Chapter 1
“What? It’s not even noon!”
He opened the door like the gentleman he was to a quaint shop that promised unusual and upscale wines. It still didn’t seem real. This gorgeous man, the beautiful ocean and the idea of walking into a trendy and expensive wine shop mid-morning. Jennifer didn’t know whose life she accidentally walked into, but she liked the looks of it.
The breeze blew through her free locks, the already warm air trying to sneak in as she entered the cozy but cool room. A lady who looked younger at first glance than her actual years was the master of ceremony poised at the opposite end of the shop. Dressed in a colorful Bohemian garb with long, dark curls tied back in a ponytail that looked classy as opposed to schoolgirl, Jennifer watched as she served tastes of various wines with all the time in the world to a couple at the counter. Hell, she had all the time in the world today so she strolled through the shop as her new beau headed to the counter. It was filled with unique offerings popping with color. There were ornate wine holders and exquisite corks as well as those with humorous animals in hilarious poses to hold potential wine bottles at posh gatherings. As expected, there was an array of options that spoke of the seaside city with colorful marine life from sand dollars to dolphins to schools of florescent fish and gorgeous boats floating on white crested blue waves. If she were in the market to purchase one, she could spend a day pining over which was best, so many options that would stand out on a counter.
Not that she would be in the market for one since she was not in the habit of throwing wine and cheese parties as she figured the likes of Tyler’s family probably did on a normal basis. It seemed surreal to be in this intoxicating tourist town that she never would have thought to go visit, for a weekend getaway none-the-less, in her normally simple, small town predictable life. Not that she couldn’t afford to vacation if she wanted to with the few bucks she had stored away, but it would be an extravagance that would take a bigger chunk out of her slowly growing bottom line than she was willing to give up.
Walking up to the counter to join Tyler, a whiff of the ocean that traveled from across the street made her senses sing as yet another couple contemplating wine before noon entered the quickly becoming crowded small establishment.
“So I’m thinking coffee with chocolate wine. It’s delicious. Yes?” Tyler offered with confidence.
“Chocolate wine. That’s interesting but strange sounding,” she answered truthfully not quite ready to commit to the idea. Who didn’t love a good wine and life stopped in the name of fine chocolate but together, as a compiled taste?
The shop owner now focused on them with delight for the prospect of new faces to share her lair of sinful indulgences. With charming flair she defended the debonair man’s choice, “Oh, it is absolutely divine. You will love it! I am so confident,” she gave a coy smile with an accent not quite distinguishable, “you can hand it right back to me if the first sip does not take you away to heaven.”
Enjoying the attention and instantly believing in her enthusiasm, Jennifer agreed to the foreign drink, “Well, ok then, I’m game. If I’m going to have a cocktail for breakfast, I can at least disguise it as a coffee.”
The older couple that had purchased two glasses of wine and the younger that now contemplated the menu of more distinctive beverages all chuckled as if in cahoots with a conspiracy against the unspoken rules of society that demanded the noontime hour to pass before consuming alcohol. And why not she thought as she joined her present company, all dressed in upper-class casual attire. They earned their right to enjoy life and so didn’t she if she allowed herself the freedom to think so. She deserved Tyler was the affirmation she had to keep telling her insecure doubting Thomas side as he handed her the spiked hot coffee with a killer smile that melted her faster than an ice cube that could not sustain its rigid form if dropped in the steaming drink in her hands. He was the steamy drink and she was a melting mess in his hands and it was unnerving. However, excitement tipped the scales leaving her off balance to do much more than move with his tide.
Stepping outside, they paused at the front of the wine slash café house and took in the beautiful view. Old fashioned carriages were hooked up to stunning horses, pampered and dolled up, speaking of the nation’s oldest city’s former days. The drivers continued to brush and dote on their burly companions waiting for someone to take them up on the notion of a romantic rendezvous. The lazy ocean offered a backdrop of sounds fit for a spa. The Spanish fort from the earliest beginnings of this tourist town bragged of the backbone of its people willing to defend their little piece of paradise. She took in a lung full of the rich St. Augustine air and the first sip of the promising drink.
It was delicious. “This is delicious!”
He just smirked as if the luxury was old hat. Perhaps it was to him. She couldn’t say she knew more than bare bone basics about him. That was the other aspect of this bizarre reality she slipped into. Tyler. “Come on,” his voice floated through her daze of alter-reality as he launched himself across the street.
She had to rush the first few steps to catch up to his long strides before asking, “Where are we going?”
“I wanted to treat you to something if we can catch it,” Tyler answered vaguely.
He walked briskly up to a window that only gave hints of his quest. Tours and hours but no specific agenda was all she could ascertain by the signs taped on the small window of the cubby purchase office in the dark brown wooden sea-side building. “Two for Queen Ann,” he requested to which the attendant told him to make his way down immediately as she was getting ready to sail in just a few minutes.
