Ocean of Stars

The warm sun hit Julia’s skin as she broke the water’s surface. She blinked then floated for a few moments before swimming towards the beach. The aquamarine water splashed by her in small waves until she reached the sand and got to her feet. The morning swim had been her way of waking up since her and Connor had come here two days ago, and this time, she’d seen several varieties of tropical fish, along with a few small sharks.

“Enjoy your swim, love?” Connor greeted as she walked up to the small cottage.

“I could get used to this,” she smiled and sat at the table where he’d placed breakfast. “You sure you don’t wanna move here?”

“Think the novelty would wear off after a while. Besides, Murph would lose his mind without me ‘round to keep ‘em in line.”

“Thought that’s what Ange was for.”

“Point taken.” He poured coffee. “Glad to know you’re enjoying yerself.”

“How could I not? This place is unbelievably gorgeous, there’s almost no one else around, and I’m here with you. Can’t get any better than that.”

His green eyes sparkled as he looked at her. “Maybe I’ll change me mind ‘bout staying here then. Do anything to make you happy, Jewel.”

She smiled at her boyfriend. “I know you would but I think you’re right. The thrill would wear off and it’d be just a place we live.” She popped a piece of mango. “Could only imagine the rent on places around here.”

“Aye. Don’t think me books would get us by, and don’t think there’s many murders to investigate on these islands.”

“You’d be astonished how many people go missing from islands every year. Boating accidents, shark attacks, alcohol poisoning, disgruntled resort employees, bad food; I could go on.”

Connor became thoughtful as he ate his breakfast. “Well then, this might be something to look into. See if it’s what we wanna do.”

Julia looked around. ‘Could we really make it work here?’ The clear water, the white-to-pink sands, a small population; what more could they ask for? “Feel like renting this place another week?”

“I can swing that. Let’s finish breakfast first.”

“Got anything in mind for after?” She licked her lips and blew a kiss.

“Keep that up and we won’t finish breakfast.”

“Don’t have to do much to entice you.”

“Nope. Now, knock it off. I’m starving.” She grinned and nabbed a strawberry from his plate. “Woman, you are pushing it.”

“Only because I can get away with it.” She reached for another piece of fruit but he held her hand fast.

“Not this time.” He stood and walked around the table. “You’re mine now.”

“Bring it on, baby.” She rose to meet him.

He stared into her blue eyes. “I intend to, darling. I intend to.”

About three hours later, Julia was taking another swim while Connor slept off their recent tumble. She stayed closer to the shoreline as the waves were building and she didn’t want to get pushed under to be caught in a riptide. ‘Don’t wanna be one of those horror stories where I get swept out to sea and never be heard from again.’ She lounged in the surf, watching the waves roll in and out. ‘I could see us living here for the rest of our lives. Perfect inspiration for a writer. Maybe he’d write another bestselling series.’

Connor was watching his girlfriend from inside the cottage, still amazed at how beautiful she was. She was approaching thirty but didn’t look a day over twenty, and her upcoming birthday was one of the reasons why he’d booked this holiday. They’d been together almost seven years and he’d decided it was time for another step. Looking down, he continued his research on the island of Antigua, currently reading up on weather patterns. It looked as if the island was warm for most of the year, with most of the rainfall happening in September. ‘Hmm… doesn’t seem to be hit by many of the tropical storms. Another plus.’ He scrolled down and switched browser tabs. ‘Only downside I can see is paying for groceries but I know we can manage that.’ He closed the laptop and sat back, looking out the window at the love of his life.

“Maybe it is time to make that step.” The Irish writer looked at the small box on the table. “I can only hope she truly wants to do the same.”

The couple spent the next few days swimming, enjoying the sun, and searching for possible living arrangements but not having much luck in the latter category. Everything was either too far out of their price range or needing more work than was worth putting into the property. Connor’s biggest concern was trying to resell anything later on with the hopes of making something of a profit but that seemed unlikely.

Tired from the amount of traveling they’d done one day, they collapsed onto the sofa. “Ugh! This is harder than I thought it would be. People want way too much for some of these places.” Julia sighed, thinking that they may not get to stay after all.

“I know, lass, but we’ll keep at it.” Connor went to the kitchen and came back with water. “There has to be something we can get into.”

“I’m not so sure now. Maybe we should stay in England and just keep this as a holiday spot. As much as I’ve been enjoying myself here, I’ve been thinking about what you’ve said about the thrill wearing off eventually. Maybe you’re right.”

He looked at her. “Don’t be a defeatist just yet. There’s still a few more villas we can look at before throwing in the towel. And we don’t have to be out until next Monday anyway, so even if we decide not to move here, we can still make some great memories.”

“Won’t argue there.” She sat up. “Did you move our flight back too?” He nodded. “Wonder how much that cost.”

He waved it off. “Don’t worry ‘bout money, love. Told ya, I’ve got plenty for this, plus your birthday. Speaking of which, I’ve got reservations for us tomorrow night at Sheer Rocks. Private table too.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“Being a bestselling author comes with lots of perks. When everyone knows your name, it’s easy to get it on a VIP list.”

“Thought you hated that kind of treatment. Hell, when I met you, you came into the coffeeshop with a hood over your face.”

