“Come, join us,” Jeff called as he saw me looking at them.
“Sure, I’d love to get my hands dirty,” I replied, with a grin. I’d always loved art and building sandcastles counted as art, didn’t it?
Happily, I joined them in the sand and started my own little project.
“What are you making?” Shaun asked.
“Have a guess!”
“Uhm, it looks like nothing right now.” Shaun said.
I laughed, as did Jeff.
“That’s an honest comment,” I remarked. “OK, I’m making a car park and gas station, so you can park your cars and fill up on gas.”
“Oh, cool,” Shaun said and returned to his latest road construction.
Jeff laughed and looked at me.
“It’s a great age, isn’t it? Everything’s fascinating, the world is just a big wonderful thing to discover, and possibility is everywhere.”
“And then comes adulthood,” I said with a laugh.
“No, first the disappointment of your teenage years, when the girl refuses to go with you to the prom, you lose your virginity in the worst of all possible ways and you realize that you actually have to work for money.”
“Oh, yes, lots of heartache,” I said. “Plus, the fear of not being like everyone else and the fear of being like everyone else all at the same time.”
“Schyss,” Monica chided. “I met the man of my dreams and was swept away by love and desire in my teens. All the way to Los Angeles. And look at me now — a happy woman, still married to the same man and working for this wonderful man here. Don’t put bad American ideas in the head of Shaun, or I’ll take him to Mexico to find true love.”
Jeff and I both laughed at this, though I think Jeff more so than I. The dramatic way in which Monica spoke and the gestures she used to emphasize it all made me believe she was a big fan of Mexican soap operas.
“Hear, hear,” Jeff said in between laughs. “This woman is threatening to kidnap my son.”
“He might be better off, you know,” I said, still laughing. “Less motorbikes and more Mexican fueled love stories.”
“Ah, but he’d miss his father,” Monica said. “Boys need their fathers to become good men. Just don’t put that American teenage crap in his head.”
Shaun himself was completely caught up in driving his cars around the castle and making loud car noises.
“Come, Dad, play with me,” he said.
“OK, son, give me a car. Or better, one of the motorbikes.”
As Jeff started driving one of the motorbikes round the castle on the roads they’d built, chasing Shaun’s car, pretending to be a cop, I couldn’t stop looking at him. His grey streaked black hair was falling loose, curls forming, as he played with his son. His muscles dancing as he moved. He looked like a Greek statue come to life. I didn’t know what it was with men, but they certainly grew more attractive with the years. Maybe it was the fact that Jeff had found himself more — he wasn’t a twenty-something stuntman looking to prove himself. He was a successful businessman raising a son and, by the looks of it, doing a damn good job.
I spent the rest of the day with them — picnicking, swimming, playing, reading… We even had dinner ordered to the beach. It was so relaxing that by the end of it, I felt like a new woman.
As we reached our respective hotel rooms, Monica practically chased Shaun through the doors to get him into the bathroom for a bath. Jeff lingered behind them.
“It’s soon sunset. Go with me for a walk along the beach?” He asked. “Let me just have a shower and change first.”
I hesitated. I wanted to go for a walk, but a sunset walk with a man? It seemed so romantic and I didn’t know if I could handle that. I didn’t want any reminders about relationships right now. It still hurt too much. But why should I miss out on a sunset walk? This was just Jeff, a friend, after all. And I’d told him as much. I wanted to see the sunset.
“Sure. Sounds like the perfect end to a relaxing day.”
“Exactly. Meet you downstairs in about an hour?”
I nodded.