A boat ride then. Jennifer didn’t fight her go to feeling of anxiety for anything on water, allowing it to resonate rather as exhilaration under his wing. The pier wobbled with unfamiliar movement under her feet as they approached the small boat. An older man with a warm smile welcomed them onto the vessel to join the crowd gathered in the small cabin. A mother with her “tween” son walked in with them, the captain immediately warming up to the boy. “Are you up for helping me to steer this boat when we get out there a bit?” he offered.
The boy happily accepted, “I would love to!” Jennifer admired the grandfatherly man’s ability to immediately win the kid over, the chipper boy offering his latest story, “Man, you guys have serious red ants down here. I had flip flops on and, when I came out of my car and stepped on the grass, I had like a hundred all over my feet! The darn things were ready to eat me alive. My mom had to whack them all off. It was scary! Look, I still have their bite marks, see?” Sure enough the red bumps proved this no tall tale.
The captain laughed heartily and bent in the boy’s direction ready to share something worthy. “You know what me and my friends did when we were your age?” the burly, sun-soaked native Floridian captured all of his passengers’ attention with his warm yet commanding tone. “We would put honey on our hands and arms and dare each other to keep it on a red ant hill ’til they completely covered us. We would try to be the one who kept their arm there the longest.” Then he pulled into the last bit of intimate space between them, “I always kept my hand there the longest,” he bragged with a wink.
The boy, along with the rest of the crowd tuned into the banter, turned wide-eyed at the thought of an arm full of ant bites, “Really? Why would you even do that?” he voiced everyone’s baffling curiosity.
“To prove we were tough men, of course,” he shared the no brainer goal of his once younger ego.
He looked sailor-tough Jennifer thought, and yet softened by age and polished by the job of entertaining tour groups. The white haired man ruffled the boy’s polar opposite black hair with his large tanned hand before officially welcoming everyone aboard. Every word now proper, the leader presented the day, “Today we are in for a special treat as we have the El Galeon docked at the fort visiting us as part of its tour. It was built in Spain and is an exact replica of the original 175 feet, 495 tons wooden vessel except for the engine that they decided was a necessary upgrade to cross the Atlantic more timely. Its tour entails the original voyage taken by those ambitious Spanish West Indies fleet explorers over five hundred years ago under the command of Juan Ponce de Leon. We are proud to tell you that St. Augustine has been named her home at the end of her tour as did her original crew.” There was an upbeat murmur among the passengers at the prospect of seeing the historical ship.
“Also, we will hopefully spot a few dolphins out there if this little junior captain doesn’t scare them off,” he added as he let some limelight shine of the boy who turned slightly red with the attention. “So, let’s head up and go over a few safety need-to-know procedures and then you are all welcome to visit the bar that’s stocked with beer, wine and most juices and sodas as well as bottled water.”
Tyler put his well-sculpted arm around Jennifer’s dainty shoulder and directed her up the stairs to sit and enjoy the shore line cruise. The El Galeon was powerful with weaponry jetting out of the deep brown wood ready to defend its majestic, counter white sails that hung bigger than life. She loomed protectively as they passed within feet of her to reach the equally impressive Spanish fort. The worthy back story of perseverance in a valiant stance told by a younger version of the captain during the tour took her back in time with awe. As promised, a family of dolphins showed up and the boat stopped for everyone to snap photos and enjoy the graceful creatures in their daily activities. The stage of the glistening waters the dolphins elegantly danced on held the elite homes to St. Augustine’s old money, one of which belonged to the family of the man beside her. The smell and taste of the salt air lingered as Jennifer nestled into Tyler who stood a good seven inches over her.
The first time she saw the trim but solid specimen of a man was just a month ago when she was shopping and caught sight of some tempting blueberries. He went to grab the same carton and struck up a conversation. She still remembered his cute comment, “It’s like a tacky scene from an old movie isn’t it?” He was new in her town but that was old news. In a town as small as hers the “new item” made for quick gossip at the main coffee shop Sweet Bean owned by her aunt who supplied the first caffeine fix for a large percentage of the town’s population. Her chocolate scones and coconut bread was a cherished town staple.
It was a bit annoying when everyone pointed out his arrival to Jennifer as she tried to enjoy her morning scone and brew, not once, not twice, but for two weeks straight. She guessed it was par for the course she was now playing on as an eligible woman since her divorce. She had married her high school sweetheart who ended out to be a player when he hit his adult years. Although a good looking boy, Jonathan was reserved and shy in his school days. Apparently he grew to appreciate those looks and found a confidence that ironically drew distain from the one girl who first saw beauty in him, the girl he carelessly trampled on.
