The beautiful white sands of the north coast of Jamaica known as Montego Bay, displays a stunning combination of Old World warmth, Caribbean hospitality and an unmistakable inviting beachfront hideaway, offering privacy and seclusion, to the many tourist that ventured there. Not a single cloud dared to darken the brilliant azure skyline, allowing the unbridled solar rays of the yellow sunshine to send the balmy temperatures soaring in the high nineties. But tropical heat, radiant sunshine set on a seemingly endless horizon of turquoise water and blue sky, is exactly what one seeks when vacationing at this enchanting island in the Atlantic.
The Ritz Carlton Rose Hall is easily one of the most beautiful resorts on the island. Thousands of tourist flock there all year around to relax, behold the majestic mountain range along with the many natural wonders, indulge in the rejuvenating spa, play 18 holes of golf, or just kick back and soak up the sunshine. Located only minutes away from Donald Sangster International Airport and nearby shopping center known as the Half Moon Bay, the Rose Hall Plantation area of Montego Bay is a greatly sought after resort for holding conventions, business travelers, beauty contest and just plain old relaxation. Boasting 427 guest rooms along with 51 executive suites, an amazing 36 clubrooms, and of course the gloriously world famous Ritz-Carlton Club. All the rooms and suites designed for complete privacy, and intimacy featuring a stunning array of covered balconies with pastel-colored walls and stone columns.
Mrs. Emma Jean Callaway covered her mouth in shock upon the sight of the huge suite she just entered. The lavishly laid out unit, was larger than many homes she'd been in back in Mississippi. The mustered gold colored carpet made her feel as though she were walking on air. She lightly held her breath as she gazed about the crimson red walls adorned with well-placed artwork depicting many of the island's landmarks and natural wonders.
"Oh my God, look at this place." She exclaimed breathlessly, as she dropped her bags and darted into the bedroom. The king sized bed which was covered in a luxurious burgundy colored comforter dwarfed by the colossal size of the room surrounding it. In a child-like fashion she gently ran her fingers across the bed and reasoned that comforter was probably used to warm up from the frosty air-conditioning system. Gingerly she pealed back the blanket to reveal the black satin sheets and couldn't help but imagine herself snuggling beneath them. Overall the room had a majestic Renaissance appeal to it, a sight she was quite familiar with. In fact her home of Jackson, Mississippi was once a trading post built by French Canadian Louis Le Fleur1792. At that time was called Le Fleur's Bluff, until 1817, when the capital city was renamed Jackson.
Ignoring the sound of her husband's voice speaking to the bellhop, she rushed into the bathroom and was stunned by the rose red marble wall, floor, whirl-pool tub, commode, sink and walk in shower, along with the many exotically hand crafted brass fixtures. Even the small rugs where made of what appeared to be polar bear fur. She slowly reentered the main room, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. She thought once or twice about interrupting her husband who loquaciously engaged the wiry built bellhop, who seemed to have a permanent smile on his face, when the sight of the early afternoon sunlight rippling off the ocean caught her eye. Kicking off her shoes, she strolled over to the enormous picture framed window and looked outside. The sight of the endless ocean on the horizon filled her heart with such happiness, that she gently placed her forefinger into her mouth muffle the gasping sound escaping from her throat.
"Why this has to be the most beautiful view of the ocean I've ever seen."
She stood there it seemed like hours marveling in the magnificent picture perfect scene outside her window. Once again she was about to comment what she felt to her distracted husband, however, he seemed to be enjoying the zealous attention he was receiving from his listener. She glanced about the room again and noticed the large three-seat sofa, the red ribbon mahogany center and end tables, a huge desk that sat at the back of the room and was probably used as a study area. A black laptop computer sat on the desk and was surrounded by and connected to several small telephones. She sighed deeply and slid opened the balcony doors and ventured outside. The warm but breezy air greeted her and she tossed her head back and took a long but slow deep breath. Undoing her blazer she discarded the jacket, dropping it to the floor and climbed into a long comfortable chaise lounge chair. Placing her hands behind her head she closed her eyes and imagined what her friends and family back home would say if they could only see her now.
She allowed her mind to drift back just twenty-years ago, when fresh out of high school she met her future husband William Joseph Callaway, a down and out store-front preacher, who had a measly 15 members and held his Sunday sermons in an old broken down trailer, which also served as his home. Back then everyone including her parents, warned her to not to marry him and if she did she be condemned to a life of trailer trash for the rest of her days, but there was something about the red haired, freckled faced youthful looking Evangelist that told her that if she was patient and supportive, that one day he'd make her proud.
Being a young Southern Bell, most of her friends naturally sought after the captain of the football team, or some other business professional. For a while she actually began to believe they might be right in their original assessment, but in the mid-to-late nineteen eighties, the advent of TV Evangelism caught on and with the help of the Ronald Regan republicans backed by the religious moral majority, the Reverend William Joseph Callaway and his wife jumped on the train early and rode their way to television stardom. In ten years they went from trailer trash, to trailers of cash and in the end it was she and her fire and brimstone preaching husband who had the last laugh. But their success came at a costly price, constantly traveling to church revivals, speaking out on social, economical, moral and political issues, not to mention recording several TV broadcasts every week kept them more than busy.
