Tropical Lion's Legacy (Shifting Sands Resort 9)

Not knowing how long Graham’s summons would keep him busy, Alice took the empty sandwich plate back to the buffet and wandered around the center of the resort.

Amber and Mary were laughing and sunning at the pool while Neal and Tony were racing laps. Alice watched them a moment from the bar deck, considered joining them, and decided that she couldn’t muster up the appropriate feeling of vacation for the moment.

“Get you a drink?” Tex invited, as Alice took a seat at the bar. He was sitting behind the bar tuning a battered guitar.

“It’s probably a little early,” Alice decided. “I’ll take a ginger ale.” Bubbles, she thought, but less regret. She had enough regrets.

Tex poured her a ginger ale from the tap into a glass of ice and resumed t

uning his guitar. “Got a request?” he asked.

“Something happy,” Alice suggested, eyeing his cowboy hat skeptically.

Tex laughed, touching the brim of his hat with a nod, and launched into a ridiculous song about faithful dogs and faithless women that had a fast, upbeat tempo, even if the topic wasn’t entirely happy.

As he finished with a flourish, Alice’s phone rang. She gave the bartender a thumbs-up and fished her phone from her pocket.

A glance at the number had her blood running cold.

“Are you okay?” she blurted, answering.

Tex busily turned away to do something at the far end of the bar to give her privacy.

“Jeez, Alice, you sound just like Mom.” Andy’s voice was reassuringly strong.

Alice gripped the edge of the bar. “You don’t call unless something is wrong,” she reminded her brother crossly. “What’s going on?”

“You sound like you’re a million miles away,” Andy observed.

“I’m in Costa Rica,” Alice reminded him.

“Oh, crap, I forgot. Is this costing too much? I wasn’t calling for anything that important.” Andy’s voice was thick with guilt.

“No, it’s fine,” Alice said swiftly. “I have an international plan for the month. What’s up?”

“I... I just got off the phone with Mom and Dad, and it’s really hard to talk to them without really talking, you know. I can’t tell them what’s really going on with me, and it’s all weird silences and waiting for the other person to talk.”

Because they were keeping secrets from each other, Alice thought achingly. “Have you thought more about just telling them?” she prodded. If she could get one of them to break down, maybe the other side would cave, too.

They had one of the weird silences that Andy had described. “I don’t know,” he said miserably. “What if they freak out? What if they...”

“Spit it out,” Alice told him.

“What if they think I... I don’t know... deserved this?”

“Give them some credit,” Alice said in exasperation. “They aren’t jerks and they would never blame you for getting sick.”

“They might not say it,” Andy sulked. “But I’d always wonder.”

Alice made a rude noise of exasperation that was probably lost in the long distance connection.

“Alice,” Andy said hesitantly. “Alice, I know you’ve already done so much. You missed your last trip to Costa Rica because of me.”

“My choice, Pipsqueak,” Alice reminded him. “You don’t get to make me a martyr, thank you.”

“You said before you left that you might have a chance to get some money... there’s a treatment I could qualify for, but I can’t get the tests I need to see if I’m eligible without a down payment.” Alice could hear the desperation in Andy’s voice. “It’s... about a grand.”

Alice’s heart dropped in her chest. “I don’t have it,” she said quietly. She wouldn’t get it, either, she reminded herself. Scarlet’s shift form, and the fifty million dollars it could bring her, was tantalizingly close—and impossibly out of reach. Her bank account was tapped. Her credit card was maxed. She wouldn’t even have been able to come on this trip if her friends hadn’t helped pay for it.