It is more than three years since I penned 'The Beach House' and I've had many emails imploring me to add another chapter - so here it is. The storyline pretty much picks up where the first one finished, so I'd urge you to read it if you have not already.
Chapter 2 is very long and sex, although present, is not the predominant theme. Rather the story explores the relationship between Sarah Ryan and the two people infatuated by her: Michael, her brother, and Lucy, her lesbian lover. In such a relationship love and hatred are only a heartbeat apart, and each will drive a very different path.
Everyone in this story who engages in sexual conduct is over the age of 18 years.
Hot_Sister. June 2016
*****
Prologue
Sarah Ryan never heard the explosion, for the shock wave reached her before the sound and by then her eardrums had ruptured.
She felt an enormous force seize her body to fling it forward, and the agony of her legs as they struck the bow coaming; and then the horizon was spinning as she cartwheeled over the grey water below before the final impact blew the breath out of her body.
She floated on her back for a while and the sky filled her horizon - a vast cathedral of pale blue, clean and pure and flawless, and she listened to the whistling in her ears and wondered at the beauty of that ethereal sky so far above as she tried to comprehend what had happened; and then she saw the plume of smoke and steam where the boat had been and the splashes of wreckage raining down around her, and she understood there had been a terrible accident.
She never saw the spar that hit her for it had gone far above her head, whirling upwards in a maelstrom of splintered wood and flame before it descended, and she never heard it either. There was only fleeting moment of pain as it struck her, and a dreadful awareness that this was the end.
In that final second she understood that Michael was gone too, and that she would never see him again to say she adored him, nor touch him in the quiet of the night, happy that he was there. In the anguish of that moment she perceived that each of them was destined to make this final journey without even the comfort of a goodbye, and the knowledge filled her with a sense of terrible loneliness.
And then the darkness consumed her and there was only the sound of the wind and the waves, and the cries of the seagulls circling over her pale face floating adrift in the troubled waters below.
Five Months Earlier
Lucille Carter-Bayliss stared out of the window, her mind on the report she had just read. The single page of closely typed words lay on the desk before her and it confirmed everything she had suspected.
The report had been commissioned from a female private detective called Emily who owed her a few favours, and although it was brief she had no doubt it was correct. Lucy had seen her working, piecing together scraps of information to build a bigger picture. She remembered the intricate way Emily had gathered information: the innocent little conversations with family and friends; examination of clues trawled from the garbage, and the phone taps and email intercepts. It was amazing what you could find about someone if you tried, and the woman was a genius at putting it all together.
Her eyes flicked back to the report on her desk and she picked it up to read its contents again.
Confidential. Report on Sarah Jane Ryan, Crotton Street, Thruxton. May 2013.
You asked me to observe the subject, Sarah Ryan, and to report on any matters of interest and in particular which persons are in her life and the nature of her relationship with them...
The next few paragraphs explained where and how she had observed the girl and Lucy's eyes skipped over them, resuming with the body of the report.
Sarah and her brother Michael live with their parents in a relatively affluent house just outside of Thruxton. Her father is a consultant engineer and during the period of observation was on contract overseas. Her mother does not work but is socially active. She appears to have a good relationship with her daughter, who lives at home. Michael, her brother, is two years older than his sister and is a carpenter by trade although he does not appear to have regular employment at present.
Sarah does not socialise and I found no evidence of boyfriends or other external relationships. She appears to have few friends and for the most part lives quietly at home. She is studying the foundation units for Veterinary Science at the local TAFE, which occupies her three days a week...
There was more background information about the girl: her friends and her social habits, what music she liked and the hobbies she had. Lucy noted with interest that she and her brother were renovating a cottage on the headland across the bay, and she smiled at her own memories of that place. But it was the second page that interested her most, and she read it again carefully.
My investigations lead me to believe that Sarah may be pregnant. She was observed to visit an obstetrics clinic by herself on two occasions, and I have also found evidence of the purchase of pyridoxine 20mg, which is a prescription medication typically used for the treatment of morning sickness. If my deduction is correct then I would suggest she is still in the first trimester of her pregnancy.
If this diagnosis is correct there is the question of who the father might be but in this regard I have so far been unsuccessful. I saw no contact with any particular male during my surveillance, nor were there any detectable telephone calls or emails with any person that suggested such a relationship. I conclude that it was either a one-night stand, which seems inconsistent with Sarah's social behaviour, or she is actively trying to suppress the father's identity.
Sarah relies heavily on the support of her brother: indeed, although I observed no intimacy between them I would say their relationship is very close. I cannot say if he is aware of her condition, nor, for that matter, whether the mother has been informed. So far there is no physical evidence of her pregnancy, but of course as time goes by this will change.
