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We stopped by the open-air market she’d suggested to us, all the fruits and veggies out on display, their colors all the more bright and vivid than I remembered them back home. I picked up a little wooden basket and started filling it up as I made my way around the table.
Abbie followed along behind me, adding a few things here and there. She chatted happily to the woman running the stand. She looked about early fifties with her hair in a ponytail and a red T-shirt with a Santa face on it.
“You two are on vacation, honeymoon?” she asked with a warm smile at both of us.
Abbie laughed shyly, and I caught the faintest blush creep across her face as she ducked her head down. “Just a vacation. First time we’ve ever been to Curaçao.”
“Well, enjoy the island. It’s beautiful, isn't it?”
“Amazing,” I added. “Can’t wait to explore more of it.”
Abbie put a few more things in the basket and then we handed it over to the woman. She tallied everything up, and I quickly paid her as more people approached the stand, and a few joined in line behind us to pay for their orders.
Abbie took an apple out of the canvas bag as we walked away, rubbing it on her T-shirt before taking a bite.
“I thought you said you were stuffed from all the food in the café,” I teased.
“I walked some of it off.”
I laughed. She leaned over and offered me a bite of the apple. I obliged. Sweet and juicy. I was glad we’d grabbed several.
“So back to the house?” I asked her.
“We're going to survive on just fruit and veggies?” she asked skeptically.
“You're right. We need a little more, and wine. I don't know what all the house has for drinks.”
“Now you're talking.”
We headed back to where we’d parked. I put the bags of food in the back, and soon, we were out on the road. Abbie brought up a list of markets in the area on her phone, and we stopped at the closest one. We each took a basket and wandered the aisles, picking up some eggs and bacon for breakfast. Abbie grabbed juice and some pasta noodles and a couple cans of sauce.
I reminded her we could just go back to the café we came from, but then she reminded me she was used to eating late after work and everything would be closed. We stocked up for a few days and headed back to the vehicle, each of us carrying a handful of bags.
We loaded them up, and she found the nearest wine store. I waited with the groceries while she ran in and bought a few things, returning a couple minutes later with a couple of bags that she set in the back.
Back at the house, I put the groceries away while Abbie went to wash up and change. The humidity had gotten to her by the time we’d gotten back to the Jeep, and I’d spent the short drive back with the air blaring on high. The second I set the last of the food away and the wine into the fridge to chill, I sought out the notes from Dr. Allen about how to turn the air up just a little. I had a feeling it was going to take us a few days to acclimate to the sudden rush of heat. It was a big jump to go from freezing cold to sweltering ninety degrees in the same day.
I found some pillar candles in one of the drawers and set them out for us to use later when it cooled down a little. A low-key evening was what we needed.
Abbie came down half an hour later, her hair still damp from her shower, hanging down loose in little waves. Her oversized gray tank top covered her black bikini, and she’d put a pair of navy-blue lounge shorts on.
“You look happy,” I said.
She laughed, her eyes twinkling as she took a moment to look around. “I am. Still in pinch me mode. Can I help?”
She stepped towards me, looking around the open plan kitchen for something to do.
“I’ve got everything put away. I thought we’d do the charcuterie boards later.”
“Fine by me. I’m still full from lunch and dessert.”
“And the apple.”
“Apples,” she corrected.
Plural.
She’d eaten two before we’d made it back to the house.
