either.
“Tom, it’s great to meet you. Kristin has said so many wonderful things about you. And you’re an incredible actor. That fight scene and injury you faked definitely freaked me out. It seemed so real.”
“I’m good at what I do.” His eyes narrowed more.
“So, Tom, what do you do here? Hang out at the beach all day while your wife works? Go out to the bars when your wife is sleeping from being exhausted from working all day?”
This was so unlike her. Passive-aggressive much? She was defensive for her friend. Plus, this Tom guy was an outright jerk.
His lips turned up at the corners a slight bit. “I help out on the scuba and volcano tours, when I want to.”
Valentina smiled at that last bit. Of course, when he wanted to. “I’m a scuba diver too. I’ve had my gear shipped down here. I should be getting it soon. Maybe you can show me where the good spots are. I’m sure you know everything around here.”
He stepped toward her, anger in his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
She swallowed hard, eyes searching for a weapon if the need should arise. “Nothing. Just that you’ve been here long enough to know what’s fun or boring.” Okay, being nice wasn’t working. She just wanted away from Kristin’s husband. God, what an ass. “Maybe we’ll hold off until I’m settled, and we’ll speak then.”
He looked her up and down. “Probably don’t need any weights to hold you down. You’ll naturally sink being big and all.” No. He didn’t just say that. The side of his mouth tipped up. The bastard knew he was being a dick. She swallowed her anger, not giving him the satisfaction.
She wanted to say so much, but it just wasn’t her. She didn’t curse people out for being assholes. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, see you around.” She scooted behind him, headed back along the trail.
“Where are you going?” he asked. “The employee section is that way.” He pointed in the direction she was originally going.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“That way.” He gestured in the visitor resort direction.
Thank god for small miracles. “Yes, I’m going to the employee area.” She hurried past him and kept going, chin up, not looking back. She felt his eyes on her the entire time, or it could’ve been her overactive imagination, and the heebie-jeebies this section of the woods gave her.
When the sun filtered through the leaves again, she breathed a sigh of relief. Reaching the tree line, she stepped out into a park-like area where several people were sitting at picnic tables talking. A few others were reading by themselves.
She noticed more patches of ground where the grass was yellowish and dying. No rhyme or reason to the placement, just scattered here and there. For being a tropical paradise, the island had fewer than stellar attributes. Maybe they needed to water more.
As she walked toward the other side where she glimpsed the office building, she heard a voice she recognized. Mark. She thought back to earlier when he got weird and ran out of the cafeteria. She walked behind where he sat and slowed to listen to him to make sure he was okay. He seemed normal now, sitting with some other older guys at a table. Teenagers could be strange around adults.
In the teen’s hand was a gold circle that appeared to be a gold coin. It looked like something you’d find in an archeological dig. All the guys were staring at it. Was it real or just something bought at the souvenir shop? She heard him say something about water in a crater uncovering it. What did that mean? Someone found it where an asteroid crashed?
Not worried about him any longer, Valentina continued forward to her bungalow. Suddenly, everyone around her stopped what they were doing and looked up to the sky. She followed their line of sight and saw the top of the volcano shoot out steam that rolled over the edge.
She didn’t know anything about volcanos, but that scared the shit out of her. Was it going to erupt? The others in the park went back to what they were doing. No screaming of “we’re all going to die,” or “run to the water,” so everything must’ve been okay. She’d ask Kristin about it.
Valentina would’ve liked to have known if there was a chance of her waking to find herself a resident of a new Pompeii.
Chapter Twelve
She made it back to the bungalow in plenty of