This time when Rosa visited her friend, Tiny shuffled slowly into her living room with the help of a cane. She looked painfully thin. Mind you, Rosa was too thin herself, having lost weight over the last few months. But Tiny’s stroke had happened less than a month ago. How had she gotten so frail-looking in such a short time?

Tiny obviously had something on her mind. After Rosa had helped her sit in an armchair and settled opposite her, Tiny leaned forward, her face serious. “You have to help me,” she said. Her speech was a little clearer than yesterday, but still slurred. “You have to stop my brother.”

Rosa frowned. Dalton had been so much nicer that morning than yesterday, she’d been starting to like him. But if he was hurting Tiny she’d go full Navy SEAL on his ass, and to hell with the fact he was bigger and stronger than she was.

“What’s he doing?” she demanded. “Is he hurting you?”

Tiny blinked with obvious surprise. Then shook her head. “He wants to sell….” She motioned around with her hand. Her house was small but full of character, with big windows, worn wooden floors, and simple furniture. But it took Rosa a moment to realize she meant more than just the house.

“You mean, he wants to sell the resort? But why? This is your home. He said he wanted to take you to Australia for treatment, but surely you can come back when you get better…” Rosa trailed off, remembering what Dalton had told her about Tiny not wanting to accept that the stroke had permanently changed things for her. But surely she could still live in her own home?

“He doesn’t like it here,” said Tiny.

“How could anyone not like Lantana Island? Besides, if he doesn’t, he doesn’t have to come back. You could come back without him, once you’ve finished all your therapy or whatever.”

“You don’t understand.” Tiny heaved a breath, clearly frustrated by the effort it took to get each word out.

Rosa frowned. “What am I not getting?”

“I didn’t tell you why we left here.”

“Why you left the island?” Rosa frowned, thinking back to what Tiny had told her when they were at school together. Her friend hadn’t liked talking about either her past or her family, but Rosa knew the facts. “Your mother died, didn’t she? And your dad ran the resort by himself?”

She nodded. “Bad things happened.”

“What things?” Rosa asked, even though she could see what it was costing Tiny to speak in even simple sentences. ‘Bad things happened’ was probably as much explanation as her friend could give her.

Sure enough, Tiny brushed the question away. “Dalton can’t forget.”

“This is your resort. You don’t have to sell it if you don’t want to. He can’t make you, can he?” Rosa squeezed her hand. “I’ll look after it for you, so when you get back it’ll be just as good as you left it. However long you’re away doesn’t matter. I’ll be here.”

“Thank you.” The shadows around Tiny’s eyes looked darker, and it was obvious the conversation was tiring her. “But I love my brother. I want him to stay here.”

“You want him to stay on the island with you?”

Tiny nodded. “You can change his mind.”

“What do you mean?”

“Make him love Lantana.” Tiny said it simply, as though it would be the easiest thing in the world.

“How?”

Tiny shrugged a little. “He loved it once.”

“You want me to remind him about why he used to love Lantana Island when he was a boy? Before your mother died?”

“That’s it.” Tiny smiled with one side of her face, and for a moment she looked less drawn and more like her old self.

“What did Dalton like about it back then? Fishing? Swimming? Sailing?”

Tiny nodded. “You’ll help?”

“Of course, I’ll do whatever you want.” Rosa tried to imagine how she could show Captain Plunder a good time. Naked fight training, perhaps? She grimaced. What had made her think of that? And why were the pictures suddenly so clear in her mind? That was no way to think about her friend’s brother.

But it wasn’t Rosa’s fault that Dalton was leg-tremblingly gorgeous. It wasn’t like she’d wanted to have seriously erotic thoughts about him while he had her in a choke hold this morning. She’d never meant to notice the way his muscles danced with each other under his tight T-shirt, or to take in big lungfuls of his man-spice. If he’d kept being Captain Ass-Wipe it would have been a lot easier to ignore those things. So really, it was his own fault for being nice this morning.

Yup, totally his fault. She was the innocent victim in all this, powerless to resist the x-rated fantasies he’d forced upon her.

Rosa cleared her throat. “Um. But the other staff must know the island a lot better than I do. Whatever fun there is to be had, maybe they’d do a better job than me at showing him.” Besides which, she was busy trying put a wedding together. The last thing she had time to do was run around making sure Dalton was having a good time.

Tiny gave her a serious look. “If he sells Lantana, you might lose your job.”

Rosa blinked. “Why?” Then, when Tiny didn’t answer right away, she came up with the answer herself. “Is it because the new owner might want to run the place themselves, just like you did? If they do, they won’t need me. Especially because I’ve just arrived, so I’m still getting the hang of things anyway.”

Tiny nodded and squeezed her hand. “I need you,” she said.

“I’ll do what I can to change Dalton’s mind,” Rosa promised. The thought of losing her new job had sent a rush of disappointment into her gut, and she could taste it in her mouth. She’d packed up her whole life to come here, thinking she’d be staying indefinitely.

The last place Rosa wanted to go was back to Sydney, where Otto was waiting for her. And though she hadn’t been on Lantana long, she already loved it here. If she felt that way about the island, how much worse must it be for Tiny who’d lived here for years? Rosa couldn’t imagine how awful she must feel, facing the loss of her home while she was trying to recover from the stroke. It wasn’t fair for Dalton to ask her to sell the resort. In fact, it was downright nasty.

“Thank you.” Tiny gave her another of her lopsided smiles and this time Rosa smiled back. She’d already come two thousand miles and started her fight training. What was one more challenge thrown into the mix? Rosa Roughknuckles could handle it. She’d figure out a way to make Dalton fall back in love with Lantana and change his mind about selling it. All she had to do was work out how.

Tiny closed her eyes. They looked heavy, as though they didn’t want to open again. Time to let her rest. Almost.

“One last thing before I go.” Rosa kept her tone gentle. “There’s a wedding scheduled for Saturday. Do you know…” she trailed off when Tiny opened her eyes and frowned.

“Wedding?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Not sure. Who issss…?” Tiny stumbled over the word she was trying to say and it came out as an exhausted hiss. She shook her head. “Sorry. Who is getting married?” The words were more painfully slow and deliberate than before.

“It’s okay,” said Rosa. “I’ve practically got it all sorted out already. Forget I mentioned it, and don’t worry about anything, okay? Not for a second. You rest and get better. Let me handle everything.”

“You promise?”

Rosa shot her an affronted look, as though she were offended by the question. “Would I let you down?”

As soon as she had the wedding under control, she’d start on the Dalton Project, listing all the things he might like and formulating a plan.

With her skills, surely she could figure out something. She wouldn’t fail Tiny in her time of need. Whatever it took to change Dalton’s mind, she’d get it done.