3 Weeks 'Til Forever

by Yuwanda Black

  Redmond kissed her long and deeply, afraid that if he let go of her mouth, she’d find the words to resist.

  His hands found their way under her night shirt. Braless, her breasts were warm and she flinched at the coolness of his hands on them. The passion of his kisses soon had her whole body on fire.

  Her hands roamed over his naked chest. Finding the back of his head with one hand, she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss even more.

  Taking his cue from her, Redmond pushed her back against the pillow, not letting his mouth leave hers. His hands moved over her flat belly to her thighs and to her core.

  Still kissing her deeply, his fingers sought and gained entrance to her womanhood. Softly he stroked that magic place between her legs.

  Janey opened her legs wider to give him greater access.

  The gates of passion had opened and she was lost.

  How did he know to touch her like that? So soft, at just the right place, with just the right amount of pressure.

  Almost crying in delight, she called out his name, “Redmond. Oh Redmond.”

  “Yes baby, I’m here,” he responded. “I’m right here.”

  Boom, boom, boom.

  Boom, boom, boom.

  Somewhere through the haze of passion, Janey and Redmond realized there was someone knocking on their door.

  “Who is it?” Redmond called out, almost angrily.

  Frustrated by his pent-up needs, Redmond thought, Who could that possibly be at this hour and their timing couldn’t be worse.

  “It’s security,” the voice on the other side of the door answered. “We got a report of screams coming from this room and wanted to know if everything is alright?”

  Body barely composed from the obvious signs of lovemaking, Redmond peered through the peep hole to verify that it was indeed hotel security, then opened the door wide enough so that the young guard could peer inside and see that everything was ok.

  Speaking from directly behind him, Janey said, “I found a lizard in my bed which made me scream. I’m sorry to cause such a ruckus. I hope I didn’t disturb any of the other guests too much.”

  Obviously relieved at seeing that everything was ok, the guard said, “It’s okay ma’am, and I’m sorry that happened to you. It is the tropics and it happens from time to time.”

  “Good night sir,” the young guard said, tipping his hat before he strode off.

  Redmond closed and secured the door, then looked at Janey.

  Chewing on her bottom lip, Janey said, “Redmond, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let things get so out of hand.”

  Reaching for her, he responded, “I don’t think things got out of hand at all Janey. I know you want me as much as I want you.”

  Side-stepping his embrace, she responded, “That’s irrelevant. For so many reasons, let’s just stick to our original arrangement.”

  Never one to push and mindful that theirs was a business arrangement for all intents and purposes on this trip, Redmond let the matter drop.

  “Do you wanna go for a quick walk on the beach? I’m not sleepy and it’s hours before daybreak. A little moonlight walk with some fresh air could be just what we both need,” Redmond said.

  This was just the type of off-the-cuff thing Janey liked to do from time to time.

  Sensing that he needed to get himself in check before climbing back into a bed beside her, Janey realized that she felt the exact same way about climbing back into one beside him. So, she readily agreed.

  During their half-hour walk, Janey peppered Redmond with questions about the region, which would allow her to write a richer account of the area. He readily answered, giving her so much detail that she wished she had a recorder to remember it all.

  He was not just a taxi driver she thought; he really knew ‘his’ island – everything from its history, to the types of plants and foods Sol y Besos produced, to the main types of commerce conducted.

  While the flames of unfulfilled lovemaking stilled burned brightly between them, the ease with which he respected and accepted her decision not to give into it fully – at least this evening – was not lost on her.

  They silently entered the room again.

  Redmond kissed Janey squarely in the middle of her forehead and said, “We’re going to go a bit further up into Hill Country tomorrow, so sleep tight. We have another long day ahead.”

  And to her surprise, that’s just what she did.

  Chapter 11: The Wait is Over

  Janey and Redmond were on the road by 10 the next morning, riding along in companionable silence.

  “I’m not much of a morning talker, especially before I have my first cup of coffee. Seems like you’re not either,” Janey said, glancing at Redmond from behind her Jackie O-sized sunglasses.

  “It’s ok. I kind of sensed that. As you know, we kind of go with the flow here on Sol y Besos, so no problem. Did you want to stop and grab another cup? I know many of you Americans are addicted to your caffeine.”

  “That would be great. Thanks.”

  By noon, Janey was sitting in front of her next interviewee, a farmer who grew everything from coffee beans to pepper.

  She had been clued in by Redmond about the wide variety of food items the island produced, so it was a real pleasure to interview a local farmer to get first-hand accounts of how most independent farms on the island operated

  After the interview, Redmond took her to an off-the-radar lagoon. It wasn’t on any tourist map you’d find. He told her that many locals didn’t even know about it. It was off the beaten path, behind a run-down, long-abandoned farmhouse.

