Neptune's Ring (20 page)

“Welcome to Neptune’s Ring,” she said.

The pilot descended further as he approached
the island and made a slow circuit around its circumference. Levi
was in awe of the island and she immediately discovered how the
island got its name. Ninety five percent of the island was ringed
by colorful coral reefs. The only portion that was unprotected was
the mouth of the harbor leading into the island. The coral had a
horse shoe shaped appearance from the air and the water was an
amazing sparkling blue green. They had a good view of the
unfinished resort, the red Spanish tiles on the roof, glittering in
the sun. The resort was much larger in scale than Levi had
anticipated as she watched the island grow before her eyes.

When the jet reached the northern tip of the
island, Levi gasped in surprise as the owner’s house came into
view. The house was enormous, crowned by a widow’s peak which
encompassed the front of the house.

“Would you look at that,” Levi said to
Vanessa.

“It looks gorgeous down there, doesn’t it?”
she said.

“Just the house alone is magnificent,” Levi
said.

“It appears that the majority of the island
is still undeveloped too,” Vanessa said.

“It leaves it wide open for an array of
amenities,” Levi said. “We could build a few private cottages or
add a small golf course.”

Vanessa could see the sparkle of excitement
in Levi’s eyes, as she grinned back at her. She looked across at
Nat and saw the same look in Nat’s eyes as she began to fidget in
her seat. She could no longer contain her excitement. Nat was
chomping at the bit to land and take the boat over to the
island.

When the jet landed and taxied to the
terminal, Nat was so excited she forgot the picnic baskets. Cass
and Liz just shook their heads and retrieved the stored baskets as
Levi and Vanessa took out the camera equipment.

Nat clamored down the steps and waited for
the rest to join her, grinning wildly as she realized she had
forgotten about lunch in her excitement. When the group was
assembled at the foot of the stairs, Liz told the pilot they would
be back no later than five for the return flight to Venus
Rising.

As they turned to walk toward the terminal, a
blonde haired woman started walking toward them.

“Good morning, ladies, I am Cat Martin,” she
said, as she reached the group.

Nat took the lead and introduced the others.
Everyone in the group noticed the lingering eye contact between Cat
and Cass as they were introduced and the slight blush that colored
their friend’s cheeks.

“If you will follow me, I have a van waiting
for us,” Cat said.

They walked through the terminal into the
bright sunlight. Just as they approached the curb, a dark blue van
pulled up. A man jumped from the van and circled around from the
driver’s side.

“Ladies, this is Carlos Chavez,” Cat said.
“Construction company owner and van slash boat driver for us
today,” she said with a smile.

“It is my pleasure to meet you ladies,”
Carlos said, with a beautiful Latin accent as he opened the side
door to the van.

Cat took the front passenger seat as the rest
of the women climbed into the back. Carlos closed the doors behind
them and walked quickly back to the driver’s door and climbed
behind the wheel.

The harbor was a short drive of five minutes
from the airport. The drive gave them a very brief glimpse of the
small town. The streets were quiet, but there was a bustle of
locals along the busy sidewalks. Levi looked at Vanessa and
smiled.

Once they arrived at the harbor, they were
led onto a small pontoon boat and within minutes, were on their way
to the island.

“So are you the original contractor of the
resort?” Nat asked.

“Yes, I am,” he said. “I was so disappointed
when Mr. Van Buren died and the construction was brought to a
halt,” Carlos said. “The island holds so much potential,” he said
with a concerned frown. “It is a shame to let so much beauty go to
waste.”

“Did you also build the owner’s house?” Liz
asked.

“Yes, that was the first building erected on
the island,” he said. “The views from the house are breathtaking
and the posh furnishings are amazing.”

“I have to ask Carlos, since you are so
familiar with the history of the island, do you believe it is
haunted,” Cass asked.

“We are a very superstitious people, Ms.
Hilton, and while I have never witnessed anything ghostlike on the
island, my laborers have.” He sighed briefly. “A construction crew
without laborers is impossible to run, so we began work at sunrise
and were off the island well before the sun went down.”

