“Oh my goodness, look at the beautiful lighthouse,” she said.
“You mean the watchtower,” he corrected her. “But lighthouse, watchtower, whatever you wanna call it, baby. We can go up there if you want to get you some beautiful pictures.”
“Wow! Is this where we are going?”
“Yes!”
“OMG!” It was definitely hard for her to keep her composure.
“This is where I go for the best conch in all of the Bahamas.”
Once the plane landed on the island, they were greeted by a warm Spanish man wearing a soft pink polo shirt, some khaki shorts, and brown leather flip-flops. He gave Fitz a hug. “Looking good, son! I see what this glow over you is all about.” He smiled.
“Papi, this is Bianca. Bianca, this is my pops.”
She smiled as he kissed Bianca on both cheeks.
“Welcome to my home, beautiful Bianca.”
“Why, thank you for having me, and what a beautiful home you have.”
“Thank you. So, you are the reason my son is smiling.” Before she could answer, he continued, “I met this gorgeous lady named Bianca about thirty odd years ago, when I was young and handsome.”
“As you still are,” she added.
“Son, you gotta keep this girl around. She’s special, you know.”
“I know, Papi.”
“Aw, thank you.”
“You do know you are special, don’t you?” he said and she blushed. “Anytime he brings you here to meet me, you are a special lady. You know the last time my boy brought a little lady home to me?”
Bianca raised an eyebrow, knowing that his father was going to tell it.
“He was about . . .” He looked up as if he was thinking. “He was about fourteen years old, and he told me he was in love with this girl and was going to marry her.” Señor Manuella started to laugh.
“What happened?” Bianca asked as an older lady wearing a traditional maid outfit came and presented Fitz with a drink in a coconut. He took one and passed it to Bianca.
“Thank you, Magda,” he said to the housekeeper then looked to Bianca. “Try these. These are legendary. They are so delicious.”
Bianca took a sip. “Mmmm. Yes, it is good!” she complimented, then focused her attention back on Papi. “So, what happened?”
“She broke his heart.”
“Oh, no!”
“Yes, she started liking his best friend, and that, my dear, was the last time he brought a lady home to meet me.”
“Are you kidding?” Bianca was surprised.
“Sad but true.” Papi nodded. “But now you are here, with me, and I had to promise that I would not talk too much and that I would not pull out his pictures from when he was a little boy.”
“Okay.” She smiled.
“So, the best conch comes out of my ocean out here, and out of my kitchen. We eat dinner at around eight p.m. In the meantime, please make yourself at home. Mi casa es su casa.” He turned to Fitz and said, “Give her a tour of the place.”
“Yes, sir, I will,” he assured his father as Papi raised up from the table and kissed her on the cheek. “If he isn’t good to you, you call me.”
“I will. Thank you so much,” she said, and butterflies fluttered around her stomach. This couldn’t be real. She had entered into another world, another dimension, and the one thing she was sure about was that she didn’t want to leave.
“Come on, babe,” he said as he grabbed her hand.
Magda was walking toward them. “Everything is prepared in your quarters, just the way you like it, as well as how I think for you,” she said in broken English with a thick Spanish accent.
“Gracias,” he said to her.
“You speak Spanish?” Bianca questioned.
“Yes, but I requested that while you were here, everyone speak English, because I didn’t want you to feel out of place.”
“Thank you, baby. How sweet.”
“Told you I was going to be nice to you.”
“You did.”
Someone rolled up in a tricked-out golf cart and hopped out. “Mr. Fitz, here you are.”
“Thanks,” he said to the groundsman. “It’s so much easier to do the tour of the island by golf cart,” he said as they hopped on.
The island looked like a resort, and the staff was deep. Once he got to his quarters, she saw that it was a huge house too, which had to be about 10,000 square feet.
“This is my house, where we will be staying,” he said. “My dad insisted that he build me this house when I turned sixteen. He says every man needs his own house. I think he just got tired of me throwing wild parties at his house,” he joked.
As he opened the door, she was greeted by a huge bouquet of six feet tall long-stem roses. “Oh, how beautiful.” She smelled them. “For moi?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
“You are so thoughtful.”
“You make me want to make you happy,” he told her. “Change into your swimsuit so we can get some sun, snorkeling, jet skiing, whatever you want before we prepare for dinner.”
“I want it all,” she said and spun around.
“You can have whatever your heart desires, if you continue to be everything you’ve been.”
After they both were in their swimsuits, Papi approached. “I have to take picture of you two. This is a moment to remember. My boy smiling, happy, courting a beautiful lady.” He smiled and kept talking, a little under his breath. “Who knows? I may have a grandbaby soon.”
“Papi, stop. Cut it out. It’s only our first real, official date.”
“It only takes one date to fall in love if chemistry and feelings are there. It’s okay,
