any adventure was acceptable, if only to keep pace with school tradition. But this was the real world and people did not just fly across a country and an ocean to swap places.
On the other hand there was nothing—or no one—holding her back. Fortunately, as an independent photographer, she could operate anywhere. And where on earth could be better than Hawaii, or more specifically, the Big Island?
She looked at her friend. “I’m warming up to the idea.”
Ashlyn beamed. “I was hoping you might.”
“So how would we do this?”
“It’s simple, really,” Ashlyn said. “Let’s decide on dates, leave a key under the doormat and cars at the airport, and let the adventure begin.”
“Hmm…that does sound simple,” Danica said with a laugh. Maybe too simple. Could she really take over Ashlyn’s house and car for a month and vice versa? Was she overthinking this?
Ashlyn seemed to read her mind. “Look, if you run into any problems, Boyd will be around to help you out.”
“Your brother?” Danica had seen a picture of him way back in the day and thought he was handsome, but she had no idea what he looked like now. She knew he was Ashlyn’s half brother on her dad’s side. And that he and Ashlyn were pretty close.
“Yes,” Ashlyn said. “Boyd actually does come in handy around here every now and then. I’m sure you two would get along just fine.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” Danica narrowed her eyes. If she hadn’t known better, she would think Ashlyn was trying to fix her up with her older brother. Hadn’t he once been married and a playboy ever since?
“Boyd’s totally your type—tall, solidly built and cute as a button. Especially when he gets that dimple thing going in his cheeks when he grins.”
“Sounds interesting,” Danica admitted. “But I’d rather keep my options open in your neck of the woods, if it’s all right with you.”
“Fair enough.” Ashlyn smiled. “I wouldn’t want to push you two together or anything.”
That was a relief to Danica, as the last thing she needed was pressure when it came to dating. Particularly where it concerned her good friend’s brother.
“So…about the accommodations—”
“Boyd doesn’t live with me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I wasn’t,” Danica told her, even if the thought had crossed her mind and not necessarily in a bad way. She just didn’t want things to be awkward between them if Boyd had his run of the residence as she tried to make the most of it during her stay.
“We both own the house our dad left us,” Ashlyn said, “but Boyd has his own place and this is pretty much mine to do as I please. And, for a month, it’ll be yours.”
“I like the sound of that.” Danica had long been envious of her friend’s beachfront house in paradise. The idea that she could borrow it for a few weeks was very enticing. Not to mention the environment was perfect for a photographer to do her thing.
And if Boyd was willing to show her around to some of the best places the island had to offer, all the better.
“Are there any hotties among your male neighbors or friends who might be in the market for a petite, sexy, fun-loving Hawaiian girl?” Ashlyn asked.
“Let me think…” Danica pretended to consider the question deeply. “Uh, yeah, I’m sure there’s somebody.” She smiled. “Probably all of them. Only I doubt that most would appeal to you. But I’ll see who I can come up with who might be able to show you a good time.”
Ashlyn beamed. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Yes, it does, and I can hardly wait to make the switch.” Danica took a sip of her wine. “I just hope I don’t get so comfortable in your tropical paradise that I don’t want to come back.”
“Then don’t come back, if that’s the case,” Ashlyn said with a straight face. “I’d love to have a roommate to share that big house and some good times.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Danica tried to imagine relocating to Hawaii permanently. It would be hard to leave behind Chicago and the contacts she had built and maintained both personally and professionally. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t keep them from afar and establish new ones if there were strong enough reasons to remain in Hilo.
For now she was just happy to be taking this big adventure, having no idea what to expect. She was up to the challenge, though, and clearly Ashlyn was, as well. If it worked out well, maybe they could do it again in the future.
She raised her wineglass. “To a great swap!”
“Ditto,” Ashlyn said as they virtually clinked glasses.
* * *
“You’re joking, right?” The words came out of Boyd Reed’s twisted mouth and were hardly meant to be humorous. His half sister, Ashlyn, had just told him about her plans to lend out their house to a veritable stranger.
Ashlyn batted her lashes as they stood on the lanai. “Of course not. It was just a spur of the moment thing I threw out there and I’m glad I did. I think it will be a good experience for me and Danica.”
Boyd didn’t exactly see it that way. To him, this Danica was getting a month’s free rent in a million-dollar property. He doubted his sister would be getting the same deal, even if she thought this seemed like a great idea.
“You’ve seen her what, once in the past decade?” He’d gathered this much from what Ashlyn had told him about her college friend over the years.
“Actually I see her all the time thanks to Skype,” Ashlyn quipped.
“You know what I mean.”
Ashlyn frowned. “I don’t understand what you’re getting so riled up about.”
“Then I’ll tell you.” His thick brows drew together. “That’s a valuable piece of real estate you’re living in. You can’t just go around inviting people you hardly know outside of virtual reality to practically take up residence here. For all you know she could trash the place, or worse!”
“Danica is perfectly harmless,” Ashlyn countered. “And I do know her quite well. She’s definitely not the trashing-someone’s-house type. We may not have seen each other in person very often since college, but we’ve always kept in touch by phone, email and even snail mail over the years. Besides, this was my idea to switch places, not hers.”
“But she certainly seized the opportunity,” Boyd grumbled stubbornly, a trait he’d inherited from their father. Whereas Ashlyn was just like her mother—generous to a fault and perfectly happy taking chances with her life. And property. Well, he wasn’t going to just stand by without at least giving his opinion that she could be playing with fire in coming up with this cockamamy plan.
“Can you blame her?” Ashlyn challenged him. “Who wouldn’t want to spend a few weeks
