Clear azure skies and a gentle sea breeze dominated the picture-perfect scenery of Antigua.
Iris stood on the lanai and enjoyed the view of the ocean and the waves. She looked to the southeast, far beyond the horizon.
Peter stepped out into the tropical sunlight and stood next to her.
“Hi,” he said to Iris with a smile.
“Hello, Peter,” she said as she gazed at the ocean.
“Well,” Peter said, “it’s official. Just heard on TV that there’s a tropical storm watch in effect. Forecasters are predicting the storm will be here by the day after tomorrow, unless it shifts course.”
“Yes. That’s what I heard.”
“You okay?”
“Worried. Nervous. Scared, actually. After what we’ve seen of previous hurricanes, I don’t want to be here when this one hits. That’s the hard part.”
“You’re torn between your loyalty to Mrs. Windom and saving your skin, right?”
“Yes. Until now. Even if it means getting terminated.”
“Count me in.”
“You are not going anywhere,” Rose said to Iris. “How dare you take it upon yourselves to be excused without a written request in advance.”
“I have family, Mrs. Windom,” Iris said. “So does Peter. It isn’t worth our lives to stay here.”
“Then, by all means, go to your families. Consider yourselves terminated as of this instant.”
“Please, Mrs. Windom,” Peter said. “Be reasonable—”
“Do not tell me to be reasonable!” Rose said. “It is people like you who think the worst instead of attempting to be optimistic. It will blow over, you just watch. Mark my words, we will only get the tail end of it. It just may change course and head somewhere else.”
“With all due respect, Mrs. Windom,” Peter said, “get real.”
Rose’s face reddened with fury.
“So be it,” she said with an unusually eerie calm. “Permission granted to be excused . . . permanently.”
Iris rode in silence as Peter drove a rental car to V.C. Bird International Airport in St. John’s. After they settled into their respective seats on the plane, Iris cried softly. Peter took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.
“Sshhh,” Peter said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I can’t help but feel bad,” Iris said with a sniffle. She dabbed her eyes with a Kleenex and discreetly blew her nose. “I’ve never been terminated. I don’t know why, but I feel guilty.”
“Oh, come now,” Peter said.
“Well, it’s been fun while it lasted. We got to travel the world, stay at the best places, and dine at the finest restaurants, all at her expense.”
“And we got paid very well, too.”
“Did you ever notice Mrs. Windom never, not once, ever said ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ or ‘you’re welcome’? Almost every word she uttered was a command, like ‘do this,’ ‘do that,’ ‘come here,’ ‘go there,’ as if we were automatons.”
“Yeah,” Peter said with a nod. “She’s got the makings of a tyrant, I’ll grant you that. I was wise to have always kept to myself and stay out of trouble, hence the façade of indifference you’ve may have observed all those years.”
“Who are we going to use for a reference?” Iris asked. “Mrs. Windom would make us look bad.”
“Don’t worry. We’ve got each other. We can manage.”
“I guess I’ll just cop out and make it easier for myself. ‘Reason For Leaving: Previous employer croaked of natural causes.’”
“That’s the spirit,” Peter said with an affectionate chuckle.
He lifted her hand in his, planted a soft kiss on the back of it, and winked at her.
Rose picked up her cell phone and called the landline number at the Hutchins’s residence. The line rang without an answer.
“Where is Dolph?” Rose said.
She dialed his cell number.
I need to inform him that Peter and Iris have been terminated, she thought, and that they are to get their personal belongings out of the house and leave.
Dolph’s phone rang and rang and rang.
Why is Dolph not answering? Rose thought, baffled. What is going on? Have Peter and Iris contacted him to let him know what’s been going on? Has he sided with them in their spiteful rebellion against me?