It had been a week since she’d had her late-night swim with Ash, and although every morning Heather had woken to the sounds of the waves outside her window and the birds in the trees behind her bungalow, in the last week, her morning routine had changed a little bit. Now, as well as listening to the peace of Casa del Sol, she woke up with a fire deep inside her that only Ash had been able to quench. Or maybe he just fueled the flames? Either way, she liked it.

She stretched her arms up over her head and let those sounds of peace and tranquility wash over her before she slipped out of bed to sit on the swing over the deck. It was the perfect way to start her day, and she didn’t think she was ever going to tire of it.

Although, she could think of a few other perfect ways to start her day. All of which included waking up to Ash, his hands on her body—touching her, stroking her…

“Mmmm.” Heather squeezed her eyes shut and let her mind drift for a few minutes.

The night of the swim, and every night after that they’d spent together, Heather almost invited Ash to spend the night in her bungalow. But every time, at the last minute had changed her mind. Not that she didn’t want to sleep next to him, his arms holding her close, her head on his chest. Oh yes, she wanted all those things, but it was too soon. And they’d been having such fun together, she didn’t want to ruin it by moving too fast.

She stretched her body, reaching her arms over her head and squeezed her eyes shut again. Her body came alive with the simple memory of his fingers touching her, coaxing things out of her that she didn’t even know she was capable of feeling. It was hard to believe that she’d allowed herself to let go so completely.

Was it?

Maybe not. After all, she’d been surprising herself a lot lately. And maybe Ash was able to stir things in her she’d never felt because she was finally allowing herself to be open to those things.

Maybe. Whatever it was, she liked it.

A lot.

With one more stretch, Heather left the comfort of her bed and moved outside to her swing. She’d come to love the morning ritual, if it could be a ritual in only a few weeks. Either way, it was her time to sit and reflect before things got busy. And after her romantic nights with Ash, she certainly had a lot to think about.

She felt almost like a teenager using the word romantic, even in her thoughts, but there was no other word for it. Everything with Ash had been romantic, in a way she’d never experienced before. Heck, she thought she was beyond romance.

She didn’t need it. She never had. Joe certainly hadn’t been romantic. Once upon a time, she’d liked his realism. At least that’s how she used to think about it. Excuse it.

The truth was there was no romance with Joe because there’d never been any love. Not like there should have been.

But that was over.

She should be sad or heartbroken or…something. But all Heather could feel as she swung gently over the ocean was relief. Her body was still deliciously sore from Ash the night before, but she knew their coupling had nothing to do with how she was feeling about her marriage dissolving. Although, one certainly wouldn’t have happened without the other.

Things had a funny way of working out.

Not that anything with Ash was worked out. Heather laughed at herself. She’d never been the crazy type who assumed there was a relationship just because there’d been sex. Besides that, she didn’t want or need a relationship of any kind.

She laughed again and tossed her head back, letting the feeling fill her.

“I love that sound.”

Ash’s voice startled her and she sat up as she twisted around in the swing.

“Good morning, beautiful.” Ash leaned up against the side of the bungalow, a single orchid in his hand. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She smiled. “You didn’t. Come sit.”

He crossed the deck and caught her by the waist in mid swing. She tipped her head back and he kissed her thoroughly before he tucked the orchid behind her ear. “You’re beautiful.” She thought he’d kiss her again. Instead, he released her with a gentle push so she could resume her swing. “Although I’m a little disappointed by your sleeping attire.”

Heather blushed and looked down at her old Mickey Mouse T-shirt.

“That mouse wouldn’t stand a chance if I was lying next to you.”

She turned and gave him a wicked smile. “But you weren’t.”

“I wasn’t invited.”

Heather shrugged casually. “Maybe one day.”

If he kept looking at her with those sexy eyes full of even sexier promises, that day would come sooner rather than later.

“If I play my cards right?”

She hopped off her swing and stood across from him. “I’m pretty sure it won’t have anything to do with cards.”

Just as she hoped he would, Ash grabbed her waist and pulled her close. “You drive me crazy,” he whispered roughly before he kissed her with a need that backed up his words.

The feeling was completely mutual, and her body thrummed with electricity. She was breathless when he finally pulled away. But as much as she’d like to put out the fire in her veins, she had work to do and her presence was needed at grande casa. Preferably before her guests woke up.

