We passed hot days behind pastel curtains and cooling wood fans. Her blond pale beauty glided from room to room in flowing gowns of alabaster and coral. Smiles reflected glowing drapes of beach glare on soft porcelain skin. Damp breath and whispered laughter filled my ears as we lounged on the verandah hammock. Knots of creaking hemp calmed my mind as the afternoon turned to evening in each others arms.
In the twilight cool we would drive our polished red Stellar under the shade of giant breadfruit and palm, darting along Georgetown boulevards of pink stucco and aqua-blue sun-blinds. With sweet dusk breezes on our faces, we would search for rare treasures through cooling cavalcades of multicolored boutiques.
Women in ironed white summer dresses, and men in colored cotton shirts, moved slowly along the boardwalk, glowing festivity in the late day sun. Refracting light danced from the shaded ceilings over their heads, shielding their eyes from the shimmering glare of golden sea-sparkle.
Mingling with tourists, we would watch the sun melt as glinting gold on the tide, and breathe the chilled night breezes of Caribbean spice, sea salt, poinciana, periwinkle, and rum.
From tables of crisp linen, we hardly noticed our Cayman waiter floating past, refilling our “sundowners” from a frosty pink pitcher of Pimm’s cup. Shells of lobster and bowls of conch salad are brought, followed shortly by dishes of fried plantain slices and scoops of stuffed land crab. Flashes of small florescent green parrots squawked goodnight in the darkening gloom of lofty mahogany trees. As I sat back comfortably in my painted wicker chair, the last patches of sun flickered as a rosy halo around Maddy’s head. We spoke without words, as only lovers do.
Somewhere along the beach of strung lights and a new moon, floated the sounds of children’s revelry, and the magic clang of steel drums. Wavelets chimed like broken glass beyond the rusty rail, and tiny rainbow fish danced in the shallows of crystal water, drawn by the hope of a tossed cracker crumb. I caught her dreamy glance toward the blue-black horizon band and a pair of pink-white schooner sails bellowing to a safe night’s harbor. Her laughter was music, and as I held her hand I closed my eyes... and a quiet lull of calmness would fill me...
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