“Can I look now?” Piper asked the next day as she felt Dean’s car take yet another sharp turn.
“Not yet,” he answered, his voice sounding as excited as kid on Christmas.
Defeated, she settled down into the car and kept her eyes shut. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. When Dean had said that he was going to take her for a drive along the beach on Saturday morning, she had no idea she’d be riding blindfold. Still, she had agreed to go along and now the curiosity was about to kill her. Just what was so important that Dean wanted her to keep her eyes closed?
As the ride continued, she thought back to the night before. Dinner with JC’s family had been absolutely wonderful. The group had chosen a nice, quaint restaurant by the sea called Carson’s. It had been semi-formal, small, and wasn’t much of a touristy-type place at all. Everyone enjoyed the dinner and the conversation, and even four-year-old Jordyn had had fun.
Piper had been fascinated with Chloe. She couldn’t believe the natural beauty that the woman possessed with her long, dark hair and equally dark eyes. She was also very intelligent and had a wonderful sense of humor. She had continuously asked Piper questions about herself and laughed to the point of tears over the story of how Dean and Piper met. Piper had laughed just as hard over the story of how Chloe and JC bought the Aqua Shack. She especially loved Dean’s part of that story.
The best part of the night, though, had been watching Dean with Jordyn. He had constantly pulled on her hair or teased her, making her laugh. Jordyn had also deemed him worthy of holding her beloved Care Bear. Dean had taken that as a high honor and cuddled the bear to his chest. Piper never knew that he had possessed that much patience with a child, and this one completely and totally had his heart.
Piper was pulled back to the present when Dean’s car jerked to a halt. The stop had caught her by so much surprise that she had almost opened her eyes. She persevered, though, and kept them closed. She wasn’t quite sure where they were. The smell of the salty, sea air and the soft crash of the waves against the cliffs told her that they were near the ocean. It was late summer so the breeze was warm and light. It just barely lifted her hair off her shoulders. Wherever they were, it had to be beautiful.
“Alright, are you ready?” Dean asked, the sound of his voice telling her that he was about to burst with excitement.
Piper giggled. “Yes, Dean. Can I open them now?”
“Alright…now.”
With those two words, Piper opened her eyes and took in the gorgeous sight around her. They were parked on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Her breath caught in her throat as she undid her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. She walked to the edge and watched as the small, green English waves smashed against the rocky cliffs below.
“Dean, it’s beautiful,” she breathed.
“Oh, that’s not the best part,” he laughed. “Turn around.”
She did as he asked and found herself looking at a medium-sized yellow and blue building. Surfboards of every shape and size, T-shirts, and towels hung in the windows. Scrawled across the top of the building was a large sign that read “Blue Juice Surfboards”.
Dean continued to laugh. “Welcome to my surf shop.”
She glanced at him, then back at the shop. “This is yours? All of it?”
“Yeah, all of it’s mine. I made every board you see there.”
She looked at him again and saw the pride shining in his eyes. “You made them?”
“Yeah.” He held out his hand, gesturing for her to take it, and started towards the shop. “You didn’t realize I had such a talent, did you? C’mon, I want to show you the inside.”
She took his hand and let him lead her into the shop. It looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did the outside. The walls were white with large, blue waves painted on them, and surfboards and bodyboards lined them from the front of the shop all the way up to the checkout counter. The sticks ranged from every size and color, but each one had the same design on the front end of it. Piper walked closer to one to examine it and was delighted to see the intricate detail of two dolphins chasing each other in a circle with a blue wave behind them and the words “One life…no fear” circling them.
“That’s my logo,” Dean explained, walking up behind her.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed. Shifting her eyes to the price tag, she gasped in surprise. “Oh, my God. Does that say two hundred and fifty pounds?”
Dean nodded, pride beaming across his handsome face.
“I had no idea that surfboards were so expensive.”
Dean took her hand, a huge smile firmly planted on his face. “Come on, you have to see the rest of the place.”
He led her from the wall back to a small aisle that ran from the door to the counter. Shelves stood on either side of it and were stocked full of every necessity a surfer might need. Rash guards and body gloves in every color imaginable were folded neatly on several of the shelves. Many of the smaller shelves were lined with cans and cans of surf wax. T-shirts of every color of the rainbow hung on various racks, and they all bore Dean’s logo. The few customers who were browsing the shelves would pause and greet Dean as he passed; it took them forever to reach the counter. A bouncy rock song blared out of the large CD player sitting on the shelf behind the counter as the surfer led Piper back there and let her look over the different types of surf leashes hanging on the wall.
