Page 87 of Escape to the Sun

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Heather wasthankful for the distraction of picking her guests up from the airport. To her relief, the plane was on time. She sat and waited while the passengers disembarked. Mostly backpacker types, but there was a mix of resort vacationers as well. There were more and more all-inclusive resorts popping up around Bocas, attracting an upper-scale clientele. The mixture of people was almost comical, but Heather was not in the mood for laughing. She watched carefully, and picked out the foursome she assumed to be her new guests.

There were two men and two women, but they weren’t couples. The email hadn’t given her a lot of details, except that they worked together and had a short work break to enjoy some downtime. She waited until they grabbed their backpacks and duffel bags from the baggage area before she approached them.

“Hi and welcome to Bocas del Toro.” She forced a smile she certainly didn’t feel and introduced herself to the group.

“Mason Wells.” The bigger, darker man held out his hand and shook with a strength that didn’t surprise her, given the muscles on the man. “This is Eric, the beautiful Layla, and the equally beautiful Phoebe.”

Heather said her hellos, greeting each of them before setting off for the dock. They were an easy bunch, and agreeable to walking the short distance down the road to where she’d left Luis and the boats. Heather had already decided to ask Luis to pick up a few supplies for her and she’d take her own boat back with the guests. Ash could figure out some other way to get around. It couldn’t be her problem.

She wanted to get away as soon as she could and if she could avoid Ash in the process, all the better. Her plan was slightly derailed when she got back to the dock to find Luis, and the young boy she recognized as the kid who was with Ash the day she met him. Luis’s boat was loaded with what looked like all the groceries she needed, plus some items from the clinic. Supplies for Sherri. Of course. She likely needed something and she hadn’t even thought to ask. She was way too wrapped up in her own drama. That would have to change. At once.

“Señorita. Are you ready?”

“What’s all this, Luis?”

He looked to the boy, who answered. “Señor Ash asked me to bring this for you.”

Ash.

She bit her tongue to keep from asking where Ash was. She didn’t want to know.

“He said you’d take the boat back, señorita.” The boy looked so eager to please, she couldn’t be mad at him. It wasn’t his fault that the man he worked for had taken her heart and stomped on it. She gave him the biggest smile she could manage. “Thank you…”

“Miguel.”

“Thank you, Miguel.” Heather reached into her pocket and handed the boy a few dollars, but he shook his head.

“No, señorita. Estoy buen.”

She withdrew the money. Of course Ash would have taken care of him, but as Miguel was busy helping her guests into the boat and loading their bags safely in the bow, Heather slipped the bills into the boy’s bag. Luis gave her a wink and the simple act helped lift her spirits a little bit.

“All done, señorita.” Miguel beamed at her from the dock when the last of the bags was loaded.

“Gracias, Miguel.”

“Are you guys ready?” Heather turned to her guests, who were excitedly chatting among themselves. All but one. An extremely beautiful young woman. Her long, dark hair was twisted up into a messy bun. Her oversized mirrored sunglasses covered half of her face, but Heather could still tell the woman had the type of easy beauty of a movie star. She sat off to the side of the boat, gazing out across the water and the buildings that lined the shore, while the other woman and two men joked and laughed.

They were all good-looking in that beyond gorgeous movie star way. They had the easy, carefree mannerisms Heather imagined celebrities must have. But where the brunette seemed a little more breakable somehow, the others looked a bit tougher, all of them sporting smooth, sleek muscles, even the blonde.

The brunette, Phoebe, looked at her and smiled. “I think we have everything.”

“Are you sure you got all your bathing suits in that bag?” The bigger of the two men, Mason, teased her and she blushed.

“Just one,” she said. “And my script.”

Script?“Are you guys working on a play?”

“Not since high school.” The other man laughed. “We’re working on the new Dean Harrison movie.”

“A movie?” Heather quickly checked the engine line and started up the boat. Miguel threw her the bow line and she started to move slowly away from the dock. “That’s really cool. I’m sorry for asking, but…are you—”

“Movie stars?” The blonde, Layla, saved her from herself. “No. We’re stunt doubles. Well, all of us except Phoebe Flynn. This is her first film. She’s the lead.”

“Well, not the lead.” Phoebe, obviously uncomfortable with the attention, blushed and shook her head. “I’m just the female—”

“Lead,” Mason finished for her. “It’s okay. You’re going to be huge after this and you won’t want to hang out with us anymore.” He looked at Heather. “Remember the name—Phoebe Flynn. She’s going to be huge.”

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