A Summer in Paradise by Tianna Xander

who
joined him as she talked. “We’ll send her.” She blushed. “That is,
if you two don’t mind.”
    Gemma turned back to Pearl.
“It is their money.
It’s not like I should make promises with it.”
    “ You know very well that
what’s ours is yours, mate.” The taller of the two stepped forward
and held out his hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Pearl.” He
turned to the other man. “You remember us, don’t you?”
    Pearl smiled. “How could I forget you
two? The three of you were the talk of the town. I remember how the
elders had a fit over the two of you dating Gemma. Now I hear it’s
not wrong, but something you’re born to do.”
    “ Yeah. Apparently it’s in
their genes to have more than one mate. Camulus’s council was
wrong.” Gemma looked up at her her husband a small smile. He held
her back against his front his hands resting on her stomach as
though he couldn’t keep from touching her.
    Gemma had told her all of that in her
e-mails. Pearl wondered if her sister needed to reiterate it to
justify her choice in men. “It doesn’t matter to me, Gem.” Pearl
finally closed the distance and gave her sister a hug. “I don’t
care if you have six husbands, just so long as you’re
happy.”
    Pearl was happy for her sister—really,
she was. She only wished that she could have the same. To see Gemma
so happy, and with a baby on the way, it almost made Pearl jealous.
She would have given her right arm to have what Gemma had before
she met Glenn.
    Now that she’d made the colossal
mistake of dating Glenn, she had no recourse other than to leave
the country and hope he didn’t have the resources to find her in
another country.
    “ I’m so glad you feel that
way, Pearl. I was afraid…” Gemma reached up to swipe the tears from
her eyes. “I was afraid you wouldn’t approve.”
    “ Don’t mind Gem, Pearl.
She’s been crying at the drop of a hat since she found out she was
pregnant.” The tall man at her side, grinned down at Gemma then
kissed her temple.
    Her sister had done well for herself.
If Pearl wasn’t mistaken, this husband was Merrick. She was pretty
sure that he was the boy Gemma had dated that had had the strange,
gray-green eyes, though she wasn’t sure.
    “ You remember Merrick, don’t
you?” Gemma asked wrapping her arm around Pearl’s waist and leading
her deeper into the lodge. “Come on, we’ll get you a room then
we’ll talk.”
    “ I—I can’t stay, Gem.” Damn.
Saying that had hurt more than she expected.
    “ What do you mean, you can’t
stay?” Gemma asked, her chestnut brows drawing together in a frown.
“You can’t just drop in, say hi, and then leave! I haven’t seen you
in fifteen years!”
    What could she say? How could she tell
her sister that she had to leave because of the two men who were
certainly on their way down the mountain as they spoke? She knew
they would come after her. There was no doubt in her
mind.
    She could understand Gemma’s
confusion. In her sister’s mind, Pearl had just gotten here and she
had planned to stay a while. Pearl bit her lip. Could she tell Gem
that something had come up? Should she tell her that?
    Pearls eyes burned and she
blinked back tears that threatened. She knew better than her sister that
this could very well be the last time they saw each other—ever.
Pearl knew her teaching position wouldn’t give her enough money to
visit the states regularly and she wasn’t sure how much money Gemma
and her mates had. Frankly, she didn’t want to know. Pearl wanted
to believe that Gem would have all the money she would ever need to
bring up her children and live a happy life. How could she spend
only fifteen minutes with her then leave? Fifteen minutes after
fifteen years, just didn’t seem fair.
    “ I know you don’t want me to
go, Gem, but I don’t have a choice. I’ve signed a contract to teach
in Scotland for the next three years.” At
least. “ I have a plane to
catch.”
    She didn’t tell her