Trust In Us. AlTonya Washington

hues of blue and green that composed the environment.

      Curiosity instigated a frown when she focused in on the local who had greeted them and was then shaking hands with Gage and his friends. By the time the man had made his way around to her friends, Aly knew exactly who he was.

      “Clive Weeks?” she said before Gage could make the introductions. “Alythia Duffy,” she supplied, watching the man’s expression go from welcoming to surprised to stunned to pleased.

      “Incredible!” he greeted, taking both of her hands in his and shaking them energetically.

      “How?” Alythia looked to Gage, her meaning clear.

      “College roommates,” Gage and Clive explained in unison.

      Alythia nodded but she didn’t feel quite as at ease as she would’ve liked to at the moment.

      “Absolutely incredible.” Clive was pleased enough for them both.

      The fact settled Alythia’s suspicions somewhat. She was, however, very aware of her friends, whom she wasn’t quite ready to share her business plans with. Thankfully, all the new lovers were still wholly absorbed with one another.

      “C, why don’t you let the woman get some rest before you load her down with business?” Gage suggested as though he’d sensed Alythia’s reluctance to get too chatty with Clive around her friends.

      “Right, right.” Clive’s baby blues registered apology and he gave Alythia’s hands a final shake. “What was I thinking?”

      “It’s fine.” Aly’s smile was genuine. Clive’s enthusiasm was very contagious.

      “We’ll talk tomorrow. Tonight is for fun.” Clive left Alythia with a decisive nod before he turned to regain everyone else’s attention. “Folks, the shuttle will be ready to carry us back to the resort in just a second!”

      Jeena and Myrna had been conducting a silent inventory of the pier. For the time being, their minds seemed to be off the new men in their lives and on their surroundings.

      “Clive? Will it be like this the entire time?”

      Clive’s accommodating smile never wavered. “What do you mean?” he asked Myrna.

      “She means dead,” Orchid said.

      Alythia closed her eyes out of equal parts dread and mortification.

      “You’re about to be amazed,” Clive promised, apparently taking no offense to the insult to his home.

      From a brief conversation amid the group, Alythia learned that one year Clive had visited Anegada during the off-season. He’d taken an extended vacation from his once-thriving law practice in Greensboro, North Carolina, but he’d never gone back. He’d been in love with Anegada for ten years and mentioned that the love affair showed no signs of growing old.

      “You guys are arriving, luckily, on the tail end of the storm season. It’s also after our tourist season, as well,” Clive continued. “That accounts for the lack of bodies, but I can assure you that my resort, which is just outside Keel Point, is definitely not dead.”

      This news drew hearty laughter from everyone—including Alythia, who had mixed a healthy dose of relief into hers.

      Clive stepped aside to speak with his shuttle driver. In minutes he announced they were ready to set out. Alythia celebrated the fact that Gage and his friends were speaking with Clive and missing the conversation while she and her girls boarded the shuttle. Just then, Jeena was agreeing with Orchid that they would’ve expected for Gage to have a car waiting for them.

      * * *

      Anegada Weeks Resort was a play on Clive’s surname and a tribute to the love he had for the place he called home. The multilevel main villa was a grand structure that provided a spectacular view of any area of the property.

      Wide floor-to-ceiling windows were accentuated by billowing drapes, filling the expansive, comfortably elegant rooms with refreshing breezes that mingled with the scents from vast floral arrangements that decorated every room, corridor and window.

      Aside from the staff and grounds, only the guests rivaled the resort for beauty. As Clive had promised, the place was certainly not dead. While there wasn’t an overflow of bodies, the surroundings were more than alive with the sounds of music, life and laughter. The Weeks Resort boasted live music twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The grooves were piped in to all areas of the vibrant establishment, with the exception of the suites.