Chapter 14 Island Fun
A/N Happy 2018! May it be our BEST year ever!
I didn't really want to be so pushy but she would be madder for missing breakfast, and her stomach would be complaining all morning than at me for pushing her into a shower. I went into the small sitting area and waited so she could get out and dressed without me oogling her. Fifteen minutes later she appeared. Hair pulled back in an expected pony tail, with a green t-shirt and blue jean shorts and white sandals.
I smiled at her, she was so beautiful in the morning. Heck I thought she always looked beautiful, but in the morning, she was still sleep stuptified and was soft, sweet and warm, like cuddling up to a life size, warm teddy bear. I pulled her into my arms, held her close and kissed her deeply. Then I simply took her hand and led her to the dining room.
Sunday May 17 07:17
Almost everyone was already in the dining room and I knew I still had to address island rules with the family. Angelia was obviously missing with her two little ones. I would wait, when everyone was here I would address the crowd.
The hot breakfast buffet had scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, sausage, pancakes, toast, and oatmeal with dried fruit. There was also an assortment of fruit, cups of yogurt, Danishes, muffins and cold cereal in prepackaged Styrofoam cups to choose from. Both chocolate and plain milk, as well as apple, cranberry and orange juice were in the coolers. Then there was coffee, regular and decaf, and hot water for making tea. I don't know who made up these menus but all the kids had stacks of pancakes.
I took my oatmeal with eggs and Stephanie her bacon, sausage, eggs and pancakes with juice. I set my plate down on the table and encouraged Stephanie to sit down. I went and got coffee for us both knowing she would need at least two cups to become coherent, filling hers with cream and sugar the way she liked and taking both cups back to the table.
When I got back to the table Julio was now sitting next to Stephanie, her hand in his, "Looks like you were attacked by a swarm of sucker fish last night. They attacked you here and here and here." He pointed to different spots on her neck as she pulled away from him. I stood over him giving him my death warmed over glare. He picked up his plate and stood up saying, "If you need some protecting from those nasty swarms just let me know."
At a quarter to eight Angelia showed up. I know in her mind her life was perfect, but she seemed to be struggling more with her "perfect" children than she would like anyone to believe. She got them plates of food and sat down next to my parents. I nodded at my men that they could help themselves to whatever food was left. I seemed to be the only oatmeal eater in the group and I was glad for the option, even as my men slowly progressed to the bar and helped themselves to the remaining food. As people began to take their plates to scrape off and set in the dish buckets to be washed I got up to address everyone.
"How is everyone doing this morning?" I asked.
"Better now that we are on the island. There is nothing to do here but at least I can relax and we are safe here." Oshanna said. There was a chorus of answers following hers.
"Excited." I heard from one of the boys.
"More relaxed." Mama said and there were several nods.
"Safer." Isabella said.
"I can't wait, there is a speed boat out there and we can go skiing." Diego said.
"Nieto, es domingo y no hay iglesia. ¿Dónde puedo sacar velas a la luz y decir mis oraciones?" Abuela Rosa asked. (Grandson, it is Sunday and there is no church. Where can I get candles to light and say my prayers?)
"Sí mi'jo, la isla es hermosa. Pero estamos perdiendo misa esta mañana." Mama pointed out the obvious. (Yes son, the island is beautiful. But we are missing mass this morning.)
"No sé de ninguna iglesia aquí en la isla. Pero voy a ver si no puedo encontrar algunas velas y se puede encender en la playa y decir sus oraciones." (I don't know of any church here on the island. But I will see if I can't find some candles and you can light them on the beach and say your prayers.)
I addressed the group. "After breakfast, I will find Janice and see if she can come talk to us. She is the island coordinator in charge of activities. She can help you figure out things to do." I looked directly at Oshanna. "Before we split up we need to go over island rules. Everything is now more relaxed and the rules are simple. First on days where there is no ship in port you have the run of the island. My men will be patrolling around the cabanas and the beaches. They will be carrying LSAT machine guns. This is because any threat is going to come by boat or air and we will see it coming from far away, we need weapons to reach the threat before they get to shore."
"Basically, you don't need to worry unless you hear gunfire. If that happens everyone must get down and stay down until one of my men comes for you. But for general safety all the kids need to have a buddy and at all times your buddy and one parent or assigned adult must know where you are. The adults also need to have someone that knows where you are all the time. Even if you just text me where you are going, let someone know so we don't end up having an island wide search and find out you are in the bathroom or you went snorkeling."
"So those are the two rules – One if you hear gunfire, get down and stay down until someone comes and gets you. When I say down I mean down on the ground. If you are in the ocean get low, get to the shore and get down on the sand. Second, you always stay with your buddy and if you're an adult someone knows where you are at all times. I am going to add a third. If you're an adult you keep your phone with you at all times. They are waterproof, stick them in your bathing suit if you're going in the water with the exception of skiing. Then leave them on the boat."
