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laughed. “Jude Patrick.”
    “Hmm. Okay, let’s see.” I scrunched up my nose. “Patrick isn’t any better, I’m afraid. I think I’m just going to call you by your last name.”
    “Okay, Blue.”
    I did a double take to make sure I heard him correctly. “In case you didn’t notice, I have red hair, not blue.”
    “That’s what they call redheads in Australia. They call them Blueys. That was what popped into my head the day I saw you at the house.”
    “And you know this term because?” I asked sarcastically.
    “I lived there for a year.”
    “Oh.” I began to twist the tip of my hair between my fingers. “Well, this hair does tend to stand out in a crowd.” I consciously smoothed it down, feeling very unattractive all of a sudden. I accidentally brushed over the bun, causing my hair to cascade down over my shoulders.
    He had this uncanny way of reading my mind, of providing me with assurances just by looking at me in silence. He reached his arm out and brushed his fingers against my face. “You’re everything I imagined you would be. Fiery, strong. Sexy. The ultimate temptation.” There was a shift in his mood. It had turned from thoughtful to playful.
    I laughed sarcastically to mask my embarrassment. “All this in the ten seconds that you’ve spent with me?”
    “I’ve been watching you for a while. It took you a few days to find me, but I knew you would eventually,” he said with smiling eyes.
    All right then, here we go. It was time to walk away from this awkward situation. I was uncomfortable, not because of what he was saying, but because if I didn’t leave, this guy was going to make me want to do things I should never do in broad daylight, and in half a house that was exposed to the sky and sea. Whether in the dark or in the sunshine, his lips were still the only things that I could see.
    “Hey, what time is it?” I sat on my knees in an effort to rise up and leave. “I was planning to make it to 9:30 mass.” I wanted to find some quiet time to think about my mother. The past two days had given me some space to work things out in my head. Was it something he said to me? Somehow I was ready to revisit my feelings about her. I was willing to begin the process of healing. Charity starts at home.
    “It’s only eight o’clock,” Jude said with a heavy sigh and tightly pressed lips before glancing at his phone and placing it back down behind him on the floor.
    “Perfect! I can run home and jump in the shower before then. Hey,” I addressed him with genuine gratitude on my face, “thank you for allowing me to stay here last night. Maybe I’ll see you around again soon. At least in Monday’s class.”
    “Anna—”
    “I’ll see you around.” I stood up and walked across the hard, prickly floor towards the exit.

 
     
     
    I FORCED MY eyes open and reached for the watch on the night table. After a long nap filled with forgettable dreams, it was nearly ten o’clock in the evening and I was wide awake. How was I ever going to adjust to this jetlag? I figured I might as well join the others. Sometimes they were obnoxious, but it was still better than being alone with my thoughts.I pulled my shorts on to go out to the beach and find the rest of the gang.
    The house was eerily quiet. The light in the kitchen was on, but the rest of the house was dark. I passed on another night on the beach and opted to take a quick rest instead. I quickly wandered down the hall towards the front door.
    “Did you have a good nap?”
    I stopped dead in my tracks at the sound of Jude’s voice.
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you,” he said.
    “You have to stop popping up out of nowhere.” I laughed as I turned around to face him.
    He smiled timidly, hands in his pockets and shoulders touching his ears. His eyes shone in the dark like smoldering coal. “Sorry.”
    “What are you still doing here?” I asked, feeling shy all of a sudden.
    “I had to do some reading so I decided to stay in.