The Royal Regency Hotel and entrance:
The pool with fountains, hot spring and footbridge:
The lobby:
The Casino:
Massage Salon off the main lobby:
View of the outside entrance of the in-hotel restaurant "The Coconut Cafe":
Entrance to "The Coconut Cafe" from the casino:
The cafe itself:
The second floor--accessible by stairs or the elevator. Double doors at the end of the corridor led into The Inferno Lounge.
Perry and Lalique's suite was on the third floor:
"Where are the flowers and the gourmet basket? They forgot them," Perry frowned. He picked up the hotel phone.
"What are you doing?" Lalique asked.
"Calling the front desk--the flowers and basket are supposed to come with this suite."
"You're kidding," Lalique started to laugh and Perry shot her a look, "Okay, you're not kidding."
He was polite with the desk but it was obvious he expected them to right their wrong and quickly. Hanging up he told her,
"I want what we essentially paid for."
"Yessir," Lalique saluted him.
"Knock it off," he grinned wickedly, "Save that yessir stuff for later tonight."
After unpacking the flowers and snack basket showed up and then the newlyweds walked over to Seawater Beach. The planned to take a dip in the ocean but also to try a taste of the local cuisine, specifically the popular Pineapple-Papaya Grouper.
"I'd like to go over to the Boardwalk tomorrow, what do you think?" Perry said as they sat at the snack bar waiting for their food.
"Oh, that's right; there's a hotel there with boutiques and dancing on the roof, isn't there? I want to check out the jewelry."
Perry replied,
"I thought you might like that--they sell souvenirs, designer cologne and clothing, too. Anyway, there is beach access there and I heard the place is jumpin' after dark."
After they finished their meal they made some new friends; native islanders. A refreshing swim and some sunbathing made them feel they were at last beginning to unwind. The pace of life was much slower on the island than in Bluewater Village.
When the sun got to be a bit too much they moved to some lounge chairs under a big beach umbrella.
While there on the beach Perry called to check in with his mother, Rhonda, who was the mommy-in-residence for all four children. She assured him that all was well on the home front, no problems with either set of twins.
"How are the kids doing?" Lalique asked somewhat anxiously. She'd only been away from Alain and Desiree once, when they were small, and she'd never been away from Brett and Noelle at all.
"Mom says they're behaving like angels," he told Lalique with a grin and she laughed,
"Oh, yes, I'll bet."
He then resumed talking to Rhonda. Lalique tried to guess what was being said from Perry's side of the conversation.
"Calm down, Mom, now what about Pres?"
There were several long moments of silence from Perry while he listened to his mother, then said in a rather doubtful voice,
"Two years and he just now found out?"
He listened a few more minutes and then said,
"Yes, well, that makes sense to me, but I realize you never--I know, but---yes, I realize that, but give him some time, Mom. It's a delicate situation."
"Perry!" Lalique whispered furiously, "What is it?"
He looked at her, still listening to his mother, and put his hand over Lalique's for a moment. The he pressed the phone to his chest and said in a low voice,
"It's okay. Nothing to do with the kids, honey, she's talking about Pres. I'll tell you all of it in a minute."
Returning to the discussion with Rhonda Perry explained,
"No, Mom, it's just Lalique--she wondered what--yes, she's fine; we're both fine. We just left this morning, remember? Mmhmm, that's right--we do have beautiful weather here. Yes, sunny and hot. Oh, yes, we'll be sure to do that."
He looked at Lalique and rolled his eyes as he listened some more.
"Okay, well, we'll talk more about it when we get back. No, I'm not calling him now. Just--Mom, please try to simmer down. Yes, I know it's wonderful news. Okay, well, you take care and kiss Dad and the kids for us. Call us if you need us, though. Love you, too. We both do."
He ended the call with a big sigh and Lalique immediately asked,
"Perry, please, I'm dying here...what has happened?"
"Well, hold on to your hat. Mom says that Pres called to tell them that he just found out he has a child--a two year old child. Mom is having fits because, one, it's a terrible tragedy to her that Pres doesn't see fit to tell her every detail of his love life and, two, she is busting to see her grandchild and Pres is holding her off right now."
Lalique's hand flew to her mouth the moment she heard "he has a child".
"You mean Arlene? But she told me they'd never been sexually intimate!" she blurted and then blushed, "Oops, I didn't mean to blab that, but evidently she was being less than forthcoming with me."
"No, no; Arlene is not the mother. But I know who the mother is. Her name is Sofia Giallelis and she is part of the reason Pres ended his relationship with Arlene," he paused, "You should see your face, honey."
