With compliments like those, how could I not worry about making that all-important good first impression? Then over dessert, Ms. Parker and I discussed all of the mundane contractional details that come with the proverbial territory.

The days blurred together in a haze of salty air, damp sand, and the ever-present thrum of the island’s pulse. It felt as though time itself moved differently here—slower, more deliberate. I think about that a lot lately, how the island’s rhythm has become my own.