Expat - Costa Rica (ePub)

The former mayor and prominent businessman in a small Midwestern town, Lance Parker gets laid off as the marketing director of a national grocery chain. In his mid-50s, Lance struggles to find a job but only secures temporary contract positions. After five years, his savings are nearly depleted and he faces foreclosure on his luxurious home and commercial property. Staring at his dramatic fall from leading citizen to pauper, Lance's only has two things working in his favor. His pension became available on his sixtieth birthday, and he couldn't sell his vacation rental during the economic downturn. Unable to afford his American lifestyle, Lance and his wife Cathy move to their condo in Tambor Beach, Costa Rica.

Upon arrival, Lance gets thrust into the conflict between the local gardening crew and the foreign residents of the resort. Tensions escalate until a late night show of force by the gardeners paralyzes the expatriates in fear. Then the sexual assault of Cathy stuns the entire town. With a little help from an ex-cop, Hunter, and Diego, the builder of the resort, Lance crafts a compromise that removes the vigilantes and thus restores his lost moxie, which transforms Lance into the hero of the retirees.

Monthly parties reveal a seedier side of expatriate living. While some of the senior citizens maintain a staid retirement, others push the limits of good taste with their sexual encounters and shocking public displays. Being either titillating or even offensive, some expats revel in raising eye brows and causing a scene. These parties reveal the untold behind-the-scene happenings with the retirees.

On the periphery of the community and out of sight of resort residents, the criminal element conducts its trade. An uneasy truce that left the Dolphins Resort crime free is shattered with the assault of Lance's wife. A test of wills ensues between the Tambor Beach's leading citizens and a group of local thugs. While cocaine is quietly shipped in the middle of the night through the marina, Diego out maneuvers the local ringleader of the town thugs and reestablishes a crime free zone for the city.

For muscle, the expatriates rely on Hunter to enforce the rules and keep the undesirables at bay. Hunter falls for his housekeeper, and his steamy affair is met with derision by his neighbors. However, Hunter teaches Marcela to grill fresh fish and helps her establish her own restaurant in the marina. Marcela's success leads to her reconsider the direction of her life, which leads to the eventual split from the man who transformed her life.

Hunter's reputation was always a contradiction. The strong viral ex-cop, who would always step forward to be the hero, who was admired and respected by all. He was also known for his heavy drinking and bedding every attractive and available woman in the area. Many of the younger retirees either had already slept with Hunter or secretly wished they could. Hunter's developing relationship with Cathy and her best friend, Juanita, adds turmoil to this tranquil community.

Every spring, the Dolphins Resort hosts three weeks of Spring Break activities for the college crowd. An annual chorus of complaints can't stop these events and through Cathy's urging the expats decide to provide more outdoor options for the revelers. While interactions between the two age groups improve, a viral video of chaise lounge sex catapults the Dolphins Resort into the national spotlight in the states.

After Lance returns to the United States to seek cancer treatment, the Dolphins Resort enters the quiet wet season, but things turn around when Cathy returns after Lance's death. Things seem to be heating up between Hunter and Cathy, but leery of his reputation, Cathy decides to return home for the birth of her first grandchild rather than be another notch on Hunter's bedpost.