sides. Colorful foliage and grasses filled patches between pools and the buildings. Crickets chirped, reminding her of her childhood spent outside playing alone or with her brother.
She heard music floating in the air. She followed the trail toward the sound. More and more people came into sight. When she saw a cabana bar surrounded by bodies, she stopped. This wasn’t her kind of thing. She was thirty-one, for God’s sake. Not a college student. Drinking and socializing with strangers ranked up there with having teeth pulled.
Turning, she intended to take another path, but she heard a voice stand out from the others.
“Excuse me,” a female said. Valentina didn’t look back, hoping she wasn’t the target of the speaker. “Miss.” Behind her, shoes slapped on the concrete, hurrying toward her. Shit.
A beautiful woman stepped in front of her. Thick dark hair, long legs, perfect boobs. Everything she’d love to have, but then she’d have to put up with catcalls and men staring at her. She didn’t like that idea.
“Are you Valentina?”
Valentina shuffled back. How did this woman know who she was?
“Oh,” the woman said, “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m Kristin. I’m the office manager and the person who does just about everything here. Isadora told me you were coming in. It’s good to meet you.”
Valentina let out a sigh of relief and shook the woman’s hand.
“I was hoping you’d come out to the bar tonight,” Kristin said with too much enthusiasm.
“Uh, I’m not sure that’s my scene,” Valentina mumbled, with a glance at the crowded bar area. Her anxiety shot up a few notches.
“Aw, come on, let’s get a table and a drink. I can tell you about the island. And we can get to know each other a little better now that we’ll be working together.” Kristin took the lead. They went to a small table in the back of the bar area, away from some of the crowd, which calmed some of Valentina’s anxiety.
“How do you like the place so far? Bet it’s different from the cities you’ve lived in.” She waved her hand toward a waitress to come over.
Valentina sat tense, listening to Kristin ramble on about how she loved the island and the sandy beaches. Even the volcano held a fascination with her. After a while, the tension started to drain out of Valentina with Kristin’s warm smiles and soft voice.
A waitress took their orders and both women giggled when they both got virgin drinks. Then Kristin’s face took on a more solemn look. “The island’s changed lately though.”
“How so?” Valentina asked. “What do you mean by changed?”
Kristin took a deep breath and began to tell her about the strange happenings. “The grass in some places seems to be dying, trees are wilting and losing their limbs. Even the beach in places seems…off. We had to discontinue the volcano tours because of the dangers.” She paused when the waitress brought their drinks. “The volcano tours were my favorite tourist options. What’s sad is that no one seems to know why it’s all happening?”
“I haven’t seen any of those things yet, but I only got here this morning. I’ll keep a lookout for it, though. I’ll try to think of what I can do about it.” She turned her glass around in her hand. “Everything I’ve seen so far has been beautiful.”
“Enough about the scenery,” Kristin’s smile turned wide and mischievous. “Tell me all there is to know about you,” she said, her gaze warm. She took a long sip of her drink. “Come on. Tell me about my new co-worker.”
“There’s really not a lot to tell.”
Kristin’s brows shot up.“I don’t believe that for a second. A beautiful city girl has to have stories.”
Did she just call her beautiful?
“Not really. I’m kind of boring. I don’t date much.” Thinking back, that was an understatement. It was just too disheartening. “How about you? What brought you here?”
Kristin shrugged. “Well, my brother’s here and needed my help. I’m not sure, but I think he just wanted me to be closer to him so he could take care of me.” She sighed before continuing. “I’m married. Just not sure for how much longer. Tom didn’t want to come here at first. But the more I told him about the island and the more research he did, he finally relented and here we are.”
“So he’s not happy here?” Valentina asked and drank from her Piña colada.
“Not really. I just wish he could enjoy it as much as I do.” Taking