Chapter 3b

Part 2

Sunday

Alan stirred. The room was illuminated by the rays of the early morning sun.

"Keep your eyes closed for a minute!" he heard Sarah say and he dutifully obeyed her command. "—Okay, you can open them now."

Sarah was standing near the bed and she was wearing one of what Alan assumed was one of Ellen's winter nightdresses. It covered practically all of her body from her lower neck to her feet; including her arms down to her wrists. She did a little twirl and the material ballooned out slightly.

"Well!" she asked, "Am I turning you on?" Alan was awake enough to laugh quietly.

"Oh, yeah, it does it for me, Baby!" he said, playfully, "It's a good job I was comatose last night: if you'd slept in that, I might have lost all control!" It was Sarah's turn to laugh.

"Well—what about this, then?" she said, quickly reaching down to the hem of the nightgown and pulling it up to her chin. Alan grimaced.

"Urgh! No—put it away!" Sarah laughed even more, releasing the flannelette material again.

"Come on—I don't want to waste too much of this sunshine."

Somewhat reluctantly, Alan pushed back the covers of the nice, warm bed and swung his legs over the side; pausing for a few moments, before standing up to collect the jeans he had taken off last night. He was almost completely oblivious to the fact that Sarah was dressing only a few feet away from him. He was ready first and walked to the bedroom door, turned, and headed for the bathroom. From the bathroom he went into Ellen's busy kitchen.

"Good morning, Alan! Would you like tea, or I've got coffee if you prefer?"

"No, tea will be fine, thank you!"

"So, do you feel rested now?" she asked.

"Mmm—better, thanks! That's the longest distance that I've driven for a long while, and although I was sitting and quite relaxed, you still have to maintain your concentration all the time.

"Sarah told me you were born in Cornwall, Ellen, was it anywhere near here?"

"No, not really, it was further north and more inland. I wanted to come back this way after Jack died, but I'd been in London for nearly forty years by then, so it didn't really make much difference, as a lot of the people that I knew had probably died or moved away. But I've made quite a lot of new friends in the village since I've been back. I understand you lived in France for a couple of years, how did you feel when you came back?"

"A bit strange at first, I suppose, but I moved back to the place that I grew up and not that much had changed; it was just a case of re-establishing contact with people I knew, like Kevin. I'd always wanted to try living in another country, so I tried it, but the experience wasn't enough to keep me there perma­nently, like it does for some people."

"So you contacted Kevin and met my granddaughter for the first time—I have to ask—" Alan smiled and even Ellen was a little taken aback by just how good looking he appeared when he did so.

"She's lovely, of course—but you already know that! I think that we're good pals now and she's a bit like the little sister I never had: it's that kind of relationship—close, but in a non-predatory, non-sexual way." Ellen looked at him and smiled with genuine fondness.

"I'm glad about that, Alan, but I must confess I was a little concerned; but I can see for myself, now, why she's so fond of you. We must have another little private talk before you go back, there are some things that concern me about Sarah."

"—Well, you two look very cosy!" Sarah said, as she came into the kitchen, "Are you trying to pull my friend, Gran!" Ellen laughed.

"—Really, Sarah—the things you say! So what are your plans for today, Love?"

"That's easy: sun, sand and sea! Three of my four favourite things beginning with 'S'! We'll have something to eat then I'll show Alan why I love it here so much."

At the rear of Ellen McMahon's cottage there was a long garden, where she grew flowers and vegetables and at the far end there was a waist-high picket fence with a gate. As Alan and Sarah got nearer to this gate, he could she that it was fastened with a small length of chain and a sturdy padlock. Beyond the gate was an unobstructed view of the sea.

"Look down, Honey!" Sarah said.

He leaned over the fence and below him was a small horseshoe-shaped cove, apparently totally enclosed by low cliffs; he estimated to be about twenty to twenty-five feet high, maybe more. The gate opened onto a heavy-duty wooden staircase that led to the small beach below.

"This is the only way down from above, although it is accessible from the sea. Gran doesn't own the beach, but she had these stairs built, so she feels justified in locking the gate, otherwise people can get into her garden from below. The locals know about this beach, so sometimes people ask if they can get to it from here, but for a lot of the time it's unoccupied—which seems a shame; but in other ways it's nice to have it to ourselves. Did you put on your trunks under your shorts, like I said?"

"Yes." Alan could see through Sarah's shirt that she had on a bikini top underneath.

"The tide does come in a little way, but it only reaches the steps when there's rough seas in winter."

Sarah took a key from her bag and unlocked the padlock. When they were both through she secured it again. The gate had swung outwards and when it was closed again Alan could see the painted sign screwed to the beach side of the gate, which read: Private Property-No Admittance.

The part of the beach nearest to the cliff face was shingle, but it was mainly fine sand from there until it reached the water's edge. As Sarah had said, it wasn't a private beach, but for the moment they had it all to themselves. She picked a spot which was mostly sand, where she laid out the towels that they had brought from the cottage, then she took off her shirt and shorts; Alan did the same.

