A conversation about the beach led to this story. We all need a place to retreat to, right? Some errors have been corrected. Here goes it.
Meet Me At The House on Carillon Beach
One
2003
That first summer, they had a picnic lunch on the beach, shared a piece of cake, then she rested her head on his shoulder and that was when he began to seriously question if he could ever really, truly be just friends with this woman.
"Too bad you can't stay a little longer."
O-O-O
A couple of days ago, Eric had gotten a call from Calleigh.
He'd been wondering where she disappeared to upon discovering that she'd taken the month of May off. He called her cell phone but kept getting her voice mail. Speed told him not to worry about her, that she probably needed a breather. Eric felt that the least she could do was answer his phone calls. He left her a message, and then left her alone after that, worked his shifts.
Then she'd called him, telling him how her parents bought a vacation home at Carillon Beach and that they were driving her crazy. At first he'd said no, citing how they were coworkers and just how awkward it would be with her parents. But she'd worn him down, and the next thing he knew, he was packing a bag with a few days worth of the essentials and driving to Carillon Beach. He'd never really had a desire to go to the hundreds of other beach locales in Florida before because having grown up in Florida, after a while, "Going to the beach" left a lot to be desired.
But there was one single perk: Calleigh.
His heart pounded in his chest at the thought of spending a few days with Calleigh Duquesne. Her parents? Not so much.
He admitted that he was a little smitten by her; but almost every guy she came in contact with would be a fool not to feel that way. He would even say that Speed was a little taken by her, even though his friendship with her was more tit-for-tat than anything. Two seasoned professionals that got on each others nerves.
Either way, it was hard not to notice a sunny Southern belle with natural blonde hair, stunning green eyes and a perpetually bright smile on her face. Eric noticed, had been noticing for almost two years now.
He pulled up beside her car in the drive way, and he got out, picking up his bag and headed to the front door. He pressed the doorbell. The place was beautiful, in need of a little work, but otherwise very nice.
"Just a minute!" She called from within.
It was exactly a minute before she opened the door.
In a red bikini with a matching sarong.
He never thought that he would live to see the day that Calleigh wore a bikini. A red one at that.
He gave her a once over, quickly taking in her curves, her slightly tan skin, and for a moment, he thought that it was a dream, but she was stunningly, tangibly real with her long, straight hair flowing over one shoulder.
"Hey, you made it," she smiled.
He took her in again, and she tilted her head to the side.
"I wouldnt miss it for the world," he smirked.
She opened the door wider and he stepped into the rather cluttered house.
"Sorry about the mess," she apologized as she closed the door. "My parents have been trying to decorate..."
She rolled her eyes, her shoulders slumping a bit then straightening back up.
"Yellow, pink, green, orange," she sighed. "On and on...it doesn't matter, it's Florida for God's sake."
He chuckled. "Where are they now?"
"I love my parents but I dont know and I really dont care," she drawled in her sweet southern accent.
All this woman had to do to fuel his fantasies for the next few weeks-maybe months-was turn around and walk away.
Goddammit, keep it in your pants Delko, he thought to himself.
He knew he shouldn't have been thinking those thoughts about her, especially not when she was obviously blissfully unaware of his attraction to her.
She stepped closer and she hugged him quickly then she pulled away, the contact making her shiver slightly and her heart begin to pound furiously within her as she felt his strong, muscled abdomen against her. What the hell has she done? She invited Eric Delko to stay with her for a few days in a house on the beach, no work or coworkers between them. No. That barrier was smashed to a million pieces and there was nothing to hold her back.
Calleigh liked Eric. She felt like a school girl, having a crush on a man. Hed been a good friend for the last two years, and she has definitely enjoyed spending time training him in the lab and making him feel comfortable working with her and the rest of the team. Most people didnt treat him with respect as a fellow law enforcement officer because he worked underwater recovery. But she respected him because any man that would dive into the dirty sludges that were the swamps and ponds in Florida with enthusiasm deserved her respect.
She never expected that she would get a little taken, though. Taken enough to push the envelope a little bit by touching his shoulder, hugging him, putting her hands on his hips, on his chest. He hasnt resisted her yet.
"I'm so glad you came," she said appreciatively. "I need another voice of reason to back up mine."
"So I'm your ally now?"
"You better be," she giggled. "C'mon, let me show you around, then get you settled."
He walked next to her instead of letting her lead because he knew his eyes would miss the tour.
"Okay, the house has three bedrooms," she explained. "We've got the beds and everything set up, so you'll be comfortable. The room at the end of the hall is where my parents are staying, this is my room right here, and yours is across the hall from me. The bathroom is right here next to my room and the washer and dryer are in this linen closet."
She hooked her arm in his as she led him into the living room.
