“There’s something you’re not telling me. I can see it.” He tapped a finger between her eyes. “Why is that?”
“We all have secrets, and when we find the other two, they’ll have them. I guess trust doesn’t run deep enough yet.”
“Hardly a wonder in this short a time. Well then, we’ll take what we have.”
What they had was golden sand and blue water. People, yes, but only a few sunning under the warm spring rays or sitting under the shade of an umbrella. Some children digging with plastic shovels, others wading in the surf.
“I expect the beaches closer to Sidari are more crowded than this, though,” Bran continued. “From what I’ve read, there’ll be plenty who’ll jump from the seawall into the canal, hoping to find their true love. That would make a fine painting, I’d think. The rock, the water, the hopeful who take the leap.”
Intrigued by the idea, Sasha stopped, looked back. The colors, the textures, the angle of light. A figure, she imagined, poised to leap, another caught on the jump between wall and water. Perhaps one more with speared fingers just meeting the surface. She should have grabbed her sketch pad, then she could—
She saw a flash, something shimmering like jewels in the sunlight sliced out of the water. An instant, an instant only of sparkle and foam, of swirling blue, then gone.
“Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“In the canal. Something . . . It came out of the water, then in again.”
“I didn’t see, but I was looking up.”
“It was beautiful, like a sweep of jewels, just glittering in the sunlight.”
He laid a hand on her shoulder. “The stars?”
“No, no, it was sinuous, and alive. The movement. Some sort of fish?”
“A dolphin maybe.” He took his hand, fisted it lightly around the hair she’d tied back, skimmed it down. “Looking for true love.”
“A dolphin.” And the idea of a dolphin swimming the canal hoping for love made her smile. “It must’ve been. It was only a second, but it was gorgeous.” With a sigh, she walked again, with the sea air flowing around her.
CHAPTER FIVE
She finally unpacked, and felt she’d restored some order to her world. Then she walked out on the terrace to marvel at the view that would be hers for . . . as long as it was. She hoped to see the dolphin again—it must’ve been a dolphin, and the sunlight and water that had given it the illusion of shimmering blues and greens.
While she’d thought she’d sit out with her sketch pad on the terrace, she realized she didn’t want solitude. Instead, she took her pad and pencils and went out to look for . . . her team.
Sawyer had called them that—a team. And she’d never been a part of one before. It felt good, even oddly comforting. Remembering, as part of that team, she was likely in charge of dinner, she went to the kitchen first to consider her options.
She wished she knew how to make some traditional Greek meal, but failing that, she could do a pasta dish she often made herself at home, as it was quick and easy, and it appeared she had everything she needed at hand.
Logically she’d quadruple what she normally did, but that didn’t take into account two of the four were men, and Riley ate like a starving wolf.
“So just make a lot,” Sasha told herself. And it if didn’t work, well, someone else could be in charge of the kitchen.
She stepped outside, just breathed in, wondered if she’d be allowed to cut some flowers for her room, for the house. She recognized lemon trees as the yellow fruit basked in the sun, and the dusky leaves of the olive, the orange trees. But others were beyond her, including the cactus with large flat leaves and gorgeous blooms.
She took a moment to sketch one, then wandered on, past the vegetable garden, the coop where chickens clucked and pecked in their little fenced yard. Past shrubs of rosemary, toward the pool where she saw Riley and Sawyer in what appeared to be an animated conversation as they sat facing each other on white padded chaise lounges.
The big white dog sprawled under the shade of Riley’s chair and slept.
Sawyer wore cutoffs and a golden tan, and Riley a red tank-style bathing suit. Still talking, Riley waved at her, gestured to come on out.
“We’re debating Khan.”
“Genghis Khan?”
“No. Khan Noonien Singh.”
“I don’t know who that was—is.”
“Star Trek.”
“Oh. I saw the movie.”
“The, as in singular? Which one?” Riley demanded.
“I’m not sure. It was on cable.”
On a sigh, Riley patted the space beside her. “Girl needs an education.”
“Want a beer?” Sawyer gestured toward a wide stone table Sasha saw held a barbecue pit. “There’s a fridge back there. We stocked it from the kitchen.”
“No, I’m fine. It’s wonderful out here, but it feels too cool yet for swimming.”
“Not for hardy souls, right, Sawyer? Plus it’s solar heated.” She angled her head to look at the sketch. “Prickly pear.”
“Is that what it is?”
“Yeah. It should fruit in a couple months.”
“What do they taste like?”