“Living room. And I’m all good here. I’ll just bring our drinks in. Go make yourself comfy.”
Ash went through the kitchen, past the open dining room, and on to the living room. A man was standing by the long bank of windows that overlooked Summer’s garden. The guy had shaggy, dark hair that fell in waves from his face, not quite reaching his shoulders. His eyes looked brown or black. He had more than a hint of a beard. A big guy, he made an imposing presence.
Ash set her stuff down on the coffee table. “Hi. I’m Ash.” She didn’t go over to shake his hand. Honestly, she didn’t want to touch him. Sometimes that caused all kinds of weird images and emotions to blast off in her mind.
The guy looked put off at her. He frowned, glanced behind him, then back at her. “I’m Lautaro.”
Lord, what a sultry voice he had, like warm, melted chocolate over a heated torte. Ash blushed, embarrassed that she was equating him with something so tasty.
“You’re coming to see me in a few weeks, I believe, or so Liege said.”
Liege. That’s right. Sam did have that other name. “Ah. You’re one of Sam’s friends.”
Humor crinkled the corners of Lautaro’s eyes. “Yes. And I own a coffee plantation in Colombia.”
“Oh! Right!” Sam had offered to put her in contact with a few friends he had from a few coffee plantations in Colombia—like Lautaro. Ash pointed over to her stack of materials for planning her trip. “We’re working on finalizing my travel plans today. Sam mentioned your place. I’d love to hear more about it.”
Sam came in from the hallway. He looked from Lautaro to her and frowned. Interacting with an upset Sam wasn’t a fun experience. Ash smiled, trying to relieve the tension that had come into the room with him.
“Howdy.” She smiled at Summer’s fiancé. “Hope you don’t mind Kiera and my stealing Summer this evening. We haven’t had a girls’ night in forever.”
“No, I’m happy to share her. I see you met Lautaro.”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to hearing more about his coffee business. He was the one you’d mentioned as a recommendation, right?”
“He’s one of them.” Sam and Lautaro exchanged a strange and loaded glance, like they had some shared secret she wasn’t privy to.
Summer joined them then with two margaritas. She gasped as she saw Lautaro, then flashed a look at Ash and back, then sent Sam a confused look.
“I only brought drinks for Ash and me, but I’m happy to make more.”
Sam looked at Lautaro’s bemused expression and laughed. “No, thanks. We don’t want to crash your date.” He went over and gave Summer a sideways hug and a kiss on the forehead. “We’ll stay out of your hair, I promise.”
Summer watched the two men leave, frowning. “I don’t think you were supposed to see him.”
“Lautaro? Why not?”
Summer looked at Ash and blinked. “Um. Because, ah, because Sam wanted him to be a surprise. They wanted to go over what his plantation has to offer tourists. I didn’t know he was going to be here today.”
“Oh. Okay. We’re good, though, right?”
Summer laughed, breaking the momentary tension. “Of course. This is our night. What time is Kiera coming out?”
“I think she had some things she had to tie up first, then she was going to pack a bag and head out.” Ash looked at her phone. No messages. “She should be here soon.” She sipped her drink. “Mmm. Which room were you going to put me in tonight? I want to change real quick. I came straight from the office.” She picked up her backpack.
Summer led her to the hallway door. Sam and his friend Lautaro were long gone. Summer pointed to a room on the second floor across the courtyard.
“Thanks! Be right back!”
Summer felt Sam’s energetic shield expand to include her as it did him and Lautaro in the hallway outside the living room. She slipped into Sam’s arms and looked at his friend. “Ash could see you.” Lautaro was there only in his astral form. Summer could see him, thanks to her recent mutations, but Ash shouldn’t have been able to.
“We were just talking about that,” Sam said. “We can’t explain it.”
“Except that I wasn’t trying to hide myself,” Lautaro said. “I thought everyone here was one of us. Of course, it is difficult for regulars to see astral projections, so Ash really shouldn’t have anyway.”
“Ash has some special skills,” Summer said. “She’s always been highly sensitive to energy.”
Ash went into the room Summer had directed her to, upstairs at the fort. She set her bag down on the dresser. She’d toured all the rooms in the fort weeks ago with Summer that day she and Kiera had come out for a pool party. Sam’s fort was a massive, sprawling place.
She opened the double French doors. A cold March wind blew across the wide patio. Sam had designed every inch of his home in exquisite detail. The view from this side of the fort looked east. The wooden portico would be perfect in the summer to break the relentless sunshine, letting light—but not the blazing sun—into the bedrooms. There were two sitting areas, separated by a cluster of blue ceramic pots. The pots were only filled with dirt at the moment, but when the warm weather came in, they’d be the perfect complement to the peach stucco that was everywhere. Ash smiled, seeing Summer’s magic touch at work.
The room next to the guest suite Ash was using had closed French doors. Summer had said the guys and Selena were all at work somewhere. Ash hadn’t paid close attention. She was just glad that she was going to get some quality time with Summer and Kiera; they’d promised to help her finalize her travel plans for later that month. She already had her ticket to Colombia, but she had a whole week of plans to make for her time there.
Something drew Ash to the closed French doors of the next room. She was an overly curious person, a shortcoming that had gotten her into plenty of awkward spots. She stepped into the room. It was also empty, but unlike hers, this one was full of personality. The walls were painted white, a nice break from the peachy stucco color in so much of the house. A big oil painting of a tropical ocean scene was on the wall opposite the king bed. A similar scene, though longer and narrower, was hung over the headboard. The wooden headboard itself looked like bleached sea wood left in its natural taupe color. The bed had seafoam-colored sheets with a massive white duvet cover. A navy-blue throw made a dark stripe across the foot of the bed. On either side of the bed, wide taupe carpet softened the floor. It had a white line patterned like a rope bordering it.
This room was so much more inviting than hers. She wished she’d picked it. Maybe she could ask Summer if she’d mind making the room switch.
For no reason at all, other than an overwhelming need to exist in that energy space, Ash lay down on the bed. The cool cotton of the duvet cover was soothing. She shut her eyes, meaning to just take a breath. Instead, she heard the crashing of waves and smelled the delicious salt air that came on a stiff breeze. She opened her eyes and realized she was standing close to the edge of a sea cliff. The ocean was probably four stories below where she stood. The sky was azure blue, its bright color reflected on the water. Huge white cotton-ball clouds, with their soft, rounded edges, floated past, in no hurry to go anywhere.