"Here's the combo living room dining room, and the kitchen," she said then she led him out onto the deck. "And the patio. The steps go down to the beach."
"Nice," he said then he turned to her. "So what made you want a beach house?"
Calleigh chuckled, looking out to the ocean. "Oh no...this is my parents' little adventure, I'm just along for the ride...however bumpy."
They both looked out to the horizon, watching as the waves rolled in and spread onto the sand. The sound of the ocean was something that he was beginning to take for granted, but he felt himself beginning to relax at the sound and the smell. It was some how purer than in Miami.
Eric looked at her and she grinned.
"So um...you can get yourself comfortable," she smiled. "And maybe we can just...hang out? Make some dinner?"
"Sure," he said.
One the way to his room, he stopped and looked in on Calleighs. Her room smelled like sun block and jasmine, and she had a flowery comforter on the bed. She had her robe draped over the bed, and he saw her hair brush lying next to it.
He knew that it was a massive invasion of her privacy, looking into her room, that he was crossing the line, but arent they already? He knew that they were playing with fire here. For the better part of a year, he'd been thinking about her, following her closely at work, relying on her patience to guide him and her loyalty to help him earn trust and respect among the others. All the while he became comfortable with touching her arm, hugging her, putting his hand on her lower back, slowly blurring that fine line between coworkers and friends.
She was his best friend and he was hers. They were only doing what has been coming naturally to them. They spend time together outside of work, they talk and laugh together, sometimes drink together.
This was completely natural.
O-o-O
Eric was awakened by a knock on the door.
He opened his eyes slightly, adjusting them to the bright sunlight filtering into the room. The door opened, and Calleigh stepped in, wearing a robe, and brushing out her wet hair, smiling. He opened his eyes a little wider and he shifted in bed. She used her brush to tap his feet under the covers.
"Good morning," she smiled as she sat on his bed.
He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the clock. "Calleigh...it's seven in the morning..."
"So?" She shrugged.
He closed his eyes again. "So you're crazy to be this happy this early. Besides, I'm on vacation."
"Oh, so its a vacation now, is it?" She giggled. "C'mon, get up its nice out this morning. We can have breakfast on the patio."
"Are your parents even up yet?"
"Maybe," she shrugged. "They're not here. They're staying with some friends for a few days. I swear, for two divorced people, they sure spend an awful lot of time together."
She got up and went and opened up the windows, letting in the breeze and the sound of the ocean. If she thought that would wake him up, she was sorely mistaken. She was a morning person, even during her time off and it was obvious that she was putting him on her schedule. He turned onto his stomach, burying his hands under the pillow.
Calleigh turned and she saw that Eric was dozing still, and she bit her lip.
Wow, she thought to herself. Wait no...this is what we do. We're best friends and I've seen him sleep before...like a log.
"Cmon Eric," she pressed. "Rise and shine."
"Alright," he groaned.
"And youre cooking breakfast," she said before leaving his room and going across the hall to hers and closing the door softly.
Eric sat up and he saw that Calleigh placed some towels on the dresser at some point either this morning or last night.
Last night Calleigh taught him how to make really good, spicy ettouffe and she made some rice to go with it. It went perfectly with the beer and they ate and talked and then afterward, watched Ghostbusters I and II. Eric found out what a total nerd she was about the movies, how she knew almost every signature line, laughed the entire time and gave him trivia from the movie. He thought he had her pegged, but she went and surprised him. When she got tired, she curled up against him, and he wrapped his arm around her as she fell asleep.
Natural.
Eric took a quick shower and got dressed, and when he went into the living room, Calleigh was sitting on the floor, unpacking a box full of things to decorate the house with. Today she was wearing a pair of khaki shorts with a sleeveless pink button down blouse and white flip flops, showing off her dainty feet and small painted toes. Her hair was down and being contained by a headband. She looked cute, like she always did at work, demure, buttoned up, and with hair clips to hold back all that hair.
"So how do you like your eggs?" He asked as he went into the kitchen.
"Oh I dont care," she said as she took out a truly hideous painting. "You've got to be joking. My mom has the worst taste in the world."
"I wouldnt say in the world," Eric chuckled. "I mean...have you forgotten what Speedle's place looks like?"
"Oh yeah," Calleigh frowned. "Point taken. That armchair of his? Disgraceful."
"Yeah, so cut your mom some slack," he said.
"You wouldnt be saying that if you knew her," she remarked, then she gasped. "Wind chimes! At least she got one thing right. I'm going to hang it. It's too quiet."
"Isn't that the point?" He asked. "I mean, the privacy, hearing and watching the ocean..."
"Yeah, but wind chimes just makes it perfect," she smiled as she pulled the large wind chime out of the box.
"They're noisy," he said.
