The Woman Of Salty Waves

The Woman of Salty Waves

“Oh, a small boy gasped, clapping his hands together,” they sell boxes of worms and flies. We’re sure to catch a big fish today, Dad, and then you do not have to lie and buy one on the way home.”

Anna watched the children filling up their sand buckets with salty sea water and splashing it into the moat they had built in the sand. Further over, a baby crawled toward the incoming waves as it mother rubbed sun cream on her arms. Anna swallows nervously and looked around for Tim.

Then she remembered he was off with a group of customers helping them to get the knack of kiaycking. “Why he bothers I don’t know,” she grumbled. “If I had his money I’d let somebody else do it.” Then she remembered that was why he had employed her. “Oh god,” she shuddered.”I can’t bear even to have a shower, let alone go out into the middle of the ocean.”

Anna had been working in Salty Waves for a while.. Situated right on the seafront, it supplied the locals and the hordes of tourists with everything they needed for fishing and boating on the sea.

Tim gaped at her open mouth when she’d admitted she wasn’t a swimmer and that she never even been in the sea, never mind worked as a Lifeguard. “But your reference…they were…

“Done on Microsoft Publisher,” she admitted shamefaced. She watched his eyes close into slits. She would surely get the sack now and then what was she going to do? She might never see him again.

He tittered, then chortled and then laughed hysterically, tears running down his cheeks. “It’s been many a long day since I was caught but you definitely caught me,” he spluttered, wiping tears off his face with the back of his hand. “You little minx, he said pretending to reach out for her. I wish he would, she thought. I can’t wait much longer to tell him how I feel about him.

He’d walked out the door of the shop still chuckling. Anna watched him swing his tall, agile body into the sand buggy. A surge of pure longing raced though her. She put her hands to her face to cover her blush. “My God, will you get a grip,” she berated herself. “You have grandchildren older than him.”

She thought back to the day she first saw him .She’d instantly fallen in love. The local WI was offering swimming lessons. She’d thought in the company of people she knew she might, just might be able to dip her toes in the pool or even walk around the edge holding firmly to the side.

Tim had been one of the instructors.

She’d fled from the pool at the first sight of water. But she hadn’t gone home. She’d sat in the car and waited for him to come out. Then she’d followed him to his shop on the seafront. Somehow, things had got completely out of hand after that. A notice pinned to the window said they were looking for a kayaking instructor…”And the rest is history,” she moaned.

She keyed in the number of the swimming pool into her phone and listened to it ringing. This was madness. She’d be laughed out of the place; a non swimmer looking to do an advanced course in kayaking!

She was about to end the call when a cool young voice asked if she could be of help. Suddenly, Anna found herself blurting out the truth. There was a minute of stunned silence at the other end. “That shouldn’t be a problem<” the voice said cool as ever. Anna held the phone away from her ear and stared at it in perplexed silence. She put the phone back to her ear. “You think so?” she stuttered tentatively.

“Don’t see why not. Old people climb mountains and jump out of aeroplanes. Should be a doddle to learn to swim and steer a canoe,” the voice pointed out. Anne let the remark about her age go over her head. Fifty-five probably sounded ancient to the young receptionist. “There’s a new swimming thingy just starting. If you come right aw…”

“I’m on my way.

Climbing out of the pool after her tenth session, Anna wondered why she was feeling so calm. She supposed the tablets she’d bought over the internet helped. Right from the first day she had literally floated about without her usual fear. Now, she was about to join up for the advance course.

Every day she had kept a look out for the young cool girl with the reassuring voice but none of the staff seemed to know who she was. Anne shrugged. She’d done her a good turn anyway. She remembered the girl’s parting words as she was about to snap her phone shut, “Love, love conquers everything, she’d sung out.

Funny, that, a young swimmer had just passed her singing the very same song.

Anna stopped and followed her into the changing rooms. “You ever work here,” she asked sidling up to the girl.

“No! I’m going to be a singer,”

Anna’s legs suddenly felt weak.

“But I did answer the phone one day. It kept ring and ringing – done my head in so I pretended. “It helped too because some old lady needed to learn to swim to keep her fella….”

“She did,” Anna croaked out.

“Yeah, she did. Why not? I told her. My gran goes bungee jumping. She doesn’t let on to my granda,” she giggled as she packed away her gear and tied the laces of her trainers. She looked curiously at Anna. “That wasn’t you, was it? Naw! You’re a great swimmer. I heard the instructor tell the Lifeguard you’re the best of the bunch …for an old one.”

Anna spluttered but held her tongue. as the girl took out her mobile phone. “Better see if mum needs anything from the chippy. Dad probably didn’t catch anything today either and the fishmonger’s is closed.” She smiled. “Wonder did that old lady ever get her man,” the girl mused moving off.

“She did,” Anna murmured, “and she got promotion from shop assistant to the future Mrs Salty Waves too.”