When they arrived on Palm Island, Debra took them in a rented car to where they would be staying. She explained on the way that they would not actually be staying in a hotel. She turned at a massive ornate metal gate that opened when she pressed the button on the remote she conveniently had in her purse. They drove down a long road, lined on each side by towering palm trees. At the end of the drive, Debra stopped the car in front of a mansion with a wide veranda and a gorgeous garden full of flowers of every color of the rainbow. When the car stopped, the tall doors opened and two maids and a butler came out and stood at attention, waiting for them to get out of the car.

“This will be your home for the week,” Debra said. “There are two maids, a butler, and a private chef. You have your own private beach at the back of the house. A Jacuzzi, tennis court, and a jumping castle that has been erected for young Derek. We have a boat and driver and any equipment you might need such as snorkels or water skis. The massage therapist is on call, so whenever you need her just let me know. I will be staying here with you in the cottage at the back, so again anything you need, just ask.”

They got out of the car, and Kim’s mother looked around in awe. “I cannot believe I won a prize like this. No one is ever going to believe it,” she said. “I think my luck has changed. I’m going to start going to bingo again when we get back.”

Kim wondered if she should tell her mother the truth about the trip but then decided she wasn’t ready yet.

***

THE FIRST DAY AT THE island, Kim, her mother, and Derek went out on the boat with the driver, Garon.

“Listen, I know the perfect place. You are going to see the most amazing things. You want to see a sea turtle, Mr. Derek?” Garon asked.

“Yes, Garon, I would love to see a sea turtle.” Derek had been full of excitement ever since they arrived. Between him and her mother, Kim was not sure who was happier.

“Today you will see. You will see the turtle and many many things.”

The water was like something from a postcard, light blue and so crystal clear. As the boat moved through the water, they could see the fish at the side a few feet below. The sand was white, and the beach seemed endless.

“Look!” Kim’s mother said. “Are those dolphins up ahead?”

Kim looked ahead of the boat and saw a group of dolphins jumping in and out of the water in front. They seemed to be showing them the way.

“Yes, those are my friends. They always come to escort me to our special place,” Garon said.

Soon the dolphins were on each side of the boat, jumping in and out of the water, squeaking at them.

“Look, Mommy, they’re smiling at us,” Derek said.

“Of course they are, D.”

After a bit, Garon negotiated the boat into a private cove. The dolphins spread out, waiting for them. They put on their snorkels, masks, and fins, and they all got into the water, with the dolphins all around them.

“Don’t be afraid. They’re our friends,” Garon said.

Kim was hesitant and kept Derek close to her. Kim’s mother, on the other hand, swam straight out into the middle of the dolphins. They knocked against her, and she petted them. They squealed at her and tapped her with their noses, playing a sort of dolphin tag. Eventually, with the help of Garon, Kim and Derek joined her mother. Kim had never felt such gentle energy from an animal before.

After they swam off, her mother turned to her. “That was the most amazing thing ever. I can die a happy woman now. Wait until I tell Molly at the hair salon about this. She will never believe it.”

Garon swam with them to the nearby coral reef. It was like an underground mountain range, except in gorgeous pastel colors of pinks and blue and orange. They watched a school of yellow and black fish eat from the coral. An eel was hiding in one of the many holes. Massive schools of fish in all sorts of colors from silver to neon blue swam around them, taking no notice of the humans in their home.

Just as they were about to go back to the boat, a massive sea turtle appeared. Derek looked at Kim under the water and smiled. Seeing how happy the trip was making her family, Kim wished Robert was there too so she could thank him for this incredible experience. In any case, she would tell Debra and she would pass on the message when she got back to Chicago.

***

AFTER A DELICIOUS DINNER of crab, Derek was exhausted from all of the swimming and sun and fell straight asleep. Kim and her mother had cocktails on the patio at the back, looking out over their private beach and the setting sun.

“This was such an amazing day,” Kim’s mother said. “When we get back, I must send a thank-you gift to the company.”

“Yes...” Kim hesitated, not quite knowing where to start. How did she explain her relationship with Robert to her mother? “Ma, I need to tell you something.”

“Well, that sounds serious,” her mother said.

“It’s about this trip.”

“Yes?”

“Well... you didn’t really win it. A friend of mine paid for it.”

