Chapter 2

“No, apparently the house is being leased to the architect who is in charge of renovations to the Tropicana Hotel. Why?” her friend replied curiously.

“I guess that’s who it is then. There’s a gold Explorer driving by my house.” She said as the vehicle rumbled by.

“That’s Jarrod Stewart’s vehicle, your new neighbor is his friend. Gigi says he’s hot and so is his other friend.” Georgie gushed referring to her sister.

“What is your newly married sister doing eyeing hot guys?” Rielle asked laughing.

Gigi worked at one of the island’s premiere real estate agencies and got all of the latest gossip and knew everyone who was anyone on the island.

This was not an easy feat considering the island had nearly three hundred and fifty thousand people on an island of forty-two hundred square miles.

“She’s married Rielle not dead. Now are you going to come out with us or not?” Georgie demanded and Rielle knew she had to make up her mind.

“Okay give me half an hour and I’ll meet you. Where are we going anyway?” Rielle asked looking at her glass of Pinot Grigio before downing it in one swallow.

What a waste of good wine she thought as the fruity vintage tickled her palate.

“The girls and I want to have a nice dinner tonight so we decided on the Poinciana Lounge. Wear your purple dress; it looks good next to my peacock trapeze dress.” Georgie suggested and Rielle agreed before hanging up and going into the house.

The Poinciana was in one of the large resort hotels that were on the island. Tourists who came to the island year round because of the balmy trade winds, crystal clear water and nearly year round fantastic weather as well as locals enjoyed the cuisine.

Tourism was the main industry on the island taking over from agriculture which had long been a mainstay of the economy as with most other Caribbean islands.

Sugar cane had been king but now the farmers on the island grew small crops to sell to the locals as well as the hotels and restaurants. This ensured some of the freshest produce and the food was another reason the island attracted tourists from all over the world, there was even an annual food festival that occurred during the first week in May.

The restaurant had won the award for best resort cuisine at last year’s festival and reservations were hard to come by but between their winning the medal and Camille’s brother being one of the managers  they were assured a table almost anytime they wanted.

Rielle went into her bathroom and took a quick shower with her favorite soap which she bought at the local farmer’s market held on Saturdays and moisturized with the lotion that was paired with it. She liked to go to the market on Saturday’s to buy her produce for the week and would try to convince the girls not to stay out too late.

She looked in the mirror taking in her exotic greenish-grey eyes and smooth light brown skin in an oval face offset by jet black ringlets that fell just below her shoulders.

The amethyst silk dress hit her a little above the knee and showed off her sleek legs, with a v-neck, cap sleeves, a banded waist and pencil skirt and she slipped on a pair of black three inch sandals that made her just shy of six feet.

She had learned to apply makeup at her mother’s knee but with her glowing complexion all she really needed was a tinted lip gloss, black eye liner, a little plum eye shadow and mascara. She inserted small faux diamonds from her favorite shopping channel in her ears, a silver chain around her neck and pushed several silver bangles on her slim wrist. 

Rielle loved perfume but couldn't wear a lot of fragrances and she preferrd the clean, fresh scent of the ocean, clean linen and citrus combination that was her favorite right now. She sprayed a small amount on her pulse points and was ready to go.

Her house had a carport attached and she opened the gate before starting her Nissan Xterra and pulling out of her yard and she got out to lock the gate behind her before driving off.

Rielle was a fan of all kinds of music but reggae was her favorite and she hit the playlist on her iPod the mellow, sexy sounds of Beres Hammond filling Martha's cabin.

She had named her vehicle ‘Martha' because although she wasn't as flashy as Georgie’s black Volvo XC60, Camille’s silver Lexus  RX hybrid  or cute like Andrea’s red Mini Cooper, it was equipped with 4-wheel drive.

When they were in the rainy season she never had to worry about having trouble navigating the roads and Rielle found it better suited for living on one of the tallest mountains on the island.