Island Interlude

Chapter 1

  There was nothing like sunset over the ocean on the island of St. Sebastian, and Gabrielle Lopez-Hall knew she was blessed to be able to see it every day from her front porch. She sat down in the glider and slowly rocked enjoying the vibrant oranges and pinks as the sun set over the horizon and the sounds of reggae came from inside of her house while crickets chirped in her large garden.

She took a sip of her white wine, a habit she only indulged in on Fridays after a long work week of teaching high school gym. It was a reminder of her life five years earlier when she had been a student in the States.

Rielle as she was called by friends and family had gone to college in Maryland on a volleyball scholarship far away from the turmoil of her parent’s volatile relationship.

Instead of going to a college in the south she had chosen Maryland because she wanted to experience something different and the school in Baltimore had done just that.

She lay back, closed her eyes and savored the peace and quiet that reigned in her home knowing that she would not have it for much longer since she had signed on to help with the triathlon that happened annually on the island.

St. Sebastian was a territory of the United States much like the Virgin Islands which was seventy miles to the east and Puerto Rico to the northwest. The island had been bought in the late 1800’s from Great Britain and the Anglo influence could be seen in the architecture, language and culture that remained from the European settlers.

While Rielle had enjoyed her college years, she was glad to be back home and seeing a sunset like this in her own home made her realize that fact.

The gentle evening breeze cooled her skin and she debated whether she wanted to go out tonight with a few of her single friends that lived and worked in the neighboring parishes of Essex and Portsmouth.

They were local celebrities having participated in the Summer Olympics two years ago and bringing home a silver medal in women’s team volleyball. 

Just as that thought crossed her mind her cell phone rang and she knew from the ring tone it was one of the awesome foursome as they called themselves.

She flipped open the phone that lay on her stomach without opening her eyes “Hey Georgie.” She said by way of greeting.

“Hey girl, are you ready to get your party on?” she asked and Rielle smiled at the eagerness in her friend’s voice.

“I’m feeling so mellow I don’t know whether I want to be bothered getting dressed to go out.” She answered bracing herself for the protest she knew would come.

“I told Andrea and Camille that you would back out. Once you get up that hill you don’t seem to want to do anything else.” Her friend complained.

Her eyes opened slowly and she looked out at her front yard in the waning light and saw the beautiful garden hedged with deep red bougainvillea on the chain link fence, and filled with fragrant jasmine and yellow and orange hibiscus.

 “Can you blame me? I’ve got my own little piece of paradise right here.” Rielle said smiling.

That changed to a frown when she saw a small cloud of dust in the distance and she only half heard what her friend was saying.

“All you need is a pina colada and a gorgeous man fanning you and you can die a happy woman on your precious mountain.” Georgie groused.

Rielle was too busy squinting as the vehicle came into view and she recognized a gold late model Explorer. There were a few houses a little further up the hill and she knew all of her neighbors but as far as she knew none of them owned a new vehicle like that.

“Hey Georgie do you know if someone bought the Brady house?” she asked.

Rielle was referring to the house a little further up the hill that had sat empty for five months since the last renters had left.