Ari McKay-Caribbean Blues

128 Pages·2011·0.63 MB·English

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents either are
the product of the author's imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental and beyond the intent of
either the author or the publisher.
Caribbean Blues
Torquere Press Publishers
PO Box 2545
Round Rock, TX 78680
Copyright 2012 by Ari McKay
Cover illustration by BSClay
Published with permission
ISBN: 978-1-61040-427-3
www.torquerepress.com
All rights reserved, which includes the
right to reproduce this book or portions
thereof in any form whatsoever except as
provided by the U.S. Copyright Law. For
information address Torquere Press. Inc.,
PO Box 2545, Round Rock, TX 78680.
First Torquere Press Printing: January
2013
Printed in the USA
Caribbean Blues
Ari McKay
On his first day in the Bahamas, Jon
spent most of it at the resort bar, drowning
his sorrows in Bahama Mamas with the
occasional Goombay Smash for variety's
sake. It wasn't the most illustrious start to
a vacation that he had intended to be his
personal declaration of freedom, but when
he walked into the private bungalow and
saw the king-sized bed he was supposed
to be sharing with Greg, his indignant
resolve had deflated, and he'd headed
straight back to the bar to indulge in some
overdue wallowing. He'd made
reservations for two at the more formal of
the resort's restaurants, but he hadn't felt
up to having dinner alone, and so he'd
eaten bowl after bowl of bar snacks until
the bartender served him a plate of conch
fritters and a bottle of water before having
one of the staff help him back to his
bungalow.
He woke the next morning with a raging
headache, and he didn't dare open the
curtains until he'd taken three aspirin and
felt like he could move normally without
feeling like his head was going to shatter
into a million pieces with every step. The
beach view was just as beautiful as the
hotel website had described; the white
sand of the beaches glittered in the sun,
and the ocean really was the unearthly,
almost iridescent blue of the photos. But
now, Jon wasn't so sure that taking the trip
he had planned so that he and Greg could
rekindle their relationship was such a
good idea after all.
He'd gone out of his way to make it as
perfect and romantic as possible, carefully
planning an itinerary that would let them
spend time together trying out new
activities, but a horseback ride on the
beach didn't seem quite as appealing when
he was faced with doing it alone. He
decided to go through the itinerary and see
what he could eliminate. Most of the
activities on his list had required a
reservation but not a payment up-front,
and he spent a good fifteen minutes on the
phone with the hotel staff, canceling every
reservation he could.
In the end, there was only one activity
that he couldn't cancel without losing
money, and that was the meet and greet
with the dolphins. The event was so
popular that the hotel required payment in
advance, and Jon didn't really want to
cancel that one anyway. He'd been
fascinated by dolphins ever since he was
eight years old, when he'd spotted a pod
of dolphins cavorting close to shore when
he and his family were at the beach on the
South Carolina coast. They were sleek
and strong, and they looked happy as they
played with each other, jumping and
diving with apparent ease. He'd longed to
get close to one ever since, and when he
found out that the resort offered the meet
and greet activity, he'd signed up
immediately, not even caring what it cost.
It wasn't the first time Jon had been
inspired by his dolphin sighting to act on
impulse. Last year, he'd bought an original
Christian Lassen that depicted cavorting
dolphins like the ones he'd seen as a boy,
only these were swimming in brilliant
blue tropical waters. While he wouldn't
normally consider paying that much money
on art, he had fallen in love with the piece
at first sight. His parents and Greg had
been appalled that he'd made such a
frivolous purchase, but for once, he'd held
his ground against their badgering and
refused to return it. He'd always been
careful with his money, so he didn't feel
guilty over splurging on something that
gave him so much pleasure every time he
looked at it. Only his older brother, Josh,
had supported his decision.
"It's beautiful," Josh had said when he
saw the piece hanging in Jon's living room
for the first time. "Looking at it makes me
feel like I'm at the beach. You should keep