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“Intense dreams,” I replied, stealing a sideways glance at Emily. “But other than that, I slept just fine.”
Marianne’s face lit up at my words. “I had a really intense dream, too! It was about the hill in the middle of the island. I have theperfectimage in mind for a sketch I want to do today.”
“Sounds like you’ve got your morning planned. What about you, Emily?”
“She’s going to the beach,” Marta said, her tone sharp. “And I’m going with her.”
“That’s nice to hear,” I replied. “But I’m sure Emily’s more than capable of speaking for herself.”
Tension thickened in the air at my words, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to be spoken to like that in my own home. Marta didn’t care for my response one bit, shooting me another withering stare.
“That’s right,” Emily spoke up. “As Marta just told you, we’re going for a little dip in the water.”
Pearl chimed in as she took my coffee mug from my hands, pouring a healthy measure of coffee into it from the carafe. “Now, it’s supposed to be extra sunny today. Em, I noticed that you don’t have a decent sun hat.”
“I’ve got a ton!” Marianne said. “She can use whatever hat of mine she wants.”
“There you go,” Pearl said. “And make sure you’re wearing sunscreen.”
Marta’s hard expression broke, a small smile forming. “I said the same thing to her. Emily gets so excited about whatever she wants to do that she often forgets about practical matters.”
Emily laughed. “I feel like I’m here with two moms. But thanks, both of you. And I appreciate it, but I can look after myself.”
Pearl handed me back the mug. “Have something to eat. I know you’re not big on breakfast, but I went a little nuts with the Danishes this morning.”
The spread before me looked enticing, for sure. There were a good dozen Danishes, all with colorful filling from blueberries, cherries, and peaches. Part of me wanted one, but the greater part knew how I’d feel if I were to eat something so sugary first thing in the morning.
“I’ll have one after dinner,” I said. “Not sure one of those’ll sit well before my workout.”
Pearl chuckled good-naturedly. “Alright, alright. But I’d better see you eat at leastonebefore the day’s out.”
“Sure, sure.”
I was in the middle of a sip of coffee when the kitchen door opened, Roberto stepping inside.
“Buenos dias,” he said. Roberto had a thermos in his hand and made a beeline for the coffee carafe.
The group said good morning to him, Pearl wasting no time putting one of the Danishes on a small plate and offering it.
“Have some breakfast, Roberto,” she said. “Logan gave the excuse of not wanting anything before his workout. You, on the other hand, need something substantial in your stomach.”
“Not going to see me turn down Pearl’s fresh pastries,” he said. “But let me take it to go—I need to get my day startedpronto.”
“One, actuallytwo,Danishes to go coming right up,” Pearl replied.
Roberto seemed more serious than usual. Something was on his mind. The rest of the women had fallen back into conversation, so I took the opportunity to get more information.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“It’s probably nothing,” he said. “Just got a feeling, so I wanted to get out there and check with all of the guards individually, maybe do a long sweep of the beach.”
Marta’s focus broke away from her conversation as soon as Roberto mentioned the beach. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment before turning her attention back to Emily and Marianne.
“Sounds like a good plan,” I replied. “Don’t think we can be too careful about anything after what happened with that boat.”
“My thoughtsexactamente,” he replied as he turned the cap on his thermos.
Pearl came over, placing a box of pastries into his other hand. “This better be empty within the hour; there’s three in there.”