  Janey had learned to always pack a swimsuit whenever she went to the tropics. She practically lived in one, often wearing it under her street clothes. This came in handy when it got too hot because sometimes she would take her overshirt off and walk around in just her bathing suit top with whatever bottoms she had on if she needed to cool off.

  When they reached the lagoon, she was glad she’d worn a bikini under her shorts and t-shirt. The day was hot, so they lazed around in the cooling waters for well over an hour.

  “How did you ever find this place?” Janey asked.

  “When I was little, my dad brought me here. He knew the family that lived on this farm; his family and theirs often went to market together to sell their crops.”

  “So your family were farmers?”

  “Are farmers,” Redmond corrected.

  “My mom and dad split up years ago, but they’re still friends and still farm together. I have tons of uncles and aunts and cousins; they’re all farmers.”

  “Where is this family farm?” Janey asked.

  “On the western part of the island. My parents bought it when they first got married and moved away from here. It’s about four hours from where you are in the center.”

  “Is that where your daughter is? She’s obviously not with you – at least not every day.”

  “Yes, my daughter lives with my mother because of school. It’s better for her as far as consistency is concerned. I get her almost every weekend and go to see her at least once during the week. The only time she’s not with me on the weekends is when I have an away trip; like the one we’re on now.”

  “Does your wife ever see her or talk to her?”

  “No,” was all Redmond said.

  Janey sensed that it was a closed topic, so didn’t ask any more questions.

  Soon after that, Redmond said it was time that they pack up and get something to eat. It was gonna be dark soon and he wanted to get back to the hotel before it got too late.

  They hadn’t had anything since the farmer’s wife insisted that they eat with them. Janey smiled when she thought of the remark the kind woman had made. She’d said, “After all, what kind of farmers would we be if we didn’t share our food.”

  Grilled vegetables and rainbow fish, which was also grilled, had been served. It was delicious and had Janey licking her fingers.

  The real coup de gras, from a work stan
dpoint for Janey though, was the muscadine wine that had been served with the meal. She’d never had anything like it.

  This had added another hour to the interview, as the farmer’s wife had gone into great detail about how the wine was made, how the muscadines were grown and how they were harvested.

  This had Janey’s head spinning a million miles a minute about the food and drink series she’d been dying to expand on her travel blog’s network.

  Janey was lost in thought over this when Redmond hit a big pothole that literally stopped the van. Glad at that moment that she didn’t follow most islanders penchant for not wearing a seatbelt, she jerked forward violently.

  Redmond’s arm immediately shot over to steady her, and he asked, “Are you alright?”

  Assuring him that she was, he got out of the van to assess the damage.

  With night and a light rain starting to fall, he came over to her side of the van and said, “Unfortunately, this can’t be fixed right now. I need a part.”

  “This means we have two options. We can walk back about five miles to the village we’ve just come from. Or, we can hunker down for the night in a little cabin about an eighth of a mile up the road that I happen to know about.”

  The thought of a five mile hike on muddy roads, in sandals, in the rain, in the pitch-black dark that descended in Hill Country was not appealing to Janey at all.

  However, spending the night in a grungy cabin with probably no facilities wasn’t either. Add to that the fact that she was starving, and Janey felt like she was literally trapped between a rock and a hard place.

  Having faced far worse on her travels though, she knew that complaining would get you nowhere and to leave decisions like this to the experts. So she responded, “What do you think we should do?”

  “I think it’d be best if we spent the night in the cabin. Even if we made it back to the village tonight, I wouldn’t be able to get help to get the van fixed until the morning.”

  “And, there’s no hotel there. I know a couple of families who would gladly put us up, but we’d be sleeping on the floor or in a barn somewhere.”

  “Believe it or not, we’ll definitely be more comfortable in the cabin, and it’s not as bad as you’re probably thinking.”

  “It’s a farmer’s cabin that all the locals use from time to time, like when they get caught in a storm on the way to or from the market. Many of the locals around here don’t have reliable transportation and some still use a horse and buggy to get their crops to market believe it or not. So,, that’s why the little cabin comes in handy.”

  “If we’re lucky, nobody will be occupying it tonight. It’s not big, but it is clean and will do for one night.”

  As the rain started to come down harder and it was almost pitch black, Janey said, “Ok, let’s do it.”

  Until then, Janey hadn’t realized that Redmond was holding his breath. He exhaled visibly and said, “I’m sorry Janey. The roads around here aren’t the best and this happens from time to time. Luckily, I know exactly what’s wrong with the van and I can get the part and we should be on our way by 10 in the morning.”