Ash would have to wait.

Heather put a finger to his lips and stepped back. “We’ll have to finish this later.”

He didn’t release his grip on her.

“I have work to do,” she insisted, but he only raised an eyebrow. “I do not want to get fired.”

He moved one hand down to her bare thigh, gently moving his fingers along her skin. “You aren’t going to get fired.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She tried—without much luck—not to get distracted by his attentions. “I can’t imagine that Sherri would like it if I was too busy making out to do my job.”

“Sherri won’t mind.” He kissed her again. “She doesn’t even have to know.”

Of course, she probably didn’t know what was happening between Ash and Heather at all since she moved up to her treehouse. It wasn’t the first time Heather had wondered and worried about the older woman. She’d asked Ash a few times, but he always managed to change the subject whenever it was brought up.

“Hey.” His thumb stroked her cheek. “Where did your smile go?”

Heather shook her head, but he wouldn’t have it. Ash held her head and looked into her eyes. “Seriously. What’s up?”

“I was just thinking about Sherri,” she admitted. “I can’t help but worry about her and wonder how she’s doing.” She wiggled free from his arms. “Aren’t you concerned at all?” She turned and looked out to the water. “No. Of course you’re not. You know what she’s doing. I don’t know anything.” Heather crossed her arms over her thin T-shirt. “I shouldn’t even be worried. I mean, it’s not like it’s my business.”

“Of course it is.” His hand rested on her shoulder, and he gently turned her. “Sherri is as much your business as she is mine.”

“Is that right?” She knew she was pushing things, but Heather had never been one to back down when something was important. She wasn’t about to start now. “Then tell me the truth.”

* * *

Of course she wanted answers. She deserved them. Heck, he was surprised it had taken as long as it had for her to push the issue. She didn’t seem like the type of woman who would let things go easily.

But he couldn’t tell her.

Not without Sherri’s permission.

“We should probably get to grande casa,” he said instead. It was a terrible attempt at avoiding the matter, but he didn’t know what else to do. Not without talking to Sherri first. “Your guests will be up soon and I have a feeling they’re going to want some help figuring out how to spend their day.”

She shook her head, opened her mouth as if she were going to object, and finally closed it again, her lips pressed into a thin line. Ash didn’t know what was worse: Heather pushing him to tell her something he couldn’t, or her being upset with him when only the night before, she’d been so happy.

The memory of her body pressed against his, the way she felt when he moved inside her, the sound she made when she lost control—damn. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of that.

She turned to walk back into her bungalow, but he grabbed her hand, spinning her around, and held her tight in his arms. “Don’t be mad.” Ash kissed her neck. “I know you’re worried.” He kissed her again. “And I think it’s really sweet of you to be concerned, but Sherri’s fine.” He nuzzled into her neck, unable to look her in the face while he lied to her. “She just needs a little alone time for a while.”

“She’s fine?”

Ash nodded and kissed her again. Distracting Heather was quickly becoming his favorite thing to do.

“Would you tell me if something was wrong?”

He couldn’t lie to her again, so instead, he took her face in both hands and kissed her thoroughly. When he was finally satisfied, not that he thought he’d ever be satisfied kissing her, he released her. “I’ll tell you what,” he said. “I’ll start the coffee. You take your time getting ready for the day.”

Before she could object, or challenge him on the fact that he didn’t quite answer her question, he gave her another quick kiss and left her to get ready.

He wasn’t going to be able to avoid her questioning forever and he hated to lie to her. Particularly at the beginning of their relationship, whatever that was. It didn’t matter what it was between them; he wasn’t going to keep lying to her. He may be a lot of things, but a liar was certainly not one of them. Which was why as soon as breakfast was finished, and Heather was busy with her guests, organizing a day of activities to keep them busy in the sun, Ash packed a basket of supplies and headed up the hill to Sherri’s treehouse.

He took his time going up the stairs, partly because he wasn’t in a hurry to see what was waiting for him at the top, and partly because he loved the journey. The rainforest was full of the most beautiful flowers and creatures. When he’d first moved to Panama, he’d barely noticed his surroundings, losing himself in booze and women and pretty much anything else that would dull the ache inside him. It had worked for a little while, but then he’d met Mick at the Bitter End and shortly after, he’d introduced him to Sherri. It was only after that meeting, when he first came to Casa del Sol, that Ash finally started noticing his surroundings. Really noticing them.