"This won't be on for long," she said, referring to her bikini, "so feel free! Swim?"

Despite the warmth of the sun, the water was still cold, but not uncomfortably so and both were strong swimmers, so they spent some time in the sea. When they returned to their towels, Sarah's bikini was soon discarded. Alan was more hesitant, but he also took off his swimwear.

"Come on, we're both fair-skinned," Sarah said, "so I'll do your back, then you can do mine."

He sat on his heels, while Sarah knelt behind him and applied lots of sunblock to his neck, shoulders and upper and lower back. Neither could see the other's face, but they were both smiling. She then lay on her front with her head resting on her arms.

"—And in case you were wondering; bum and legs, too, please."

Alan could easily have taken his time and given her a sensual massage, but that might have been construed as going too far, so he just put generous amounts of sunblock unto his hand, then tried to apply it quickly to any areas of exposed skin that he could see. Sarah couldn't help squirming and giggling when his hand briefly slipped between her fleshy bum cheeks and she felt the unction being applied to her thighs.

"Sorry about that!" he of course said.

"Don't worry about it—you were only following orders!"

After applying the cream to his own buttocks and legs, he lay down on his towel beside her and closed his eyes. After about forty minutes, Sarah said:

"I suppose we ought to ration ourselves to begin with: another swim then the front for a bit." They stood up and walked into the sea.

After their swim, they just looked at each other as they applied the sunblock to their own fronts; even when Sarah rubbed it onto her breasts and vulva and Alan massaged it onto his penis, what they thought, they didn't say. Alan often felt familiar stirrings in his groin when he saw Sarah partly or fully undressed, but as yet he hadn't been aroused enough to get an erection. He knew from his youth that Sarah's husband had a slightly smaller penis than he did—although not by much—and he had wondered what would happen is he did get hard in front of her, or worse, in bed; but fortunately that had never happened yet.

As they lay side by side on their backs, soaking up the sun's rays, Sarah slid her hand on top of Alan's, although she never held it.

"It doesn't get much better than this, does it! If only we could guaran­tee getting weeks or months of weather like this, I don't think that I'd ever go anywhere else on holiday! And I'm glad that you're here: I love my husband, but he doesn't really like doing this, he always has to be doing something active—and if he was here now instead of you, that would be sex."

They were both sensible enough to know that gradual exposure to the sun was the best and safest course of action, so after a realistic length of exposure, they both got dressed and made their way back to the cottage, but they hoped to return the next day—British weather permitting. They found Ellen sitting outside, on a picnic chair, reading.

"Hello, Gran! Soaking up the sun I see: you should have got your cossie on and come down on the beach with us. Alan got his penis out!" Ellen seemed genuinely shocked and flushed a little.

"Really Sarah! I don't know where you get such things from: you used to be such a sweet, innocent girl—or maybe I do!"

Sarah put her arms around her grandmother's neck and kissed her cheek.

"Aw! Sorry, Gran! It must be because I'm so excited about being here and seeing you again." Then she put her mouth close to Ellen's ear and whispered: "But it is quite a nice penis, though." Ellen slapped Sarah's hand, but she couldn't suppress her laughter.

"—That's quite enough of that, young lady, I'm going to start dinner!" Alan was tempted to ask Sarah what she whispered, but he thought that he could probably guess.

"Shall we ask your Gran if she fancies coming out for a drink this evening?"

"Mmm—let's! But if she's not keen, I'll stay here, but you can pop out if you want to." But Ellen McMahon said that she'd love to go with them.

"Right, then! I'm going to have a nice bath before dinner," Sarah said.

While Ellen was preparing the food—Alan offered to help but she declined—he sat at the kitchen table with a mug of tea in front of him. The bathroom was accessed via the kitchen, but Ellen and Alan were far enough away for the conversation not to be overheard by Sarah; who, incidentally, had also taken Ellen's radio in there with her.

"Do you remember what we were talking about earlier, Alan, when I said that I hope we can talk in private again?" He was pretty quick on the uptake.

"Yes, there was something that you didn't want Sarah to hear." Ellen smiled.

"Exactly! This is one of those 'I know it's not really any of my business and I shouldn't interfere, ' things I'm afraid. But she is my granddaughter of course, and I don't want her to get hurt."

"—No, of course not."

"All right, then. This is a little difficult, because I know Kevin and you go back a long way, but there's just something about him that has always made me feel uneasy." Alan looked at her quizzically.

"Can you be a bit more specific, Ellen?"

"—Well—has he always had an eye for the ladies, Alan? I only really met him for the first time just before Sarah's wedding. We went out for a family meal, along with my daughter and son-in-law, and although he was very polite and attentive, whenever he wasn't talking to anyone in particular, his eyes where all over the place; and usually looking at the other women in the restaurant—including the waitress who attended us. It was the same at their wedding reception. And he drinks rather a lot, doesn't he. Now there's nothing wrong with men looking at women, and he may not even realise that he's doing it, but it just seemed like rather inappropriate behaviour for those occasions: we were supposed to be there celebrating their love for each other, but he was still 'checking out', I believe the term is, other women."