"Tuesday and Saturday are ship days. On ship days the ship is in port from 7:00 am till 6:00pm. Regular detail, have your eyes on your subject all the time. They stay with you all day no exceptions."
"The rest of this is not rules just the basics for being on the island. Meals are at 7, 12, and 6. If you are late you miss out. I have asked that there are always snacks left up here for the kids and if someone misses a meal. The water cooler here is always full and the water coolers in your cabanas will be kept full if you are having the cleaner come in and clean every day. I haven't talked to her, I have just been told that is one of her duties. If you put your 'do not clean' sign up, you are responsible for filling your own water cooler. Stay hydrated, make sure you and your kids are drinking two or three bottles of water every four hours and at least one with each meal. It is easy to forget to drink when you are having a good time. It is hot here and won't take long to get dehydrated under this intense sun, day after day."
"Sunscreen is mandatory for anyone that is not darker than me. Even I can burn being outside all day this close to the equator, so use sunscreen liberally, reapply often and maybe find activities in the shade during the afternoon when the sun is the most intense. I will check in with everyone as we go along and see how everyone is doing. Other than that, have fun. That is why we are here, so we could go somewhere safe and have fun. I am going to go find Janice and have her talk to everyone so if you would all just stay here for a few minutes I will be right back."
I ran to the next building over hoping Janice would be there. I have never met her but her name was in the email Skylar sent. I found a five-foot six inch, brown haired, very Hispanic and very tanned woman wearing cut-off shorts and a red floral shirt tied at the waist.
"Janice, Hi I'm Carlos. I'm in charge of this group and I would like you to talk to everyone about what we can do on the island while we are here."
"Sure, I'd be glad too."
A few minutes later she addressed the group.
"Hi I'm Janice and I'm your activity director during your stay. I'd like to quickly review our rules for the island and all the fun activities we have available. The island has a partner policy, you can't go snorkeling, paddle boarding, wind surfing or boating by yourself. Three people are required to go skiing or tubing behind the ski boat and on ship days, only cruise line employees are allowed to drive the boat. There are surf boards but most of the time there aren't big enough waves to really surf. You're welcome to take them out as floats though. All equipment has to be checked out through me. I'll be in and around the game building all day during your stay. All equipment has to be checked back in by 6:00pm, just in time to clean up for dinner.
We have a huge recreation room with indoor activities for keeping busy. There are many different materials available for painting, drawing, coloring, including several new adult coloring books and gel pens, a large craft table, ping pong, board games, books, two computers with internet, a Nintendo gaming system with four controllers and over 60 different games, a 55-inch tv and DVD player and over 100 DVD's, hand held games and a small ball pit for your younger kids.
After dinner, there's not much to do outside on the island, but if you decide to go for a walk or a swim you need to have someone with you. The game room is open all night for ping pong or card games and the TV and DVD player are always available. We have a small liquor cabinet in there that you can get the key to before dinner if you know you want to have a drink. Prior groups have had movie parties with popcorn and snacks, game nights and paint parties.
There are no lighted paths on the island, only the porch lights on the cabanas and building lights outside the dining room and game room. I do have mini flashlights for your use, that say Blue Island Cruises and can be attached to your room key." She passed these out to all the adults and when requested the older girls.
Janice was so friendly and open I felt confident that my family was in good hands. When she finished talking everyone broke out in discussions of what they wanted to do. Many of the kids were anxious to hit the beach and Oshanna and Stephanie wanted to go snorkeling. I took a deep breath, everyone was safe, the island had full protection and Stephanie was mine. At least for now. I followed Janice out of the dining room and got her attention.
"Janice, two things. I would like to get the key for the liquor cabinet and to know exactly where it is. Second do you have any candles and some matches?"
"Sure," she spunkily answered, "follow me."
I followed her back to the game room and she handed me a key on a Blue Island Cruise Lines key chain and pointed to a large wooden cabinet on the wall opposite the TV then walked into a backroom. She came back with a handful of candles and a box of matches.
"These are emergency candles, they are several years old but should still burn. We have a whole box of them that we'll never use because we have lanterns and flashlights if we ever didn't have power. But everything runs on solar power and batteries here so we probably don't even need those. We would have to be without sunshine for more than three days before we lost power." She handed them all to me. "The only rule is you can't light them in the cabanas. I didn't ask you what you wanted them for." She looked at me questioningly.
"My mother and grandmothers are missing Mass this morning and if nothing else I thought lighting a few candles would help them feel better."
I returned back to the dining room and distributed my prizes to Grandma Rosa's delight and suggested they light them on the beach with the children this morning so that they can include them in their prayers.
An hour later I was struggling to tighten the straps to a fin.
"Try to hold your leg straight." I instructed and Stephanie rolled her eyes, as she sat back on her elbows in the sand, leg lifted in the air. Fourteen members of my family were already out snorkeling, even Cassie, who at six, was a master in the ocean. Janice, who efficiently handed out and fitted the equipment, explained that on a ship day she was use to dispersing hundreds of sets in a day so 16 was not a problem.