And they were incredible. The colors, the scents, everything. He almost couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed the beauty of Panama before.

Almost.

He’d been way too closed off to notice anything besides his own misery. Almost as if he’d been in a long sleep. But that was a long time ago. He hadn’t been that guy for a while. The guy who moved through the days in a fog, unable or unwilling to open his eyes to the life that was happening to him.

But he was no longer that guy.

His eyes were wide open now.

And he planned to keep it that way.

Before he took the final flight of steps to Sherri’s house, Ash turned and looked out at the bay below. The water always looked especially peaceful from up here. A ring of laughter rang out and soon, the forms of two women on a paddleboard came into view. Heather hadn’t wasted any time getting the guests situated with the water toys. He watched for a moment, wondering why both the friends were on one board. Sherri had two paddleboards for the guests to use. His answer came in form of the new guests. A couple who were backpacking through Central America. They were only spending a few days with them, but it looked as if they didn’t want to waste a minute of it. They paddled into Ash’s view, looking much more graceful than the two women who’d come before them. They were still laughing and clearly having balancing issues while the other couple paddled peacefully around the bay.

Their peace only lasted a moment before one of the ladies jumped from their board, swam over and knocked the couple into the water. Ash shook his head and laughed. It looked like fun. No doubt Heather was on the dock, laughing at them all.

Just like Sherri would have.

Remembering why he was headed up the hill in the first place, Ash took the last few steps two at a time until he was outside Sherri’s little house. He knocked once and entered.

“Sherri?”

He kept his voice low at first, but called out again when she didn’t answer. “Sherri, I hope I didn’t wake you.” He kept his voice calm, trying to infuse some of that same calmness into himself. He had no idea what to expect, and the unknown was never a good thing. “Sherri? You okay?”

The house wasn’t very large, consisting mostly of one big open room with a few comfy chairs and pillows scattered around, and a cooking area tucked into one corner. There was a bathroom with a compostable toilet out the back, and just like the buildings down by the ocean, the water was supplied from a large cistern full of rainwater. The main room was empty, although it definitely showed signs of life from the last time he’d been there, dropping off crates. The large windows were open, letting the crosswinds blow through the space, and there were little pots with different plants scattered around the room.

Signs of life. But no Sherri.

Ash crossed the space to the ladder on the far wall that led to the sleeping loft. If Sherri was sleeping, he didn’t want to wake her. But if she wasn’t sleeping…he didn’t want to think about it.

“Sherri?”

Still no answer. There was no other choice. He shook his head and took a deep breath. “You shouldn’t be up here on your own, Sherri. Not with all the medicine and no one to help you. And this loft is even stupider.” She could be up there, unable to move, stuck in her bed. With his hands on the ladder, he climbed up slowly, muttering the entire way. “So help me, if I have to carry you down this ladder, I’m going to—”

“Ash?”

He started, and only nearly caught himself before sliding backward off the ladder. Ash took a moment to compose himself before he turned around to see Sherri, looking quite healthy and in no way incapacitated in her bed, standing behind him. “Sherri.”

“As I live and breathe.”

“Funny.” He shook his head and climbed off the ladder. “How are you?” He wrapped her in a hug and tried not to notice that she looked a little bit smaller than the last time he’d seen her. Or at least he thought she did. Maybe it was just his imagination. He hoped it was. “Seriously. How are you?”

She didn’t look sick. Her house didn’t look like the house of a sick person. It was sunny and airy and everything it should be. But then he took a closer look. There were pill bottles lined up on the counter, the IV pole shoved in a corner, a bandage on the inside of Sherri’s arm. “Are you taking care of yourself?”

She smiled and patted his arm. “Ash, I’m fine.” She moved slower than he remembered as she crossed the floor to the fridge. But then again, maybe it was all in his head. “Now tell me, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

He followed her across the room and took the bottle of juice from her hands so he could pour it for her. “Sit,” he ordered. “I’ll get us a drink.”

To his surprise, she didn’t protest, but did as she was told, sitting in a large wicker chair that looked out into the jungle. “But only juice for me,” she said. “You better have a beer.”

