Author's Notes:
'A Summer Without End' is my entry for the Summer Lovin Story Contest 2017.
It's a dream for many to retire to a beach house to be near the ocean. The scent of salt water, the sight of sea birds fishing just offshore or dashing after the waves, and the sound of the surf. Each can be very calming. Combined? Bliss! It can be a magic place that conjures up warm and happy memories.
We should all be so lucky.
All characters engaging in sexual relationships or activities are 18 years old or older.
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Chapter 1
Reid Haven was looking forward to getting to the beach house. It had been a long grueling trip to get here as he'd travelled from New Orleans to the west coast by bus. More accurate would be to say bus after bus after bus. He'd been told to catch a flight or a train but he was trying to be frugal for his new life plan.
He'd inherited the house from his parents who'd passed away this past winter within days of each other. They'd been in a constant care facility during the last few months of their lives. Even at the end, they refused to be apart.
With the house came a lump sum inheritance which allowed him to retire at the early age of 34, if he managed the money carefully, lived modestly, and stayed in the beach house.
He'd said his goodbyes to his coworkers after finishing his last contract at the software house in New Orleans and here he was.
The taxi ride from the last bus station was a long one as his place was the last house near the northern end of the beach. His parents had purchased three lots and built their vacation getaway on the middle one to ensure privacy. As the taxi got closer, he could see the thick grove of trees had grown tall on the lots.
They finally reached the lane leading in towards the house. He noted the roadway hadn't been maintained very well.
"S'okay if I drop you off here, buddy? My tires will be no good in that," the driver asked, pointing to the lane.
"Sure," Reid sighed.
He paid, grabbed his bags, and watched the taxi pull away. Upon closer examination he saw the lane was deeply rutted from trucks and what might have been some heavy equipment. The damage didn't look new, however. Scowling he lifted his bags and walked up the lane. He noticed a few old, low stumps where the trees had been cut to most likely widen the road for whatever left the road a mess.
Rounding the last bend he saw his parent's- no, it was
his
new home now. He was surprised to see it had been significantly updated since he'd last seen it.
The original building had been a wide, single level structure built on sturdy stilts for
some
protection against high water events with a staircase up to a small deck by the front door. In later years his dad had built a ramp for his mom who was confined to a wheelchair. Now, there was a wide wrap around deck also supported by stilts and a new metal roof. Due to the new deck, the steps and ramp had been replaced too. As he got closer he saw the windows were covered by roll up hurricane shutters. He stopped to shake his head. He had no idea his parents had done all this. It must have cost a fortune!
He was grateful for the changes however as it no longer matched the house of his memories. He could think of it as 'his'.
Then he noticed the neighboring house to his left. He had a neighbor? When did that happen? Damn!
The new house was roughly similar to his but it had a second level and its deck wasn't anywhere near as extensive as his, likely due to its proximity to the protected dunes.
Like the ones on his house, the shutters were down and locked so both homes were currently uninhabited.
Reid walked the remaining distance to his house and pulled his suitcase up the ramp.
Standing before the new door he pulled out the keys he'd received and let himself inside. He wrinkled his nose as the house smelled stale. Time to open some windows!
---
It had taken Reid a little more than two weeks to clean the house. He stored or threw away anything that had uncomfortable memories clinging to it. Then he properly stocked it with fresh cleaning supplies and food. Now it sparkled like a diamond. Well, maybe it gleamed like one of the shiny shells he saw on the beach during his morning runs.
First to go were all the family photos. Taken on 'happier' days, Reid ached to see how tall and skinny he looked next to his parents, neither of whom being over 5' 9". He was 6' tall by his eleventh birthday and finally stopped growing by his sixteenth. Skin and bones in his earlier years. He couldn't fill out fast enough for his frantic vertical growth. It was shortly after his sixteenth when he started to lose the walking skeleton look.
Though it pained him to do so, he examined the pictures closer and noticed his parents rarely held or even touched him in them. That and his physical differences just emphasized how separate he was from them. Like he wasn't even their child. While it was now too late to ask them, he wondered if there was merit to that thought. It would have explained so much. Depressed, the pictures and frames went into storage. He couldn't quite bring himself to throw them out.
