Chapter 5
They both dozed on the flight to Kauai and roused only when the pilot told everyone to prepare for landing. Jack drove the rental car as Barbara read the map, and with only one false turn they made it to the hotel. It was late afternoon and the sun had not yet begun to set, but the growing shadows gave everything a special color, even more beautiful than it was in full daylight.
They hadn't stayed at this hotel on their previous trip to the island, but they'd once gone there for dinner. The separate cottages that made up the place appealed to their desire for privacy, although they fleetingly brought an unbidden memory to Jack. He banished it as quickly as it came. That part of his life was over, forever. He had relegated it to a corner of his mind although he never wanted to fully let it go. His first love would always be with him, and that brought him some sort of comfort. But as his father had predicted he'd found love again, with Teri, and now with Barbara. He'd been ready, finally, to move on.
As their luggage was carried in they were pleased to see that their bungalow was directly on the beach. There was the bedroom, of course, a luxurious bath with a whirlpool that they knew they'd enjoy together, and a sitting room, all done in colors that matched the sand and sea just outside. They could sleep with the blinds partly open so that the dawn light would reflect from the sand. Even with the sliding doors closed they could hear the surf, with the constant rhythmic pattern of the waves as they broke on the shore. It was a relaxing sound for both of them and mirrored their feelings. Neither of them could recall ever feeling so content.
Without even unpacking they took a walk along the shoreline, enjoying the feel of the sand beneath their bare feet. They had chosen the perfect place for their honeymoon, they thought. This would be perfect for both of them.
They slept late the next morning. When room service brought their breakfast they ate on the cabin's lanai, right next to the ocean. When they finished they put on their suits and went out to the beach. Barbara loved to lie in the sun, and with her olive skin she rarely got sunburned, although Jack was pleased to rub the sunscreen all over her body. She happily reciprocated, and they just lay on their respective lounges, holding hands, until Barbara suggested another walk on the beach. They went about a half mile up the coast and then back down, content to walk in silence, still holding hands. It was the best either of them had ever felt.
When they returned to their bungalow they languidly made love, enjoying the absolute pleasure they gave each other. They were nestled in each other's arms as they feel asleep, and didn't wake up until after seven. They showered together and dressed for dinner.
As they walked into the hotel's elegant restaurant they could see the other diners looking at them. They had both become well-known and were frequently recognized, and while it was something each would have preferred didn't happen they ignored the chatter that followed them as they were shown to their table on the lanai. They felt that they were the only people on the planet, and nothing was going to interfere with their delight in being together in such a beautiful place. They had drinks in the reflection of the moonlight on the water, with the crashing of the surf providing a backdrop to their murmured conversation. The glances of the other diners went unnoticed.
After dinner they took another walk on the shoreline. The sky was brilliantly clear and the moon looked like it had been placed there just for them. They walked leisurely, eventually going knee-deep in the surf and started splashing each other. When they were both soaked they returned to the cabin, where they enjoyed taking each other's wet clothes off. The inevitable followed.
Barbara had obtained her beginner's certification in scuba diving on their first trip to Kauai. Jack, who was a certified master diver from his Delta Force training hadn't wanted to teach her, for he knew that it would only cause tension. He wasn't a patient instructor, and he didn't think she'd be a good student if he was the one giving her lessons. It was like teaching a family member to drive: not a good idea. He'd arranged for another instructor while he did a re-check dive. Jack had too much respect for the ocean to take anything for granted, and he knew that even a master diver like he could forget things, especially since he hadn't gone diving in several years. He did everything right on his dive, of course, and joined a group that was going to explore a wreck, while Barbara took additional lessons to get her advanced certification.
They joined up a few hours later, both of them exhilarated but exhausted from their dives. When they finished their shower together they fell asleep and didn't awaken until just before sunset. They decided to take another walk along the beach, and with Jack's arm around her shoulders and Barbara's around his waist they watched the sun slip down into the ocean beyond. The moon hadn't yet risen so it was almost dark as they returned to their cabin. It had been a fantastic day, and they knew it would be followed by a fantastic night.
They drove to a different restaurant that evening at a hotel down the beach. They were again recognized, but they still only had eyes for each other. Jack looked at how beautiful his new wife was in a white sun dress that showed off her deepening tan, and realized again how lucky he was to get a second, no, a third chance at happiness. Barbara's thoughts mirrored Jack's. They belonged together, she was sure. Everything was perfect, and they knew that their life together would be, too, no matter the adversities they were sure to face. They were having the best time of their lives.
The earth moved beneath them so much that night that they joked that it had actually been an erupting volcano. They were perfectly matched, including their passion for each other, and that never seemed to wane. They both wanted more, and tried to provide it to each other whenever possible.
After Barbara got her advanced certification they went for her first dive to explore a wreck. Jack watched her carefully as she did her first deep dive, although he had confidence in her instructor, who remained on the boat. She really enjoyed scuba, and was delighted that she could join Jack in one of his favorite sports. He, of course, was pleased to see how well she had mastered it, not at his level, certainly, but with the advanced certification she'd obtained they could do all recreational dives together.