“It’s not even noon.”

She laughed. “Suit yourself then, but it’s special juice.” She held her hands up in air quotes and shook her head.

He was pretty sure the type of special Sherri was referring to had more to do with the bottles of medicine and a lot less to do with any type of special anything he might care to entertain. “Beer it is.”

As soon as the drinks were ready, he sat down next to his friend and waited for her to talk. It didn’t take long.

“So, you didn’t say, what brings you up here?”

“You do.”

“And?”

“I brought you supplies.” He pointed to the basket he’d left by the door.

“I don’t need anything.” She chugged half her drink and grimaced. “This stuff is awful.” She drank the rest and put the empty glass on the table next to her. “Besides, I’ve been growing a few things and getting my garden going again. Do you know that when I first moved here, I spent most of my days up here? I preferred it to the water. It was more peaceful. I’d forgotten that.” Her eyes took on a faraway look for a moment. “It’s nice up here.”

“You’re not lonely?”

“Should I be?”

Ash wasn’t sure how to answer that. He would have been lonely all on his own, but he wasn’t Sherri. And it wouldn’t surprise him if she was perfectly content on her own. “No,” he said after a moment. “You shouldn’t be. But how are you feeling? Your medicine…” He nodded to the empty glass. “It’s okay?”

Her smile was warm and reassuring, just as he was sure she meant it to be. “I feel good. The drugs aren’t so bad if you pair them with some herbs to help with the side effects. So far everything is fine.”

He examined her closely for any indication that she was lying to him, but her face gave nothing away. “You promise that you’ll tell me if you need anything, right?”

“I’ll call you right away.” She laughed again and despite the fact that he knew she was teasing him, he didn’t mind as long as it kept her laughing.

“Maybe not.” He raised an eyebrow and took a deep slug of his beer. “But I’m serious about it, Sherri. I need you to let me know right away if you need anything.” He looked her straight in the eye. “Anything at all. I’m going to come up here as much as I can, okay?”

She started to shake her head, but he stopped her. “That’s the only way I’m going to agree to leave you alone, Sher. Like every two days. I’ll be here.” He waited until she nodded. “I won’t stay long if you don’t want me to,” he continued. “But I need to know you’re okay.”

“Okay.”

He blinked. He’d expected her to put up a much bigger fight. “Really?”

“Really.” She nodded. “If that’s what makes you feel better.”

“It does.” It made him feel unexplainably happier. He’d been more worried about Sherri than he even knew. Although he’d still be worried, maybe that could be lessened somewhat if he was able to come up to visit and check on her with his own two eyes. Not that he couldn’t have done that before but now he had her blessing, which would ultimately make things easier. “One more thing.”

She narrowed her eyes, no doubt ready for a fight. Sherri may be the most relaxed, easy-going person he knew, but she was also the most stubborn when she put her mind to it. She was fierce and under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be willing to go up against her.

These were not normal circumstances.

When she didn’t speak, he continued. “I need to tell Heather about what’s going on with you. She’s worried and I think—”

“No.”

“Sherri. I think if you—”

“No.” She pushed up and out of her chair as if the subject was closed.

It wasn’t.

It couldn’t be.

Ash followed her out to the deck that was all but right in the canopy of trees. There was a bit of space between the trees where you could look down on Casa del Sol. Even though they were far up the hill, you could still see the buildings, the people playing in the water and hear the laughter floating on the air. Ash stood next to Sherri and watched the activities in silence for a moment before he pressed the issue.

“If Heather knew what was happening, it would really put her mind at ease.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Sherri said simply. “It would only worry her.”

“She’s already worried because she doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“It’s a different type of worry.” She shook her head. “She doesn’t need that right now.”

Frustration built inside him. Sherri was being ridiculous. Cancer was not something you could fight on your own. He hadn’t said anything about the ludicrous notion she had about treating herself. He’d stayed quiet when she told him she’d be administering her own treatments; he’d respected those wishes. But this was different. She needed support. She needed friends and positive energy and love. And how could she presume to know what Heather needed? Especially when she’d been hiding away. If anyone knew what Heather needed, it was—

“Get out of your head, Ash.” She interrupted his thoughts. “Say what you need to say, but don’t stew on it. It’s not healthy.”

