It was their last day on the island, and Kim felt quite sad about that. Going back to her normal life in Chicago seemed like such drudgery after the magical vacation they’d had. She lay in bed thinking about the week, but mostly about Robert. There was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” she said.

It was Jorell. “I have a note for you, madam.”

He brought her the note on a small silver tray.

Kim,

Would you and your family agree to spend the day with me? I would love to get to know them.

Robert.

Jorell stood at attention, apparently waiting for an answer.

“Tell him yes,” Kim said.

“I will, madam. Sir says you should meet him at the pier after breakfast.”

Jorell left and Kim quickly got dressed and explained the plan to her mother and Derek as they ate.

“Great!” Kim’s mother said. “I need to thank this man. I’m really looking forward to meeting him!”

“Does it mean we’re going out on the boat again?” Derek asked.

“I think it does since we’re meant to meet him at the pier, D,” Kim said.

“Yay! I hope the dolphins come out again. When I grow up, I’m going to be a boat driver just like Garon,” Derek said.

“I thought you wanted to be a builder and build tall buildings,” Kim’s mother asked.

“I changed my mind,” Derek said, and they all laughed.

***

AT THE PIER, THEY FOUND Robert waiting for them. Kim was surprised to see how nervous he was. He was pacing back and forth and wringing his hands.

“Hi, Robert, I’d like to introduce you to my mother, Abigail Davidson,” Kim said.

Robert held out his hand to shake Kim’s mother’s hand, but her mother ignored it and gave him a big hug.

“You call me Abby. All of my friends call me Abby. You’ve given us all something real special with this trip, Robby. Thanks a million! A million times a million.”

Robert was taken aback by her mother’s enthusiasm. Kim could see he was slightly knocked off-kilter. “I... My mother used to call me Robby,” he said.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Kim’s mother said.

“No,” Robert insisted. “No, not at all. It’s nice actually. I miss that.”

“And this handsome young man is my son, Derek,” Kim said, pushing Derek toward Robert.

Robert shook his hand. “I’ve really been looking forward to meeting you, Derek,” Robert said. “Your mother has told me so much about you.”

“Are we going out on the boat?” Derek asked.

“Yes,” Robert said.

“Where’s Garon?”

“I’m going to be the captain today,” Robert said.

“You know how to drive a boat?” Derek asked, suitably impressed.

“Yes, I do. Do you want me to teach you?” Robert asked him.

Derek looked at Kim, not believing his luck. She nodded her head to let him know that yes indeed his wish had just come true.

“Yes! Yes, I would love to learn to drive the boat!” Derek said.

“Then we better get going,” Robert said.

They climbed on board and headed out to sea. Every day in the Caribbean seemed to be more beautiful than the one before. The temperature was perfect with a cool breeze and only a few fluffy cotton clouds in the sky. Kim’s mother made herself comfortable in one of the loungers on the back deck, and Kim and Derek joined Robert on the bridge.

“Okay, hold here, Derek.” Robert had Derek sitting in the captain’s chair. He placed his small hands on each side of the boat wheel. “There you go. You’ve got it! Now you drive. I need to rest.”

Robert sat down next to Kim to the side of Derek. There wasn’t much he could do wrong since they were in open water.

“You’re great with him,” Kim said.

“He’s a great kid. And I think I’ve fallen in love with your mother,” Robert said, smiling.

“She’s your number one fan.” Kim liked the Robert she saw today. He seemed in his element. After his initial nerves about meeting her family, he relaxed and was just a down-to-earth guy. “Thanks for this. Thanks for all of this.”

Robert sneaked a look at Derek to see he was concentrating on the front of the boat and then turned back to Kim and kissed her.

“No, thank you,” he said. “You don’t know how much this day means to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with people like you and your little family. Genuine, honest people.”

Robert helped Derek steer the boat near the shore of a small island. It was too small for any habitation, but there was a pier. They docked and disembarked. Robert and Kim carried their picnic lunch to the beach, while Kim’s mother brought her lounger, and Derek got the snorkel equipment and his shovel and bucket. He and Robert made plans to build an exact replica of Chicago in the sand.

They ate their lunch on a huge blanket spread out on the beach. Kim’s mother took a nap in the shade, and Derek got to work on his sand Chicago, while Robert and Kim sipped a glass of wine.

“We leave tomorrow,” Kim said. “It’s gonna be hard going back to my ordinary life after all of this. We’ve been spoiled here.”

Robert took her hand and brought it to his lips and kissed it. “You deserve to be spoiled every day.”

Derek ran up to them. “Look! The dolphins are waiting for us.”

Kim could see a pod of dolphins swimming around the end of the pier. She woke her mother up, and they all collected their snorkeling gear and headed out. They swam with the dolphins until the dolphins swam off to their own life farther out in the sea.

Kim could see Derek was getting tired and it was getting late. The staff at the mansion had told her they wanted to plan a special last night dinner.

“I think we ought to be heading back,” Kim said.

“Okay. I’ve got a few things to take care of before tonight anyway,” Robert said.

“A few things to take care of? You’re being very secretive,” Kim teased.

Robert laughed and kissed her on the nose. “Maybe I am. You’ll see.”

Robert helped Derek into the boat, and Kim went back to help her mother collect the rest of their things.

“I like him,” she said to Kim. “I like him a lot.”

“Really?” Kim asked. It meant so much to her if her mother liked Robert. She always got it right. Her first impressions were always spot-on. She hated Bruce the first time she met him, but unfortunately Kim had not listened to her. But Kim was old enough now to recognize her mother’s wisdom on such things.

“Yep. He’s a good one, Kimmy. We had a little talk, he and I.”

“About what?” Kim asked, very curious.

“You’ll see,” her mother said and then walked toward the boat.