Page 88 of Escape to the Sun

It didn’t look to Heather as though she was totally comfortable hanging with them as it was, but she didn’t say anything. It was likely the girl was just shy. She was clearly uncomfortable with attention, which made her career choice an interesting one. “Well, I think it’s cool,” she said. “We haven’t had any celebrities or movie people at Casa del Sol. At least not while I’ve been in charge. I’m excited to have you stay with us.”

“We’re excited to be here. It’s always an unexpected bonus when we get to take a little break.” Eric spoke up. He was leaner than his friend, but clearly extremely fit. He had a scruff of facial hair. In a different light, he might be confused with—

“Are you Dean Harrison’s stunt double?” she asked, making the connection.

“Guilty.” His smile was bright with a hint of cockiness. Heather instantly liked him.

“Very cool.” Heather had never been the fan-girl type, but it was pretty cool to have celebrities of a sort staying with her. “Where are you filming that you were able to come down for a bit?”

“This is kind of a cool film because it’s mostly being filmed on site instead of a studio. My favorite kind of shoot,” Eric said.

“Because Panama is way more beautiful than LA,” Layla chimed in.

“It’s true,” Eric agreed. “We’re filming mostly in the San Blas Islands and our home base is a little marina a few hours outside of Panama City.”

Heather felt a strange tug of familiarity. “Shelter Bay?”

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Have I ever.” She smiled. But the mention of her old home didn’t cause any sore feelings, the way it might have a month ago. A lot had changed. She had changed. “So how did you hear of Casa del Sol? I haven’t had a chance to get it up on the Airbnb site yet.”

“Archer told us.” Layla all but swooned when she said Archer’s name. The mountain man had that effect on women. “He’s so great,” she told Heather. “He has this boat and we’re using it for some of the shots.”

“The Cassiopeia.”

“You know it?”

“I do.” Heather tried to hide her grin. “It’s Cass’s boat. His girlfriend. You must have met her, too.”

Layla’s face fell, twisting into a frown. “Yup.”

“Cass is great.” It was Phoebe who spoke up. “She’s just so sweet and her boat is…it would be nice to live on a boat, don’t you think?”

“Phoebs, you just wait till this flick comes out. You’ll have enough money to buy us all a boat.”

“And if you play your cards right, I’ll let you all come visit.” Phoebe laughed. It was the first time Heather had seen her open up with the group and joke. Judging by the way the rest of them ran with it, Heather guessed it didn’t happen all that often.

She urged the boat faster as they left Bocas Town behind, but she didn’t open up the throttle to full speed, choosing instead to get to know her new guests a little bit. They turned out to be fun, friendly, and super interesting to talk to. And they had the added benefit of distracting Heather from the ache in her chest and the realization that when she got back to Casa del Sol, Ash wouldn’t be there.

* * *

By the timeHeather got to the dock, Luis had already arrived and was unloading the supplies. Camila—and surprisingly, her mother—helped him.

She tied up the boat quickly and before she could even get to the dock to help her guests, they were already jumping up, excited to get their vacation started. “Welcome to Casa del Sol!” She spread her arms. “Make yourselves at home. I’ll go mix up a jug of drinks and then we can get you all settled into your rooms.”

“No hurry, Heather.” Layla stripped her tank top off to reveal a tight, toned body in a string bikini. “I’ve been dying to get in the water.”

“Have you now?” Mason pulled his T-shirt off to reveal an impressive eight-pack of rippling abs, and before anyone could say anything, grabbed Layla’s hand and pulled her with him into the ocean.

With her new guests happily entertained, Heather grabbed their bags and headed into grande casa. Her mother was behind the bar, mixing something in a large pitcher. “Mom, you don’t have to—”

“Nonsense. Camila showed me the garden out back. Did you know there’s bushes and bushes of mint out there?”

Heather smiled. “I did.”

“I thought I could help you out. You’ve been gone so long and—” She stopped herself and looked around. “Where’s Ash?”

Heather felt something in her gut twist and she bit her bottom lip. “I assume he stayed in town.”

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