Cross Fire

night. We didn’t skimp on the food, bringing in a friend’s catering company for endless amounts of jerk pork, coconut rice, fried plantains, and something Sampson had decided to call a Breelex. It was two kinds of rum, pineapple, ginger, and a cherry — or just pineapple, ginger, and a cherry for the kids, although Damon sampled the adult beverage once, that I know of.
    Jerome Thurman jammed with his combo, Fusion, in the backyard, where there was plenty of dancing under the stars and even a little bad singing from me, after a Breelex or two. Or three. The kids said I was “pitchy” and “absolutely dreadful.”
    We were all up bright and early the next morning, though. A cab took us to the airport for a flight to Miami, and then on to Nassau. At the other end, a limo picked us up and whisked us off to the aptly named One&Only Ocean Club.
    Bree and I had seen this place in my favorite James Bond movie,
Casino Royale,
and I swore I’d get her here one day. The Bond jokes started as soon as we pulled into the familiar teardrop-shaped driveway, with the drool-worthy cars everywhere you looked.
    “Cross,” she said as I helped her out of the limo. “
Bree
Cross.”
    She’d surprised a lot of people, I think, by taking my name. It was entirely up to her, but I loved that she did. I liked hearing it as much as saying it.
    “
Dr. and Mrs. Cross,
checking in,” I told the gracious, very welcoming woman at the front desk. Bree squeezed my hand, and we laughed like a couple of kids. Or maybe just a couple of newlyweds. “How soon do you think we can be out in that ocean in your backyard?”
    “I’d say about three and a half minutes,” the woman told us, and slid our keys across the desk. “You’re all set here. That’s one double suite in the Crescent Wing and one ocean-side villa. Enjoy your stay.”
    “Oh, we will!” Jannie had just come up behind us. Nana, Damon, and Ali were still outside ogling the white sand beach and turquoise water. It really was turquoise.
    “Here you go, Miss J.” I handed her the suite key. “I’m officially putting you in charge of that, and we’ll see you guys for lunch tomorrow.”
    “Daddy, I still think you’re crazy for bringing us,” she said, and leaned in as if she had a secret to tell. “But I’m really glad you did.”
    “Me, too,” I whispered back.
    Besides, it would still be a honeymoon. That’s what DO NOT DISTURB signs are for.

Chapter 111

    OUR VILLA WAS the pièce de résistance. Just like in the movies, as they say. There was a full wall of sliding louvered doors that opened up to a private terrace and infinity pool, with stairs leading down to the beach. The staff had placed fresh flowers everywhere, inside and out, and the mahogany California king bed alone probably cost a year’s salary.
    “Yeah, this will do,” I said, closing the door to the outside world behind us. “Good enough for Double Oh Seven, and all that.”
    “Oh, James, James,” Bree joked some more, pulling me down onto the bed. “Ravish me, James, as only you can.”
    And that’s what I did. One thing very quickly led to another, and our immediate beach plans got moved to sometime in the future. Still, we did manage to work up an appetite. By the time we were on our feet again, the sun was dipping down and we were both ready for a great meal.
    I’m not sure which was better that evening — the French-Caribbean food at Dune, the amazing bottle of Pinot Noir we ordered, or just the feeling of having nowhere else I needed to be for a change, nowhere else I wanted to be either.
    We made a full night of it, too, and stopped at the casino at the Atlantis Resort after dinner for some blackjack. Bree was up for a while, then I was, but we left around midnight a few dollars in the hole. And who cared? Not us.
    We walked back to our place the long way, holding hands along the beach.
    “Happy?” I said to Bree.
    “Married,” she said. “Happily married. It doesn’t even feel real yet. This
is
the real world, though, isn’t it? I’m not dreaming this, am I, Alex?”
    I stopped to put my arms around her, and we stood watching the moon’s reflection bouncing off the ocean.
    “You know, we still haven’t been in that blue, blue water yet,” I said. My fingers started in on the top buttons of her shirt. “Up for a night swim, Mrs. Cross?”
    Bree looked around. “Is that a dare?”
    “Just an invitation,” I said. “But I’d feel a little silly, all naked and