Page 38 of Resorting to Romance

“... about you and how you are doing …” Joan adds.

“... since Brad came to town.” Phyllis gives me a pointed look.

“Ahhh. You heard aboutthat, did you?”

I dump the ground sausage into the tomato sauce and stir.

“We heard, alright,” Phyllis says. “We heard a lot of things.”

“Such as?” I continue stirring.

“Such as you were at the Alicante with him this morning for breakfast.”

“Wow.”

I look at each of them and then return my focus to the sauce, adding dried basil, oregano and a pinch of salt.

“And, Bernice said she heard Kai showed up,” Joan says, with a twinkle in her eye.

“Kai has a management meeting at the main building every week. Today was his management meeting.”

“Which explains why his arm was wrapped around you?” Phyllis asks.

I stare at the sauce, stirring slowly in circles to the left, and then to the right.

“Excuse me,” I say, grabbing the boiling noodles off the back burner and walking to the sink to drain them.

“Well?” Phyllis presses.

“Well, what?”

“Did Kai have his arm around you at the resort this morning? Darla said she heard something about a kiss. That’s what she told Connie when Connie went to get her hair washed and curled this afternoon.”

“How do Bernice and Darla know what was supposedly going on at the Alicante?”

“It doesn’t matter, dear,” Connie says. “The point is someone said he had his arm around you and someone else claims there was a kiss involved. And there’s another story going around that you two snuck out by the golf carts for a … well … I can’t really comfortably repeat that one.”

“For a what?” My voice raises just the slightest in volume and octave.

“A private, passionate moment. I’m just quoting.” Connie blushes and shakes her head lightly. “Can you imagine? I’m surethat one was embellished. But the other things … well … we’re just so tickled.”

“Joe at the Corner Market said Kai came to the inn for lunch,” Joan says. “I stopped in to pick up some of that muscle rub I use on my hands at night. Joe brought it up while he was ringing up my order. He said, ‘Nice to see Mila’s finally letting herself enjoy a man’s company.’ So, of course, I had to ask him whatever he did mean. And he told me. I don’t always trust him as a source, but he said he heard it from Suzanna—about Kai being here for lunch.”

“Wow.”

My mind is spinning with how fast news has traveled and how many people have nothing better to do than talk about Kai putting his arm around me or coming here for lunch. I shouldn’t be surprised. There’s a double-edged sword to small-town life, and island life is small-town living with few options for getting away from said small town.

On one hand, people treat one another like family. The islanders have been here for me while I set up the inn, when I gave birth, and to pitch in while I raise Noah single-handedly. But then again, just like family, the people of Marbella are up in one another’s business, and today is my lucky day, because it seems like half the island is up in mine.

The bigger problem, aside from my overly involved neighbors, obviously, is what to tell the three women who raised me. They are my family. I can’t remember a day I lied to them in my entire life. That one week when Brad talked me into skipping school for three delightful days on the beach was the exception. I ended up confessing to my aunts at the end of the third day. And the secret burned in me until I finally came clean.

But this is different.

“Kai and I …” I start.

But I don’t know what to say after that. The words get stuck in my throat.

“Oooooh!” Connie claps her hands excitedly and bounces alittle on her toes. She looks nearly childlike with giddiness, despite her gray hair and wrinkles.

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