After breakfast snorkeling was the number one desired activity and while I personally would have chosen to go with fewer people, the more people you have churning up the water the more fish they scare away, Stephanie really wanted to come with everyone else. She thought she could adjust the straps herself, even though she has never in her life been snorkeling, and now I was fighting against a limp foot and wiggly leg while I tried to pull her fins on tight.
I can dress a man in full diving gear in five minutes, well usually we would double team him. One man on each side as we dragged the skin-tight wetsuit on, got them zipped and started loading them down with equipment. But this was like trying to put shoes on my three-year-old nephew, totally limp feet that wave around in the air while you tried to get shoes on and tied. I finally propped her heel against my thigh, pushed the fin on her foot and pulled the strap tight, repeat other leg.
"Now take them off."
"But you just got them on."
"I just got them fitted, it is very hard to walk out there in fins. You walk out and then float while you put them on." I explained. She bent her legs wearing her smoking hot blue bikini and pulled at the straps that were now too tight. I repeated the leg process releasing the straps by one notch and then removed the fins and pulled her to her feet, before handing them back to her. I gathered all my equipment. "Ready Babe?"
"Yes, show me the fish." I put on my mask and snorkel encouraging her to do the same, took her hand and led her to the water.
The crystal blue-green water reflected the sunlight streaming through in waves down to the bottom of the ocean which was fifteen to twenty feet below us. The depth allowed enough buffer that the sea life weren't too spooked by our presence and there were lots of bright fish and multicolored coral to look at. At least until Julie started a game of keep away that involved stealing one flipper from Freddy and throwing it back and forth to Maggie and Becky while they teased their victim.
The thrashing around on the surface of the water caused the fish to scatter and a few minutes later Ron intervened to restore calm. I checked my watch, three hours had passed and I couldn't believe I had spent three hours watching fish. When I was really honest, I realized I had spent three hours watching Stephanie and Julie watch fish. It was past time to recoat Stephanie in sun screen and I got her attention and pointed to the shore.
After snorkeling it was time for lunch. Meal time made for an easy check-in, to make sure everyone was doing okay. Leyla was talking about the sandcastles with moats the other children had built. Julie, Becky and Maggie got into a discussion about who could build the best sandcastle and it was on. After lunch it was now coming up on one and the peak of the sunny day.
"Okay, I think we all need to stay out of the sun for a few hours." I told the group and parents nodded in agreement. Julie, one of the darkest kids from all the time she spent outdoors and her naturally dark skin from me disagreed. "Jewels, it is getting really hot out here and the younger kids need to stay inside for a few hours. So please be a good example and lets all go play games for a little while." She finally nodded her ascent and we trooped into the game room to see what was available.
Stephanie and I joined the girls for some card games and they chose to start with War. Now War with three decks and five people is a challenge, but the girls were plenty experienced and the card playing went fast with everyone flipping their cards over in the middle and the winner grabbing them back in a flash. The high moment of the game was a four-person war between Stephanie, Becky, Julie and myself. Becky won giving her the most cards and leading her to eventually win the game.
The game then changed to Crazy 8's and now instead of trying to get cards you were trying to get rid of them. Eventually Julie won. It went a lot faster and we played several games before Uno Attack was suggested. This was a new kind of Uno with a machine that spits cards out at you, which I managed to avoid three times in a row, getting down to two cards before Julie laughed devilishly and swapped hands with me. Stephanie ultimately won that game, for which I had to give her another kiss, but it kept the girls attention and we played cards for over two hours before Leyla said her kids could get sunscreen on and go back outside. I was relieved that none of the girls had asked Stephanie about the marks on her neck. She didn't seem embarrassed or try to hide them. I thought her actions brought less attention to them and made it not seem like a big deal.
Diego led Richard, Chris, Ricky, Mykie and Julio, out to go waterskiing and tubing while my parents helped watch their kids. Everyone else gathered on the white sandy beaches to watch the construction of sandcastles and supervise the young kids frolicking in the gentle waves.
Two of the prepackaged sand toys had already been opened and claimed by the younger children this morning so the older girls ripped into the two remaining packages fighting over the buckets with turrets briefly before being told they could switch buckets with one of the younger kids to get a third. Janice had gone all out providing beach chairs and loungers that had built in holes to hold up umbrellas for all the adults. She also provided two piles of oversized towels for everyone to use for the two weeks, telling everyone to hang them on the clothes lines provided behind the last row of cabanas.
An hour later, the girls, now done with the basic creations, were still working on their sandcastles by drawing in windows and drawbridges, adding little stick flags, and digging moats that refused to hold water. I slathered Stephanie's back with more sunscreen and pulled her into the ocean to swim around with me. I had been giving her little kisses all day, and had to laugh at the fresh purple marks on both sides of her neck that mirrored the fading marks on her face.