In fact family matters, maintaining a home and raising their two children all became secondary to them both as they sky rocketed to wealth, fame and fortune. They bought a luxurious mansion over looking the Pearl River, less than two hundred miles from New Orleans, but rarely spent time there. The last five years slowly began to wear on the gorgeous green-eyed blonde. With the children grown and out on their own, the lost of both her parents and the early signs of menopause setting in, the 48 year old former blue grass debutant, had grown tired of the constant cameras, lights, stages and podiums, especially all the lonely nights she spent at different hotel and motel rooms across the country, waiting for her much sought after husband to return from his late night missionary calls.
Suddenly she longed for the normal life and a normal family. She decided to give up the tours and remain home, in the hopes of luring her overworked husband to share her newfound endeavor, however, the Reverend William Joseph Callaway III, always seemed to find some excuse to break free and get back out on the road. Finally she put her foot down, threatening to divorce him, which was considered a blasphemous act where they came from, if he did not at least attempt to restore the passion to their marriage. At first he bulked but eventually gave in allowing her to handle all the details of their most anticipated twentieth wedding anniversary and as she laid there on the lounge chair, bathing her already golden butterscotch complexion in the hot sunlight, she couldn't help but feel confident that this was the perfect place to start over again.
"Well, well, well Emma, don't you look comfortable." William remarked.
"Oh Will, you're finally finished, for a moment I thought you were gonna spend your entire vacation with that bellhop." She answered.
"Honey you know me, always willing to enlighten the ignorant." He smiled taking a seat in a chair beside hers. "So, how do you like the place?"
"Oh Will, it's...it's wonderful, do you see the view of the ocean?"
"How could I miss it, it truly is fabulous. I must give you a lot of credit dear, you really came through on this one."
"Thanks babe, I really appreciate hearing you say that. You know I've got so many plans for us. Let's start with lunch at Mango's Poolside Restaurant."
"No, sweetheart, I'm afraid I'm gonna be a little busy this afternoon. You see that colored boy recognized me, and said the members of his church are actually have prerecorded videotapes of our show. He was asking if I could stop by this afternoon and sign a few copies of my book Heaven Only Knows. So how could I turn them down? Anyway I have an even better surprise in store for you at dinner.
Ignoring his compensatory offer she fired back. "You could have turned him down by telling him that you were celebrating your twentieth wedding anniversary with your wife."
"Oh honey, don't be angry, we're going to have a great time here. This is just one afternoon. After all you did say that you were looking for to a nice cozy bed when we arrived, so I figured you probably spend it napping."
"Yes I was looking forward to resting in bed...with my husband."
"Don't worry, you just relax and I'll be back in a few hours."
"A few hours," she snaps, "William how dare you come here with business aspirations on your mind?"
"You should know it well by now my dear. I am on a higher calling. I'm not just doing this for me or even for you, for that matter, what I do is in the name of Jesus Christ our savior. It is with his blessing that we went from dirt poor, to filthy rich, spreading the word of Christ is what I do best. Now we've come all this way, so let's not ruin it by bickering. I'm just going to visit these ignorant darkies and enlighten them to the will of Christ for the little good it'll do, you know these people are even more ignorant than the darkies where we're from."
With that said he stood up leaned over and kissed his wife on the forehead. "Now you go on and take a nap, when I return we'll have a wonderful dinner together."
"Well if you don't mind, I'll go down to the poolside restaurant and have lunch, since I'll be spending the rest of the afternoon by myself." She snapped, knowing he was already out the front door. She slowly stood up and took one last glance at the beautiful scenery before her. Snatching her blazer off the floor, she made her way down to the restaurant.
**
Two hours later and after a delicious meal, Emma sat underneath a bamboo balcony at Mango's Restaurant sipping on a Cherry rum drink as she curiously watched the scantly clad bodies at poolside. The air filled with the sounds of excitement and merriment allowed her to relax and take her mind off her distracted significant other. Unfortunately the joyous atmosphere aroused the bitterness feelings towards her life's situation. The alcoholic beverage combined with the romantic companionship of the couples she saw, made her long for romance in her life. Sure she had plenty of money, many people had seen and heard her sermons on TV, and for years this is what she craved but money and success is a poor substitute for love and romance. Fighting back her tears she took off her shoes and blazer and trotted on to the beach.
The hot sand stimulated her toes and feet as the sound of the ocean filled her ears. She curiously watched a group of young children at play building sand castles and took a seat under a large bamboo umbrella, which shielded her from the sun but also allowed the cool ocean breeze to help her relax once more.
"Excuse me ma'am, would you like something to drink?" A voice called to her.
Startled by the sound of someone addressing her, Emma quickly turned to see a young golden brown skinned man wearing a uniform bearing the name of the poolside restaurant.