After twenty minutes at the wreck they ascended slowly as they'd both been taught, to minimize the possibility of 'the bends,' which was a possibly fatal condition brought on by surfacing too quickly. There had been a man in Jack's Delta unit who had disregarded his lessons and gone up too fast, and he'd only been saved by a long time in a decompression chamber. He'd been dropped from Delta immediately, for only soldiers who followed orders could be safely entrusted with other's lives. Each man in Delta knew of his responsibility for the lives of his teammates, and a man who couldn't follow instructions was a threat to all of them. It was a lesson that all of the trainees took to heart. Although they'd been screened carefully before being selected to join the elite unit sometimes a mistake was made, and the training was meant to weed out the 'bad apples' almost as much as it was designed to provide the soldiers with the skills they'd need to survive and accomplish their missions. Jack, of course, had finished at the top of his class. He'd once been described as a 'natural born' killer, a thought that made him sick, yet he knew that his skills had stood him in good stead. Still, he needed to believe that it wasn't true, and he counterbalanced that idea with his gentleness, especially with Barbara. That was the part of him that he wanted to believe in.
After returning to their bungalow they showered, again together, and prepared for dinner. They went to a new Continental restaurant where they knew they'd again be scrutinized, but it was becoming a regular occurrence and they were learning not to care. The only foreign language Barbara spoke was Spanish, so it was up to Jack, who was pretty good at speaking French, to order. He only made one mistake, which they realized when they were served an entree of suckling pig, complete with its head. They laughed uproariously together, but gamely ate the meat, which they acknowledged was really good. Barbara had found the animal's stare disconcerting, to say the least, so the waiter had good-naturedly, humorously, really, removed the platter and returned with separate plates of the roast pork.
They decided they'd return to the restaurant before they went home, to try the duckling Jack had thought he ordered. Barbara gently teased Jack about his foreign language skills as they drove back to the hotel, and Jack enjoyed it. One of the things that made them so good together was their ability to laugh at the same things, even if it was about something one or the other did. Jack loved to tease her about going for her weekly manicure, although Barbara kept telling him that she enjoyed the half-hour she kept exclusively for herself. Jack didn't begrudge her the time alone; he just thought that how her nails looked was the least important thing about her, but her determination to always have her nails look good was a part of her entire appearance, in which he knew Barbara took pride, and Jack thoroughly enjoyed. She's like other women in that regard, thought Jack, although he knew she was not like other women in almost every other respect. I guess she can't be unique in every way, he mused, although she comes damn close. Although Jack thought Barbara was nearly perfect, he recognized that she didn't belong on a pedestal, and would fight any attempt by him to worship her. She needed his love, but it had to be with cognizance of everything that made her the person she was, including her occasional foibles. She in turn admired Jack's determination in overcoming all of the obstacles he had faced, which she knew made him the man he was.
Jack's kind, gentle nature, which she knew few others had ever seen, was in such sharp contrast to all of the terrible things he'd told her about his past that she recognized the strength of his character. She was a Type-A person, which all successful trial lawyers had to be. Obviously Jack had the same strong personality and drive, or the things he had confronted would have destroyed him long ago. Usually two such people together, although attracted by the commonality of their personalities, created what ultimately was unbearable tension in their relationship. Barbara had seen such calamities confront so many of her colleagues who had married others with similar strengths, and their marriages had ended in divorce, but somehow she knew that the same thing wouldn't happen to her and Jack. They both knew what they had gotten themselves into, for want of a better description, and their love and commitment to each other would enable them to respect their differences as well as their similarities. They weren't being naive; this was not the first serious relationship for either of them, although Barbara had never married before. She had been in what she'd thought would be a life-long commitment to a man also in her profession and had expected to marry him, but he had been unable to be monogamous. Barbara was not one to go into denial. She had realistically acknowledged the situation as soon as she learned of it, and had immediately end their relationship. She was glad she found out before they married. She knew that Jack's experience with Nina meant that he would never again be unfaithful to his wife; she knew the guilt that he'd felt, how he believed it had contributed to Teri's death. One of the things he regretted most in his life was what he admitted to himself was his betrayal of Teri, and he'd never forgive himself for that, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how successful he was in burying the demons that made up so much of his past.
They spent most of their time on the beach and going on a few more wreck dives, and they tried a different restaurant each night, with the exception of returning to the site of the suckling pig debacle. They still joked about it, but they were pleased that the roast duckling they had on their second night there was even more of a gastronomic success than the pork had turned out to be. They had the same waiter as before where they sat on the lanai of the restaurant, and he remembered the look on their faces when he'd brought the pig, complete with head, to their table. He had been amused by Jack's attempt to order in French, and he had wondered whether suckling pig was really what Jack meant, but he had brought it nevertheless. He'd known that they would enjoy it, although he hadn't been at all surprised by Barbara's reaction to the pig's head's stare. He'd seen it before, and being the Frenchman that he was, he wasn't particularly disturbed by seeing the Americans discomfited.
After Jack paid the check they took a walk along the beach next to the restaurant, their shoes in hand, and kissed passionately. Although the moon was mostly obscured by clouds there was enough starlight for them to watch each other, feeling enveloped by love.
Secure in their feelings they returned to their bungalow, where they felt the same volcanic eruption. No matter what fireworks their strong personalities generated, they were ready for the future they would share, together.