“Can’t deny that. Think being with you brought me outta the shell. Now, I don’t care who recognises me, long as I don’t get jumped.”

“Lord know we’ve dealt with that more times than I care to count.”

She stood and went to the kitchen. “Want some tea?”

“With lime and lemon.”

“Just how you like it.” She started the water kettle. “You know, I’ve said this to you before but it’s still hard to fathom how we ended up together.”

He put his arms around her waist and nuzzled her shoulder. “Couldn’t picture life without you, especially after the New Year’s incident.”

Julia sighed and poured the hot water over the tea sachets. “I know. Seeing my ex in handcuffs was not the launch into the new year I was expecting, but now I don’t have to worry about ever seeing him again.”

“Cheers to that.” They sipped their tea and went to the patio. “Feel like venturing back out or you wanna call it a day on the house hunting?”

“Call it, and I’m thinking of something else we could be doing.”

“For someone who was apprehensive about sex, you certainly instigate it a lot.” Connor set their mugs on the table and took his girlfriend’s hand.

“Think you brought me outta my shell on that.” She traced her fingers over his torso muscles. “Never heard you complain about it.”

He ran a hand through her black hair. “Complain about making love to a woman as beautiful as you? Never in a million years.”

“And I thought we did this a lot before.” Julia folded her hands under the pillow. “A girl could get used to this.”

Connor kissed her cheek. “Don’t expect too much of this when I get older, love.”

“You can always take stimulants.”

“I could but we’ll see if the old Irish vigor stands the test of time.”

She watched him as he talked about getting older. ‘Is he going to do what I think he is? Will it be tomorrow at dinner? Am I ready for that if it does happen? We’ve been together long enough for it to be brought up. Hell, Terry’s already engaged and she’s been with Roger less time than I’ve been with Connor.’

“… beginning to think we shouldn’t move here. Truth be told, I’d miss me brother. And I know you’d miss your friends.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I would.” She moved closer to him. “We’ll go home next week, but for now, let’s stay in bed. You wore me out.”

“Nothing to do tomorrow aside from your birthday dinner.”

She yawned. “I can’t wait. Goodnight Connor.”

“Goodnight Jewel. I love you.”

“Love you too.” With the woman of his dreams in his arms and a last look at the setting tropical sun, Connor fell asleep.

Sheer Rocks was a packed house, but from where Connor and Julia sat, they seemed to be the only ones there. Their “table” was actually a four-poster bed next to a private half-pool, looking out at the ocean. The sun was already setting, casting colors from red to purple across the sky.

“This has to be the best birthday ever!” Julia leaned back onto the pillow and sipped her cocktail. “I love the food, the drinks are fantastic, and this view is amazing! Connor, you’ve just upgraded me from spoiled to spoiled rotten.”

The writer laughed. “It’s all worth it to see you smile, Jewel.” He moved to the small pool. “And the evening’s only beginning.” He held out a hand and she walked over to him. “I can only hope we have many more evenings like this.”

“I’d say that’s a safe bet. You’re the only boyfriend I’ve ever cared about this much, and the only one I’ve ever stayed with for this long.”

“I wanna be more to you than that. I think now’s the time to give you your birthday present.” He went to their “seats” and took something from underneath. “Happy Birthday, love.”

He handed her a gift-wrapped box, which she carefully tore open. Inside were two individually wrapped gifts, and she selected the larger one first. “Oh my. This is beautiful.” The gift was a silver necklace inlaid with a large sapphire, surrounded by black onyx. “I can’t believe you got me this, Connor. Thank you!” They hugged then he clasped the dazzling jewelry around her neck. “Where am I gonna where something so gorgeous?”

“Wherever you want, love. Now, this one,” he picked up the smaller gift, “I wanna give to you.” He unwrapped it behind his back. “You can probably guess what I’m gonna do but here it goes.” He took her hand. “From the moment I met you, I knew you were different from any other woman I’d been with, and you’ve spent seven years showing me that. Even when I was engaged before, she couldn’t hold a match to you. Every moment we’re together is perfect, and I want to have as many of those as possible.” He took a deep breath and got down on one knee. “Julia Starr, will you be my wife?”

“Connor, nothing would make me happier than to call you ‘husband.’” He placed a ring that matched the necklace on her finger then stood up to kiss her. After the parted, she admired the ring. “Do you have any idea how incredible you are?”

“Not nearly as incredible as you. What do ya say we celebrate with some dessert?”

“Along with another drink.” She held up a hand and one of the servers came over. “Could we order another round of drinks, along with the banana & amaretto custard and the passionfruit cheesecake?”

“Of course, miss. I’ll put that in for you and get you your drinks.”

“Cheers.” The server smiled then went to get what they requested. “I really can’t wait to get home now. Ange is gonna flip when she hears this!”

“She’s probably gonna pester Murphy about proposing to her now. Me brother’s in for it.”

“I’m sure he’ll do it one day.” They returned to the bed just as their drinks and desserts were being delivered. They sipped and sampled under the stars then as they were about to head back to their cottage, Julia looked up at the millions of stars overhead. ‘Life truly can’t get any better than this.’