Page 75 of Escape to the Sun

“You haven’t seen Heather yet, have you?” It was a stupid question, because he was sure she hadn’t. Just as he thought, Camila shook her head. Ash glanced out the window toward the path that led to Sherri’s. He could run up the stairs and find her. But there was no time. He needed to make the call.

“Dammit.”

There was no help for it. He had to go. “Can you give her a message for me?”

“Que?”

“A message. Can you give Heather a message for me?”

Camila nodded, but didn’t look at him. She pulled a cake out of the oven with a whistle. It was an impressive cake, and Ash told her so before returning to the task at hand. “You can give Heather a message for me? Si?”

“Si.”

The girl wasn’t paying any attention to him and Ash probably would have thought it was funny given how into him she’d been a few months ago.

“Muy bueno, si?” She pointed at her cake, and Ash nodded again. “It is for my Luis. Bueno?”

He tried not to laugh. She was baking the cake for her boyfriend. No wonder she wasn’t paying any attention to him. She was in love. “Si, Camila. Please just tell Heather I had to go to town—it’s important. I’ll bring her guests back with me. Okay?”

“Si. Si.”

Ash shook his head and left the kitchen. It was a simple message. Heather would get it. He didn’t have time to wait any longer. He needed to get there and make the call that could save Sherri’s life. Heather would understand. Besides, he’d be back in the morning. With her guests. It was a win-win.

Without giving it anymore thought, he grabbed his cell phone and ran down the dock, hopped into the boat and took off toward town.

* * *

By the timeHeather got down to grande casa, she was more than ready to see Ash. And give him crap for keeping Sherri’s illness a secret from her for so long. But she wasn’t mad. Not really. Mostly she was just looking forward to seeing him. Hopefully he’d been able to work his charm on her mother.

Her mother.

That wasn’t something she was looking forward to dealing with. But talking to Sherri had also helped Heather realize something else. Life was short. Her mother may aggravate her, but she was the only mother Heather had. She was the only family she had. And Ash was right; there was obviously a reason for her traveling all the way to Panama and it wasn’t likely to give her a hard time.

That was probably just an added benefit because didn’t all mothers like to give their children a hard time?

Regardless. She could take it and she would. Because no matter what the reason was behind it, her mother was there. In Panama. And that was something.

“Hello?” She called into the empty room. After nearly all her time at Casa del Sol filled with guests and people all around, it was always so strange when it was empty and quiet. Considering she’d expected both Ash and her mother to be waiting for her, it felt especially quiet when she walked in and no one was there.

There was, however, a delicious smell coming out of the kitchen, so Heather followed her nose in there and found Camila icing a beautiful cake.

“Wow.”

The woman turned and beamed. “Bueno, si?”

“Muy bueno.” Heather agreed. “Por que…a cake?” She couldn’t find the word she was looking for, so she settled on the English.

“For Luis. His birthday.”

“Ah.” Heather smiled. She didn’t mind if the girl used the kitchen for some personal baking and she knew Sherri wouldn’t have cared either. Especially if it was a birthday cake for her boyfriend. The girl was in love and it was nice to see. “Have you seen Ash? Or my mom?”

Camila nodded and went back to putting the finishing touches on her cake.

“Where are they?”

“Ash is gone?”

Heather spun to see her mother in the doorway behind her. She looked rumpled, rested and sun-kissed and totally unlike herself. She looked good. “You’re back.”

---