AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He smiles. "Sounds like a plan."
And this is the moment when everything changes.
We take a shower together, then head for the front desk to ask if we can share my suite and give up Craig's bungalow. The answer is yes. We are now cohabitating. Living in sin, as our parents would have called it. These days, it's just the trendy thing to do. As we head out of the resort, we halt on the main patio and look at each other at the same time. I know we're thinking the same thing too.
Still, I feel like I should say the words. We aren't telepathic, after all, so maybe I don't really know what he thinks. "Should we tell James and Holly about the hidden passage behind the waterfall?"
"Definitely."
We return to the front desk and let the clerk know we need to speak to the big bosses. The nice young man snatches up the phone and calls James and Holly. Just a few minutes later, the couple walks into the lobby.
"You wanted to speak with us?" James says. "Are you wanting to plan a wedding?"
Holly elbows him in the side. "Let them tell us what they need. Don't try to read their minds."
"Sorry." He clears his throat and starts again. "What can we do for you?"
I glance at Craig, but he shrugs. I assume that means he wants me to explain. "Yesterday, we walked down to the waterfall and got curious about what's behind it."
"There's a ledge."
"Yes. But we got even more curious and made a discovery. There's a hidden passage in the rock wall. It had been filled in with vegetation, but we managed to clear enough of it to go into the passage and out the other side."
Holly's brows shoot up. "Out the other side? This sounds like a fantastic mystery."
"Would you like to come with us and see the passage for yourself?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" She claps her hands. "I love a good mystery."
James rolls his eyes at Holly, but he's smiling too. "Try to restrain your enthusiasm somewhat, darling. We haven't seen this hidden passage yet."
I suddenly realize they aren't wearing their work uniforms. "Are you guys off duty today?"
"Yes, we are," James replies. "That means we can accompany you to the waterfall. But first, we will need to dress appropriately."
He looks at Holly, and she nods.
Then they both strip naked.
I cover my mouth to squelch the laughter that wants to burst out of me. I wind up spluttering instead. "That's what you meant by dressing appropriately?"
The general manager smirks. "Of course. We prefer to go nude when we're off the clock."
I guess that makes a strange kind of sense. They do run a nudist resort, after all. And I've heard rumors about how James and Holly get very, very naughty on their days off.
Craig and I lead the way, hand in hand, as we make our way along the main trail and turn down the waterfall path. James and Holly hold hands too. We chat and joke with each other along the way too. But once we reach the waterfall, all discussion stops. The only way to access the ledge is to leap into the water and then climb onto the ledge. It's too narrow for more than one person, so Craig jumps onto it first and offers me his hands to pull me up out of the water. James then hoists himself onto the ledge and assists his wife in getting up there too.
What a pair of gentlemen. Younger men aren't often like that these days.
Craig and I pad over to the hidden passage and glance inside it, just to be sure we hadn't hallucinated finding a secret world in there. Nope, we did not imagine it. A data scientist and a high school biology teacher actually stumbled onto a magical world on an island that was already magical, in my estimation. How else could I explain the way my relationship with Craig changed radically in less than a week?
We move aside, and Craig waves for James and Holly to come and see. Holly peeks into the passage first. She stays frozen for a moment, but then a brilliant grin lights up her face.
"James, you have to see this." She takes hold of his ear and drags him closer. "Look, it's amazing."
"Yes, it is quite nice."
She rolls her eyes. "Don't be so British about it. You're allowed to whoop and shout. This is an incredible discovery."
