I wake to a horn beeping.

Beep, beep, be-ep, be-ep.

I kick off my covers and lay there for a little bit. Be-ep, beep, beep, be-ep. Feeling sleepy and dehydrated, I swing my legs over the side of the bed. I get to the window and peek through the blinds. There is Jack in a Jeep with no top. He starts another chorus with his horn beeping song.

"Come on in, I'm not ready yet."

We walk over to the sandy parking lot for the beach bar and there is a Jeep parked overnight. It's a drab golden color with no top, no doors, a cracked windshield and the rear bumper is held on with duct tape.

Jack reaches under the driver's seat and pulls out some keys. "Hop in, we are going to breakfast."

"I feel like this is kinda a death trap. Are you sure this is safe to drive?" My words are drowned out as Jack turns the ignition and the noise of an absent muffler is apparent.

Buckling myself in, not knowing if it will do any good when the Jeep falls apart on the road. Jack talks, but all I can do is nod. I can't hear him over the noise and I don't read lips. This feel very dangerous.

We pull-up to the valet at the Westin. Luckily it was not very far to drive. I am a little shocked that the valet knows Jack.

"How are you today Mister Jack?" he asks.

"I'm doing great Alfie, how are you and your wife doing?" Jack hands Alfie the keys to the death-trap. "Be careful with her
." Alfie smiled and took the keys.

" In good hands Mr. Jack." Alphie smiles as he takes the keys and climbs in behind the wheel.

Thanks Alphie." Jack screams to be heard when Alphie starts the engine. Jack runs around and hands him some money and shakes his hand. He says something more, but I can't hear over the noise.

Alphie pulls away and Jack rejoins me. "He's taking his life in his own hands? Don't you think?" I laugh. Even though the Jeep is out of sight, I can still hear it.

"He'll be fine." Jack jokes and takes my hand. "He's a professional."

He leads me into the Westin. What a beautiful beachside resort. "I'm a little under dressed for this place." I point out to Jack.

"Nonsense! This place has the best waffles on the island!"

We step into the hotel lobby, people's heads turn and stare. I'm sure our lack of muffler got their attention, and now they see we are dressed in old bleached out clothes we could have bought at the second hand store. Our hair still damp from our shower is now windblown and wild. Everyone here has a lot of money to spend on designer everything and they aren't afraid to flaunt it, even at breakfast. I am uncomfortable with their stares.

Jack guides me through the lobby and over to Snorkles, a little restaurant close to the water. The hostess knows Jack as well, "Hello Mister Jack, good to see you again."

"Hi Amelia, How are you this morning. Table for two please." Jack said with a smile. Amelia Smiled back.

"Usual table?" Amelia obviously knows Jack.

"Absolutely! I need to show off your waffles to my pretty friend." Jack takes my hand and squeezes it as though I needed encouragement.

We follow Amelia to a table on the edge of the deck that is just a step down to the sand and a few yards to the water. Over Jack's shoulder, I have a view of a beautiful pool. There is a waterfall and an island with tall palm trees planted that provide nice shade for swimmers.

Amelia sets two menus down on the table and turns to Jack, "It's very nice to see you again, Jack. Enjoy your breakfast."

Jack pulls a chair out for me to sit and helps to push me closer to the table and then takes his seat.

"Your Mom taught you some manners." I smiled liking the politeness.

"Nothing says I like you like good manners." Jack recalls the phrase.

"Is that what your mom says?" She must me a nice lady teaching a boy how to treat a woman. Something I want to do to my boys because I know they wont be taught how to treat anyone nicely, especially women. Do you know everyone on this island? They all seem to know you."

"I've lived here for a while and It's my home. I love the people here. I love the community. Everyone knows each other, it's a small island."

"I feel out of place. I'm not dressed to be here. Everyone is staring." I look down at my lap and notice that my cutoff jeans are ripping across the front of my thighs. "I'm a mess."

"You are beautiful, and this is a beach. You are not out of place. The Mango Mimosas are to die for. Would you like one?"

I nodded and Jack held up 2 fingers to a waiter who must normally wait on this table. The waiter smiled and nodded then ran over to the bar what looks like to place Jack's order.

"You have a lot clout here."

"It's a nice place and I come here a lot."

