yes! Yes!”
Gerri laughed. “Not to me. Give Isadora a call. She’s waiting.”
“I’ll call her right now,” she said quickly. “I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this is. Oh my God, I’m shaking. I look like a giant mountain of wiggly jelly.”
Gerri laughed. “Relax Valentina. It’ll all be fine.”
“Oh, Ms. Wilder, remember at the event when I asked you to find me a good man or two?”
Gerri grinned. “I do recall the conversation.”
“Um, I think you should forget I said that. I mean, I was kidding. Plus, It was super inappropriate of me, and you probably don’t have men knocking down doors to be matched to a curvy girl who loves cake way too much.”
“Honey, if I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me. Don’t worry about anything. Just go and do the job. The right men will come your way.”
She gave a short laugh. “Men. You’re hilarious.”
“But, I’m curious, do you not want to find love?”
“Of course I do,” Valentina sighed. “But let’s be real here, if this job pans out, I won’t have time to go on dates any time soon. And what can you do, set me up over there?” She chuckled. “That’s crazy.”
“Right, crazy.”
“Anyway, thank you so much for everything, and I’ll call Ms. Kenlin right now. You don’t know how happy I am.”
“I’m glad this opportunity is just what you were looking for.”
“Thanks so much!”
Gerri hung up and smiled at the setup. Maybe she would check out the resort at Fire Mountain. After all, she hadn’t been to the tropical islands in such a long time. And maybe she would find a few other people who needed her services while there.
Chapter Four
Valentina got off the plane and winced at the wave of heat that smacked her in the face. Crap, this place was really hot. Instantly, perspiration gathered on her upper lip, and her T-shirt clung to her as if she had blown up in those few seconds. She’d been emailing back and forth with Isadora and knew that Costa Bonita was a large Caribbean island that sat close to the Bermuda triangle, which was already enough to creep her out, but not enough for her to not take the job.
Her excitement grew the more she glanced at the tourists. Most of them wore shorts and tank tops with obvious vacation looks. She noticed most were couples and guessed a lot of them were on their honeymoon, like the two who sat across from her on the plane. She’d never ridden first class before and was surprised that Isadora had sent her a plane ticket that expensive. Still, it made for a great six-hour flight. She’d gotten to relax on her much bigger seat and feel super pampered every time the flight attendant walked by and offered her a drink or snack.
In her regular life, she’d had to pay for snacks or bring something to eat on the plane and hope she didn’t get stuck next to a talker or have a kid kicking the back of her seat. But not this time, she’d had a huge seat, and only adults were in her section. Everyone was nice and quiet, and she was able to read a book, watch a movie, and even take a nap. It was like she was on a paid vacation.
When she got to the luggage pick up, a young guy with a polo shirt displaying the name of the resort caught her attention. He had a sign with her name on it.
“Hi, I’m Valentina Lombardi,” she grinned.
“Hi, I’m Mark. I’m supposed to drive you to the resort,” he said with a smile. “Do you have any luggage?”
She nodded and looked for the baggage claim number her suitcases were coming out of. The belts were already moving, and she immediately caught sight of her two orange suitcases. She’d learned a long time ago to get luggage easy to see and not confuse with anyone else’s. She’d had an unpleasant experience where a person walked out of the airport with her bag because they’d the same type. Luckily, they’d returned and exchanged it, but she did not want to go through that again.
“The orange ones are mine,” she said, and they both rushed over to get the bags before they went back around. They each grabbed one, and together they headed out of the airport.
“This is it?” he asked with surprise. “Most women have tons of suitcases full of makeup, clothes, and shoes for a weekend