  “That will actually put us a little bit ahead of schedule because since we’re staying in Hill Country tonight, we don’t have that hour and fifteen minute drive to get up here tomorrow.

  The last person I scheduled for you to interview is not far from here, and hopefully you can knock that out and we can be back at the hotel by late afternoon. That should give you plenty of time to rest before going out tomorrow night.”

  “By the way, my contact called and said our reservation has been confirmed. It’s high season and the place is usually booked, but she said she pulled some strings and got us in.”

  After all the trouble he obviously went through to make sure that she got to do everything she wanted on this trip – and then some – Janey wanted to assure him that she was fine.

  She said, “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me on this trip. You seem to know everything and everybody; I wish I’d met you a couple of years ago.”

  So do I, Redmond thought, so do I – but for completely different reasons.

  . . .

  Both soaked to the bone, Redmond pushed the door to the little cabin open. To Janey’s surprise, he was right, it was clean – really clean. But most important to her at that moment, it provided shelter from the rain.

  At night, even though it was the tropics, the temperature really dropped in Hill Country. Before taking their clothes off to lay them out to dry, Redmond located a sheet for her to wrap herself in and he put on a pair of oversized overalls he’d found.

  Janey found herself shaking in the sheet and Redmond suggested that she get under the covers before she caught cold. It was cold in the cabin and Janey felt funny about hogging the bed, but she did not want to share a bed with him, not after what had almost happened at the hotel last night.

  “Where are you going to sleep?” she asked, surreptitiously making it clear that he was not welcome to share the bed with her.

  “Don’t worry about me Janey, I’m fine. I’ll be okay right in that chair over there.”

  “But will you be warm enough?” she couldn’t help but ask, even though she still didn’t want him in the bed with her.

  “Yes. I’ll find a few more things to wrap myself in and I’ll be fine. I don’t know about you, but I’m beat. I’m starting to feel the day’s exercise. That little sprint we did to get to this place after swimming this afternoon, along with the driving today, has made me sleepy and hungry.”

  “Since I can’t do anything about the hunger part, what do you say we call it a night so we can go find some grub first thing in the morning? Our clothes should be good and dry by then, and hopefully the rain lets up so we won’t have to slog our way through mud piles back to the village.”

  Knowing that he was trying to ease her apprehension about being naked under the covers and sharing this small space with him, she readily agreed and adopted his humorous tone.

  “Okay. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

  Redmond doused the light from the oil lamp he’d lit earlier and she heard him settle into the chair. As she huddled deeper under the covers, the springs on the bed creaked . . . loudly.

  Janey took note of this and sent up a silent prayer that she didn’t do her normal tossing and turning tonight. Otherwise, neither one of them would get any sleep.

  . . .

  “Janey, wake up. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”

  Janey’s eyes dashed open. She was bathed in sweat and shaking a little.

  “Thank God it was just a dream. Something was after me, I was running but it was about to catch me. I was so scared,” she said, laying her head on Redmond’s chest.

  “I’m sorry I woke you up. It seems you can’t get a good night’s sleep with me near.”

  “You’re right about that,” Redmond said, “but not because of what you’re thinking. It’s because all I want to do when I’m near you is this.”

  Redmond put one hand under her chin, turned her full lips to his and when he felt the warmth of her breath, took full possession of them. Like the storm raging outside, he unleashed on her, letting the feelings he had for her guide his moves without saying a word.

  The sexual tension had been building since the first time they laid eyes on each other and Janey knew there was no stopping it now – and she didn’t want to. That night was the first time they made love and it was a night Janey would never, could never, forget.

  Driven by wildly different – but no less important – needs, they came together several times.

  There were no more nightmares that night.

  “Looks like we won’t be needing another room at the hotel after all, huh?” Janey said dreamily as she turned in Redmond’s arms to receive his kiss.

  “Fate is definitely smiling on a brother these days,” Redmond said as he claimed her waiting lips.

  The storm outside subsided just as they drif
ted off for a few hours of much-needed sleep.

  “Muk saha ka toolah” (Don’t ever leave me Janey), Redmond whispered in her ear.

  Janey didn’t understand a word of what he said, but in her heart she knew that they were love words – and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

  Chapter 12: The Past Comes to the Present

  True to his word, Redmond and Janey were on schedule the next morning. They’d risen early and hiked the five miles back to the little village where they’d been yesterday.

  Janey thanked her lucky stars that she was a runner and kept in shape. Redmond was almost a foot taller than she was and of course, much stronger, but he admired the way she kept pace with him – even in less-than-ideal shoes.