"No," she said as she set the wind chime on the couch before stood up and went over to the island in the kitchen. "I like wind chimes because they're a sign of whats coming. They ding and chime so that when it comes, it wont surprise you at all. You'll know its there."
He looked up at her and he could see the fancifulness in her eyes and he held her gaze for a long moment before he turned his attention back to making breakfast before it overcooked.
"So your parents are divorced?"
The question caught Calleigh off guard and she looked up from her very delicious poached eggs.
"Hmm?"
"Your parents," he began again as he poured some more orange juice. "You mentioned earlier that they're divorced."
"Oh yeah," she waved off.
"How long have they been divorced?"
"Eight years," she sighed. "But like I said before, they spend a lot of time together...they've been off an on ever since, mostly because of my dad's drinking."
Calleigh went back to eating her eggs, not wanting to talk about her parents' divorce anymore. Whenever she thought about it, the story of how they broke up was different every time, a different reason. There were more reasons than just her dads propensity for knocking back more than a few, at least that was what she liked to think.
"This is really good," she complimented him, and he smiled.
"Thanks," he said. "So um, I gather your parents are a delicate subject."
She didn't look up this time, now playing with her potatoes a little. "Even though I'm older now, it still confuses me...it still hurts me, Eric. It just...totally changed my view of everything."
Calleigh looked up at him then.
"I-I didn't really have anyone to talk to about it," she said, her eyes glistening. "I was away at Tulane, and I went home for Christmas...they told me Christmas day.
Eric swallowed thickly.
He asked himself.
What kind of parents tell their kid that theyre divorcing on Christmas Day? Why would they do that to her?
"Talk about a sour Christmas gift, huh?" She joked, her voice quavering a bit.
"Calleigh-"
She shook her head. "It's okay...we move on, right?"
They ate in comfortable silence on the patio, watching as kids ran up and down the beach, laughing and playing, the wheezing of the breeze and the thunder of the ocean sounding mightily between them.
"I want to hang the wind chime," she said after they finished breakfast.
She went into the house and picked up the wind chime, which had shiny, silver chimes in varying sizes to make a myriad of different notes, and swaying intermittently between the chimes were wooden birds hanging from string at varying lengths.
"Mom got it right," Calleigh mused as she came back out on the patio. She placed the chimes onto the table. She hoisted herself carefully on the ledge of the patio.
"Be careful," Eric said.
She kicked off her flip flops then Eric put his hands on her waist to help hold her steady as she carefully turned to the side then she delicately stood up, balancing on the rather narrow ledge. He hand one hand on her silky leg, and he was able to see the curve of her behind and how her shorts stopped just tantalizingly short of-
"Eric, can you um," she smiled, blushing. "Hand me the wind chime please?"
"Sure."
He picked up the wind chime and handed it to her, while supporting her.
She hung it delicately on the rusty hook and then she smiled.
"There," she said victoriously, then she turned her torso slightly and put her hands on his shoulders. "Alright I'm coming down."
He put his hands on her hips and he picked her up slightly and then brought her down, sitting her on the ledge. She slowly caressed her hands down over his chest, looking into his eyes and he stepped closer to her, his hands still on her hips.
There was a gust of wind, and it sent the wind chimes into a frenzy of unorchestrated symphony and Calleigh smiled.
"See?"
She kissed his cheek then she hopped off of the ledge and went into the house.
O-o-O
"Too bad you can't stay a little longer."
Eric hugged Calleigh a little tighter, the gentle wind from the Atlantic blowing a few strands of her long hair into her face, which he brushed away and she reached a hand up and pushed her hair behind her ear. She liked the ease with which he held her, pushed her hair from her face, and allowed her to vent to him and he talked openly to her too, and it was scaring both of them. It was scaring them, but neither of them said a word about it, nor let one another on to it because it would absolutely ruin everything.
"I know."
She looked up at him.
"Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah I did," he grinned and she nodded as she began to clean up.
He helped her and once that task was finished, he helped her to stand up.
Before they stopped to eat lunch, they just walked, and Calleigh picked up a few shells and rocks along the way to inspect. He looked at her constantly, finding out just how beautiful she really was for the first time.
They'd had chicken salad sandwiches, potato chips, a couple of sodas, and then shared a piece of delicious chocolate cake. Afterward, she leaned up against him, lulled by the rushing sound of the ocean. Soon he found his arm wrapped around her again, like itd been the other night.
She was way too comfortable, way too okay with all of this.
Now they were staring at each other, their feet sinking into the warm sand.
"Come back," she said simply.
"Whenever youre here," he said as he put his hand on her cheek and she grinned.
Eric caressed his thumb over her cheek bone gently before he removed his hand.
They began to walk back to the house together.
TBC