There is an pause in our conversation as I watch the bathers in the pool. Then my eye catches a large iguana, about four or five feet long, crawling under a row of perfectly arranged chasie lounges along the edge of the pool. When it got to someone's bag, it ripped everything out. How destructive!

Then, From the top of one of the palm trees on the island, a large iguana jumped off and landed in the pool right behind a woman standing in the water with a big splash.

She turns to see what it is and lets out a blood curdling scream. Everyone who is at the pool and eating in the adjacent restaurant turned to see what is happening, It sounds like someone is being murdered.

People are trying to get out of the pool as fast as they can. And there he is. The large iguana that just belly flopped into the pool, swims to the edge, pulls himself out onto the deck, and walks off into the meticulous green landscape.

"Did that just happen?" I ask Jack. I don't believe I just saw what I just saw.

"Yah, We have some iguanas here." Jack said. He seems amused by what just happened in the pool. "They are taking over the island in some aspects. They are opportunists when they are hungry."

"It kind of feel like Jurassic Park." Now I'm a little freaked-out. "I think if I were in that pool and an iguana jumped in, I would passed out and probably drown."

"Nah, I wouldn't let you drown."

"Gee, Thanks." I don't like the idea of dinosaurs running around Saint John while I am here.

"You get used to them. They are like big bunny rabbits." Jack laughs. They will run from you unless they are cornered."

"Cornered? I have no intention of cornering them."

"Well, just check your toilet. If one finds it's way in there, they might feel cornered if you go to use it."

Oh my God! We don't have to worry about any type of lizard in Maine, let alone lizards in our toilets. Okey. Maybe Maine does have one benefit and it's a good one.

The waiter is back and sets down two tall footed glasses in front of us.

"How are you today Mister Jack."

"I'm doing just fine, Winston. How are you and your family doing?"

"They are doing wonderful!" Winston says with great excitement and enthusiasm. "Will you be having your usual this morning?"

"Yes sir, and some waffles for the Lady too." Jack smiles and Winston doesn't bother to write it down because obviously he knows it by heart. Winston walks away and Jack turns his smile towards me and lifts up his glass.

"To Mangos, Waffles and us." I lift up my glass and tap Jack's. I take a sip of my mango mimosa. "See. I told you. This is amazing and so are you."

"Please stop with all the compliments. I really have a hard time believing you when you say all these nice things about me."

Jack looks disappointed and he looses his smile and becomes serious. "Don't let anyone tell you different. Besides, I wouldn't say them if I didn't mean them." He looks directly into my eyes and look back into his and then brings his smile back. "Excuse me." Jack says pushing himself away from the table and stands up. "I'll be right back. Need to use the restroom." His smile is back and he walks away, ignoring the many eyes from fellow diners watching him.

I stare out to the beautiful water and take a sip of my mimosa, completely enjoying my morning.

"Isa?" a voice from a table not too far away interrupts my thoughts. I look and see a familiar face. A face that used to make me cringe when seeing it in high school.

"Isa? Is that you?" the perfectly dressed woman with the perfect hair and the perfect make-up got up from her table and started walking toward me.

"Suzanne? Hi, I haven't seen you since graduation. How have you been? You haven't changed a bit." And I mean that, she hasn't changed a bit. I try to smile and show that I'm happy to see a reminder of my awkward past, but I'm sure she sees right through to my personal failures. "Are you on vacation?"

"I just got married!" she almost starts jumping up and down, most likely a result of her cheerleading days. Suzanne puts her hand in front of my face so I can see her wedding band and the huge diamond on her engagement ring. "My husband and I are on our honeymoon." Yes, she is jumping up and down.

"Congratulations!" I say, and I leave it at that. I don't want to address marriage.

"Are you on vacation? Are you here with your husband?" I catch her staring at how under dressed I am for the Westin. Underdressed even for the island. I can immediately see that the way I'm dressed, and my beach hair is fueling her ego, just as it did in high school. Just as it is now and justifying why I never liked her.

"No. Actually..." And just as I was going to make something up because my truth would make her ego even bigger, Jack appeared behind me and kissed me on the top of my head.

"Sorry if I took too long, Isa." Jack apologized. "I see you met a friend." I'm stunned, but not as stunned as Suzanne.

Suzanne starred at Jack with a smile. I'm sure comparing the way he is dressed to how her new husband is dressed, building up both of their perfect egos even more.

