Free Island Home by Liliana Hart Page B

person in his path might be a target. He still felt shame at the people he’d hurt, and had spent all this time trying to make up for it.
    But that was the past. He no longer carried that violent anger—just a simmering brew he’d learned how to control.
    And now Jessie was coming back and he could feel the old anger trying to push through. But his wishes for his heart’s desire were vastly different this time. This was his island—his peace—and she no longer belonged here.
    According to the information he’d gathered from the other fools that had made the trek to the springs, a person’s wish was only granted if they stood in the place where the cold and hot water merged. Good thing he hadn’t done it right the first time he’d made his wish.
    Luke navigated his way across the rocks and wedged his feet securely as he stood to his full height. The wind picked up, almost as if it were a sign from God that he was, in fact, an idiot, and he smiled as the wind blew harder and the water from the falls slapped him across the face. A low growl of thunder rumbled in the distance. With his luck, the pool would answer his request by sending a hurricane and wiping out the whole island.
    A sliver of panic worked its way up his spine when the flashlight flickered several times before going out completely, leaving him almost in complete darkness. Fortunately, he knew every part of the island and could walk it in his sleep, though he’d never done it in a raging thunderstorm and had no desire to try.
    “All right, Mallory. Time to put up or shut up. Even if you are a complete idiot.”
    The mix of hot and cold from the pool and the waterfall made him shiver and pebbled his skin with chills. The water stung like needles as the wind pelted it like tiny daggers at his face.
    “I’m just warning you,” he yelled to be heard over the coming storm. “I’m not going to say it all out loud. You’re supposed to know all this shit ahead of time. So I’ll just ask for my heart’s desire and leave it at that.”
    Saying it aloud didn’t make him feel any less stupid, but at least it was done and he could head back to the bar. His bar. No matter what the letter from the lawyer said. He had inventory to do and orders to have filled. Old Jesse James was a bastard even from the grave.
    The storm would be bad for business, and if the waves were too high it would delay the ferry from delivering the fresh fish that were supposed to be arriving for the dinner crowd.
    Just as he was about to step out of the spray of the waterfall, a huge crack of lightning rent the air. The hairs on his arms stood up and the smell of ozone was sharp and bitter.
    “Jesus.” He dove into the water and swam like hell for the opposite edge where his clothes sat. That’s all he needed was to be struck by lightning and found buck ass naked, floating in the middle of the hot springs.
    The rain hadn’t started yet, and by the look of the sky he figured he could just make it back to the bar by the time it hit. He didn’t bother drying off, but just pulled his clothes on quickly and shook his hair out like a dog before sliding on his flip-flops and grabbing the flashlight. His golf cart was a quarter of a mile down the path where the road ended and he jogged down the steep incline, swatting palms from his face as he went.
    Another rumble of thunder sounded, this one much closer. He got into the golf cart and backed out a ways before he had room to turn around. The wind was vicious as he sped out from the cover of trees to the coastal road that led back to Seeker’s Paradise, the bar and grill he’d slaved and bled over for the last twelve years. He wouldn’t have been able to buy it to begin with if it hadn’t been for old Jesse.
    Jesse had been a silent partner, putting down the other fifty percent of the money with the promise if anything ever happened to him that Jesse’s shares would go to Luke. But then old Jesse had died and Luke had found out very