CHAPTER 7
KEVIN

“What the hell are you doing calling me on your vacation?”

“I need to talk with you, Owen. It’s serious,” I told my best friend and business partner.

“What’s wrong? Has something happened to the kids?” he asked.

“Gianni’s here. And he wants to talk business.”

“Gianni Russo?” he asked. “The Italian guy?”

“With the banking institution, yes.”

“What the hell is he doing in Nassau?”

“I don’t know, but he caught me and we had a meeting yesterday.”

“What kind of meeting?” he asked.

“A preliminary meeting where he wanted to see what we had to offer as well as the outline of one of our basic contracts.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? This is huge, Kevin. You have to get this done.”

“But it’s during my kids’ spring break. I promised them no work.”

“So stretch out their spring break. Find a babysitter, close this deal, and then push their vacation out a week. They get more time in the new Caribbean house, we get our foot into the banking world like we’ve been trying to for years, and everyone wins.”

“I know, you’re right. I just hate disappointing them,” I said.

“I know man, but they have everything they could want there and if you get this deal done, you’ll be able to delegate more and spend even more time with them,” Owen said.

“Stay close to the phone in case I need you,” I said.

“I’ll be on standby to fly to Nassau. Kevin, I’m your right-hand man.”

“Yes, yes. I know. You’ll never let me forget that you’re the reason I’m a billionaire. Got it.”

“All I’m saying is I’m on standby for shit like this. I even have a damn bag packed in my trunk for all sorts of weather conditions. If you can’t get the kids taken care of, you call me and I’m on the next flight out to handle the pitch.”

“Thanks, Owen. I owe you.”

“Nope. You made me rich. We’re even on that front.”

I chuckled and shook my head as I heard my kids beginning to stir.

“Gotta go. The little devils are up.”

“Good luck,” Owen said.

I hung up as my kids stumbled into the kitchen. They climbed up into their seats as I began to pull things out for breakfast. I scrambled eggs with cheese and poured some milk to perk them right up, then I could talk to them.

Even if they weren’t disappointed in my working, I still didn’t have a babysitter. And I wasn’t going to put them in the hands of just anyone. I knew it would be weird territory, but I started wondering if Brooke would watch them again. I knew she was struggling to write and giving her more time on the island might prove fruitful in her venture. I trusted her with my kids and they really seemed to have taken a liking to her. She could find more inspiration and I would offer to pay her well. Maybe I could convince her to help me out if I pitched it as a mutual benefit.

“Hey kids, could I talk to you about something?”

“Okay,” Sydney said.

“Sure,” Daniel said.

“I know that Daddy promised that I wouldn’t do any work while we are on vacation, and I don’t like going back on my promises. But something has come up that would really help Daddy’s company and I need to do just a little bit of work while we’re here. Do you think you guys could help me?”

“You need help?” Sydney asked.

“We can help,” Daniel said.

I shook my head as a grin spread across my face. My kids were simply amazing.

“I’m on vacation with two very special people and I don’t want to ruin it. But if I turn down this person who wants to buy a lot of my stuff, I might not get another chance,” I said.

“Do we have to go home?” Daniel asked, his lower lip starting to tremble.

“That depends. If my two very special people don’t want me to work, then we go home at the end of the week. But, if it’s okay for Daddy to work some, then we won’t go home until the end of next week.”

“We stay longer?” Sydney asked.

“More water sliding?” Daniel asked.

“And I might be able to convince Miss Brooke to come over and play more,” I said.

“Yeah! Daddy, you can work,” Daniel said.

“We wanna play with Miss Brooke,” Sydney agreed.

I smiled as I kissed the tops of their hands.

“Then I’ll call her and see what she’s up to,” I said.

My heart felt so much lighter after talking with my kids. They were amazingly understanding for four-year-olds. I got up from the table so they could eat their eggs and I went into my bedroom. I picked up my phone and dialed Brooke’s number, hoping I wasn’t calling her too early.

“Hello?”

“Hello there,” I said with a grin.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well last night?”

“After writing, yes, I did. Very well.”

“I’m glad you got some done. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” she sounded hesitant.

“Can we go to the water park in Atlantis Resort?”

Daniel and Sydney came running into my room with egg all over their faces.

“Please?” Sydney asked.

“There’s a water park on the island?” Brooke asked.

“In one of the hotel resorts, there is. Atlantis is open to the public during certain hours. Apparently, the kids want to go,” I said.

“Sounds like fun. You should take them.”

“Would you and Morgan like to join us?” I asked.

“Please, Miss Brooke?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah! Pullleeeeeeeeeeeze!” Sydney asked.

“Well, how could I say no to them?” Brooke asked.

“Perfect. Want to meet us at the entrance in an hour?” I asked.

“I’ll roll Morgan out of bed and we’ll meet you there.”

I hung up and scooped my twins into my arms. I carried them both into their bedrooms and helped them get ready for the water park. I called a cab for us to get there and piled us all in, and the kids chattered excitedly the whole way to the park.

When we pulled up out front, Brooke and Morgan were already waiting. Brooke avoided my gaze but opened her arms wide and smiled big for my kids. Something felt a little off, but I figured she just didn’t want to give anything away about what had happened between us the night before.

Despite some early awkwardness, it ended up being a great day. We all went down water slides and ate overpriced food. Morgan and Brooke kept going down the massive pyramid water slide to try and convince the twins to go down it with them. I knew they would never tackle something that big. The smile on Brooke’s face throughout the day was priceless, and it filled my heart with so much joy to see her happy.

This was the type of happiness a woman like her deserved.

We had so much fun with the water slides and the rides that the reason I had invited her there in the first place completely fled my mind. But on top of that, I had no idea how to even bring the idea up. Asking her to babysit meant stretching out her vacation as well. I wasn’t sure she’d go for it, especially if it meant staying alone, or even with us, after Morgan went home.

“Daddy! Watch this!”

I watched my daughter take Brooke’s hand as the two of them jumped into the water. Daniel jumped in after them, swimming underneath to try and get all the way to the bottom. I was poised, ready to jump in if they didn’t come up for air within the next couple of seconds.

And just before I took off, Brooke emerged with Sydney wiping at her eyes.

“I went down far! Did you see, Daddy?”

“Yes I did, sweetheart,” I said, as I took long deep breaths trying to slow down my racing heart. “I saw it all right.”

They did it over and over again, putting me on the edge of a damn heart attack every time they sank to the bottom. I had paid a lot of money in private swimming lessons beginning when they were only two. I knew that they knew how to swim fairly well for their ages, but the pool at the park was much bigger than any they’d ever been in. And filled with way more people.

We stayed the entire day until the kids were practically falling over with exhaustion. I gathered everyone up and loaded us into the car, then I dropped the girls off back at the pier. I wanted Brooke to come back with us so we could sit down and talk, but I also didn’t want to ruin the day. The kids had a blast and I had fun watching Brooke play with them. The water slides were great and sharing lunch together had been full of laughter and good times.

I didn’t want to ruin that with a conversation that could possibly go south.

I waved the girls off then took my sleeping kids back to the house. I lugged them inside and came out to pay the cab driver, making sure to tip him well for his time. I watched the cab drive off as my toes dug into the sand, and I found myself looking over at the pier in the distance.

I wondered if she was writing. If she was inspired by the events of the day. I hoped she was. I turned around and walked back inside as the snores of my children hit my ears.

I’d bring it up to her soon. But for the moment, I wanted to snuggle on the couch with my kids and enjoy the sound of the ocean crashing against the shoreline outside.