An hour before bedtime that night, Abby knocked on the open office door. The office was a small room tucked under the stairs on the first floor. It was where Daddy and Rachel kept all the important paperwork for the new resort. Daddy was in there sitting at the computer.

“Hi,” Abby said. “Happy end of the first day of business!”

Daddy chuckled and ran a hand over his head, making tufts of dark hair stick up. “Thanks, Abs. It was a good day, wasn’t it?”

“It sure was,” she agreed. “Can I email Layla? I want to tell her all about it.”

“Of course.” Daddy stood up so Abby could take his place at the computer. “Don’t be long, though. It’s getting late, and we have a big day planned for our guests tomorrow.”

Abby nodded and clicked over to her email account. She typed in the address for Layla Michaels, her best friend back on the mainland. Leaving Layla and her other friends behind was one of the only bad parts of moving to the island. It was hard to believe she hadn’t talked to Layla in almost two weeks. There was so much to tell her! Abby started to type:

Hi Layla, it’s me!

Sorry I haven’t written in a while. We’ve been super busy getting the resort ready to open. And today was our first day with guests. One of them’s a girl our age named Bella Garcia. At dinner tonight, we figured out that we’ll be in the same class at school in the fall. Isn’t that cool? I already have a new friend and school doesn’t start for weeks and weeks! The two of us went kayaking in the mangroves today, which was tons of fun. We saw a bunch of fish and birds, and Bella knew what most of them were. She grew up here in the Florida Keys and knows a lot about all the local wildlife.

Oh! And speaking of cool animals, guess what else I saw today? Dolphins! A bunch of them were swimming right out beyond the lagoon. Rachel says seeing them means good luck. I think she’s right!

Abby stopped typing and thought about the dolphins, smiling as she pictured them leaping and playing in the clear blue sea. Then she went back to her email, telling Layla more about the other guests and all the activities that were planned for the week.

After she sent her email, Abby stepped out of the office into the long, whitewashed hallway. The sounds of music and laughter drifted toward her from the huge kitchen at the back of the house. She guessed that the kitchen staff must still be there cleaning up after dinner or preparing for breakfast the next morning.

Abby stuck her head in through the doorway and saw that she was right. The head cook, a local woman named Sofia, was humming along to the radio as she chopped fruit. Several other workers were still there, too, scrubbing pots or adding salt and pepper to the shakers that went on each guest table.

“Abby!” Sofia brushed a strand of curly hair out of her eyes. “Come looking for a bedtime snack, darling?”

Abby smiled. She liked the way Sofia called everyone “darling.”

“Actually, I am a little hungry,” she said. “I was so busy talking to our guests tonight that I guess I didn’t eat enough.”

Sofia laughed and patted the seat of a tall stool nearby. “Sit your behind right down and let me make you something,” she said. “How about a bowl of arroz con leche?” She winked. “Rice pudding with cinnamon and lemon, just like we make in Cuba.”

“Yum!” Abby said eagerly. She already loved all of Sofia’s specialties!

Sofia smiled. “My nephew Carlos likes that one, too. He’s right around your age.” She stepped over to the huge stainless-steel refrigerator. “Maybe you two can meet soon—he lives in Key West, and he was asking about coming to visit the new resort sometime, see where I’m working.”

“That would be great,” Abby said. “I’d love to meet more kids before school starts.”

The rice pudding was delicious. Abby ate it quickly, listening to Sofia joke around with the staff. She’d just finished the last bite when Sofia glanced out the window. “Look, darling,” she told Abby. “There’s your cute little friend outside.”

“You mean Bella? Maybe I’ll go say good night.” Abby thanked Sofia for the snack, then hurried outside through the screen door.

Bella and her parents stood by a flowering shrub near the corner of the dining pavilion. They’d stopped to watch a bird fluttering among the leaves. Bella’s mother looked over and saw Abby coming.

“Hello, Abby,” she said. “We’re just taking a short nature walk before bed. Would you like to join us?”

“Sure, thanks!” Abby liked Bella’s parents. They both worked at the hospital on Stock Island and were smart and friendly.

The four of them wandered on down the path, watching for wildlife. Soon Bella saw a large, spotted frog. “That’s a leopard frog,” she told Abby. “There are lots of them in the Keys.”

“He’s so cute!” Abby exclaimed, leaning down for a better look. “Maybe I can catch him and keep him as a pet.”

For a second, she felt excited about her idea. The apartment complex where she and Daddy had lived back on the mainland hadn’t allowed pets.

Then she noticed Bella shaking her head. “You shouldn’t do that,” she said. “He’s a wild animal, and they don’t usually make good pets. Frogs need lots of space and water. Plus, you’d have to feed him bugs all the time.”

“Bugs? Really?” Abby wrinkled her nose. Before she could say anything else, a loud shriek rang out from the forest nearby. The sound made Mr. Garcia jump.

“Oh my!” he exclaimed. “What on earth was that?”

Bella’s mother pointed at a flash of blue and gold feathers disappearing through the trees. “I think it was a bird,” she said. “It looked big!”

“It didn’t look or sound like any native bird I’ve ever seen in the islands around here.” Bella sounded surprised. “You don’t have a pet parrot, do you, Abby?”

“Nope.” Abby shrugged. “There are no pets at all on the island. Yet.” She glanced at the frog. “If wild animals don’t make good pets, maybe I can talk Daddy into getting me a dog …”

Bella was still staring into the trees. “That’s weird,” she said. “Maybe someone’s parrot escaped or something.”

“Maybe.” Just then Abby heard her father calling her name. She glanced toward the house and saw him on the porch waving at her.

“Layla just emailed back!” he called. “But hurry up if you want to read it tonight—it’s almost bedtime.”

“Coming!” Abby responded. Then she smiled at Bella and her parents. “Thanks for letting me come on your nature walk. See you at breakfast!”