Chef helpfully took the head waiter's elbow and dragged him back into the kitchen, shutting the door firmly behind them. Bastian almost laughed, picturing them leaning with their ears against the other side of it. Almost laughing made his head hurt worse.
“I’m sorry,” Saina said in small voice.
“It was my fault,” Bastian added quickly.
“I’m sure it was,” Scarlet said without quarter, looking down at the seeping suitcase. “I want this removed before it gets into the soil,” she said in disgust.
Bastian automatically bent to pick it up and Saina swiftly said, “No! Don’t touch it again!”
She knelt beside the bag and zipped it up, at least slowing the leaks. “I will leave,” she said in a small, brave voice. “I am sorry for the trouble I’ve been.”
“No,” Bastian said. “You stay here. I have… business I need to attend to.” He turned to face Scarlet’s wrath. “I need five days off.”
Scarlet’s face grew chillier. “You realize that we have a new batch of guests and no other lifeguard on staff.”
“I can certify Saina,” Bastian said swiftly. “Like I did with Neal a few months back. It’s just a swimming test I know she can pass, and a few safety and first aid lectures I can pack into an afternoon.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Saina said.
“He might,” Scarlet countered dryly.
Bastian turned to Saina. “You told me you need time. Time away from me.” The idea of it hurt to his already aching bones. “I’ll give you that time.”
To Scarlet, he said firmly. “I’m sorry not to give more warning, but this isn’t optional.”
Scarlet met his gaze without wavering. “How do I know she can control her magic?” she asked, as if Saina wasn’t standing right beside them. “I can’t have our guests accidentally enspelled because a little girl gets emotional about some setback or imagined slight.”
Bastian bristled, wanting to snarl at her for the insult but at the last moment recognized it as bait.
“I can’t promise it won’t happen again,” Saina said calmly in reply. “But I can promise that I mean you, your guests, and this place no harm, and I will see that none comes to it while you employ me. I am happy to work here in whatever capacity I can until Bastian returns.”
“And then?” Scarlet prodded.
Saina drew in a breath. “I don’t know. If he still thinks I’m his mate, I… would like to stay. If he doesn’t, you’ll be rid of me.”
Scarlet considered this for a long moment while Bastian watched Saina’s carefully serene face.
“I am satisfied with this,” Scarlet finally said. “Bastian, I hope you find what you need. If there is any change to this arrangement, I expect to be notified. I am attempting to run a professional establishment here and I need to be able to rely on my staff.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he and Saina said together.
Scarlet gave a harrumph in reply and stalked back the way she had come, muttering about dating services and schedules.
Chapter 19
Saina watched Scarlet go with a sigh of relief. The woman made her uneasy, raising the hair at the back of Saina’s neck. The power that seemed to bleed out from her was something she had never felt before and the air was easier to breathe with her gone.
“So, I guess you’ve volunteered to teach me to be a lifeguard,” she said, turning to Bastian. “Can you really do that? Legally, I mean?”
Bastian, still looking like he had a terrific headache, shrugged and gave a lopsided grin. “I'm certified to train lifeguards. I know you can swim, I just have to quiz you on first aid and ocean safety, which I’m also sure you won’t have any trouble with, and there’s a temporary certificate I sign and a form I mail in to the Civil Guard for the permanent certification.”
“Let’s go make me a lifeguard,” Saina said, and she took Bastian’s offered arm and dragged the luggage that had changed her life so drastically behind her.
She dropped the bag at her cottage, wrapped in a garbage bag to keep the ooze from spreading, while Bastian got his lifeguard manuals from his room. They flipped through them together at the pool. “You know CPR?” he asked
“Sure,” Saina said.
Bastian flipped a few more pages. “Name the first three things you do with a drowning victim.”