Jennifer was stupid enough to ignore the signs until cell phone calls started coming in more frequently and turned hush, hush when she walked into the room. His phone wasn’t allowed to leave his side and Jennifer decided she just wasn’t that desperate to wrestle it out from his gripping paws. She hated the idea of divorce but got over it real quick the night he stumbled out, drunk as a skunk, from a hot blonde’s sports car in front of their house. She knew the blonde’s reputation and didn’t have to ask to know what was going on. What she never understood is why a man would want to cheat and then try to lie about it to hold on to a woman that he obviously didn’t feel was enough to begin with or he wouldn’t be cheating. Anyway, his cover stories were ridiculous and the marriage even more so.
But that was almost two years past and already seemed like a lifetime ago whenever she saw the stranger who was once her husband stumble around town with the same blonde on his arm. It was never quite clear to her who was holding who up. Best of luck to them she thought as she leaned into Tyler. A few dates had come along in the past year but the idea of trusting another man was a bit of a reach for her after the whole disillusion of her marriage. Then along came this stranger who drew her in and elicited her trust enough to give him a fair shake. In only a month’s time she had gotten closer than she would have expected with Tyler, already agreeing to a long weekend getaway with him.
They sat at one of the tables on the deck and enjoyed the warm gust that teased at her summer hat, making her hold the pretty accessory allowing her hair free to fly. When he swiped a few renegade strands attempting to attack her nose and placed them behind her ear, she rewarded him with a romantic kiss that was appropriately small enough for the crowd but warm enough to promise something better in the near future. This was their fourth date which was a high number considering she was a working girl with only weekends to spare.
As a now single woman she took on extra cases at her law firm thinking the opportunity might be there to make partner if she focused. It was a small firm and it was run by her best friend, Joyce, whom she met in law school. Joyce grew up in the next town over although they had never socialized in the same circles to have met until college. They had a great deal in common being from the same area, both celebrating their forty-fifth birthdays this year and each into the local sport events that their towns rivaled with from generation to generation. The major difference was that Joyce had two children, both young adults now while she had none. The major commonality was that they both found themselves without husbands. Joyce went through a divorce long before Jennifer faced hers with what sounded like an egomaniac in her book. Who would have been smart enough to land a woman like that and never want to be around? Anyway, she lost him to a mogul’s career. It wasn’t another woman, but the results were similar. That was when Joyce truly buried herself in her work and started her own law firm. She didn’t really need a partner but would be willing to share the title and profits if Jennifer took on the work load that came with it.
Joyce seemed to warm up to Tyler when they all went to lunch last week. “Are you guys doing the dirty deed already?” she asked over coffee the next day.
“No, but we’re going away to Saint Augustine and I’m completely panicking about it,” she admitted. Jennifer had married Jonathan the year after they graduated and he had been her one and only in that department. The idea of sharing her boudoir with someone was enough to give her an anxiety attack.
Lucky for her Tyler seemed old fashioned and didn’t press the issue, even here on their weekend getaway where they shared a room with her permission but slept in separate beds. She didn’t know what to do when they first checked in. She put her stuff on the second bed and he casually accepted it when she used it after cuddling to a movie. Oh sure, they kissed – a lot. But she just wasn’t ready for more and he seemed to figure it out without having to be blatantly told. Instead he tucked her in and promised her strawberry pancakes in the morning that would guarantee him another date.
“Saint Augustine? That’s a three hour plane ride,” her friend had said with shock when she announced the impromptu trip. “I guess you hit the mother lode with this one,” Joyce joked about her new guy’s deep pockets. It was an extravagant escapade and she basked unapologetically in it as she allowed the day to take over her senses.
The entire day was picture perfect as was her host. Jennifer looked forward to getting to know more about Tyler besides the basics of his being an only child, raised here in Saint Augustine as a son to an astute family she was yet to meet, and a career lawyer himself. He was a different kind of lawyer than she by the sounds of it. Her job consisted of small business disputes, divorces and petty arguments among the town folk. Tyler on the other hand talked about criminal law cases that she only read about. It was such a case, apparently, that had brought him to her town. Their cozy spot was an hour from the big city which he had temporarily relocated to for the locally based, high-profile case. Not finding any love for big city chaos, he sought out their quaint town to spend his down time in with peace and quiet. That was his excuse when he waltzed into her life on the streets that afforded few new faces.
Always interesting and willing to share, but never offering unless she asked specific questions, Tyler remained a bit of a conundrum. Reminding herself that it had only been a month, she looked forward to discovering more she thought now as she finished her spiked coffee and enjoyed the view of both the ocean and her new boyfriend. She felt too lucky to get too comfortable, but for now, she would accept it and live in the fairytale.
Of course, if she had the benefit of hindsight, she would have never imagined the twisted road the players would take or how the story would have unfolded; a story full of bloodshed.
