Lily was asleep. They had arrived in Rarotonga at seven a.m. Monday after flying all night. They had napped on the plane but Lily was very tired anyway. The home they were living in was modest in size but right on the beach in paradise. Lily had gone to bed right after the taxi from the airport dropped them off. Collin was sitting on the porch staring at the water before him. He checked out his Blackberry. He found the location of Shelby’s GPS transmitter. He was happy to discover that it was on Rarotonga and not a neighboring island. He was unhappy to discover that it was inland through jungle and mountains.
The brochure about the islands mentioned tours of the inland parts of Rarotonga. Collin was hoping to talk to one of the tour guides and see if he could arrange his own off the books tour. Tomorrow would be soon enough. He lay back in the lounge chair and with the gentle ocean breeze helping him to relax, he fell sound asleep.
Hours later Lily woke Collin with a gentle caress. She was wearing a flowing brightly colored swim suit wrap over her bikini. Collin smiled as he reached for her. After a snuggle, Lily suggested to Collin that he change into his swim suit and join her on the beach for a dip in the crystal blue water. He was so pleased to see her truly happy and relaxed.
“I’ll be right back, Sweetie. You are so lovely and I love you so much.”
“I love you too Collin. Go change, I want to see how the water is.”
It only took Collin a couple of minutes to change and return to the porch. Lily had removed her wrap and started toward the water. He ran after her and as he was catching up she laughed and also started to run. They met in the water and embraced. Lily swam out into the water to get wet. Collin swam after her enjoying the sunshine, the water and being with Lily in such a romantic place. There were small colorful fish in the shallow water that dispersed in a flash as the couple swam. The sand was soft and white.
They returned to the beach and walked past the driftwood to the porch and the sun loungers. They rinsed the salt off in the shower next to the porch and then lay in the sun for a bit to dry off. Collin reached over and touched Lily’s hand. They both got up and walked inside.
A bit later, Lily left Collin snoozing in the bedroom and took inventory of the foodstuffs in the kitchen. The Wright’s had left them a variety of dried and canned goods, but there was no fresh produce. She was going to have to go to Avarua and find a market so she could stock up for the next three weeks. But that could wait until tomorrow. Today they would be happy with some canned ham and dried fruit. She put the ham in a large pot with water and brought it to a boil. She turned down the heat to simmer and added from the spice rack: powdered garlic, 6 bay leaves, a teaspoon full of peppercorns and some dried onions. It would take a couple of hours but that canned ham would be wonderful served over some noodles. The dried fruit would do for an appetizer or dessert depending on whether Collin woke up before or after the ham was done.
Lily was reading a book when Collin came out of the bedroom asking, “What smells so good?”
“Dinner will be ready in half an hour.”
“Great, so I have time for a shower?”
“Definitely.”
After Collin showered and dressed he returned to the main living area. Lily had set the table and poured some wine. Collin came and sat down with her at the table. They sipped the wine and nibbled on the dried fruit and some nuts Lily got from the pantry. Collin asked Lily, “What did you find to make for dinner?”
“It is a canned ham over noodles.”
“Canned ham?”
“Don’t worry. I added some spices to make it taste good.”
“I’m sure you did. You are an extremely wonderful cook!”
“It’s done by now. Let me drain the noodles and we’ll eat.”
Lily brought the food to the table. They ate in silence for a few minutes. They had not eaten all day and were starving.
Lily broke the silence, “I’ll be going to the market tomorrow. So we’ll have a better variety of food for the rest of our stay.”
“If you don’t mind I’d like to go to town and talk to the people at the resort about maybe taking in a round of golf.”
“That’s ok as long as you’re not gone all day every day. You know I don’t enjoy golfing.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Chapter Twenty
Gene Search: A Collin Carter Mystery Page 19