Free The Village of Gerard's Cliff by Carol Anne Vick Page A

wines. A
loaf of crusty bread, an assortment of hard cheeses, and a couple
of apples composed the rest of the meal. Connor uncorked the bottle
and poured the wine into two plain glasses, as Allie arranged
slices of each of the items on her favorite blue print
plates.
    "To more days..." Connor
began, tilting his glass toward Allie.
    "...with no drama." Allie
finished, laughing, and they clinked their glasses amiably, then
sipped their wine. They ate their meal in peaceful quiet, save for
the crashing of the waves, and the rustle of the breeze through the
evergreens. Connor stole glances at Allie as often as he could,
fascinated, as she watched the ocean as if drawn to it.
    Connor sensed that both he
and Allie were letting the idyllic setting, the wine, and the food,
lull them into a false sense of security, and he was okay with
that, for now. His mind started to drift to her idiot
brother-in-law...former brother-in-law, Connor corrected himself.
He didn't think Ethan would return again, but now Connor would have
to find out where he figured in with all of this, if at all. He
leaned back on one elbow, and looked out at the crashing waves, as
he mentally reviewed the information he had at hand. Did he need to
call for re-enforcement at this point? Connor was anxious to talk
to Jake Ayers tonight...just a few hours from now...then he would
have some answers...and a clearer sense of time. But, things seemed
to be gelling more quickly than anyone had anticipated. He looked
over at Allie, who was leaning against the gnarled tree, holding
the glass of wine...her eyes slowly scanning the horizon. She
turned her head towards him when she noticed his glance. "This is
just heaven, don't you think?" She leaned her head back as she
breathed in the ocean air. "...just heaven."
    "What are the cliffs like
below?" Connor was curious since he couldn't see what was below the
walk.
    "We can walk down, if you
want to." Allie raised her eyebrows and smiled at him, seemingly
eager for an adventure.
    "Then, what are we waiting
for?"
     
    Connor stood up and held
his hand down to help Allie up off the blanket. They gathered up
their food, plates, and glasses, and stored them in the basket,
leaving everything in its place. They walked further down the Cliff
Walk, being careful of fallen branches, rocks, and the uneven path.
Allie pointed to an area a short distance away that was accessible
to the beach below. "We'll have to climb down those rocks," Allie
looked at Connor. "But it's not so hard. I've climbed down many
times. However..." She laughed. "I've never done it after drinking
a glass of wine."
    When they reached the
spot, Connor started down first, crouching low, and using his hands
to steady himself on the slippery descent. The boulders were still
wet from the rain the day before, and small pools of water puddled
between clusters of smaller rocks. He looked up to check on Allie,
with the intention of helping her, but saw that she was climbing
down with apparent ease. He clamored down the rest of the way, and
when he reached the bottom, saw that she was right there with him.
They grinned at each other. Allie pointed northward. "Let's walk
this way." The wind was much fiercer down on the beach, and Connor
watched Allie's golden ponytail swirl around her head as they both
pulled up their jacket collars, and dug their hands into their
pockets.
    They walked facing the
wind, lowering their heads, as they trudged through the sand and
rocks along the base of the cliffs. Occasionally, Allie would reach
down and examine a shell half buried in the sand, washed up from
the previous storm, when the tides reached almost to the
rocks.
    Connor found it hard to
take his eyes off the pounding waves, crashing relentlessly on the
beach. He lived pretty close to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, and
was more used to tamer waters, unless a hurricane blew through. He
found it hard to take his eyes off Allie as well, as she seemed to
be thoroughly enjoying herself. They