We got used to it. I figured out how you adjust your chaise without chopping off a finger. Where to go to eat lunch, which way to the Tiki Bar. I found a shortcut through the pricker bushes to the cottage. It’s a resort, so it’s yours as much as it is anybody’s. You know some other people now, so you say hello. I sat there staring at the water and thought back to my life: breakfast meetings, angry clients, me in a rage at the office, somebody crying, somebody quitting, me driving back home wondering what kind of mood we’ll both be in that night—days come in like the surf, and I’m sand, I’m the rocks, and it pounds me.

Diane bought a flowered bikini in the hotel store. She looked floral in it, but she wrapped a towel around her waist whenever she stood up. Her hair looked shiny in the sun. Her skin was getting darker. Then the sun would go behind a cloud, she’d tuck her hair behind her ear and turn a page, the wind would come up off the ocean—and I’d see her nipples through the fabric of her bathing suit and I’d have to look away. Her body was soft, round peaches. I’d think, Don’t rush it. You’ll make a fool of yourself. I wondered what the hell we were going to do.

•      •      •

WE WERE HAVING lunch one day under the big top, and this couple came up and introduced themselves. Their names were Rick and Joanie. They had just got there the night before and were staying in the bungalow right next to ours, it turned out. Our table was empty, and we invited them to sit. He was an outdoor-type guy, tall and athletic, with a mustache—he had on a black tank top, with smooth, flat muscles underneath it—and she was tall and fit with sandy blond hair, like him. They were already tan. They hadn’t got their plates yet, so we told them what the better dishes were on the buffet and what to steer clear of, and what they run out of every day, and like that.

Rick said, “Have you tried the goatfish?” He told us the fish was a delicacy here. When they came back with food, they had some of that fish on their plates and brought an extra piece for us to try.