Her mother laughed. “Right! A friend of yours paid for this trip? Yeah, okay. Ha! You’re funny, Kim. What friend of yours could afford something like this? Ha!”

“No, Ma, I’m serious. I met this man at Rive Gauche that first night I started working there. There was an exhibition opening, and Sonya was there. You remember Sonya from high school, right?”

“Sure. I remember she helped you get that job.”

“Yeah, that’s right. She’s a manager there. So Sonya was at the party, and she insisted I couldn’t clean until it was over and that I should just get into the party and drink some free drinks, eat some free food, and look at some lovely paintings. So I did. And that’s where I met this friend, the one who paid for this trip. Robert Miller.”

Her mother sat up straight on her lounger. “Let me get this straight. You met this guy at the party and you became friends, and now he sent me a trip? Is that right?” Kim nodded. “Kimmy, that makes no sense.”

Kim decided her mother was not going to understand unless she got the entire story. “I guess we were more than friends. And he’s more than a guy at a party. He’s the guy who sent the limousine to the house that night. He owns the gallery. In fact, he owns lots of galleries and hotels and other things. He’s rich, Ma, really rich.”

“You mean the Millers from Alvita Hotels?” her mother asked. She was sitting up straight now in her lounger.

“You’ve heard of them?” Kim asked.

“Yes! Who hasn’t? I know the hotel chain was named after his wife, and they both died in a plane crash in South America.”

“Yes!” Kim said. “That’s them. Robert’s their son. Their only child. That’s how he became so rich.”

“Okay, Kimmy, spill. Something is not adding up here. Tell me what’s going on? There is no way a guy you met at a party and had one date with does this. What is going on?”

“We were sort of... lovers. That night at the gallery, that first night, we had some connection. And then...” How did she tell her mother this? She spat it out quickly. “We had sex in the janitor’s closet. It was crazy and passionate and amazing. I’ve never in my life done anything like that—ever!”

Her mother sat back and smiled. “Maybe that’s the problem.”

“What?” She couldn’t believe what her mother was saying.

“Yes. Kimmy, you’re a young, attractive woman. Why shouldn’t you be having sex in a janitor’s closet with a billionaire? Live a little!”

Kim laughed. She was so surprised by her mother. How could her mother say such a thing?

“But it was all too much,” Kim said after a bit. “I told him I couldn’t see him anymore. I had to leave the job at the gallery because of him; he kept leaving me gifts and trying to see me. Then he found me at Joe’s, and I had to leave that job too. The attraction between us is just too intense. It makes me act out of character. Anyway, he felt bad about me leaving my jobs and about the struggle we’ve been having with money since then. He just did this to apologize.”

“Well, I like his sort of apology!” Her mother finished her cocktail, and before she could set the glass down, the butler, Jorell, was there offering her another one. “Sure, why not? You only live once, Jorell, especially like this!”

Kim felt happy seeing her mother like this. The last time she saw her mother so happy was before her father died. She watched her sip at her new drink. They sat quietly listening to the waves lapping the shore, on the now dark beach.

“I think you should think again about this Robert. He obviously cares quite a bit about you,” her mother said.

“Maybe... I guess I’m scared. Everything between us is so intense. It takes over. I get lost and confused. That’s frightening. I don’t want to be lost like that again.”

“You can’t compare what happened with Bruce to this. Bruce made your life hell. I don’t think Mr. Miller is Bruce in any way, shape, or form, at least from where I’m sitting. You know, sometimes being that taken over, as you describe, is really being in love—being head over heels in love. But Kimmy, you do what you think is right.” She stood up. “I’m off to bed. Between that whacking good day we had and these two cocktails, I’m bushed. I’ll soon be one of those old ladies that fall asleep in their chair and have to be carried up to bed.” She kissed her daughter. “You deserve happiness, Kimmy. You deserve it more than most women after what you went through. Be a bit kind to yourself sometimes.”

Kim stayed sitting, looking out at the full moon over the sea. Was her mother right? Had she made the wrong decision about Robert? She guessed it was too late now—after two months of him keeping away from her, surely he’d found someone else. She had her chance and wasted it. Robert had given them this trip as a last goodbye present, she thought. Had she lost the love of her life? Kim looked out at the sea that encouraged her to run away, to go looking for a new exciting life, a new world waiting out there for her. Had she been offered just that and thrown it all away because she was afraid of being happy? Kim didn’t want to think it, but she suspected that she had.