Chapter 12

“Sweetheart, you about ready? The boat’s here.” Richie poked his head into the bathroom to see Stephanie, her hair piled loosely atop her head, slicking on some lipstick.

She caught his eye in the mirror, “I just need my shoes.”

They were going into Vaitape Village to shop and have dinner. They only had a couple more days before they had to leave paradise behind and return to the real world. She came back out with her sandals in one hand and a small purse in the other. “Where are we going for dinner again?”

He followed her out and down the steps to board the boat that would take them back to the resort. “Bloody Mary’s.”

She stopped, turned and looked at him, “you mean like the character from the movie South Pacific? That Bloody Mary?’ She boarded the boat and sat while waiting for him to answer her.

He slid his arm around her as he settled next to her. “Not sure, never seen that movie.”

She looked at him, eyes wide in astonishment. “Seriously?!”

He mimicked her look, added a grin that flashed his dimples, “seriously.”

She shook her head, “unbelievable. It’s a classic and one of my very favorites. It takes place” she lifted her arms, indicating their surroundings, “here, during World War II.” She started humming Some Enchanted Evening. “I’ll have to introduce you to it when we get home.”

He stroked her arm, movie musicals were not his favorite type of movies to watch, but he could maybe make an exception. “Sure Sweetheart” he appeased mostly to satisfy her. But, really, how bad could a movie about World War II set in the South Pacific islands be?

After the tender boat docked by the resort, they took a car into the village. They roamed for a bit, poking into the shops and picking up more dresses and pinafores than Lily would ever be able to wear in this lifetime or the next, but were too cute to leave behind.

While Stephanie continued to browse around the Boutique, he meandered over to Sibani Perles. Even as he perused the cases he knew Stephanie would balk at whatever he bought for her. But, this is what he did. Jewelry was his go to for a gift for any occasion, even a just-because-I-wanted-to romantic gesture. He slipped his hands in his pockets as he continued his window shopping. She would just have to get over it.

He stopped in front of a display case of bracelets. One caught his eye right off. The triple strand of diamonds would wrap around her wrist and was capped on each end with a dark, tiger-eye looking pearl. He was reaching for his wallet before the salesperson could even get the case open.

Tucking the small bag into his pocket he stepped back outside and found Stephanie walking toward him. With no bags in her hands and a colorful scarf draped around her neck. He picked up one end of the scarf and gave a gentle tug. “I know you bought stuff, Sweetheart” he dropped a casual kiss on her lips. “Where is it?”

She took his hand as they walked, “the Boutique offered to have it sent over to our Bungalow, so I let them. I’d rather not be lugging it around or having to deal with it while we’re at dinner.”

They slowed as they approached the restaurant. “Smart thinking.” He stroked the scarf again, it was a riot of sunset colors, hues of red, gold and pink, a touch of purple. “I like this though.”

She smiled, “you know I have a hard time resisting red and/or pink anything.” She turned in front of him, “besides, it adds a pop of color to my outfit, don’t ya think?”

He looked her up and down, the long black skirt had a slit up to way-too-high-on-her-thigh-for-his-peace-of-mind and every time she moved he got a mouth-watering view of said smooth, tanned thigh. The skinny white tank did little more than cover the essentials, leaving her shoulders and most of her back bare. And with her hair up, he wanted nothing more than to nibble on that long, elegant neck and sip at those sun-kissed shoulders.

“You don’t need anything to make that outfit pop, Darlin’. You do that all on your own.”

She gave his hand a quick squeeze and dropped a smacking kiss on his lips. “You are far too kind, but thank you.”

He just shook his head and led her into the restaurant. She never could take a compliment. The music coming from the far end of the restaurant made him forget whatever else he had been thinking about. It had been a while since he had been in a place with live music. The chatter rose in volume around them as the music continued.

They were taken to a table and he sat, his fingers mimicking the guitarist’s movements on an imaginary fretboard. He wished fervently for his guitar. The desire to join the group on stage and jam nearly had him getting up and running back to their bungalow for his instrument.

“Hey…” Stephanie laid her hand on his arm. She followed his line of vision to the pretty blond woman wailing on the guitar. She was nearly as good as Richie. At least in her opinion anyway. She turned her attention back to her man. There was no denying the hunger, the eagerness to play on his face.

He drew his attention away from the stage and back toward his girl. “Sorry Sweetheart.” His fingers tapped on the table. He was itching to get his hands on a guitar.

“You should see if she’d let you play.”

He hesitated. This was their honeymoon, their time to be together, not for him to be imposing his job and second favorite pastime on her.

Stephanie gave him a soft, understanding smile.  She had been a fan of his long enough to know that when it came to music, the guitar, playing was nearly as vital to him as breathing.  “You want to, I can see it. Go ahead, go play.” She leaned in close, “for me, Rich. Go play me a song.”

Before he could move, the woman finished playing and, to a rousing round of applause, she took her guitar and left the stage.

Richie’s gaze followed her to a table near the stage and any idea he might have had of going up and introducing himself was short lived as he watched her pack up her guitar and leave the restaurant. He turned his attention back to Stephanie, “I guess I’ll have to play you a song later.”

Q Note:  the link above should take you directly to a pic of the bracelet.