"Come on Babe. It's beautiful out here." I pulled her out further than we could both stand and swam around her like last night but in a larger circle. I grew up going to the beach throughout the summers but those occasional events never let me really swim that much. When I went through Ranger training and had to swim miles I learned that I had a large lung capacity and enjoyed swimming long distances.
Right now, I desperately wanted to go swim a few miles which wasn't advisable under our current situation, lest one of my men see a figure moving from out in the ocean towards the island and shoot me. Instead, I swam up to Stephanie who was half floating and pulled her to me. I slowly spun us around in the water so clear we could see to the white sand below and the little fishes that darted around us.
"You are so beautiful and getting tan so fast."
"It's the Italian genes, if I spent more time in the sun I would always be darker, but my Hungarian roots make me lose my tan within a few weeks. Unlike your tan that is permanent." I smiled at her. I slowed our spinning and pulled her to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and we floated for about ten seconds, legs and arms entwined, before I started to sink.
She hadn't mentioned Morelli all day. As a matter of fact, we hadn't talked much except for commenting on what we were doing. I wondered if she was considering a relationship with me or if she felt guilty over last night. She seemed to be relaxed and truly enjoying herself so I decided not to question her. I figured she would come to me when she wanted to discuss what was going on between us.
Being mostly solid muscle, with no obvious fat, I know that if I exhale deeply I can sink all the way to the bottom. My lungs are the only thing that keep me from drowning, filled I can float for hours. I began kicking, spinning us slowly around, while looking deeply into her eyes. Every time I had her in my arms I still felt amazed that I got her back unharmed.
I could stare at her like this for hours, it heals the wounds on my heart made when I watched that video. If I could say my heart could break, it broke in that moment for her, and holding her now was still a healing balm on my soul. This trip was costing a small fortune, but it is nothing compared to the amount I would have paid to get her back whole and undamaged like this.
"Ranger,-"
"Carlos, Babe, Carlos."
"Carlos" instead of continuing she pushed me away and swam back to where the water was chest high on her. I followed her stopping a few feet shy of her. I knew what she was going to say, it was all over her face.
"Carlos, we shouldn't have done what we did last night. I don't know what I was thinking. I think I need to move into my own cabana and stay further away from you while we are on the island."
"Stephanie, this loyalty is misplaced. You know when you two are apart he is free with his goods. His boys go and visit other women. Right?" She looked at me astonished.
"When you first started dating he had been single for a while, but really Terry Gilman was trying to get him to go out and with her mob connections he wouldn't do it. But after one of your fights I guess he got tired of being alone and went out and found someone to spend the night with. Lately he has two different women who he goes and visits when you are off." I told her.
"No, he doesn't, that is ridiculous. Deep down he loves me, we are supposed to get married." She said.
"I agree that he loves you because he always comes back to you, but how hard do you think it would be for him to find someone to share his bed? Why do you think he always wants to have an open relationship with you? It's so he can see his other women on the side." She just stood their dumbstruck as if the idea truly hadn't crossed her mind.
"You don't need to feel like you have to be faithful to him because I can guarantee that he is not being faithful to you. Well his arm might be slowing him down, but I can get pictures for you if you would like. I have never brought it up because I figured you knew or at least suspected."
"Well once I suspected because I went by his house three nights in a row and he was never home. But he said he was working and he works such crazy hours sometimes…" She trailed off turning back time in her mind. "And there was this one time in Giviochini's where Gina asked me if I was dating someone new too but I didn't know what she was talking about because Joe and I had been broken up for two weeks. Then there was that time that Joyce came into the bonds office spouting that Joe had been in the bar last night and had gone home with some girl, but I figured it was just Joyce lying to hurt me. Rang-Carlos, I don't know, I didn't know. I have had that thought and sometimes when we were broken up I thought that I wished he would see someone else because I was tired of the rollercoaster ride. But damn. I never heard through the grapevine. You would think that people would have been talking about it."
"Babe, people like to gossip about you. Your mother is a big gossip, everyone likes to call her and talk about you. But Joe and his mother are respected and she put out there a long time ago that his love life was off the table, not for discussion. People only talk about him when it relates to you. Other than that, they fear his mother and his grandma Bella and it keeps talk to a minimum."
"Still I can't believe that no one ever told me. Mary Lou would have told me and she always knows what's going on."
"Maybe she didn't want to hurt your feelings knowing he was dating and you weren't. Or maybe she, like you, your parents and a lot of the burg thought that eventually you two would get together for real and he would let the other women go. Don't take my word for it. I have a satellite phone, you can call her and ask."
"I thought you said it had to be dire or an emergency to use the satellite phone."