“Would you have difficulty manning a crew to
finish the work?” Nat asked.

“Not at all, as long as we are off the island
before nightfall, I could easily have a thirty man crew, or larger,
depending on how quickly you want the project done.”

“How long would it take to have the project
complete with a thirty man crew?” Cass asked.

“We could have you ready for a Grand Opening
in two months,” Carlos said.

“What are your estimated costs for completing
the project,” Nat asked.

“There is about a hundred thousand dollars
worth of labor and materials left,” he estimated. “That is given
you stay with the original blueprint,” He said. “Any significant
changes would affect the cost, but I am certain we keep the total
cost under a half million including furnishings.”

Nat smiled after hearing that news. When they
arrived at the island, they quickly moored the boat and walked
toward the resort. Levi’s heart raced as they topped a small hill
and the resort came into full view. The roof tiles still glittered
in the sunlight as Cat took out a set of keys and opened a heavy
oak door. The door led them into the front desk area of the resort.
Marble floors led up to a solid mahogany front desk. The area was
huge and would easily accommodate a group of twenty or more guests
during the check in process. Bright light fixtures covered the area
and when Cat flipped a few switches, the room came to life.

Levi pulled out her camera and began taking
digital images as Nat and Liz dressed the room with their
imaginations. The group walked through another set of double doors
and stepped into a tropical garden garnished with a large waterfall
fountain. The courtyard was large enough to host small socials or
wedding parties and was a welcomed surprise to the group.

Cat noted the smiles on their faces.

“Walk this way,” she said.

They followed Cat and Carlos back inside then
walked down an interior hallway. Carlos opened a room on both sides
of the hallway and stepped back. The rooms were easily twice the
size of the rooms at Venus.

“All I would need to know is what type of
flooring and what type of fixtures you would want,” Carlos said.
“The rooms can be textured and painted in a matter of days.”

“What did the original floor plan call for?”
Liz asked.

“More tile floors,” Carlos said, the
disappointment written all over his face.

“What would you recommend?” Liz asked.

Carlos beamed when Liz asked his opinion. “I
would go with a very high grade commercial carpet in the hallways
and then lay Brazilian hardwood floors in the guest rooms, and
granite in the bathrooms,” he said.

Liz looked at Nat with a look of surprise.
“Are you sure you two aren’t related?” she teased.

“I had the same thoughts, Carlos,” Nat
said.

“I can make that work and the labor costs
would be so much less,” he said.

“Enough to cover the costs of teakwood king
sized beds?” Nat asked.

“I have an Uncle who could build them as
sleigh beds, four- post or a standard head and foot board,” Carlos
said with a grin. “We could stop by his shop later to see his
styles and he could get started right away.”

Levi noticed that Cass and Cat seemed to lag
behind the main group and were in steady conversation as Carlos led
the tour.

“How long have you lived in the area?” she
heard Cass ask.

“A little over ten years,” Cat said. “I moved
down with my aging mother and when she passed I could not bear to
leave.”

“So you are all alone?” Cass boldly
asked.

“I have developed some great friendships, but
yes, I live alone,” Cat said with a slight blush.

“What a waste,” Cass teased.

“So where do you call home?” Cat asked in
return.

“I have several flats, both in the States and
in Europe, but nothing I really call home anymore,” Cass answered.
“I am spending the next few weeks at Venus Rising, Nat and Liz’s
resort,” she explained.

“Are you primarily a financial backer then or
will you be living on site?” Cat asked.

“I really haven’t given it much thought,”
Cass said. “Either way, you can bet I will be spending quite a bit
of time here.”

“That sounds very promising,” Cat said, as
the flush returned to her cheeks.

The group had moved from the main resort and
Carlos was walking them toward the utility center.

“Levi and I are going to assess the night
club, pool, docks and boathouse,” Vanessa said.

