Red handled everything.
He had flights arranged and resort accommodations booked by the time they’d packed their bags. Nicole hadn’t even realized how much she’d missed being taken care of by him, until she felt his warm, protective energy surrounding her once more.
After so many days of stress and tension, she was finally able to relax on the flight and went instantly to sleep with Red’s arm around her.
And then they were landing in Belize and being whisked away to Almond Beach Resort, a quaint, scenic beachfront lodge situated right near a small town. The town of Hopkins was full of little shops and cute, colorful houses and buildings.
When they arrived at their own bungalow at Almond Beach, Nicole could tell she was going to love it there.
She took a deep breath as Red dropped his bags and smiled at her. “Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Mrs. Jameson.”
“Are we going to really do it—elope here?”
“Do you want to?”
She nodded. “Yes.” Just saying it made her nervous, because that meant the ceremony was suddenly much closer than it had been just a day ago. Now instead of being two months away, it might be just a couple of days away.
“I need to apply for the wedding license,” he said, “and it will be a few days before we can get approved. But that’s good because I want to make sure everything’s just right for our day.”
“What does that mean?” she laughed. “Make sure what’s just right?”
“You’ll see,” he told her.
***
The next few days were gorgeous in every way. They would wake up late and lie in bed, laughing and talking and holding each other. They would literally run out the front door of their island bungalow and jump straight into the Caribbean, where Nicole would swim for a few minutes, and then come out and relax on the beach, slowly warming as the sun came up.
Red loved the water, and he would sometimes swim for an hour or more, going so far from shore that it made Nicole a little nervous—except that she knew he was an excellent swimmer.
Next, they would eat a light breakfast of fruit and coffee, after which it might be time to walk into town and browse the shops and eventually get a bite to eat.
The one rule both of them followed was to keep their cell phones off. They’d set their outgoing messages to explain to people that they were on their honeymoon and would only rarely check messages or email.
At night they would have a nice dinner and there was often music and dancing on the beach. The last two evenings Red and Nicole got slightly drunk, and after dancing and drinking like teenagers, went back to their bungalow and stripped naked, jumping into bed together and making slow, intense love.
Finally, on the fourth day in Belize, Red was up earlier than usual, and he woke her to tell her he was leaving for a few hours.
“I’ve got to go check on the license,” he told her, kissing her forehead as she blearily opened her eyes and looked up at him.
“Let me come with you,” she whispered.
He stroked her hair. “No, no. It’s going to be interminable, sitting in some stuffy office and waiting to fill out forms. I’ll be back in a few hours and I’ll call you if I get held up.”
Nicole sighed. “I love you so much. I can’t wait to be Misses Jameson.”
“I love you too.”
And then he left.
Nicole sat up in bed and yawned, wondering what she would do for the next few hours while Red was off trying to get the wedding license.
She went to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Nicole was surprised to see just how tan she’d gotten over the last couple of days. Her skin was brown and she was never brown. She was used to being pale.
But Nicole found that she liked how her skin looked right now, even though she knew that it wasn’t the healthiest long-term option.
She jumped in the shower and just did a quick wash and rinse, didn’t linger too long. And then she came out and changed into a pink two-piece bathing suit that she’d bought while walking through town with Red the day before yesterday.
A few minutes later, she went swimming, and then flopped onto the beach and lay down, dozing a little as the surf roared in her ears.
“Hello?” an accented voice called out from nearby.
Nicole started, opening her eyes. Had she been sleeping? She didn’t even know. She looked up to see a small man dressed in the resort uniform, along with a tall woman standing at the door to the bungalow, knocking and calling out.
Nicole got up, brushing sand from her arms and legs. “Hi, can I help you with something?” she asked, jogging over to them.
The man, who must have been a porter, was holding a bunch of dark, long bags that were taller than he was. His arm strained to keep them from dragging on the ground. Beside him, a tall, extremely thin woman had another large bag over her shoulder.
“Miss Masters?” the woman asked in a smooth, cultured voice.
“Yes?”