During that time he had an auto shop in town send out a mechanic to take a look at the old soft top Jeep Wrangler. It was covered with a tarp and parked under the house. Surprisingly, the man was able to get it running with new plugs, an oil change, and putting gas in the tank. The mechanic drove the Jeep into town and returned the next day with the vehicle purring as good as new. He'd even replaced all the padding on the roll bars as the original padding had rotted away. Reid registered the plates online and picked up the new registration papers the following week.
He was no longer alone on the beach as he'd been just two weeks ago. The 'good' weather was starting to kick in and the summer vacationers were beginning to arrive to open their homes. Very few homes were lived in year round as he intended to do.
Reid had been away for so long he didn't know any of his neighbors. He wasn't very good at introducing himself to strangers. He'd always been socially awkward. He did manage to nod to a few faces that became familiar as he passed them on the beach day after day but that was the extent of his interactions.
Of his closest neighbors, he saw no sign. He went through the paperwork from the lawyer's office and there was no reference to the land being sold off. He called the law firm that dealt with his parent's estate and confirmed the property still belonged to... him, now. However, there were no keys to the new house anywhere in his house nor were they on the keychain he received. He saw a plaque screwed into the wall by the front door. It read 'The Sparrows'. He wasn't sure if that was a family name or if the owners just liked the tiny, noisy birds. The plaque on his house simply read 'Haven' and he liked that sentiment.
Reid's days began to settle into a routine and a very comfortable one at that. He exercised. He relaxed over breakfast. Then he read and, or, wrote depending on his mood. He was working on a book of his own and took great satisfaction in the act of writing. He had no idea if he was any good but it was a satisfying activity to do. Far more than programming had ever been.
Life was quickly becoming... close to perfect. Someone to share it with was the only missing ingredient.
---
It was three weeks into his stay when he'd discovered his father's secret stash of whisky. Not only had he discovered it, in a sudden rage he drank quite a bit of it. This morning he wanted to crawl under a rock and die. It seemed he wasn't as capable a drinker as Hemingway and his writing was probably light years from ever being as good. He decided he could live with both of those things if only he could be spared from the torture of the high pitched noises currently drilling into his brain.
For a fleeting second he pictured in his mind several boisterous little sparrows chirping energetically at each other. He forced his eyes to open and saw he was looking up at the ceiling of the living room. He groaned and sat up.
"EEEEEEEK!"
Three sharp squeals of fright drilled into his brain and he groaned again. He closed his eyes and staggered to his feet. Once he managed to get his eyes working once more he peered around the room to see where that sound had come from. He stopped when he faced the big glass doors to the deck overlooking the ocean. There, on the other side of the glass, were three lovely young women, identical in shape, size, and pretty features. All 5' 8", with svelte curves in their cut off shorts and mid-drift baring halter tops. All with short, brown and unruly pixie cut hair. His hazy brain said triplets. Their expressions weren't identical however as they stared back at him. The one on the left was in wide eyed shock with her mouth hanging open. Her shock didn't prevent her from taking a picture with her cell phone. The middle one was smiling happily. The one on the right was holding her hands before her face but was peeking at him through her fingers.
Something about the last one's pose told Reid to look down at himself. That's when he realized he was completely... oh god, completely naked. He was also sporting some serious morning wood though it was well past morning judging by the sun. He spun to turn his back on them, lost his balance, and fell sideways over the back of the sofa to hit the floor beyond with a heavy thump.
More squeals drilled into his head.
He rested on the floor behind the couch hoping his brain would just explode and end his life right now.
"Are you ok in there?" The voice was clearer now and he tilted his head upwards to see the three young women standing by the second set of patio doors looking in at him. He heard the click as another photo was taken. Behind the sofa was no protection at all as the furniture was in the middle of the large room, separating the living room from the dining room. The one with the phone was still shocked but less so, the second's smile had become a grin, and the shy one was now looking at him curiously.