Her words calmed him, the way they always did because even though it drove him crazy, she knew. Sherri always just knew.

His hands gripped the railing. He took a breath. “Heather’s doing fine.”

Sherri’s smile told him that she’d already guessed just how fine Heather was doing. “I’m sure she is. But this is my story to tell, Ash. And I’m not ready to tell it yet, okay?”

Her words shut down any further argument because he couldn’t argue with that. She’d always respected his story. The least he could do was return the favor. He swallowed back the objections that were still on the tip of his tongue. Finally he nodded. “Okay. But I’ll be here every two days.”

“I know you will.”

* * *

It was almost time for lunch by the time Ash reappeared. He hadn’t told Heather he was going anywhere, and despite the fact that she was hyper aware of his presence, she’d been so busy with her guests, she hadn’t even noticed he was gone until about thirty minutes before he walked into grande casa, holding a bouquet of exotic flowers.

“For you, beautiful.”

“They’re gorgeous.” She took the bouquet from him and inhaled their blossoms. “And they smell amazing.”

Ash wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her close and kissed her quickly. “They are not nearly as gorgeous as you and trust me when I tell you that you smell a whole lot more amazing than they do.”

Heather shook her head at his cheesy line, but she couldn’t help but feel a warmth at his words. She’d never been spoken to like that before. With tenderness and…it was way too early to even think about the L word. But there was no other way to describe the way she felt when he spoke to her like that. She cleared her throat and wiggled away from his grip, needing space before she let her mind get carried away with a fairy tale.

“Well, they’re really pretty.” She dug out a jar from behind the bar and filled it with water. “Thank you for thinking of me. Where were you, anyway?”

“I went to visit Sherri.”

She froze and turned slowly. Was he finally going to tell her what was going on with the other woman? “And?”

“And she’s doing great.” He joined her behind the bar. “Please tell me you have bottles of water in the fridge. I’m parched.”

Heather grabbed a bottle, but held it close to her chest instead of handing it to him.

Ash grinned and crossed his arms. “You’re not going to give me the water?”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“Sherri.”

He tilted his head as if he had no idea what she was talking about. She was smarter than that. “Seriously,” she said. “Tell me what’s going on with Sherri. You just said you were there visiting her, so tell me what’s going on with her.”

Ash dropped his chin to his chest for a moment before he looked up. “Honestly, there’s nothing going on with her. She’s just taking a little vacation in the trees.”

“A vacation?”

“Is that hard to believe?”

It was. Heather looked around her. She was in the middle of paradise. How could anyone want a vacation from that? She nodded and Ash laughed.

“Remember, you just got here. This is Sherri’s home.”

“Sherri’s incredibly lucky.”

“She is. And so are you. Because you’re here now…with me.” He wiggled his eyebrows and she laughed. “Seriously, though. She just wanted a break for a bit from the running of things and besides, I think she just wanted to give you space to do things your way. It’s no big deal.”

He didn’t make it sound like a big deal. Maybe it wasn’t and she was just worrying about nothing. It certainly felt like something, though.

“I swear,” Ash added when she didn’t respond. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Sherri’s just like that. What’s been going on around here? I heard lots of laughter.”

For a minute, Heather contemplated pressing the issue, but there didn’t seem to be much point. Besides, Ash said she was just on a vacation. Although, why she didn’t tell Heather that herself was kind of a mystery. Still, it didn’t seem like something she needed to worry about. At least not until there was something to worry about.

“It’s been a busy morning around here.” She pointed at the dock, where all the guests were lounging while they took their turns on the paddleboards, having given up on trying to go two at a time. If all her days were like this, Heather would have no problem getting used to life at Casa del Sol. Who was she kidding—she’d already gotten used to it.

“We should go join them,” Ash said. “It does look like a lot of fun.” He turned to head out to the dock but she hesitated. “You coming?”

She nodded. She wanted to let it go. But the thing with Sherri still niggled at her brain. Something just didn’t feel right.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded again, but Ash crossed the space and took her hands in his. “Ash?” He nodded. “You’d tell me if something was really wrong, right? I just need to know that you’ll be honest with me if it’s needed. Then I won’t need to worry.”

A flash of something crossed his face so quickly she couldn’t be sure she’d even seen a change, and then just like that, his smile was back. He squeezed her hands. “Of course.”