"Okay, this is a bit of a tough one, but I'll give you my honest opinion, Ellen.

"First of all, I've spent a couple of evenings with them both since I moved back to England, and on those occasions they seemed very affectionate towards each other and we shared a lot of laughs.

"I suppose I ought to preface my second point by explaining that for most of the time that I've known Kevin, we've been two young and single guys. As you probably know from your own and your daughter's lives, when you're growing up you try to experience all sorts of new things, keeping some and rejecting others; which means that some things you sometimes take to extremes. It probably won't surprise you, Ellen, when I tell you that a lot of those things we did involved alcohol and girls and young women. We've both had our fair-share of both, but Kevin's always been a good-looking, confident lad, who has availed himself of every opportunity, shall we say.

"Now I completely agree with you that checking out other women is perhaps inappropriate behaviour for a young married man, but to my knowledge, which I admit is limited, he has looked, but he hasn't strayed. And Sarah is a cracker, which we both know, and he's hit the jackpot as far as I'm concerned, so I think all we can do is give him the benefit of the doubt for now, and we must also hope that if he is ever tempted to do more than look, he will pause to appreciate what he's already got and resist the temptation!"

"Thank you, Alan, I think that that was a very fair assessment. I still have my doubts, I'm afraid, but I truly hope that you're right about him. I don't think that we need to discuss this any further, do you."

While Ellen continued to get the meal ready, they chatted about more generalised topics. Sarah came out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around her—only for Ellen's benefit, of course. As she walked to the bedroom she said: "How long will dinner be, Gran, I'm starving."

After another excellent meal, they all walked to the village, which at a fairly leisurely pace took about twenty minutes. Ellen owned a car but she walked there most days. Sarah hung onto her grandmother's arm as they walked, while Alan with his long strides led the way. Unlike in the past, there was now only one pub, which was centrally located amongst the shops and houses that comprised the small community, which consisted of long-term locals and other incomers, like Ellen. When Alan reached the pub he waited for the others to catch up and then held the door open for them.

"Let me get these," Ellen said as they stood at the bar. She wasn't a regular visitor to the pub, but looking around her most of the others there were people she knew. The three of them carried their drinks over to a vacant table. The table was round, with four chairs arranged at twelve. three, six, and nine o'clock: Sarah sat in the middle, with Ellen and Alan across from each other. Around about ten, they were joined by a man about Ellen's age. She introduced Sarah and Alan as her grand­daughter and a family friend. The other man's name was Ken. Sarah seemed fascinated watching her gran and Ken, and she smiled as she watched their interactions.

"My round," she said at last, "Come on, Alan, you can help me carry them. A pint for you, Ken?"

"No, thank you, Sarah, just a half for me."

"So, Gran's got herself a boyfriend—or at least an admirer," Sarah said, as they stood at the bar, "Well, good luck to her, I say! I wonder if they're doing it: he looks fit. I shall have to ask her later."

"Are you sure that's wise—isn't she entitled to a few secrets."

"Mmm—okay, maybe I won't ask her that—but I can't not say anything about it."

They stayed in the pub until just before eleven and Sarah's suspicions seemed to be confirmed when Ken gave Ellen a peck on the cheek as they left. None of them had had a lot to drink, but enough for Sarah to be rather giggly, and as they walked back to the cottage, she held onto Ellen's arm with one hand and Alan's with the other.

When they got back they all went to bed. The evening was pleasantly warm and Sarah and Alan both slept naked. They lay on their sides with their backs to each other and after a few minutes Sarah started to giggle and push her bum against Alan's, then she started to wiggle her hips.

"Stop that!" he said, quietly but firmly. Sarah giggled again, then said in her best naughty schoolgirl voice:

"Yes, Alan—sorry, Alan! Goodnight, Alan—"

Monday

The weather promised to be as hot as Sunday, so it was obviously beach weather again, too. Sarah and Alan got up and took it in turn to shower: Sarah first. When Alan came out of the bathroom, Sarah and Ellen were sipping tea. Ellen started to get up, but he told her to stay seated as he made himself a drink and filled a bowl with cereal. The two women were just chatting casually, but as soon as Alan sat down, Sarah said to her grandmother:

"I like Ken, Gran: how long have you two known each other?"

Alan wasn't sure how Ellen would take this direct approach, but she smiled as if she was relieved to be able to talk about it.

"Almost as long as I've been here, I suppose. He used to be a builder before he semi-retired, and I was looking for someone to do some work here and he was recommended. Well, we used to chat and I told him about your granddad and he told me that he'd not long since lost his wife. We're not like you youngsters, Love, we don't jump into bed on our first date, but we started doing things together, quite informally, and we've got quite close over the years since." Sarah looked at Alan, and he knew what she was going to say next.