God's Island

Chapter Eleven

Sunlight broke over the tall sand palms lining the shore with thin shafts of light licking between the branches. Winking as they tried to reach me.

From the terrace I could see movement on the esplanade below as the night creatures moved silently towards their respective lairs to recharge and replenish for the new day. I watched each tiny figure steal from the beach, preceded by an elongated shadow, and disperse. The new day for them would begin around noon.

Mr. Infallible still slept like a baby. The slow dawdling return from Kolo Beach had taken almost an hour, illuminated by the moonlight and an occasional campfire. I'd tried to sleep, and although tired, the images and memories from the past kept pushing inward like nasty, lifelong sores that refused to heal.

Now I had a brand new memory: a shadowy figure destroying a perfect moment—a fantasy of seclusion. How long did he stand and watch us? We'd lain there for hours enjoying the freedom and each other with absolute intimacy, never realizing our lovemaking had become a performance for someone's self gratification.

Who'd I been fooling? I knew it might happen. Hadn't I wandered Harbor Beach at night? Seen it all for myself? But somehow this felt different, more clandestine, more unexpected and threatening.

I decided a lazy swim would help push aside the mental blemishes and help restore that original feeling I'd drawn about myself on Kolo Beach, when nothing mattered and nothing could intrude. Allow myself to fall back into that cocoon of unreality and pretend it would go on like this forever. With the hour barely 6:00 A.M. the pool would be mine alone.

I shrugged off one of the white robes and slipped into the warm water, not bothering to cover my hair or any other part of me.

After what seemed like an hour I heard muffled voices, then the inner doors opened and a group of older guests paraded in. One of the men smiled at me and began to disrobe in preparation for his swim while the others tried to scare-up breakfast service at the deserted Poolside Café.

Now, no longer alone, I realized the incident on Kolo Beach had swung my mood further than expected. I heard a loud splash and a cheer as the portly man did an ungainly belly flop into the deep water near the café. Not wanting to be leered at again, I climbed out at the opposite end before the tidal wave hit and slipped into the first robe I saw. This one must have been intended for a giant, as it trailed on the floor and wrapped around me twice. I took one of the towels from the rack and began to dry my hair. Only then did I hear a familiar voice.

"I thought I was the only one with daybreak insomnia," it said.

Greg stood about ten feet away, also wearing one of the hotel bathrobes. I smiled, but my smile must not have been so convincing.

"Are you feeling okay, Gina?" he asked, moving closer to me.

We barely knew each other—only a scant few hours—yet he picked up on my mood change far more quickly than John ever could. I decided to mention nothing about Kolo Beach just yet. I wanted to turn it over in my mind a few times—attempt to find logic in what I'd seen.

"John says he gets something called jet lag, when he flies any long distance. Maybe I still have some?" I said.

He came back with a laugh. "Jet Lag? Yeah, cute. I think I know what he means, but I doubt if it's that that's troubling you now. Did the swim help?"

I perched on one of the chaise lounges and continued to apply the towel to my hair. "Sure, I feel better than I did an hour ago. It's great to have this luxury to turn to when you can't sleep."

"Katrien's out cold, but I expect she'll be down as soon as she notices I'm not there. Where'd you and John get to last night?"

"We walked south—way south. Spent some of the night on a deserted beach below the point."