Chapter 4

K.C. knew that his family and friends worried about him despite the front he put on in an attempt to reassure them. They had not been fooled but his parents knew that he would have to work through the broken engagement for himself.

Jarrod, one of his best friends from childhood was meeting them on the island which was one of three homes he claimed. The other two being Denver and London where his family lived.

The other man was something of a rolling stone as one of the best photojournalists in the world and they never knew where he might pop up.

He had touted the tranquility beauty of the island to K.C., Michael, Victor Randolph and  Alex Moore for years and now two of them would finally get to see what he kept regaling them about.

 The jet touched down with a small bump at Churchill International Airport, they taxied into the terminal and K.C. knew he was in the tropics when the heat slapped him in the face as he exited the plane and he took his first breath of fresh air.

This is what I need he thought as he vowed to get out of his white, long sleeved waffle shirt and gray cargo pants as well as his black Doc Martens and into shorts and some sunscreen.

He was looking forward to some sun, sand and sea and maybe even checking out the island beauties. Jarrod also raved about the women he recalled slipping aviator sunglasses in place over bright blue eyes as he shouldered his laptop bag.

They cleared Customs quickly and went to the baggage pickup area and he and Michael had a bet going to see how long this would take. He heard over the hum of passengers milling about melodic steel pans music on loud speakers  as they waited and something made him look up to see a Viking lumbering over to them and he grinned as people got out of the way.

K.C. didn’t blame them; at six foot six with a muscular build, light brown hair and piercing dark blue eyes Jarrod could now intimidate with the best of them but that hadn’t always been the case.

Michael used to tease him all the time that he would have been better off going into the bodyguard business instead of taking pictures, but that wasn't always the case.

He was a study in contradiction because he was a cousin of the ruling British royals and his upper crust English accent had gotten him beaten up at school until K.C. who had always been long and lanky stepped in. They became friends for life after they both got jumped on by a group of kids. 

The good looking trio garnered a lot of attention as they slapped each other’s backs and man hugged before turning to collect their belongings.

“I’ll take you to the rental car agency tomorrow after I give you a tour of the island so you can pick up your vehicle but for today consider me your chauffer.” He told them in a deep voice as they threw the luggage in the back of his gold hybrid Explorer.

“They drive on the other side of the road here don’t they?” Michael said looking out the tinted window as they pulled out of the busy airport.

“Yeah, it’s a leftover from colonialism but it’s great for me when I have to go back to England I don’t really have to think about it only thing is the steering wheel is on the opposite side.” He replied as he pointed out various places of interest as he drove north to Portsmouth one of the larger parishes of fifteen on the island.

The tour included the Excelsior Hotel where they would be having dinner tonight and the world famous Hummingbird Cay a very photographed beach with white powdery sand.

Two cruise ships were in and Jarrod drove at a snails pace through town and they saw some of the vibrant culture of the island as vendors lined the streets selling everything from local art to clothing as well as food.

He was slowly beginning to relax and Jarrod’s eyes met those of Michael who occupied the middle seat in the rear view as an imperceptible nod passed between them.

K.C. heard the ‘Gold Digger’ ringtone and turned to look back at Michael who had a roguish grin on his tanned face as he flipped his phone open.

He turned back around shaking his head as he heard his friend talking in what they jokingly called his Casanova voice and knew he was talking to some random woman.

“So how are you?” Jarrod asked, looking over at the other man with concern in his eyes.

K.C didn’t try to duck answering the question he was all too aware that his mom had been talking to his two friends.

“I’m good and getting better all the time.” He said easily because it was true.

He had learned that his fiancé was a cheating bitch and the relationship had ended bitterly six weeks before the wedding. He hated to call her out of her name because he respected women but if the dog collar fit than she could damned well wear it. That had been in December and now it was mid March.

“You know you’re better off without Tiffani right? I understand that she was going around spreading rumors saying that you were gay.” Jarrod related grimly, remembering the red headed socialite whose family fortune was sinking fast.

“I know and I had my lawyer call Tiffani to let her know I would slap her with a defamation of character lawsuit if she didn’t stop. Her parents spent a lot of money on the wedding so I let her keep the ring to offset that expense but she should have known better than to go that route with me. She’s in the past and I don’t want to waste anymore time thinking about her.” K.C. replied the woman’s name leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

“Dat is the trut mon.” Michael who was now off the phone said in a very bad West Indian accent.

The two men cracked up as the vehicle pulled into a parking space in front of a pretty pink painted wooden building.  

“You sound like Sebastian after the bong.” Jarrod said referring to the ‘Little Mermaid’ character when he stopped laughing and they exited the vehicle all smiling.

Caldwell Real Estate was responsible for the leasing of the house and he needed to sign the documents and get the keys. They would stop at a supermarket to pick up some groceries after they dropped off their bags and then head back to the house.