Island Affair (Keys to Love #1) - Priscilla Oliveras Page 0,30
we should head inside before they come searching for us.” Her father pushed off the railing, and Sara dropped her arms from around him.
She turned to take a last look out at the front yard, teeming with rich foliage and vibrant color. Rising onto her toes, she lifted her face to the sky and soaked up the sun’s rays as they warmed her skin.
If you’re happy, then I’m happy.
Her dad’s words rang in her head. Words she hadn’t heard often growing up. Especially from her mother. The fight against cancer and her mom’s recent good news had shifted the dynamics of their relationships. Sara hadn’t quite figured out exactly how yet, but if they were fortunate enough, this week could help them reach a new place with each other.
“You coming, Sar-bear?”
She swiveled on her heel to find her dad holding the brightly painted door open for her. The warmth on his face reminded her of Luis. The gentle giant of a man who, so far, was setting the bar pretty high for when Sara decided to get back in the dating game.
First, she had to concentrate on doing her best to make it through the next seven days without blowing their cover. All while not falling for the lie she had fabricated.
Easier said than done when right now inside, Luis was probably winning over her family with his unique mix of calm, easygoing assurance. The same way he’d done with her.
As Sara slipped through the door, she made a quick sign of the cross, ending with a kiss of her fingertips and a roll of her eyes to Mamá Alicia in heaven. She had a feeling she’d need all the assistance, divine and otherwise, she could get this week.
Chapter 7
“I don’t mind dropping everyone off at Mallory Square, then hoofing it back to catch up with you if we can’t find parking,” Luis offered after Sara’s family had decided to catch sunset on the pier along with dinner and music at El Meson de Pepe. Two activities that topped many tourist Must Do lists while visiting his island.
“Nonsense, after that long plane ride, it’ll be nice to stretch our legs,” Ruth answered. “A body can only take so much lounging, even in paradise.”
She waved an arm Vanna White–style to indicate the backyard oasis.
“I don’t know, Mother; this place makes even the non-loafer feel like loafing around!” Sara’s sister, Robin, called out.
Tall and slender like Sara, Robin wore her blond hair cut short in a wash-and-wear style. She and her husband, Edward, sat at the shallow end of the pool nearby. Robin’s tan sandals and Edward’s boat shoes had been shucked and neatly set aside. Now their bare feet rested on the wide first step leading into the water.
Luis ran through the facts he knew about them one more time. Not that there were many. Sara hadn’t provided much during their cram session. Robin was a cardiothoracic surgeon like their father. Edward punched his time clock as an orthodontist. No kids. Both career driven. Robin’s decisive personality balanced by her husband’s somewhat nerdy, yet equally intelligent, one.
During their conversation, Luis had already discovered a new piece of information for his and Sara’s sibling fact-finding mission. Apparently the couple enjoyed hiking in the mountains around Arizona. According to them, it allowed for requisite mind and body rejuvenation.
While he might prefer the open ocean to the mountains, Luis had to admit Robin was right about this backyard.
The rental homeowners had spared little expense in designing and landscaping the courtyard. Although Key West had much to offer in the way of history, nature, arts, and entertainment, the soft splash of the rock waterfall cascading into the deep end of the rectangular saltwater pool, along with the thick palm trees, potted ferns, and splashes of vivid color in the birds-of-paradise, yellow and red hibiscus, and fuchsia geiger tree blossoms, created the perfect ambiance for relaxation.
It definitely gave visitors a luxurious welcome to Key West.
Barring an emergency call, Luis rarely visited a place this upscale. His crowd hung in the older homes located in Midtown and up the Keys. Enrique had moved into an apartment off Duval after fire college in Ocala, but Luis could count on one hand the number of times he’d been there.
Sitting back against the sunset red cushion plumping his deck chair, he propped his work boots on the matching footstool and admired the view from the raised porch.
Along the main house and master bedroom wing, the shady porch with wide plank