The man’s eyes traveled up and down her body. “I realize that your kind doesn’t eat very much or very often, but breakfast is a normal ritual the rest of the world maintains each morning.”
“My kind?” she asked, her anger rising once again as she took the opposite seat, forcing a smile of thanks to the servant for the coffee and fresh juice.
He didn’t even bother to look up as he responded, “Your kind being the painfully thin kind of woman who thinks men want women who look good in a dress versus feeling good in his arms.”
Darcy almost laughed because she loved eating, although she didn’t have much of an appetite when she was getting ready for one of her weekend night club tours. “I’m sure there are men around who like the way I look.”
He rolled his eyes. “Give it up. You can’t get enough vitamins and nutrition when you eat only enough to maintain that weight,” he said. Raising his hand, a servant immediately stepped over to the buffet table and filled up a plate with food.
“Why do you care how much I eat or my nutrition level?” she demanded.
“Because I only want to keep you out of the way until I can find that pathetic fiancé of my sister. I don’t want you getting sick while you’re here. So eat something,” he ordered, then stood up and left the table, all his reports in one hand and his coffee cup in the other.
Darcy watched him walk away, impressed with the energy and the confident way he carried himself. But as the servant placed the plate in front of her, she couldn’t concentrate on anything other than eating the delicious scrambled eggs, flaky biscuits and freshly cut fruit. Savoring each bite, she enjoyed the birds chirping somewhere in the trees and the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the beach. She hadn’t meant to skip lunch and dinner yesterday, but she’d fallen asleep on the beach and had just forgotten about dinner while curled up in the library reading. She’d snuck into the kitchen late last night and grabbed a biscuit, but it had only been enough to hold her until now. She was famished and loved the savory meal in front of her.
She finished her breakfast, then leaned back in the cushioned chair considering her options and sipping her juice. She really didn’t want to read the day away again today. She loved the book but needed a bit more excitement today, more physical activity. Maybe she should take a stroll around the island. She definitely could use the exercise, she thought. She’d been on a plane for most of one day and then basically read or slept yesterday away. Now that she was a bit more revived and alert, she could do anything she wanted so she decided a bit of exploring was on the agenda for the day. And maybe she’d find a way off the island while she toured about.
Standing up, she smiled at the man hovering by the buffet table. “Thank you very much for the breakfast. It was delicious.”
Just as he had yesterday, the man didn’t respond, but simply bowed and smiled.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“I am Manuel. If you need anything, please just ask.”
“Thank you very much Manuel.”
She took one last sip of her juice, then headed down the stairs by the side of the house. It took her two hours, but she was able to walk around the entire island by either staying on the beach or walking along a seldom used pathway through the tropical sections where the beach hadn’t yet taken over.
The island wasn’t as small as she’d originally thought. And the tiny village was filled with only three houses while the church was an old one that was apparently unoccupied judging by the state of the interior. The wood was rotting out, there were no longer any pews to sit upon and the alter was breaking down as well.
As she stepped out of the stone church building, she looked up and spotted the dog off to the side of one building.
Sitting down so she was on the dog’s level, she reached out her hand. “Hello! How are you, old fella?” she called to the dog with a gray muzzle and sad eyes. “What’s your name?” she asked gently.
The dog sniffed the air, not daring to come out of its makeshift shelter of the box beside the stone house.
“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you,” she said to the animal, feeling as if there was something very wrong with a dog that wouldn’t approach another human being. They were usually very friendly unless taught to be otherwise by experience.
The animal stayed in place, dropping its head down onto its front paws with a deep sigh.
Darcy looked around for someone to ask, but the houses were all dark inside. She suspected that the residents who lived in the houses were actually the servants that helped in Sergei’s house when he was in residence.
She didn’t want to frighten the dog, but didn’t want to leave it here if it was hurt either. She smiled at the animal to show her that she wasn’t a threat, then slowly stood up and walked away. When she was out of sight of the animal, she took the stairs back up to the main house two at a time, rushing through the door in search of Manuel.
When she found him, he was polishing an already pristine table in the dining room, an impressive room made of stucco on the walls and heavy iron candelabra hanging from the ceiling. The room reminded her of an old Spanish dining room from centuries long past. “Manuel, the dog that’s in the shelter down by the village. Do you know whose dog it is?”
Manuel shook his head. “Jose left a few months ago to find a different job. Since then, we’ve all been taking care of him, but he’s not really anyone’s animal.”
“Why would Jose leave him here?”
“Because the dog is afraid of the water and wouldn’t get on the boat. Jose tried, but when the boat had to take off and the dog wouldn’t get on, he just left him with us.”
Darcy already had strong feelings for this absent Jose, but she also knew that people had to survive as well. He should have taken his dog with him though. “So it would be okay if I took care of him for a while?”
“Sure. But watch out. He can be a bit of a pest.”
Darcy didn’t answer him, but instead, headed for the kitchen. When she found the large stainless steel and glass area with lots of work space, she was thrilled. “Excuse me,” she called out to the woman who was busy chopping up vegetables, probably for whatever would be served at lunchtime.
The woman immediately turned around, wiping her hands on her pristine white apron. “Yes, Miss?” she asked politely.