Chapter 5: A Day at the Beach
Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight.
Derek left to get ready for work, the spring back in his step. When he got to the house, he waltzed over to his mother's bookshelf and picked out a book to bring with him—A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. He chuckled to himself, wondering what Bella would say about his choice.
It dawned on Bella that she never even asked Derek about his job. No matter, she'd ask him the next time she saw him, but hopefully it wouldn't be that soon.
Renee called from the kitchen as Bella started up the stairs to her room. "I hope you brought a bathing suit with you, sweetie, because we are spending the day on the beach." Lord knows you certainly can use some sun.
"Yeah, I figured," she answered. "This is Florida—sun, sand and ocean."
Her mother walked to the bottom of the stairs. "I made some oatmeal for you; it's still on the stove. Eat up so we can go."
"Mom's oatmeal—great. I knew I should have brought along a couple of boxes of poptarts," she muttered under her breath.
"I wish Phil were here, he hardly gets to see you when you visit. Believe it or not, he misses you."
Bella yelled down to her mom as she changed into her swimwear. "I miss him too. When is he coming back?"
"Two and a half weeks, but who's counting. I don't know why the team owner always has to involve Phil in scouting for talent. They never pay him extra for it either. I guess as long as Phil enjoys it, we won't complain."
The hot cereal as usual was lumpy, and scorched at the bottom. Bella managed to mash up the lumps, and scrap off the burnt spots, but it was still all she could do to keep the oatmeal down. It was pretty gross. She decided to do some grocery shopping tonight and mentally put poptarts on the imaginary list. She was definitely going to lose weight in the next few weeks.
Neptune Beach was generic as far as beaches went, but one thing made it stand out in her mind. There, sitting in a lifeguard tower was the guy she was trying to avoid—well maybe avoid was too strong a word. She really liked Derek, she just didn't want to get too chummy. It might give him the wrong idea, not that the idea wasn't already planted in his head, thanks to her ever meddling mother.
Renee set up shop close to the tower, in full view of the cute lifeguard. It was close enough so that Bella caught site of the skimpily clad college girls that were congregated at the base of his station.
A tall blonde shouted. "Hey, Derek, why don't you come down here? I need some more sun screen on my back."
"Hey, Sherry. Why don't you have Doreen or Candy do it for you. I'm busy, guarding people's lives." He smiled politely, but secretly wished they would buzz off. These three girls were constantly chasing after him. He had a job to do. Why don't you go pester Nate for a while? I'm not in the mood today—or any day, for that matter. Why don't they get the hint? Not interested!
Man, these girls are so forward, and those swimsuits don't leave much to the imagination. They may as well just go swimming naked. They should wear something like that brunette over there; now that's classy. Wait a minute, isn't that Bella? D'arvit— Sean, hurry up and get here, so I can take my break.
Bella pretended she didn't see him, and hoped he didn't see her either. Then, of course—Renee turned around and waved at him like she was an Orange Bowl Queen sitting on a float.
There's no way he could miss Renee. He felt bad for Bella, who was attempting to shrink down into the sand out of humiliation. That red in her cheeks was not due to sunburn either. He shook his head and smiled, waving back at them.
Sherry yelled up at him again. "Who's that new girl you're waving at?"
He picked up his binoculars, peering out over the water. "That's my business."
"Suit yourself," she replied. Then she snidely added another comment. "And while you're at it, let her know that no one wears a one piece anymore. Sooo ladylike!"
"Maybe she's not a lady, but at least she dresses and acts like one."
Candy, a shorter brunette piped up. "I guess he told you," she snickered.
"*###%%%$$^^^! You are such a prude, Derek Miller."
Cusses like a sailor. "You've just confirmed my observation." That shut her up.
"Well!" Sherry fumed.
Derek placed the binoculars beside him on the seat, and glanced down at the eyelashes fluttering at him—two pairs anyway.
"Look, ladies, I'd love to chat, but—I really have to pay attention to the swimmers out there. It's my job to be sure nobody gets in trouble."
"Come on, girls, let's not bother the lifeguard. He's got more important things to do, like flirt with Mary Poppins over there. There are plenty of other hot bods on the beach. Time to prowl." With that, Sherry huffed off, and walked by the blanket where Bella was sitting.
Bella overheard the beach bunny say. "The nerve of that guy, preferring a goody-two-shoes over me. And defending her choice of clothing. You call that a swimsuit? Pfft!" She turned, looking straight at Bella and glared at her. A string of expletives laced the air as the sand churned under her feet. Her two college friends followed in her wake, looking amused.
The next hour and a half were the longest that Derek had ever endured. When Sean's tousled brown head bobbed among the crowd, Derek nearly jumped down from the tower to get to the particular blanket that he tried unsuccessfully to ignore.
Sean gave him the what's with you look. "Hey, take it easy—what's the hurry?"
