Page 90 of Escape to the Sun

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He’d given Heatherthe day. But that was all Ash was prepared to give her because every minute that he wasn’t with her, she was off somewhere thinking the worst of him. He’d tried to give her some space, but he was over it. He needed to see her, to talk to her, to make her understand that not only was what she saw a major misunderstanding, it was not in any way representative of who he was or what he wanted.

What he wanted was Heather.

He was in love with Heather.

Madly. Desperately.

It was inconceivable to him that he’d ever have the capacity to love after Carlie, but now, more than ever, he was so certain that’s exactly what it was he was feeling with Heather. It was different than it had been with Carlie. Much different.

And maybe that’s why he hadn’t recognized it at first. But it was definitely love. His chest hurt when he thought about her; his entire body yearned to be with her. To hold her. To hear her laugh. To kiss her.

With Carlie, it was different. He was young and that didn’t make it any less valid, but now that he was older and maybe more importantly, had lived through everything he lived through, love with Heather felt different.

Maybe it was different, but it was so real that he was going to burst if he didn’t get the chance to tell her how much he loved her. And soon. Because he was positive Mick was getting sick of hearing about it.

After loading the supplies for Casa del Sol in Luis’s boat and paying Miguel to help Heather with her guests and make sure she got off okay, he’d spent the rest of the day walking around town, trying to figure out what he was going to do to show Heather how sorry he was for not recognizing what was directly in front of his face sooner. About two hours earlier, he’d come up with the perfect plan. Now he just needed to wait.

“I swear to God, Ash. Staring at me like that is not going to make anything happen any faster.” Mick polished a glass and put it on the shelf behind him. “Frankly, I can’t believe you pulled this off for today as it is. Nothing ever moves this fast in Bocas.”

“I got lucky, I guess.” The truth was, as soon as Ash came up with his plan, he was not prepared to wait another minute to execute it. Or at least, as it turned out, a full day. Most of the supplies were found in town at the shops, but it was the new boat that was proving to be a bit more of a problem. Mick made a few calls for him, and he somehow found a boat at one of the new resorts that the manager was willing to sell him. But not until the end of the week.

Unacceptable.

Ash got on the phone and made a deal with the manager that he couldn’t refuse. The deal included delivery to Bocas Town, which was what Ash had been waiting for, rather impatiently, for the last hour.

“Seriously,” Mick said. “How did you manage it? He was asking too much for that boat, if you ask me. Did you talk him down?”

Ash shrugged. “Something like that.”

It was nothing like that. In fact, he’d paid extra to have the boat delivered ASAP but he didn’t need Mick to know that. Not yet. He still wasn’t in a hurry for everyone to know that despite his modest lifestyle, in reality, Ash was a millionaire with more money than he’d ever be able to spend, despite his generous annual donations.

“I guess I got lucky,” he said. “But I’d feel a whole lot luckier if he’d hurry up. I have to get going if I’m going to pull this off.”

The truth was, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to pull it off at all, but he was going to try his best.

He pushed back from the bar where he’d been chugging bottles of water and paced the length of the bar, keeping his gaze on the docks. “There.” He stopped and dashed back to the bar, where he fetched his box of supplies. “He’s here. Thanks, Mick.”

“Good luck to ya, man.” He smiled. “And don’t screw it up.”

“I don’t plan to.”

* * *

The new boatmoved a whole lot faster than he was used to, and in no time, Ash neared Casa del Sol. He slowed as he approached, aware that Heather would see him. He didn’t know how she’d react, but he was fairly sure it wouldn’t be very positive. She wouldn’t make a scene in front of her guests, though, that much he could be sure of.

Regardless, he didn’t plan to pull up to the main dock. He navigated the boat toward the thick trees at the edge of Sherri’s property. There was an old dock, or at least what was left of it, hidden in the trees. It wasn’t ideal, but Ash didn’t want to disturb Heather. Not yet. Not until he was set up.

He tied the boat to the wooden pillars and ran an extra line to a tree on the shore. It was an expensive boat; he didn’t want to take any chances.

He gathered his stuff and picked his way through the trees until he got to the large storage shed. Or, the building Sherri had once wanted to turn into an artist’s studio. As long as Ash could remember, it had been used for storage, mostly because no one had ever turned it into more. He’d always thought it was a bit of a waste of space, but now that he wanted to use it, he was glad it was empty.

The building was unlocked, so he pushed open the door with his back and went inside. There wasn’t much inside, but he spent the next thirty minutes clearing aside the old chairs and crates. He opened the shutters to expose the room to the ocean and let the fresh air in. He spread out his supplies, tested the electricity and plugged in the lights he’d brought with him.

When the shed was organized as much as possible, he grabbed the rest of the supplies and set out toward grande casa, hoping to find Luis before anyone else. Just as planned, the man must have been watching for him, because Ash had barely taken a few steps toward the building, when Luis appeared.

“Hola.”

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