JL Merrow [Merrow - All at Sea

All at Sea

By JL Merrow

Published by JMS Books LLC

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Copyright 2019 JL Merrow

ISBN 9781646560820

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the authors imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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All at Sea

By JL Merrow

I knew before we got there it was going to be the worst holiday of my life.

It was 1993 and I was eighteen years old, having just left school. I wasnt bad lookingmaybe a little on the skinny side, but hey, Id been taking exams. I hadnt had time to do a lot of push-ups and stuff. Anyway, skinny was in back then. Come to think of it, skinnys always in. Anyway, I didnt have a face full of zits, and I knew where to get a decent haircut and how to dress cool on sod all money. I should have been living it up in Ibiza, drinking all night and sleeping it off on the beach all day. Not building sandcastles with my little sisters on the Isle of Bloody Wight.

But I couldnt have left Mum on her own with them. She was still reeling from finding out Dad had been having a midlife crisisand more to the point, that hed been having it with, among others: the new girl at the office; the sexy single mum over the road; and the nice lady whod come round canvassing for the council elections. Mum wasnt the only one reeling. I hadnt spoken to the bastard since the day hed run off to shack up with Ms Tory Canvasser.

So here I was staying in a cramped bed and breakfast in Sandown, Isle of Wight with my mum and a couple of giggling little girls, minus all my mates and any chance whatsoever of getting lucky this holiday. At least, thats what I thought at the time.

I hadnt reckoned with the trip to the boating lake.

Laurie and Sarah had been begging for a go on the boats ever since wed got here, so when we got up that morning and the weather had turned a bit too grey to make the beach inviting, Mum finally said yes. The lake was just across the road from the beach, and we walked down there along the sea front. Mum promenaded along the walkway at the top of the sea wall, while I raced the girls across the sand below, climbing the steps over the breakwaters as we came to them and then hurtling down the other side. Until they wore me out, those two, and I went and joined Mum while they carried on shrieking like seagulls down below us.

Mum was smiling for the first time in ages. Look at those two, she said. Who needs Euro Disney?

Thats where Dad had promised to take us, just the week before he left and all bets were off. Did I mention he was a bastard?

The boating lake was set between the kiddies playground wed gone to yesterday and a mini golf course wed probably get to by the end of the week if the weather didnt improve. The boats for hire, a mix of paddle boats and rowing boats, were all lined up along one side of the lake, next to a little hut where they took the money. And when I say they , I mean he . God, he was gorgeous. Talltaller than meand lean, not skinny, with short dark hair that fluffed up on top and rippled in the breeze that was blowing in off the sea.

He had a voice like maple syrup on pancakes, which he was using to full effect to drum up trade. Roll up, roll up! Get your top-of-the range self-powered floating conveyances here!

Laurie giggled and tugged on my sleeve. Josh, whys he saying that?

He means we can hire a paddle boat here, I said with only about one percent of my attention on my little sister and the rest firmly fixed on the vision standing by the boathouse. He turned and smiled as he saw me staring. I was vanilla ice cream melting under the hot chocolate fudge sauce of his gaze.

This way, please, ladies and gent! Now, if I can just remind you: swimming in the lake is strictly prohibited, as is attempting to drown younger or older siblings, no matter how much they may be asking for it. He winked at me as he said that, and I almost fell in the water.

Mum decided shed feel more secure in a wide-bellied paddle boat, and the boat bloke and I held it steady while Mum and the kids climbed in. I wished I had the nerve to smile at him, maybe see if he was really interested or just messing about, but my gaze wouldnt seem to shift from the bottom of the boat.

God knows why, but Laurie and Sarah loved that boat. They sat one on each side, turning the little handles as fast as they could, each trying to beat the other and make the boat go around in circles. I had plenty of time to lean back and gaze idly at the shore, hoping like hell my knock-off Ray-bans hid the fact I was ogling the boat bloke like crazy.

The sun had come out, and I guessed pulling in boats must be hot work, as hed taken off his shirt. His sculptured, hairless chest was as deeply tanned as his arms and face. He was perfect. Every so often wed swing near the boathouse, and Id hear snatches of his tireless sales pitchand laughter from the punters he was gently ribbing.

It didnt seem like five minutes before that amazing voice rolled out over the water. Number thirty-seven, your time is up. Come in, please, number thirty-seven, or Ill be forced to deploy the torpedoes.

We paddled back to the side to a chorus of That wasnt nearly long enough, and Can we go again, please? I came to a snap decision. Yeah, all right. Ill pay. I ducked away from Mums look of surprise and got out a couple of hard-earned pound coins from my Saturday job at HMV. Think Ill sit this one out, though.

The girls were all, Oh, Josh! Come on! but Mum just gave me a funny lookhalf knowing, and half worriedand shushed them as the boatman pulled us into the side.

Ladies and gentleman, if you would care to disembark this way? He held out one broad, tanned hand.

I took a deep breath. Just me getting off, if thats all right. Ill pay you for them to have another half hour. His hand didnt waver, so I took it, my skin tingling at the contact as he pulled me smoothly out of the boat and onto the shore. Thanks, mate, I said, hoping it didnt sound as breathless as I felt. I helped him push the boat back outnot that he needed my helppaid him, then sat down on the ground by the side of the lake, not far from his hut.

Now all I had to do was think of somethinganythingto say to my idol that wouldnt make me look like a total prat.

Ten minutes later I was still coming up blank. I jumped a mile when the idol in question dropped down lightly to sit beside me. Too much excitement for one day already?

I managed a grin. Something like that.

Well, at least it wasnt sea-sickness, then. Im Rupe, by the way. Short for Rupert.

You poor sod! I blurted out without thinking, then clapped my hands to my mouth as if I could stuff the words back in. Shit. Sorry.