"Babe, this will drive you crazy till you know the truth. You trust me and I have never lied to you, so you want to believe me but I can see the doubt in your eyes and I want you to hear it from another reliable source." I could see that part of her wanted to get out of the water right now and go make that call. Another part warred within her wanting to take me at my word but knew I had a huge stake in the outcome and might sway the truth to get her to keep sleeping with me. The final part of her feared the truth and didn't want to hear that Joe might be with other women while they are apart.
She stared across the water, unseeing the people moving on the beach or the palm trees swaying in the gentle tropical breeze. She looked back at me, "I know you wouldn't lie to me. Not about something as important as this. But if I'm going to call someone it's going to be Joe and he can explain it to me." Then she turned away hurt plainly on her face and wandered through the water back to shore.
I hated hurting her like that. It was like ripping off a bandage and realizing the scab had come too and now it was gushing blood. There might have been gentler ways to tell her, but it was going to hurt her either way. I'm surprised she didn't suspect it long before now, especially the way he always kept them having an open relationship and never willing to make a final commitment.
I took out my phone and texted all my men. 'Going for a several mile swim off east side of the island. Don't shoot me.' With my strong arms and powerful chest, swimming is easy for me. I slipped into a long rhythmic movement, my long arms smoothly pulling me forward, while I kicked my legs mechanically. Time flows by with the water as I smoothly slice my way out through the ocean. My whole body relaxes as I fall into the rhythm I established years ago.
Half an hour slips by as I lose myself in my thoughts about this situation and Sergio. In two more days, once the ship had come and gone, I would get a small plane to fly in and get me. Then I would make my way to Colombia. I know where his southern compound is, that is where he and his men were based when they were trying to steal that land. I had an idea where one western compound was based. But I knew he had an emerald mine, cocaine fields, a uranium mine, shipping and packing plants, a whole shipping company of trucks, airplanes and cargo ships spread all over; he could literally be anywhere.
While we had stopped him from taking the lands by force; a government agreement was passed to protect the farmers. It didn't mean he couldn't get the land, just that he would have to pay them fair market value for the uranium rich land that had been discovered there.
The uranium had been discovered by accident when a local stream that ran through their lands tested positive for minute amounts of radiation and the government, having many other problems, didn't want to deal with it. An ambulance chasing lawyer, as we would call him here, got wind of the situation and volunteered to represent the farmers for a percentage of the sales price if they decided to sell. He paid for exploratory drilling so the type, the quantity and quality of the uranium could be determined.
No significant uranium deposits have ever been found in Colombia, compared to other nations around the world, so it was very rare and a big deal. The government's plan was supposed to protect the farmers and keep the uranium from falling into the wrong hands. Instead Sergio ended up paying millions for the land he had been bullying the farmers for. Since there were no legal controls in Colombia, he still made millions selling uranium to countries that had been limited or restricted by other nations, violating international laws. Still, our interference cost him over twenty-five million up front and a few good men, and in return he had vowed retribution.
Last I had checked, there were still a few international contracts out on my life, but in the first few years when those coming after me all disappeared it made those contracts less appealing for anyone to try and fulfill. I had to send a strong message with Sergio, done right it would protect Stephanie, Julie and my family far into the future. It was time to resurrect the knife, I had already had that thought in mind when I packed and brought my little battery powered jewelry engraver with me.
My thoughts ran out and I had peaceful quiet for a while when I realized that I had been swimming for over an hour and had gone several miles. I floated for a few moments getting my bearings and then remembered my phone. I pulled it from my pocket grateful for the waterproof feature and opened my compass app. Cell towers over a flat distance can broadcast up to forty-five miles so I should be able to get coordinates. The app showed not only an accurate compass but also longitude and latitude. I realized I had actually been swimming west-northwest and was sighting my return path when there was a disturbance in the water twenty feet from me and I slid the phone back in my pocket so I could prepare for whatever it was.
I froze as I realized something very large had just come close to the surface on my right. Seconds later a great big whale broke the surface, spouted air and then floated at the surface breathing for a moment with a smaller whale right beside it following suit. Suddenly the water was breaking on both sides of me and I got a good look as twelve or fifteen different whales surrounded me. They had big heads and bumps instead of fins on their backs. I could see they were up to thirty feet long as they came up for air. There were several smaller calves in the group and I forced my breath to remain steady as I slid my phone back out of my pocket and took pictures.
For thirty feet in every direction there were huge whales surrounding me, just floating at the surface breathing. These were sperm whales, majestic in stature, the largest of the toothed whales. I remembered that they ate meat, but that they tended to feed in the depths of the ocean not at the surface and though they looked like they could swallow me in one gulp most of them just continued on their way. They tended to rise and float on the surface breathing for a few before making their really deep dives.
As the other whales moved on, one smaller curious calf surfaced about fifteen feet from me. It looked like it was about ten to twelve feet in length, floating at the surface for several moments as if examining me and I got a really good picture of it underwater.
