“A prehoneymoon honeymoon?” he said, bumping my hips with his own, his hands resting lightly on my waist.
“Something like that.” I smiled, but shook my head. “But no honey with this moon; you heard the doctor,” I said, and Simon growled. He had delicately suggested that certain things should wait perhaps until Simon had fully recovered from his accident. Between the cracked rib and the head dent, I was in full agreement. Simon was not.
“You wait and see. Tonight, when the breeze starts blowing and the waves start lapping at the sand, you’ll change your mind,” he murmured, sweeping my hair up to kiss the back of my neck. “Besides, you know I look good in the moonlight. You’ll be all about getting into my pants.”
“Uh, yes, here are your keys, Miss Reynolds.” I felt Simon tense behind me as I smiled at the desk clerk.
“Yes, thank you so much.” I smiled, smothering a laugh.
“You’ll be in bungalow seven; just follow the path. Your luggage should already be there.”
“Thank you,” Simon piped up from behind me, and this time I didn’t smother anything. Gathering up my purse and the keys, I took him by the hand and led him back out onto the beach. It was late in the afternoon, almost evening, and the light was beginning to change, taking on that magical glow that twilight seems to have. All the edges soften, the colors bleed, and even the air changes a bit. A warm breeze was blowing in off the sea, bringing with it a salty tang that crinkled my tongue. We passed six other bungalows along the rock-lined path, finally coming around a bend to see our own. Lit with hurricane candles, with white linen curtains puffing through the windows, it looked like heaven. Heaven . . . with the option of air-conditioning. Which in the tropics was sometimes a very good thing.
“Hey look, no neighbors,” Simon said, scanning the corner of the beach we’d been given. It was true, there wasn’t another soul to be seen. A light or two peeked through the trees here and there, hinting at other humans, but other than that it was us and the waves.
“Let’s check it out,” I said, tugging him by the hand and up onto the porch. Deep, comfy-looking chairs anchored by pillows flanked the ornately carved front door. “Here’s the key, open it, would you? I’m going to see if these chairs are as comfortable as they look.”
“Sure thing,” he said, taking the key from me and turning it in the lock. Just before he pushed open the door, it opened from the inside. “What the—”
Benjamin stood in the doorway. Jillian stood next to him. Both were smiling.
“Wait a minute, how did you guys get—What’s going on?” he asked, looking back and forth between them and me. I just grinned.
“Good to see you’re still in one piece,” Benjamin said, pulling a still-surprised Simon into a fierce hug. “And don’t ever do that to me again, you hear me?”
“Move over, move over,” Jillian said, sweeping her husband aside to grab on to Simon and wrap her arms around him as well. “So, so, so glad you’re okay. No more caves, promise me that!”
“Hey, watch the ribs,” Simon protested, confused but still happy to see them. “But seriously, what are you guys doing here?”
“We came over to make sure Caroline had everything she needed. She kind of took off like a bat out of hell when she found out you’d decided to examine the cave with your face. That’s a bossy girl you got there,” Benjamin said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and walking him back down the steps to the sand. “Come on back with me to our bungalow; we’re just down the beach, I’ll tell you all about it. Let the ladies settle in a bit.”
“Okay, yeah, sure. Caroline, you good with that?” Simon asked, still curious.
“Go ahead, Jillian brought me some things, new changes of clothes and stuff. I’ll powwow with her and then we can all head back up to the main house for dinner, sound good?” I nodded, walking over to the front of the porch, leaning down to kiss him once, then twice.
“Sounds good, babe,” he said. “Did you know they were coming?”
“I did,” I said, kissing him once more. “Surprise.”
“You’re kind of terrific, you know that?”
“I do know that,” I nodded, then turned him back around. “Go play with Benjamin, I’ll see you in a bit.”
The pair of them walked off down the beach, and I turned to Jillian.
“Thank you so much for coming all this way.”
“You got it. I’ve always wanted to see this part of the world. And Benjamin has been pacing up a storm. He hated not being over here,” she replied, looping her arm through mine and walking with me inside. She handed me an overnight bag I recognized from home.
“Did you bring it?” I asked, unzipping the bag.
“I did,” she nodded, and watched as I pulled a long flowing dress from the bag. A long flowing white dress.
“Perfect.”
An hour later, Simon and Benjamin came out of the bungalow to find Jillian and me waiting for them.
“Hey, where have you—Hey. You look gorgeous,” he said, whistling. I stood before him in my white dress, thanked him for the compliment, took his hand, and walked with him down to the beach, leaving our friends behind.
“What’s going on? Aren’t we going to dinner with those guys?” he asked.
“Not just yet,” I answered, looking ahead to the beach, where I could see a few candles lit and a tiki torch or two. “I wanted to talk to you, before they join us.”
“What are you up to, Caroline?” he asked, looking carefully at me.
“I bought this dress a year ago in a little boutique in Mendocino, when I was visiting Viv. I was on my way out of town, and I was stopped at a light when I saw it in the window across the street. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. And without having any reason to wear it, and not a clue why I was doing it, I bought it, straight off the mannequin. It didn’t even fit me. I had to take it to a tailor to have the hem lengthened; it was too short for me. The tailor told me it was vintage, probably from sometime in the 1930s.”
“It looks great on you,” he said, holding me at arm’s length to get a better look. “Go on, gimme a little twirl.”
I laughed, and then twirled. The dress was ivory, bedecked with old lace along the bodice, with a gauzy lace overlay along the skirt. An afternoon dress, it was made for lazy strolls in town, or a trip to the gardens. It was likely worn with stockings and lace-up shoes. I was rocking it barefoot. And in those bare feet, I tugged on his hand once more and continued on the path toward the beach.
“When Benjamin told me something had happened to you, I went into crisis-management mode. I didn’t think about anything other than getting to you. To have you that far away, and not be able to know exactly what was wrong or how to help you—I can’t think of the words to tell you how that felt. How it felt to have someone you love so much possibly taken away from you.” I stopped then, just before the pebbles gave way to sand. “But then, I don’t have to give you words. Because you already know what that’s like.”
A stormy expression stole across his face, and he grasped both of my hands in his. “Caroline, I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of that.”