this
on a scooter on a day like this, when I went out with exactly the same attitude.”
Now it was Amy who hesitated. Glancing out the window, she saw torrential rain sweeping across the square.
With a sigh, she capitulated.
He bought the first round. They bought the next, and the third—long after it had stopped raining and begun to dry.
His name was Colin Bennett. He was an ocean racer. He had been to practically every exotic port they’d ever heard of. And
now he had a new boat and was living aboard it. When he offered to show it to them, Pam wasn’t sure. Until Amy pointed out
that it, too, was definitely part of the Bermuda experience. Amy, it turned out, could be as persuasive as Pam.
So the next afternoon (their last), Colin and his captain friend, Stuart, who had a car, took Amy and Pam to the Hogpenny
Pub in Hamilton for lunch. It became an all-afternoon lunch, after which they repaired to
Care Away
. The boat was big enough to afford the couples some privacy, if the girls were prepared to go as far as the guys were prepared
to take them. They weren’t, and the evening ended pleasantly. Bermudians could be gentlemen when circumstances called for
it.
As Stuart drove them back to the Coral Beach Club, Pam nattered away next to him about how wonderful Bermuda had been, just
like it had been for her parents, and how she really loved his island and wasn’t just saying that but really meant it.
In the back seat, Amy let Colin kiss her. To her surprise, she found herself kissing him back—and meaning it. In fact, it
was all she could do to keep the brakes on.
As they said goodbye, Colin asked, “Look, uh, give me your address. Maybe, you know, I’ll write you or something.”
She wrote it out for him. “Well, if you do, maybe, you know, I’ll write you back.” They both laughed.
To her surprise, he did write. Mostly about his boat, and where he was going. The moment she opened it, she turned to the
end, to see how he signed it. “Cheers.” Pretty non-committal. But he
did
write.
So, she did the same. She told him about her upcoming finals, and how strange it felt to be almost done with school forever,
and how Pam was bugging her to do the Grand Tour with her, five-star hotels in all the capitals of Europe, just like her grandparents
had. She had no intention of going, though it might be fun to see Rome.
When she got to the end, she chewed the tip of her pen. Then signed it, “
Ciao
,” as a modern Roman might.
He wrote back, with a very funny description of the cruise ship passengers in the White Horse, and said at the end that he’d
like to see Rome someday himself. And signed it, “Yours.”
She wrote back and told him how awful exams were, and how her whole family was coming for graduation, and how Pam was really
putting pressure on her, and her father said he’d give her the trip as a graduation present,but she really didn’t want to go. She signed it, “
Arrivederci
.”
He wrote and lightly, offhandedly suggested that if the prospect of grand touring bugged her that much, why didn’t she come
to Bermuda, instead? He signed it “Luf”—a jokey substitute for “Love.” Except—was he just joking?
Normally she’d run it past Pam, her best friend and confidant, as well as roommate. But Pam was miffed at her for stalling
re the GT. So she wrote Colin back and lightly, offhandedly said she’d consider Bermuda as an alternative. At the end of the
letter, she practically chewed a hole in her pen. And finally signed it, “with fond remembrance.” Warm but obscure. Wistful
but noncommittal.
She mailed it before she could change her mind.
Twenty minutes later she did change her mind. Good grief! “With fond remembrance” sounded like something on a funeral home
card! But her fond remembrance was already winging its way.
Not having Pam to check things with was a mega-bummer. It was time to make up with her roomie.
But when she told Pam she
on a scooter on a day like this, when I went out with exactly the same attitude.”
Now it was Amy who hesitated. Glancing out the window, she saw torrential rain sweeping across the square.
With a sigh, she capitulated.
He bought the first round. They bought the next, and the third—long after it had stopped raining and begun to dry.
His name was Colin Bennett. He was an ocean racer. He had been to practically every exotic port they’d ever heard of. And
now he had a new boat and was living aboard it. When he offered to show it to them, Pam wasn’t sure. Until Amy pointed out
that it, too, was definitely part of the Bermuda experience. Amy, it turned out, could be as persuasive as Pam.
So the next afternoon (their last), Colin and his captain friend, Stuart, who had a car, took Amy and Pam to the Hogpenny
Pub in Hamilton for lunch. It became an all-afternoon lunch, after which they repaired to
Care Away
. The boat was big enough to afford the couples some privacy, if the girls were prepared to go as far as the guys were prepared
to take them. They weren’t, and the evening ended pleasantly. Bermudians could be gentlemen when circumstances called for
it.
As Stuart drove them back to the Coral Beach Club, Pam nattered away next to him about how wonderful Bermuda had been, just
like it had been for her parents, and how she really loved his island and wasn’t just saying that but really meant it.
In the back seat, Amy let Colin kiss her. To her surprise, she found herself kissing him back—and meaning it. In fact, it
was all she could do to keep the brakes on.
As they said goodbye, Colin asked, “Look, uh, give me your address. Maybe, you know, I’ll write you or something.”
She wrote it out for him. “Well, if you do, maybe, you know, I’ll write you back.” They both laughed.
To her surprise, he did write. Mostly about his boat, and where he was going. The moment she opened it, she turned to the
end, to see how he signed it. “Cheers.” Pretty non-committal. But he
did
write.
So, she did the same. She told him about her upcoming finals, and how strange it felt to be almost done with school forever,
and how Pam was bugging her to do the Grand Tour with her, five-star hotels in all the capitals of Europe, just like her grandparents
had. She had no intention of going, though it might be fun to see Rome.
When she got to the end, she chewed the tip of her pen. Then signed it, “
Ciao
,” as a modern Roman might.
He wrote back, with a very funny description of the cruise ship passengers in the White Horse, and said at the end that he’d
like to see Rome someday himself. And signed it, “Yours.”
She wrote back and told him how awful exams were, and how her whole family was coming for graduation, and how Pam was really
putting pressure on her, and her father said he’d give her the trip as a graduation present,but she really didn’t want to go. She signed it, “
Arrivederci
.”
He wrote and lightly, offhandedly suggested that if the prospect of grand touring bugged her that much, why didn’t she come
to Bermuda, instead? He signed it “Luf”—a jokey substitute for “Love.” Except—was he just joking?
Normally she’d run it past Pam, her best friend and confidant, as well as roommate. But Pam was miffed at her for stalling
re the GT. So she wrote Colin back and lightly, offhandedly said she’d consider Bermuda as an alternative. At the end of the
letter, she practically chewed a hole in her pen. And finally signed it, “with fond remembrance.” Warm but obscure. Wistful
but noncommittal.
She mailed it before she could change her mind.
Twenty minutes later she did change her mind. Good grief! “With fond remembrance” sounded like something on a funeral home
card! But her fond remembrance was already winging its way.
Not having Pam to check things with was a mega-bummer. It was time to make up with her roomie.
But when she told Pam she
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