We stayed there floating in the water looking at each other for long moments and I wondered if he was thinking I was some kind of new food. Suddenly less than five feet from me a huge whale surfaced as if I could be some kind of threat, or maybe I was a shiny object and momma whale was getting between us to gain the baby's attention.
I slowly moved my arms getting further away from her, I say her because her attention seemed to be more on the baby than on me. Moments that seemed like a lifetime passed and there were loud clicking noises so close I could feel the vibration of them in my body, rattling my teeth, then just as suddenly they were diving again. The little lost human in the middle of the sea forgotten. I was so moved by their beauty, their innocence, their curiosity. Certainly, they knew I was here long before they surfaced and still they came around me.
I was astonished and grateful for that moment of exhilarated peace that these gentle giant creatures showed me. They don't go running around the ocean hurting each other and they have much larger brains than ours. It reminded me of how small we humans are in this vast world we think we rule. Of course, if mama whale thought I was a threat I know she wouldn't have hesitated to remove me and I knew in that moment so clearly my small role in the world.
I was one small pawn, one little piece in this great big world, so small I am compared to these giants. All the horrible things I had done for the government to make the world a safer, better place, to protect my country, to protect my family, were made smaller by the greater horrors my actions protected against. The guilt, self-revulsion and recrimination for how some of those things were achieved and the lives I have taken, that has hung over me for years, seemed to lessen. I somehow felt absolved in a way for all those things, because a huge gentle whale that could end me in a moment, and would have with no guilt or feelings what-so-ever, didn't, that I was spared to continue my undeserving path in life. I now felt like I had received a nod from God, from the universe, from some force far greater than myself, that my path though occasionally bloody was approved.
After several minutes of this self-introspection I was aware that I was a very small fish in a giant ocean and that I should move myself back towards land; lest something else with teeth come along. I once again sighted my course and started my smooth even strokes back to the island. An hour into my swim my phone started vibrating, kept vibrating for several rings and I paused mid-stroke to answer it.
"Yo." I had looked at the readout and knew it was Stephanie.
"Where are you?"
"Babe," I floated, catching my breath. "I went for a swim."
"But it's been over two hours." She huffed.
"Babe I really like to swim and wasn't watching the time. I'm on my way back." I answered her even as I became aware of a pod of spotted dolphins frolicking a hundred feet to my left.
"and you're okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just went for a long swim. I'm probably twenty minutes away."
"Still?" she questioned.
"Babe I'm okay, I'm on my way back." I repeated as I watched one dolphin jump high into the air.
"Okay I'll be watching for you and when you get back I want to make that call."
"Sure." I told her and disconnected. These waterproof phones were awesome, not that we needed them at RangeMan. I hadn't gotten them for my men, but it would be nice to know that if one of my men had to go in the water after someone their phones would still work. I stayed there floating for just a few more minutes, watching the dolphin fins and beaks pierce the surface of the water as they played and taking pictures of their fun.
I reconfirmed my direction with the compass app and took off through the water again. Eventually I saw trees poking up out of the water and kept to my pace. A few minutes later I could see the island. As I approached I watched out for the speed boat that was cruising around to my left pulling someone in the tube. I kept going and soon I could touch bottom and make out all the people on the beach, see Stephanie standing there my binoculars in her hand, towel wrapped around her waist.
"I was worried you got eaten by some shark." She yelled to me. I just smiled and waved my hand to her. I was catching my breath, I hadn't gone running this morning and now my body felt energized, even as my arms were a little tired. I got a towel from the shortened stack and began to dry myself off. I smiled as I examined the large two to three-foot-high intricately built sandcastles along the shore. I stood in front of them. They were all at least a foot higher than when I left, but the creators were now playing in the ocean.
Stephanie came over to me hands on hips. "You could have been eaten out there!" she exclaimed, worry plain to see on her face.
"I'm fine, didn't see any sharks but I did see some whales and dolphins." I told her. I pulled out my phone and showed her the pictures as I took a seat in one of the beach chairs, while I dried off some more. She pulled up a chair right next to me and flipped through the pictures.
"Wow, that's awesome and they are right up next to you. Did you touch one?' She asked.
"No none were that close, but this last one here was only five feet from me." She then got to the pictures of the dolphins and smiled, "You are one lucky man. I'll bet there were sharks out there but they saw it was you and knew better. They knew you'd be tough and rangy instead of plump and sweet." She smiled at me as she flipped through the pictures again.
"Babe you wanted to make that call?"
"Yes, I guess. I just really want to hear him tell me the truth." She took the towel off her hips and put on her cover-up. I followed suit pulling on my black RangeMan tank top.
"Let's go." I led the way back to our cabana got the sat phone and handed it to her. She took it from me and went into the bathroom. I could hear her talking quietly through the door and I had to wonder if he would lie to her. He'd have to know if she was asking that I had told her about his extra-curricular activities and that I had told her to persuade her to sleep with me or at least help her not to feel so guilty for sleeping with me while we were gone. I got a bottle of water from the mini cooler and sat on the end of the bed, licked my salty, slightly chapped lips and tried to listen in.