Cat handed Levi a set of keys and pointed out
which worked on the club and boathouse.

“We will meet you back here in no more than
an hour,” Levi said as she handed Liz her camera.

“We will see you soon then,” Liz said as they
parted ways.

Carlos gave them a thorough tour of the
utility center, explaining the functions of each piece of
equipment.

Levi opened the door to the night club and
reached for the light switches. When her fingers flipped the switch
she was amazed to find a bar almost identical to Venus Rising’s.
The club itself was much larger, with modern rubberized flooring
and a hardwood dance floor. The lighting in the room was
magnificent and the DJ booth was set up to be a music lover’s wet
dream. There was no equipment installed inside the booth yet, but
the large acoustic speakers were installed around the club. A
control panel in the booth would allow the DJ to control both the
sound and lighting with a touch of a finger.

The bar area was amply supplied with large
storage spaces, a walk in cooler and five built in taps. It would
be easy for two bar tenders to work behind the bar without
stumbling over each other. Levi used Killian’s camera to take
pictures of the entire club as Vanessa wrote down some basic
measurements.

Levi was smiling broadly when she and Vanessa
arrived at the door to the club at the same time.

“This place is perfect,” Levi said.

“It does hold some great possibilities,”
Vanessa agreed.

“Yes, it does.”

Vanessa could see the wheel’s of Levi’s
imagination working overtime as she reached for her hand.

“Are you ready to check out the water?”

“Waiting on you,” Levi said, as she turned
off the lights and locked the door behind them.

Vanessa and Levi walked down to assess the
pier, boathouse and water depth. There was more than adequate space
to hold three pleasure boats and a pontoon cruiser like the one
they rode to the island on. Vanessa assumed they would purchase a
similar boat to be used to transport their guests to and from the
island. The water was deep enough to accommodate any water craft
they would need.

They left the boathouse and walked to the
saltwater pool. All it needed was water and some loungers and it
would be ready for sunbathers. Levi noted that a small open air bar
could easily be built to provide refreshments to their guests.

Satisfied with their assessments, Vanessa and
Levi met up with the rest of the group. Levi could tell from the
smile on Nat’s face that their assessments were going well.

“Are you ready to see the house?” Cat
asked.

Liz nodded her head. “Can it get any
better?”

Cat shot a smile to Carlos and then back to
Liz. “Just wait until you see the views,” Cat said. “That will
answer your question.”

There was a small paved pathway, large enough
for a golf cart to pass from the resort up to the house. The walk
was a brisk five minutes for the group and when they reached the
front porch which wrapped around the front half of the house they
turned to face the ocean. Blue green water tipped with white capped
breakers stretched out for miles in every direction.

Carlos left the group to admire the view
while he unlocked the house and turned on lights for the first
floor. The women slowly tore themselves away from the view and
entered the house. Inside the foyer, they could see a sprawling
ballroom and adjoining formal dining area. They walked through the
dining room into a completely stainless steel kitchen with an
island preparation area that most Chefs would kill for. There was a
large walk in pantry and a small walk in cooler that could easily
stock supplies for large dinner parties. There were two large
bedrooms with adjoining baths and a laundry area on the first
floor. They climbed the wide staircase to find that the entire
second floor was composed of four additional bedrooms, each with a
private balcony and bath. The word luxury did not serve justice to
the furnishings in the upper bedrooms. The solid wood beds,
dressers and armoires were accented by claw foot tubs, large walk
in showers or a garden tub. Hard wood floors glistened in the
sunlight streaming in through the large windows. There was a small
staircase in the center of the house which led up to the widow’s
peak.

Levi was the first to climb the small
stairway and when she stepped onto the walkway her breath was taken
away by the beauty of the scenery unfolding before her eyes. She
walked the length of the walkway and viewed the one hundred and
eighty degree view of the island the private perch offered. Vanessa
followed closely behind Levi and walked up behind her to wrap her
arms around her lover as she stared across the green water.