Once she’d slipped her sneakers on over her thick, comfortable sox and she was in her well worn jeans and soft cotton tee-shirt, she left the room, vowing to investigate this entire island until she found some way to get herself home.
Two hours later, she was getting a bit desperate. She was hot, sweaty, dirty from climbing hills and stumbling down the other side. She had several scrapes on her hands from rocks she’d used to try and stop her fall in some cases and thankfully the jeans she’d pulled on protected her legs more than the tee shirt had done. She was desperately thirsty and famished since she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast this morning and the sun was now setting over the horizon.
What was worse, she felt as if she were about to burst into tears of despair and frustration. There didn’t appear to be any way off this island other than by helicopter but that couldn’t be the case. There was a small village down the road so the residents must have some way to get on and off the island. She just had to figure out how they did it.
“You’re right on time for dinner,” a deep voice said to her right.
Darcy spun around, the lopsided, messed up bun she’d pulled her hair into earlier now flopping in her face as she tried to find the source of her animosity. “You!”
“Yes, me,” he replied, saluting her with a glass of rich, red wine. “Adele has prepared a wonderful smelling dinner. Would you care to join me?” he asked.
“I’d rather starve,” she spat out. “You have to let me go!”
“I do?”
“Yes! This is ridiculous. I didn’t do anything to your sister’s fiancé so why are you holding me here?”
He moved to a side table where small plates of appetizers were already set up. Picking up a cracker with something brightly colored sitting on top of it, he said, “So you say. But the man has professed his love of you. I’m guessing there must have been more than a passing conversation between the two of you.”
The smells coming from the patio were making Darcy’s mouth water. She desperately wanted to turn up her nose at the dinner, but she was just too hungry. And thirsty.
“Don’t you want to starve me so that I’m more acquiescent?” she asked sarcastically.
He stood up to hold her chair out for her, smiling slightly. “Apparently not.”
Darcy took the offered chair, sighing with resignation. “I don’t understand this situation.”
Sergei took the seat opposite, the evening breeze lifting the fringe on the table’s canopy, making the palm leaves dance. It felt wonderful and Darcy lifted her hair to catch more of the cooling breeze as she lifted her ice water, drinking down almost the entire glass.
“What’s to understand? You’re here until I can find my future weasel brother in law. Why not enjoy your stay?”
He nodded his head to allow the serving staff to begin. Wine was poured and plates immediately set in front of both of them, then the staff disappeared, leaving them alone with the distant sounds of classical music in the background mixing with the waves crashing against the shore and the emerging night sounds.
Darcy could ignore the wine, but she couldn’t ignore the food. She was simply too hungry. “Who is your sister?”
Sergei stopped reading the report he’d picked up and looked across the table at the woman who was still irritatingly lovely despite the smudges of dirt on her cheeks and arms. “You don’t know who I am?”
She shrugged and shook her head. “Besides some pompous jerk who thinks he’s above the law, I have no idea who you are.”
“You’ve never heard of the Anchova name?”
She tilted her head, thinking for a moment. “I don’t think so. Should I?” She looked around at the surroundings. “You’re obviously wealthy, but so are a lot of people. I’m guessing you’re more notable than others, right?” She took a bite of the delicately seasoned fish, loving the wonderful tastes. There was a perfect mango salsa that went with it and several odd vegetables that were more flavorful than anything she’d tried before.
“Apparently I’m not that notable,” he replied derisively.
“Wait a minute. Are you the guy who bought out that major grocery store chain last year?” she asked.
“Among other things,” he said, then picked up his wine glass.
“What other things?”
“I’m guessing you don’t read the business section very often, do you?”
“I try not to. It’s a bit depressing.”
“What do you do with all of your money?”
Darcy definitely wasn’t going to give away that kind of information. “Oh, this and that,” she said with an airy wave of her hand. “You know how it goes. There’s always something,” she said, thinking of the old water heater that’s about to rust off its hinges and the decrepit heater that only cranks out heat when it’s in a good mood or during the summer on ninety degree days. And it was rarely in a good mood lately. Sweaters and extra blankets were the norm over the past few months.
“Doesn’t sound like a very good investment strategy,” he said, with obvious disgust.
She shrugged away his criticism. “Some of us have priorities other than investments and buying up the world.”
“I guess your strategy is what keeps the markets healthy.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I guess it keeps some portions of the population healthy,” she replied, thinking of Fred and Ginger who could eat an entire bag of dog food in one sitting if left alone or Molly who patiently waited for the other two to finish before gobbling down her own bowl of food. The kittens lost just as many meals as they gained because of the other three. And Moxie. Suddenly she was sad because she wasn’t home to help Moxie’s recovery who needed a soft, gentle hand to guide her back to trusting people again.
“What just happened?” Sergei asked sharply.
Darcy’s head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
“You were smiling a moment ago, and all of a sudden you looked like you’d just lost your best friend. What were you thinking a moment ago?”
Darcy popped the last bit of fish into her mouth and shook her head. “For the moment, you’re keeping me hostage here, for reasons that only you understand and won’t thoroughly explain to me, since you obviously think I know what you’re talking about. But you can’t own my thoughts.” She stood up and pushed her chair back under the table carefully.