"What do you mean you thought I knew." Her raised voice came through the door.
"But I haven't been sleeping with him."
"No, I've only slept with him a few times, total, the whole time I've known him."
"No Joe like only four times. I don't go jump in his bed every time we fight."
"Four-time periods. I'm counting Hawaii as one."
"You've been sleeping with untold numbers of women, whenever we break up and you're mad that I slept with him four times?" She practically yelled.
"Even while we were together?" Her voice got softer.
"No, I know what an open relationship means, but I just assumed since I wasn't seeing anyone else you weren't either."
"But we were supposed to be getting married. You were supposed to be saving for a ring. Remember engaged to be engaged, what happened to that?"
"Sowing your oats? Sowing your oats? At what point were you going to stop sowing and get serious?"
"I don't think that you can be serious about me and be sleeping with other women."
"I know we fight and break up a lot, but we always get back together. We don't fight because we don't care about each other, we fight over my job, and me not wanting to be a housewife."
"Yeah and over him and his cars."
Her voice got quiet again.
"NO! I mean it this time! It's Over! I love you Joe, but I can't do this. I lived through Dickie cheating and I swore I would never do that again. I can't live through it."
"Hawaii wasn't planned it just kinda happened. You were the one that was supposed to come with me on that trip."
"I told you I saw The Rug's wife. I followed her-"
"We were there undercover-"
"He only came to help me."
"You act like you weren't sleeping with anybody else."
"Well you sleeping around just because you think I'm sleeping with him isn't an excuse because I haven't been running off to sleep with him."
"Your stomach problems turned out to be an allergy, not caused by me."
"I don't know what to tell you." She sounded defeated, "I know I agreed to an open relationship, but I didn't know you were exercising that right. I didn't take it seriously."
"I understand you have a high libido, but I refuse to have sex with someone who is screwing other people."
"It's none of your business if I've slept with him. With all of your running around I don't think you get to have a say."
"Well honestly, if you have to know, we've slept together every night since I was kidnapped." She said defensively.
"Well you couldn't keep me safe in your bed and he can keep me safe in his."
"Yes, I know they were his maniacs and you got your arm broken."
"How do you figure it was my fault?"
"Well from now on your bed will be safe 'cause I won't be in it!"
I just sat there waiting for her to come out but there was just silence from the other side of the door. Then I heard her murmuring again and I figured she needed sometime alone, but I didn't want to leave and have her think I abandoned her. I threw my empty bottle in the bedside trash and got up to get another cold bottle of water out of the small two-shelf refrigerator. I kicked off my flipflops and sat with my back to the headboard, legs stretched out on the bed crossed at the ankles.
Fifteen minutes later she came out and handed me the phone. She had obviously been crying.
"You're right and Mary Lou didn't tell me because she thought I knew. He's been telling everyone that we had an open relationship so they thought I was okay with him sleeping around because apparently they thought I was having you on the side too."
"I don't know how my life gets screwed up like this all the time." She sat on the bottom of the bed turned away from me, her arms waving in the air. "I'm going along thinking my life is just fine and then whammy something comes along to screw it up." She paused. "Actually, this has been happening since Hawaii. He said that's when he knew I was sleeping with you. He had been suspecting it for a while."
"He says he doesn't love any of them, that he's not serious with them, that he only loves me. But he isn't actually saving up for a ring right now, he's saving up to finish his new garage. Put in drywall instead of the bare studs, shelves, an automatic garage door opener and paint the interior. That we have plenty of time to save up for a ring." She paused and hung her head, shoulders slumped, hands in her lap.
"I thought we had something serious, something special. He's the first man I fell in love with since Dickie. I thought he was okay with the on again, off again thing, that we both needed to take breaks. But I thought eventually we would get married. We've been talking about it forever. Well he has been talking about it; I had actually been avoiding it. It sounded good for the future just not anything I wanted to get tied down with right now." She sighed and looked at me. "What am I going to do now? I'm going to be a washed up single old maid that nobody ever wanted." She started crying again and I scooted down to the end of the bed and held her. Pulling her onto my lap and enfolding her in my arms, resting my head against the side of hers.
"Babe, I know it hurts but it's going to be alright."
"No, my mother's right, I'm just going to get old alone and never have anybody really love me." She sniffled.
"I was under the impression that you didn't really want to get married, that you were happy being single and doing your own thing."
"Well for now, but eventually I thought I'd get married. I thought I'd have a ring." I couldn't help myself, part of me wondered if it was too soon, since she just broke up with him, but another part of me said she was crying because she didn't have a ring and I could give her a ring.
I slid her back off my lap and went to my bag to pull the little box from the side pocket and walked back over, noticing she was wiping away tears and not paying attention to what I was doing. I sat back down on the bed next to her and pulled her back onto my lap, lifting her head to look at me.
