Chapter 6

We woke up the next morning and had a snog, I did fancy slipping her a length but a glance at the bedroom clock told me I was already running late for the spring clean at the boat station. I hit the shower whilst Danni made coffee.

She watched me from the bed as I dried off and then I got dressed, slurping on my coffee as I did so. I kissed her goodbye and head down to the harbour.

When I got there, quite a few people were milling around and cups of tea and cups of coffee were being handed out.

There is always a good turnout for the annual spring clean as the station is the heart of the community. I could see Jago, he had a clipboard with his list of jobs. Big H was there as well, also Savo Burt, Davy and Trev, plus many of the wives and extended family, plus lots of the familiar faces from around the village Big H called us all to order and Jago started to hand out jobs. There was washing, cleaning, painting etc to be done, plus some servicing of machinery. Tools were handed out and we all went about our tasks.

I ended up on painting duty with Savo and Trev. We were given our pots of paint and brushes and off we went.

It was easy work and the sunny day made it all the better. We chatted as we painted.

The place was a hive of activity. Jago was a slave driver, as soon as one job had been finished, he moved you onto another, then another and another.

The bell sounded at lunchtime, it was a tradition that the local bakery always supplier us with fresh sandwiches and pasties. And they were delicious, we sat on the beach and ate.

There were trays of tea and coffee being handed out as well as cold drinks.

I was shocked when I looked up and saw Danni handing out drinks.

“Hey what are you doing here,” I asked and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“I was coming to see how you were getting on and your friend Jago roped me in,” she said and passed me a tea.

She smiled at me and my heart melted, I was smitten with her that was a for sure.

“I am more than happy to help,” she said, “let me get rid of these and I will come and see you”

I watched as she went around and handed out the rest of the cups from her tray, then she came and plonked herself down next to me.

“So, I hear there is a fundraiser later on?” she said and helped herself to sip of my tea.

“Yes, there is always a BBQ and a beer after the annual clean-up,” I said as I ate my ham and cheese sandwich.

“Can we go?” she asked, her hand stroking up and down my thigh

“If you like, there will be music, a raffle and a charity auction,” I told her, “so bring some money”

“Okay sounds like a good evening,” she said with a smile.

“You will need to buy a ticket” I started to say but I was interrupted.

“NO, she won’t”

I looked up it was Big H, looming over us with a big cheesy grin on his face.

“Danni here is working this afternoon and all workers get free access to the fundraiser,” he said and ruffled my hair before walking away.

“So, what have they got you doing this afternoon?” I enquired.

“Oh, I have been asked to help with window cleaning!” she said with a cheeky grin, “it was that or painting and I hate painting”

“Ah that’s it you are one of the family, now,” I told her, and she gave me one of those smiles that makes your knees go weak. I leaned over and kissed her on the lips

“Oi, you two get a room!” Shouted Big H and there was a lot of wolf whistles and general banter being thrown our way. We broke apart and both fell about laughing.

At the same time, Jago called an end to our lunch break and we were all sent back to work. It was a back-breaking afternoon for me, I was put on the team that had to scrap the seaweed and barnacles off the posts that held up the slipway. It was nice being in the water on such a warm day but the job itself was a hard one and the muscles in my arms were burning after two hours of scraping.

I heard the church clock chime four and I looked around, folks were packing away their tools as jobs were coming to an end. The station looked great, the paintwork was shimmering, the windows looked clean and the place really did look brand new.

An hour later and Danni walked down the slipway with bottles of water for me the rest of the lads.

“Hey, you, “she said and tossed me a bottle of water, “wow you look like shit!”

I glanced down at myself, sure enough, I did look like shit, there was black gunk all over me, the residue of the seaweed and other detritus that we were scrapping of the posts. The water all around the slipway was oily black but we knew that the next tide would wash that away.

“The old place looks great!” I said and gulped back some water.

“Looks like you are one of the last teams working, “she said.