"You know Isa?" Suzanne managed to get out. "You're Jack Chapman." What? Jack reaches across the table and takes my hand and gives it a little squeeze as though he is telling me to play along. Jack is Jack Chapman? The Jack Chapman? Jack Chapman who I hear on the radio? Jack Chapman who fills football stadiums?

Jack looks at Suzanne for a moment "Nice to meet you. Ummmm." I didn't introduce them yet.

"Suzanne." I fill in the blank.

"Nice to meet you, Suzanne." Jack says cordially and returns his eyes to me.

"I'm kinda trying to figure out if I want to move here or not."

"Oh wow, that's wonderful, Isa." And I can tell by the look in her face, she is no longer interested in how I'm dressed.

"I've asked her to move here, I'd love for her to be closer to me." Jack smiles and gives my hand another squeeze. Jack is deflating her right in front of me. I must say, This feels great.

I look at Jack and smile back. He has a lot of questions to answer as soon as we get rid of Suzanne. "I'm still thinking."

"Well, you know how I feel." Jack says

"Can I get a picture with you? You know, for my Instagram?" Suzanne almost pleads for an opportunity to boost her image.

"Sure, that won't be a problem." And as Jack stood up, he yanked me up to stand next to him. I could tell that Suzanne was displeased she had to share her picture with me. Jack called over to Winston and asked him if he would take a picture.

Jack put his arm around me and kissed my cheek as Suzanne stood awkwardly on the other side of Jack. Winston took the picture with Suzanne's cell phone and showed it to us.

"We look so cute, Isa." Jack said to me admiring our picture.

"Thank you, Jack." Suzanne says. "My husband is back from his call, I'm going to go join him. Nice seeing you again, Isa. Very nice to meet you, Jack."

"Have a nice rest of your honeymoon." Jack says and pulls me close so that he has both arms around me.

"Wow, that was fun." Jack says with a low voice only Isa can here. "Good job."

"Jack. You have a lot of questions I need answered." I whisper back with a smile. "But thank you for this."

I move to sit down. Jack holds on to my chair for me to sit in and inches me closer to the table. He sits down and reaches for my hand again to keep the charade going.

"I saw her trying to make you squirm. I didn't like that. You looked uncomfortable. Figured we could really turn the tables on her."

"You're Jack Kendall?"

"You didn't know that? I thought Sarah would have told you."

"No, I had no idea." I say still in shock.

"I meant it about you staying on the island. I would like you to stay here." Jack's smile disappears and his eyes become serious. "I'd like you to stay here so we can get to know each other better."

I take a big sip of my mimosa, almost emptying my glass. Just as I put my glass down, Winston serves our waffles.

"Would you like another Mimosa?" Winston asks me.

"Yes." I say, not knowing if I agreed to another glass of champagne or to staying on St. John. Or both.

"This looks amazing." Looking down at my big plate of golden waffles.

Jack uses his fork and points to two small cups on the side of my plate. "Mango syrup and mango chunks."

"Thanks." I figured that's what it is, but I appreciate that he pointed it that out for me.

I poured the syrup on and cut into the hot crispy waffle. When I tasted it, it was sweet and tangy at the same time. "This so, so good!"

"See! I told you!"

We both enjoyed our waffles and a few more mimosas.

I ate all I could, but couldn't finish it all.

Winston cleared our plates.

"They take the plates pretty quickly. They don't want uneaten food left on the table." Jack said.

"Oh yeh? Why's that?"

"Iguanas will finish what's left." Jack looks up in the trees, pretending to be worried. "Drinks too."

"Not what I want to hear." I look up too. "Cut it out!"

"Come on!" Jack is laughing at me now. "I'm just having some fun."

"Stop!" I laugh with him. I like the teasing, not the iguanas.

"No, seriously, the iguanas will rob the tables. And, if there are flowers on the table." Jack continued. "They will eat those too."

"Wonderful." I can only imagine what else they do. "I'll have nightmares about them tonight."

"If you do, call me." Jack reaches for my hand resting on the table. "Ringo and I will come right over."

I smile. "Who's Ringo? Is he your drummer?"

"He's my pup." Jack is laughing hard and I know he is laughing it me.

"So if I had a nightmare in the middle of the night that I was getting attacked by iguanas, you and Ringo would come over?"

"Absolutely!" Jack says with a lot of enthusiasm

I smile at him. I think I would like that.