"Babe this is for when you are ready. I'm not trying to rush you, I just want you to know where I stand." and I set the box in her hand. She just stared at the box for a long moment and I worried that it was too soon. I know that she and the cop have been dancing around marriage forever. Practically since they started seeing each other it has been a topic of discussion. She always seems to run when it starts getting serious and I don't know if it's her subconscious running away from him because deep down she knows it would never work, that she would not be happy as a burg housewife, or if after her first disastrous marriage she has a deeper fear and aversion of the institution itself.
Maybe we could date for a year and get engaged next year. That would give her time to meet more of my family and get used to them, and me time to prove to her mother and father that I am an acceptable choice. I know if it was Jewels I wouldn't want her around anyone as dangerous as me or someone who has as many dangerous men after him as I do. I want her to have a normal safe life, marry an accountant or something. Stephanie's life never seems safe but this would put crosshairs on her like she's never seen. If they think they can hurt me with her it will paint a big target on her forehead.
A year would give me time to assess the situation, see how many make a move on her, see where the threats would come from and then put out warnings to anyone who would hurt her about what will happen if a hair on her head is harmed. I looked down at her hands where she was just staring at the box mumbling to herself out loud. I was worried as she was still sitting there unmoving, so I leaned closer to hear her personal dialog.
"A ring. He got me a ring. He says he doesn't do relationships but he bought me a ring. He must be ready for some kind of relationship if he bought a ring. He must have been thinking about this for some time if he already had a ring. He must be thinking about it with me now because he brought this ring with him on this trip. Do I want a ring? I know I was crying because I didn't have a ring but that was more about Joe and the fact that he has been cheating on me. And because he isn't even saving up for a ring." She took a deep breath and then just kept going oblivious to the fact that she was mumbling this all out loud.
"But do I want Joe to save up for a ring? I mean I thought I wanted him to be saving up for a ring but I also have been living in fear that one day he was going to show up with one and I would have to say 'yes' because we have been talking about it for so long and it is just expected by our families that one day we were going to get married. Do I love Joe? Yes. But do I really want to marry Joe?"
There was a long pause. Then she took a deep breath and repeated. "Do I want to marry Joe? I don't know. We were good in the bedroom, and we get along okay. But really, I have been afraid that he would ask and it would ruin what we have because honestly, I'm afraid to marry Joe. I like Joe, but fundamentally we want different things. I like my job. I want to work. I don't know that I'll ever want to have kids and I can't cook to save my life. Besides my once a week cleaning spree on my apartment I don't like to clean and I'm really not good at laundry. I usually take my laundry to my mom and leave it for her. I mean I'm doing her a favor giving her something else to do with her day and more things to iron. I've never done Joes laundry." She stopped again and laughed to herself.
"Ranger gave me a ring and I'm stupidly thinking about Joe's laundry." She shook her head as if to dislodge the thought, her wild curls flailing about. "Ranger has Ella to do his laundry. Ranger has Ella to cook and clean. He would never ask me to do his laundry or cook him dinner. Even if I could cook, he'd probably never eat anything I would cook anyway. Too much fat and sugar in anything I would make." She laughed to herself and returned to staring at the box still not having opened it.
"Babe?"
"I'm getting there... I'm getting there. It's just so unexpected. I never knew you felt this way. I never knew you ever thought about marriage with me. Thought about it enough to buy a ring. Joe has been talking about it for years and has never bought me a ring. It's just…it's just that I want this ring. I know if I open it I'm going to want it and I don't know if I'm ready for that. If I'm ready for that with you. Opening this ring is as good as saying yes and I need to know inside that I am ready to say yes." She looked up at me. "I have had occasional thoughts about being married to you for a long time, I just thought they were dreams, a fantasy, that it never could be real."
"Babe I slipped up one time and told you I thought about marrying you. Then I tried to take it back. To change it to sharing a closet with you. But obviously in my heart I really thought about a life with you."
"When I walked down the aisle to you at Kensey and Amanda's wedding rehearsal I knew I could marry you. I would love living with you. I would love to share your closet and I love your sheets. I love Ella's cooking. But it never seems real to me when I stay with you. I don't know if I can live like that for real." She went back to staring at the box and I knew I was right it was too soon for her. I prepared to take it out of her hands when she surprised me by raising her head, lifting the box up and slowly opening the lid.
To be continued…
A/N: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all for your reviews! They are all loved and appreciated. Happy New Years! May you have a Wonderful beginning to 2018!
As always big THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! to my beta Sassysaint who makes my stories more readable. You are AWESOME! THANK YOU! Couldn't do it with-out you!
Second Big THANK YOU to my sister, Jonelle. Who is giving my stories a thorough technical analysis (ie deep proof reading) Thank you for offering great suggestions and fixing all my commas, apostrophes, and all my many other little mistakes. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!