Chapter Three
As soon as they got out on the beach and had kicked off their sandals, Brandon started talking excitedly. “There’s been this nest on the beach for a few weeks now. I’ve been coming over to walk every night and see if the eggs are hatching, but someone told me they will only hatch when there is a full moon. Tonight isn’t quite a full moon, but it’s close enough. Have you ever seen turtles hatch?”
“Turtles?” Ashlyn asked. “No, I didn’t know that was something you could see. Don’t they hatch in the ocean?”
“No,” Brandon shook his head. “The mom turtle lays her eggs in the sand and buries them. Then she goes back in the ocean and leaves them there for a few months. When a full moon comes, the baby turtles, hundreds of them, hatch and use the light of the moon to guide themselves to the ocean.”
“Wow!” Ashlyn had never known this about turtles, and she started getting excited about the thought of seeing them. “But if the eggs are buried, how do we know they are there?”
Brandon shrugged. “There are wildlife preserves monitoring the beach. They are able to locate them. When they do locate a nest, they rope it off so that people don’t accidentally step on it and kill the baby turtles. There is usually someone sitting at the hole watching for when they hatch.”
Ashlyn could see a small group of people huddled up near the dunes. She wanted to hurry ahead, but she also wanted to stand back and enjoy her time with Brandon. Suddenly, she felt his fingers clasping at hers. He was taking her hand!
Ashlyn’s heart skipped a beat as his hand firmly gripped hers. She wanted to tell him or show him somehow that she appreciated it, that she was glad he was taking her hand. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Nervously, Ashlyn looked at Brandon by turning her head slightly. He was smiling at her, and Ashlyn smiled right back. How beautiful it was to be on the beach with Brandon making her stomach flutter!
They finally reached the small group. There was a narrow passageway, like a tunnel dug into the sand, and they carefully stood on the side. Ashlyn looked up the little passageway to a hole that disappeared beneath the dunes. There was no sign of turtles tonight.
An older man sat in a folding chair by the head of the passageway.
Brandon waved down the man’s attention. “Do you know when the turtles might hatch?”
The man shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. It will definitely happen in the next week, before the moon begins to wane. However, I can’t begin to tell you the hour. Nature has its own way, Son.”
Brandon took a step back from the passageway and turned back to Ashlyn. “I saw a turtle’s nest hatch before, and it was right before midnight. Do you want to wait a while?”
Ashlyn looked at the few people that were seated comfortably in chairs or on blankets. She didn’t know if she wanted to wait a few hours when there might not even be anything happening that night.
“I don’t know,” Ashlyn replied. “I know you need to get back to take care of the dog, and I don’t want to wait if nothing is going to happen. It might be better to try another night. After all, I need to be up nice and early for filming tomorrow.”
“That’s true,” Brandon agreed. “Well, I don’t want to keep you then.” Brandon let go of Ashlyn’s hand, and she felt a little irritated. Was he just going to stay here and let her find her own way back to the house? Maybe he wasn’t the gentleman she thought him. But now, he was just turning around and taking her other hand.
Ashlyn smiled and shook her head just a little at his silliness.
“What did you do before it was summer time?” Ashlyn asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you weren’t getting your housing for free, so how did you make money?”
“I was working in a recording studio, mashing buttons. It was okay work, but it wasn’t my kind of music. I would love to record a CD, but you have to have startup funds if you’re going to do that. Even then, you need to advertise as well if you are going to sell anything other than to your friends.”
Ashlyn nodded. “So, you’ve always worked with music?”
“No, not always. There were times when I kind of ignored my love for music and movies. I just worked a minimum wage job and went to school. I worked as a sales clerk and at the register. That was even worse than working in the recording studio.”
“What are you going to do in the future?” Ashlyn asked.
Brandon shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. I can still have the hope that I’ll become rich and famous, right? Or am I too old for fantasies like that?”
Ashlyn shook her head. “I still have them. I dream that one day I’ll be able to direct movies, but I know that won’t happen anytime in the near future.”
The two fell silent as they continued their walk down the beach. Ashlyn saw the house where she was staying at the time, and she pointed it out to Brandon. “There’s my house. Where did you park this morning?”
“I parked on the other side of the boardwalk,” Brandon said. “I’ll walk you to the back steps, though.”
Ashlyn was silent again as they walked up to the steps. There were their shoes. Ashlyn had almost forgotten and sent Brandon off without his shoes. “Well, good night,” Ashlyn said, dropping Brandon’s hand and turning toward him. She was wondering if she should do something to show that she was still interested. Brandon took care of that, though. He leaned forward and took her lips in hers, his hand resting just under her chin. He kissed her gently, his lips soft on hers.
Ashlyn’s heart thumped at double time as Brandon took her upper lip in his and pulled it toward him, gently biting down. She hungered for more, and she didn’t resist as Brandon planted a hand in her hair and pulled her further toward him. He hungrily consumed her lips, sending shivers down her body. Finally, Brandon pulled back, and they were both breathing hard.
“Sorry,” he whispered. He cleared his throat. “See you soon.” And with that, he was gone.