CHAPTER 2
Kenzie
“You for sure gonna burn that fair skin of yours, Kennie,” Theo said with concern in his voice as he flew like a bat-out-of-hell down the road leading out of the airport.
I smiled, not bothering to correct him on how to pronounce my name. His lilting voice was relaxing, and the way he spoke was calming. “I’ll get used to it, but I probably will burn first. We haven’t exactly had much sun in New York.”
Theo’s driving didn’t bother me. I was, after all, coming from New York City.
I sighed, knowing my blonde hair and fair skin wasn’t the best complexion to have in a tropical environment. I rarely tanned, and if I did, it was after I’d already been burned to a crisp. I wore quite a bit of foundation makeup, and it had a pretty strong sunscreen, but the rest of my body would be fair game if I didn’t protect it.
“Don’t stay out long at first,” he warned.
“I won’t,” I assured him. “Do you live here on the island?”
I was curious about Theo, and what he did for Dane. We were both employees of the island’s owner now, and I was hoping we could become friends.
“Oh, no. I live on New Providence with my beautiful wife and my daughter. I use Mr. Dane’s boat to get here and back home again every day.”
I knew the capital city of Nassau was on New Providence, so he obviously lived in a more populated area. “He has boats?”
“Yeah. Several. I use one of the smaller boats to take myself here and back to Nassau.”
“What exactly do you do for Mr. Walker?”
Theo shrugged. “Anything and everything. I’m his driver, property manager, handyman, and his friend. My wife comes out to the Cay a few times a week to clean that huge home of his, and to do general housekeeping.”
“So he does live here alone?” I mused.
“Not anymore,” Theo answered with a grin. “You’re here now.”
“I wonder how he’ll feel about that. Does he have a guesthouse for me?”
“No need. His home is enormous.”
I had assumed I’d probably have to live in Dane’s residence, and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that. Although I’d always had roommates, I had always had my own place away from my work.
“What about a studio?”
“Oh, yeah. He has a big glass building for his art. He paints good.”
I bit back a laugh. Dane’s paintings were more than good. They were extraordinary.
I’d love to have Dane Walker as a mentor. I just hoped he’d let me sketch or paint with him on occasion, and possibly give me a few tips. I’d do my best not to bother him, but if he let me watch his technique, it would be fascinating.
I can’t make a pest of myself. My number one priority is to help Dane.
Any dreams I had of bettering my art skills were secondary to doing my job, but a woman could hope.
I was quiet as we hit a road that appeared to skirt along the island’s coast. “Wow. It’s beautiful here,” I muttered aloud.
The blue water of the ocean and the white sand beaches left me speechless. A sense of peace flowed over me as I stared at the beach, mesmerized by the azure waters, and the gorgeous sand. The land on the opposite side of the vehicle was just as stunning. The bright flowers, palm trees, and the green of the plentiful plants was one of the most incredible sights I’d ever seen.
“Very beautiful,” Theo agreed readily. “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
I sighed. “When I left New York, it was cold and snowy. It seems almost surreal to be here now. It’s so warm.”
Theo chuckled. “It gets warmer.”
I imagined it was a lot hotter during the summer, but at the moment, I was enjoying the mild winter in a tropical climate. Unfortunately, I’d never had the chance to see a lot of Los Angeles during my brief time in California, and I’d never traveled much outside of New England. New York had been my only real adventure, and that had turned sour really fast.
I soaked in the scenery as Theo navigated the winding road around the island.
“Can you tell me what Mr. Walker is like?” I asked hesitantly.
“Cranky most of the time, but don’t let that scare you away. He’s lonely, even though he doesn’t want to admit it.”
“How cranky?” I questioned nervously.
Theo shrugged. “Mostly, he doesn’t have much to say. But once you get past the crusty exterior, he’s a good man.”
“Does he like company?”
“Don’t know. He never has visitors,” Theo said in a sad tone. “I think he’d like to have his brothers come see the island, but I don’t think he ever asks them to come.”
“They’re the only close family he has,” I mentioned thoughtfully.
I knew Paige and Sebastian were both worried about Dane. He hadn’t made it to Denver for the holidays, and he hadn’t left the island at all for quite some time. Paige had yet to meet Dane, but I knew she wanted to finally make the acquaintance of the one member of Sebastian’s close family that she hadn’t seen face-to-face.
Part of my mission here was to make sure that enough work was lifted off Dane so that he’d come to Paige and Sebastian’s wedding, and I was determined to accomplish that task for my friend.
Seeing as every Walker was filthy rich, I found it odd that his family had never come to visit here. All they’d needed to do was jump into their private jet. I knew Paige would love it, and I couldn’t understand how Trace and his wife could not enjoy a quiet vacation on the island.
“He needs his family,” Theo said quietly. “He’s been on this island alone too long. I’m here during the weekdays, but I’m usually off somewhere taking care of Mr. Dane’s property. He paints alone all day. Being by himself that much isn’t natural.”
“Why does he hide himself away here?” I questioned.
“Says he likes his privacy, but he really doesn’t. He was scarred after the accident that killed his father and his new stepmother, inside and out. I’m not sure what wound hurts him the most.”
My heart fell when Theo mentioned Dane’s injuries. “How bad is it?”
“Not all that bad anymore,” Theo said. “He makes it much bigger than it needs to be. Over the years, they’ve done surgery and skin grafts to fix the worst of it. For sure, his body is marked in ways that will never be healed, but I think his heart aches worse than his body now.”
For a moment, I could almost feel his pain as I imaged a man who hid himself away from the world. A loner, not by choice, but by circumstance. “I hope I can help him,” I said wistfully.
“Oh, I’m thinking that you can. You seem like a nice woman,” Theo answered in a mischievous tone.
“His scars won’t bother me,” I insisted.
“Then he might eventually come to accept you in his house.”
I stopped looking at the island scenery and turned my head to look at Dane’s caretaker. “What do you mean?”
“He ain’t gonna like it.”
“Like what?” I asked in a panicked voice.
“Mr. Dane isn’t going to like the fact that you’re here at first, but hopefully he’ll get over it.”
“Wait! He knows I’m coming, right? Trace and Sebastian told him?”
Theo shook his head. “He don’t know anything. I guess his brothers thought it was better to send you here rather than to give Mr. Dane a chance to refuse you. Mr. Trace called me directly and asked me to come and pick you up. I told him I’d do it, but it wasn’t my place to break the news to the boss.”
My heart stuttered as my mind tried to deal with the fact that Dane didn’t even know I was coming. He didn’t know that Trace and Sebastian were sending him help.
The fact that nobody had informed Dane about me ticked me off, but those feelings were secondary to a fear I couldn’t suppress. “What if he doesn’t want me? What if he sends me home? I really need this job,” I whispered hoarsely in a horrified voice.
Coming to work for Dane Walker had been my salvation.
Sadly, very soon it might become my ruination. If Dane Walker wasn’t willing to let me stay and work for him, I wasn’t sure what in the hell I was going to do.