees and kept her eyes focused on the cottage, praying quietly under her breath that Daniel would return safely. She felt like a coward sitting outside while Daniel bravely checked for trespassers, but she couldn’t work up the courage to approach the cottage.

  As she watched, she saw a form in one of the upstairs windows and she figured that it must be Daniel checking on her, but then Daniel was stepping out of the front door and locking it behind him. The figure in the window didn’t move and suddenly Heather felt cold.

  The fog rose around her and she stood up in fear. The fog was so thick that she could no longer see Daniel, the cottage or anything else. It felt like the cold fog was sucking all warmth from her body.

  Daniel’s voice drifted over the fog, “Heather?” The direction of the voice surprised Heather, but she figured that she must have become disoriented, she moved toward the voice.

  “Daniel?”

  “Right here Heather, just follow my voice.” She kept moving slowly toward his voice wondering why she couldn’t see his flashlight.

  Daniel’s voice reassured her, “I can see you, keep coming.” The crashing of the waves was loud and she wondered if the fog made it easier for sound to carry.

  “Daniel?” she called again.

  “Heather?” Daniel’s voice came from somewhere behind her and Heather froze in confusion.

  “Heather keep coming I’m right here,” Daniel’s voice urged from the fog in front of her.

  “Daniel?” Heather asked tentatively.

  “Heather! Don’t move!” A beam of light cut through the fog and hit Heather’s face.

  “Daniel?” she asked.

  “Yes hon, don’t move, I’m coming to get you.” Confused Heather stayed where she was until Daniel’s arms encircled her and he drug her backward. He hugged her close and said into her hair, “Oh my god Heather why didn’t you wait for me to come get you?”

  “But you called me.”

  “Yeah, but not until I reached the blanket and you were gone.”

  “No, you called me and I was following your voice.”

  “Heather did you see how close you were to the cliffs? They’re not stable, you’ve got to stay away from the edge or they’ll crumble.” Heather was confused and shocked. She had no idea that she had been that close to the edge of the cliffs.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “In the future be more careful, okay?

  Heather nodded her head because there didn’t seem to be anything else that she could do.

  “Let me repack our hamper and we’ll go get warm okay?” Heather watched Daniel in stunned silence as he picked up their mess and then hand and in hand, they headed for the car. Heather glanced up at the cottage but the windows were dark and empty.

  Sitting in the car with the heater blasting Heather remembered to ask Daniel what he had found in the cottage.

  “Nothing, it was as empty as I’d left it. But that damn swollen door was shut again, so maybe you were right about the wind.”

  When they reached Heather’s apartment, Daniel kept the car idling, uncertain what Heather wanted to do next.

  “We never did get to the cocoa; why don’t you bring it upstairs and we’ll share a couple of cups. Maybe that will warm me up.”

  Daniel smiled, relieved that Heather wanted him to come upstairs. “Sounds good.”

  Upstairs, Heather poured the cocoa into a couple of mugs and zapped them in the microwave. She and Daniel snuggled down on the couch and sipped their cocoa in comfortable silence, but Heather couldn’t stop shaking.

  “I can’t seem to get warm,” Heather said. “I think I’ll take a hot shower.”

  “Okay,” Daniel said as he got up and started to clear away the dishes, “I’ll swing by the café tomorrow and see how you’re doing.”

  “If you do that, then who will wash my back?” Heather asked.

  A grin spread slowly across Daniel’s face, “Well we can’t have you going to bed with a dirty back.”

  “No sir,” Heather said as she smiled and took Daniel’s hand to lead him into the bathroom.

  Heather was very warm by the time she and Daniel finished sharing a shower. When they crawled into bed together, Heather was satisfied, warm and drowsy.

  Daniel gathered Heather into his arms and she drifted off to sleep.

  Daniel opened his eyes and pulled Heather a little closer before he realized that the room was filled with daylight. Ah crap, he thought, but then he shrugged and began to place kisses on Heather’s face.

  Her eyes opened and she smiled up at him.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “Good morning,” she replied, but then her eyes widened, “Morning?” She sat up and looked at her alarm clock.

  Daniel shrugged, “Sorry, I meant to leave before dawn but you felt so good in my arms that I fell asleep.”

  Heather looked at Daniel and wondered how a woman could ever be angry at such a silver-tongued devil.

  “Well, let me make you breakfast and then you can try and sneak away unseen.”

  Making Daniel breakfast and sitting across the table from him felt so right. Heather could see them doing this for years to come and that thought made her a little melancholy.

  After breakfast, Heather kissed Daniel goodbye and he made a big production out of sneaking out of her apartment and down her stairs, making her laugh.

&nb
sp; 21

  The “name the new drink” contest was ending Saturday night, so Heather knew that the Junction would be extra busy over the next couple of days.

  Heather worked the register and her mood was light and happy, which she attributed to her wonderful evening with Daniel. She thought her good mood was rubbing off on the customers because they returned her smiles with big smiles of their own, but as the day wore on the customers began to add winks to their smiles. Each time they winked, Jennifer would chuckle quietly, but when Heather looked at her for an explanation, she would just smile and shrug her shoulders.

  Late in the afternoon, Heather looked up to see that Mrs. Beck, the owner of the local candle shop, had come in to cast her vote for the new drink name. She took Mrs. Beck’s order and as she was handing her a voting token Mrs. Beck grasped her hands and leaned forward smiling sweetly.

  “I’m so glad you and Daniel made up. He seems like such a nice man,” then she pulled Heather closer and whispered in her ear, “but next time you might want to make sure he leaves before dawn.”

  Patting Heather’s hand, Mrs. Beck headed off to cast her vote for Spicy Scuttlebutt.

  Heather looked at Jennifer who laughed and shrugged her shoulders yet again.

  The village was abuzz about the proposed lighthouse renovation. The council members were inundated with requests to see copies of Daniel’s proposal and when villagers asked Daniel for additional details, he gladly shared them. Both Sarah and Daniel encouraged everyone to attend the next council meeting and to voice their opinion about the project.

  The next couple of days passed in a comfortable rhythm. Heather worked at Java Junction during the day and spent her evenings with Daniel. They chatted about