Piper was so impressed with the whole store that she was at a loss for words. Dean had done something with himself; he had really done something. He had found something he was good at and had created his own world out of it. She turned around and looked at him with new respect in her eyes. Standing before her was not the boy she left on the bridge, but the man who owned this beautiful shop.
“Oh, Dean,” she breathed. She turned and glanced over the posters that hung on the wall. Her eyes stopped at one, and she started to laugh. The picture was of a large blue and red circle. Inside the circle it read, “Mr. Zog’s Original Sex Wax. Never Spoils. The best for your stick.” She looked back over at Dean with a raised eyebrow. “Sex wax?”
Dean blinked innocently. “It’s a brand of surf wax.”
Piper just nodded. “Ah…okay.”
“Dean! Man, you’ve got to talk to Ripper.” Piper and Dean turned to the back door to see a tanned guy emerge from it. His blond hair was wavy and fell past his shoulders, and his blue eyes had an earnest look to them. “I’ve been trying to tell him that he can’t get a brand new stick for a discount, no matter how good he is.” He stopped the minute he saw Piper. “Oh, sorry.”
“It’s alright. Crab, this is Piper. Piper, this is Crab, my associate,” Dean said, pointing to each in turn.
“Crab, is it?” Piper asked.
“Yeah, well, my real name is Arthur, but Crab sounds a lot cooler.” He nervously raked his hair back as he shook her hand.
“Why do they call you Crab?”
“JC always said I was the fastest swimmer out of the group. ‘I’m like a crab in the water.’”
“Oh, well, that makes sense,” Piper stated, nodding her head in understanding.
Crab turned his attention back to Dean and continued to tell him the problem with Ripper. Dean nodded, then turned to Piper. “I need to take care of this, but I’ll be right back. I still want to show you the beach.”
“Alright,” she agreed.
Dean smiled and disappeared into the back with Crab.
Left to her own devices, Piper wandered around the shop. Curious, she picked up different cans of surf wax and chuckled each time she saw the famous Sex Wax logo on one of them. She started to look at the T-shirts when she walked closer to a group of teenagers. She didn’t really pay attention to their conversation until one of them mentioned Dean.
“Come on, man, everybody knows that Dean’s sticks are the best,” a short dark-haired guy said as he leaned against one of the shelves.
“Oh, yeah,” agreed the brunette girl beside him. “They’ve been the best since Shape closed his shop and left for San Francisco a year ago.”
“Some say he even learned to make his boards from Shape,” a redhead piped up.
“Of course he did. I saw him there when I was twelve,” the short guy said proudly. “He cut me a deal on my first stick.”
Feeling a swell of pride, Piper smiled to herself and continued to wander around the shop. So Dean was considered the best board maker in Cornwall, huh? she thought. She was completely surprised and could even feel her earlier doubt about Dean melt away. Just by seeing his place and hearing the teenagers talk, Piper knew that he hadn’t been lying. Dean really had gained some responsibility, and she was excited about that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within a few minutes, Dean reappeared from the backroom and found Piper standing by a row of surfboards. He was amazed at how relaxed and happy she looked as she traced the design on one of the boards. In fact, it was the happiest he had seen her since the first day they had met again. This was a good sign. This was a very good sign. Pushing down his enthusiasm, he ambled over to her and wrapped his arms around her. Piper jumped and whirled around, preparing to smack him across the face.
“Dean! You scared the life out of me!” she exclaimed.
Dean just beamed. “Sorry. You just looked like you needed a hug.”
A serious look appeared in her eyes. “Dean, remember I’m only here as a friend. I am still engaged to someone.”
“Yeah, I know, but he’s not here, is he?”
“Dean!”
The surfer just laughed and moved his arms away from her waist. So she’s still thinking about her fiancé, huh? I’ll just have to change that, he thought. Not letting her words faze him, he took her hand and led her into the back room. Before she could ask what was going on, he grabbed his large, red and yellow board that read “Tasty” in big letters down the back.
Piper caught it and looked at it, puzzled. “What’s that for?”
Dean wiggled his eyebrows mischievously. “Have you ever been surfing?”
Piper’s mouth dropped open. “But, Dean, I can barely swim. You know that.”
“Won’t be a problem,” he chuckled. He gently took her hand and led her back into the shop. He stopped at the counter and told Crab where they were going. He then said good-bye to all of his customers as he and Piper made their way outside to the car.