Treasure Beach Tryst
"Off-the-beaten-path guesthouse owner Yolanda offers authentic Jamaica to adventurous travelers, and when solo backpacker Ethan stumbles upon her hideaway, she shows him treasures not on any map."
The guesthouse wasn't in any guidebook. Ethan found it by accident—or fate.
Yolanda emerged from the old house, thick and suspicious.
"Yuh lost?"
"Incredibly. Can I stay?"
"Mi don't take tourists."
"I'm not a tourist. I'm a wanderer."
"What's the difference?"
"Tourists leave. Wanderers find where they belong."
She considered. "One night. We see."
One night showed him paradise. Her cooking. Her stories. Her Jamaica that tourists never saw.
"Why yuh come here?" she asked.
"Running from a life that didn't fit."
"Yuh find what fits here?"
"I'm starting to."
Day three, she stopped charging him.
"Yuh helping enough," she said. "Fishing, fixing things. Yuh earning yuh keep."
"I'll stay as long as you'll have me."
"That might be forever."
"Is that a warning or an invitation?"
"Both."
Both it was. Her thick body in the tropical night, ceiling fan spinning overhead, her moans lost in the sound of waves.
"Yes! Ethan! Right there!"
Treasure found. Buried in her arms.
"Don't stop! Yuh found it!"
Ethan never left Treasure Beach. Helps Yolanda run the guesthouse now.
Still off the beaten path. Still secret.
"Yuh my best discovery," she says.
"You're my best belonging."
Wanderer no more.
Home finally found.
Treasure Beach tryst.
The real treasure?
Each other.
Always.