Summer Vows (Arabesque) by Rochelle Alers Page B

to begin or end the day. Smiling, she inhaled a lungful of saltwater air. The views here were better than the ones from her condo. Lowering her body to the recliner, she turned on her belly, rested her head on folded arms and then closed her eyes.
    Even though she felt a modicum of peace for the first time in days, Ana didn’t want to accept that she was like someone who’d entered the Witness Protection Program. Cut off from her family, she couldn’t go wherever she wanted, and she couldn’t talk to whomever she wanted with Jacob listening in on the call. Prisoners were granted more rights than she was. At least they had privileges that included family visits and the right to confer with their attorneys.
    Thoughts of her temporary exile were supplanted with the heart-stopping images of Tyler lying motionless on the ground, bleeding from his chest wound. His wife had kept an around-the-clock bedside vigil. Dana had put on a brave face when she gave Tyler an update on the antics of their children. She told Tyler he had to get well and come home and rescue their pets. Their children had given their chocolate-brown miniature poodles Mohawk haircuts, then painted their toenails fluorescent pink and green.
    Ana wanted cry, scream or even throw something, but that would indicate weakness or lack of control, and for her that wasn’t a thought or an option. As the youngest of four she always had to fight to assert herself, especially in a family where boys were groomed from birth to go into the family business, while the girls were left to their own career choice. The tradition had begun with her uncle Martin who’d succeeded Samuel Cole, the founder of ColeDiz International, Ltd. as CEO. Her father, David, gave up a musical career to take over the reins for nine years before relinquishing the responsibility to his nephew. Timothy Cole-Thomas ran the company for thirty-five years before stepping down at sixty.
    Diego had broken with tradition when he’d asked her to come and work with him, but Ana loved the music industry and working with Jason. And for the first time she wondered, if she’d gone to work for ColeDiz would Tyler be in a hospital and would she be hiding out in the Keys until the person or persons responsible for the shooting were apprehended.
    Twenty minutes later the aroma of grilling food wafted to her nostrils. Ana turned over and sat up. Jacob had put on another cap, this one newer and bearing a Miami Heat logo. He stood at the gas grill, basting ears of corn. “Do you need help with anything?”
    Jacob’s head popped up. “I’m good here, but I’d appreciate it if you’d set the table.”
    She pushed off the recliner, giving him a warm, friendly smile for the first time. “No problem.”
    It took several trips, but Ana brought out dishes, silver and glassware. The task would’ve been easier or faster if she’d had a serving cart. For someone who lived alone a cart wasn’t a necessity, but necessary when entertaining. Her entertaining extended to having her mother and father over for dinner. She never assumed they were available because their social calendar was filled with an endless list of charitable fundraisers, political luncheons and dinner dances, and traveling abroad at least once a year. They’d talked about retirement for years, and when the opportunity presented itself they fully took advantage of every minute.
    “Do you have a tablecloth?” she asked Jacob. He looked at her as if she’d asked for radioactive material.
    “I hosed down the glass on the table so we don’t need a tablecloth.”
    Ana made a mental note that if she were to go shopping with him she would buy a tablecloth. She’d given Jacob her credit cards, but she still had some cash in her wallet. “What are we drinking?”
    “Mojitos.” He gave her a questioning look. “If you don’t drink, then I’ll make one without the rum.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “I think I can handle the rum.”
    Half an hour later