Derek tried to brush past him. "I don't want to waste a minute of my break time. Is that all right with you?"
Sean grabbed him by the shoulder, his blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Just a doggone minute, there. Is Sherry here today?"
"Yeah, and she's all yours." Derek trotted off to see his friend, leaving Sean to climb to the top of the observation post.
"All riiiight! It's gonna be a good day," Sean avowed. He feathered back his dark, unkempt hair as he trained his binoculars on the coed.
"Hello, ladies," he sang as he plunked down beside them in the sand. "How's everyone doing today?"
"We're all doing great." Well we were, until you showed up. "But shouldn't you be behind your binoculars watching for drowning victims?" she blurted.
"This is my break. I'm at your service for the next fifteen minutes. I was going to get some water at the snack bar. You wanna come with me?" Please say, yes.
"That'd be wonderful. Can you get me one too?" Renee entreated.
"Sure thing, Mrs. D."
Bella reached over and slipped her arms into her cover up. Renee handed her some money which she placed in the pocket. He held out his hand to Bella to help her up, and kept her hand in his while they hiked all the way to the snack bar. She didn't know how to get her hand back without hurting his feelings. He reluctantly let it go however, when the cashier handed him the three bottles of water.
"What are you doing?" he asked when she placed the money on the counter. "I'm not going to let you pay for this. Treat's on me." He picked up the money and returned it to her pocket.
She put a little more distance between them on the way back to Renee's blanketed area.
Derek noticed, sadly. I guess I was asking for it when I grabbed her hand. "Hey, Bella. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable by holding your hand. I just didn't want you to trip in the sand. I didn't mean anything by it." What a lie. I'd give anything if it actually meant something to you too. I could just kill Renee, for putting you in the middle and making a lovesick puppy out of me. It's not very flattering at my age.
"It's okay, Derek. I understand." And she understood all right—he was lying. He used that as an excuse. Funny—it was almost a déjà vu of the beginning stage of her relationship with Jacob. He was always on the lookout for an opportunity to feel her skin against his, even if it was just a touch of her hand.
They walked a little ways farther and the silence was getting awkward. Derek started up the conversation again. "So, I see you haven't baptized that suit yet, huh?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm not really into getting all wet. I'm not that great a swimmer, in fact I nearly drowned once. I wouldn't be here today if Jacob hadn't dived in and saved me."
Oh, just great—I work as a lifeguard, and she won't go near the water. Strike two, Derek.
"He's a lifeguard, then?"
"No," she laughed. "He's a mechanic. Jacob is my personal lifeguard in a way, though."
Derek stopped, opened one of the bottles and handed it to her. Opening a second, he took a swig and remarked, "Here's to Jacob for saving your life. I never would have met you otherwise."
Clinking his bottle to hers, he toasted, "To Jacob . . ." and took another drink. He smiled at her even though he was dying inside.
"To Jacob," she replied.
Removing the tube of sun-screen from her bag, Renee brazenly asked Derek, "Would you mind putting some sun-block on my back, sweetie?"
"Sure, no problem." He saw this as a chance to spread some on Bella.
He finished lathering the cream on Renee and asked her daughter, "You want some on you too? Once in a lifetime opportunity."
Quickly responding, Bella answered, "Thanks, I don't need any right now. I put some on, right before you came." That shut him down in a hurry.
Derek stayed a few minutes, talking, but the time had escaped him. "Gotta run ladies. Nate's shift is done, so I'll be taking over for him. He's at that other station down by the big palm tree.
Renee lifted the brim of her sun hat. "Why don't you come for dinner tonight?"
Bella turned her eyes up to the sky.
"Maybe some other time, Mrs. D." He grinned at them as he left.
Sean lowered down Derek's backpack containing his towels, book and other supplies. Bella watched him trot to the other tower.
Meanwhile, back in La Push, our boy could not concentrate on any one task at a time. He was carving a wolf charm out of some driftwood, lost his focus and unfortunately the tail fell off. He put it down and went out to the Taj. He sat there on the wooden crate—that was no good, it just reminded him of who he wanted seated there. It was no use, being in his garage made him miss his Bella all the more. So, he trudged into the house and started cooking lunch for Billy and himself.
While the soup was boiling on the stove, he thought about her promise to write to him. Maybe a letter would arrive tomorrow. It better, or he'd go insane. She also promised to phone him at the end of the week. God, her call couldn't get here fast enough. Maybe he was being selfish; after all, Bella rarely got to visit her mother. Renee deserved her daughter's undivided attention. But damn, he needed to hear her voice. If only he could call her. Billy was on a fixed income, and long distance was out of the question.
He ladled out the soup into two bowls and called Billy out of his bedroom to eat. Jacob sat down, and spooned each bite into his mouth, but he didn't taste a thing. His mind was far away in Jacksonville, and zeroed in on a small brunette with eyes the color of melted chocolate.