“Darius,” Linda answered carefully, “that’s very kind of you, but I really don’t think...” She swallowed. “Didn’t Emma say that Penny was your partner. I’m sure she wouldn’t want you taking a stranger out to dinner.”
It was Darius’s turn to blink in surprise. Then his whole face softened with quiet amusement.
“Business partner,” Darius clarified gently. “Penny is my attorney. She has been my friend and counsel for forty years. She is family to me.”
Linda felt something in her chest lighten. She immediately tried to shake the feeling off, but couldn’t.
“Oh,” Linda answered, more lightly than she felt. “Well. That clears that up.” She gave a nervous laugh, feeling a little embarrassed.
“So what do you say?” Darius asked again. “Would you go to dinner with me?”
“Darius, I am really...” Linda swallowed and cleared her throat. “We’ve only just met.”
“Yes, and I’d like to get to know you better,” Darius told her. “My sister, great-niece, and even best friend are all taken with you. So I, too, would like to get to know their new friend.”
Linda laughed at that. He was very charming. “Let me think about it,” she compromised. “I have a lot of work at the moment. I’m not just here for a summer vacation. My uncle fell and broke his hip so I have him to care for and his business to run.”
Something flickered in Darius’s eyes, but it was gone too fast for her to figure it out.
Darius reached into his back pocket, pulled out a slim card, and handed it to her. The card was made of heavy ivory paper, with his name embossed in clean, dark blue. Beneath the name was his phone number.
“This is my personal number,” Darius told her. “Think it over and call me when you are ready.”
Linda took the card slowly and looked down at it. “All right,” Linda heard herself say. “I will think about it.”
“Thank you.” Darius smiled. “I look forward to hearing from you.”
Isabel came down the stairs at that moment with a small overnight bag in one hand. She crossed to the table, handed the bag to Linda, and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“Everything Emma needs is in there,” Isabel explained. “Toothbrush. Pajamas. Her favorite stuffed dolphin. Please call me, no matter what time, if she needs anything.”
“I promise I will.” Linda smiled warmly at her new friend. “She is going to have a wonderful time, and she’ll be well looked after.”
“Thank you, Linda.” Isabel gave her a nervous smile. “I must admit I am a little nervous as this is the first time she’s had a sleepover since she’s lived with me.”
“She’s going to be just fine,” Linda assured her.
Linda left the Bay View Beach House with Emma’s bag in one hand and Darius’s card pressed into her palm in the other. She drove the short distance back to Heart House with an unshakeable feeling that this summer was going to be longer and stranger than she had bargained for.
She had barely set Emma’s bag down in the front hall when her phone vibrated. Martin’s name flashed on the screen.
“Linda,” Martin’s voice came through, brisk and worried. “Can you come over to the hotel for a few minutes? There is something that needs your urgent attention that I need to show you.”
“I’m on my way, Martin.” Linda hugged her grandkids briefly, told Rosa she would be back within the hour, and walked the short path across the side garden to Hearts Hotel.
Martin met her at the back staff entrance.
“What’s the urgent thing you need to show me?” Linda asked.
“It’s the pool,” Martin told her as he started walking.
Linda followed him into the gardens that ran along the back of the hotel toward the pool deck.
Martin stopped at the edge of the old pool. The blue tile around the rim had faded a shade in the sun. The deck around it was a soft, pale wood that needed restaining. But the water in the poolwas at the right level, and the surface caught the late afternoon light in its usual slow pattern of small bright ripples.
“I’ve been informed,” Martin said carefully, “that the pool may be leaking.”
“Leaking?” Linda’s eyes widened in shock.