"I have no idea what to say. I don't recognize the name."
"I don't expect you would--he met her years ago when he first went undercover. They were, well, basically they were friends with benefits, but through conversations I had with Pres I could see she was in love with him. He, however, remained clueless. Once he decided he would ask Arlene to marry him he stayed away from Sofia and then began to realize he couldn't disconnect from her emotionally. But he felt by then he owed Arlene a proposal. I told him to get his act together and decide. Meanwhile he came out of cover and cut his hair and went back to being himself instead of Ray Nolan--"
Lalique cut in, shaking her head at the irony,
"And that's when Arlene lost interest--she wanted the bad boy he was posing as, but not Pres."
"It's better they both found out before it went any farther. But then Pres learned that Sofia had purposely dropped out of sight. Her sister told him she didn't want to see him and to leave her alone. She also said there was another man in the picture."
"Oh, poor Pres," Lalique sympathized,.
Perry shrugged,
"Well, he shouldn't have taken so long to get his head on straight. Anyway, eventually he couldn't stand it and did his detective thing and found out where she lived and where she worked. But he also discovered it was true; there was some guy living there with her. Pres couldn't tell if they were together or he was just boarding there."
Now it was Lalique's turn to roll her eyes,
"He was her boarder? Give me a break."
"Yeah. So I still don't know what the deal is on that. Pres had been refusing to contact her the last I knew. Like I told Mom, I'll call him but not until we get back back home. He is evidently convinced that the kid is his, though. Oh, yeah, by the way," he grinned, "Mom said to be sure we use a good sunblock and said you should avoid going in the ocean after you shave your legs."
Lalique looked at him, perplexed,
"After I shave my---? What?"
"Sharks," Perry deadpanned, "She said even a knick could attract them."
"Oh, gee, thanks, now how do I get that mental image out of my mind?" she cracked back.
When it was time for supper they went back to their hotel where they had reservations at "The Coconut Cafe". They followed that up with a swim in the hotel pool and afterward Lalique called home to talk to the kids before bedtime.
The next day they headed to Boardwalk by the Sea where they enjoyed more swimming and relaxed on the beach.
There was a restaurant there at the Boardwalk, called The Sailwood, that boasted a panoramic ocean view and was said to have the best sushi and Ahi tuna on the island. Having newly discovered sushi, Lalique wanted to go there for dinner on this second night of their honeymoon.
"All I know is that you tricked me somehow; when i first met you, you were arrogant and infuriating and I detested you almost immediately," Lalique was laughing after they gave their order, "How did you become such an amazing and lovable man so fast?"
"You did not detest me, Beautiful, you were crazy about me from the get go. It's just that it scared you so bad you had to convince yourself you hated me. You thought that way you wouldn't be tempted to fall for me."
"Oh! Still so conceited!" she huffed, "And I suppose you were above it all?"
"Not at all. When I met you the first time at the Eden House, I knew I had to have you. And I mean that in the most carnal way," he grinned evilly and then went on, "Then the first time I came to your house and we argued on your front porch, I wanted to not just have you, but to keep you. You fascinated me. But it was when you froze up on the edge of ice at the rink--damn you were cute, honey, just terrified and holding on to my hand like I was a lifeline--that I realized you had my heart for good. That it was all over but the shouting as far as I was concerned."
He cupped his hand against the side of her face and she leaned into it, her eyes suddenly dark and luminous as she said,
"Ah, and I was so humiliated I figured you'd never want to see me again---if I lived through the evening that was. You surely are the most convincing sweet talker of all time, my love. You sure ended that argument in quick order."
"That wasn't an argument; it was merely a brief discussion," he winked.
The sushi turned out to be all that everyone said it was and afterward they went back down to the beach so Perry could take fire dance lessons and get frisky with Lalique.
As night fell the hotel’s
colorful neon lights came on and the music over the loudspeakers switched from
salsa to slow and dreamy big band music. The couple danced under the stars and gazed into each other's eyes; kissing and exchanging sweet nothings. The waves pounded the sand while the music from another era drifted over the beach.
“Perry, I’ll never forget this
night. I almost wish it would never end,” Lalique whispered.
“We’ll go on lots of
trips together in the future, sweetheart, but believe me, our honeymoon is
never gonna end,” he squeezed her.
Their stay on Belle Isle
continued to be a romantic and memorable getaway but they found that after two
more days of surf and sand, they were ready to go home. They both missed
the kids so much by then they were actually happy to be on their way. And the
rest of their life was waiting for them in Bluewater Village.
New blog update: The Brothers Everhart - Pres Ch. 18 Starting New
