The Billionaire's Yacht

by Nikki Larson

  Raven punched her in the arm, softly, and together they laughed.

  Chapter 28

  Lucas drove along the 5 Freeway, stopping to get a Date Nut Shake along the way. There was this little hut of a place he liked to frequent, a small restaurant on top of a hill overlooking the beach. He also grabbed a blueberry muffin to go. He liked to stress eat, he admitted to himself. But what did it matter? No harm done. It was a good way to manage tension, as long as he didn’t do it too often. He worked out often enough and hard enough to burn off all the extra calories.

  When he pulled up to Stephanie’s house, his heart pounded hard in his chest and a feeling of dread came over him. Or was it excitement? In any case, his life was about to drastically change.

  “Daddy! Daddy!”

  The kids all came running to the front door the moment he arrived.

  “What did you do? Tell them I’m coming?” he complained to his sister.

  “Well, of course I did,” she told him. “They’re excited. They’ve been missing you.”

  The moment the door swung open he was bombarded with hugs and love. “Okay, okay,” he said with a laugh. “You’re suffocating me.” But they only squeezed him tighter.

  “Okay, okay, I can’t breathe,” he said. “Kids….”

  Finally, they released him.

  “So, you’re a real daddy now,” Stephanie gushed.

  Lucas could only smile and nod. He had to admit, it did feel kind of wonderful, getting a welcome like that. But how would he measure up? He’d been play-acting as their father figure so long, he didn’t even know how to be a real dad.

  At first, he was angry at Grunt for choosing him to be the guardian of these kids. He hadn’t expected it. Which was probably foolish and short-sighted on his part. Because who else was Grunt going to leave the children to? Lucas was the obvious choice, the only feasible option.

  “You’ll be fine,” Stephanie reassured him once they’d all gathered by the pool in the back yard.

  Lucas watched the kids jumping into the pool and was pleased with how much progress they’d all made with their swimming skills.

  “Hey, Stephanie, thanks for watching them,” he said, keeping his eye especially on the littlest one. Hutch was standing on the steps, floaties on both arms for safety. “Stay right there, Hutch, on the stairs,” Lucas warned him.

  “K,” Hutch replied, waving his arms in the air and splashing the water as he watched his siblings.

  “How’ve they been?” Lucas’ voice was serious, as the gravity of the situation was hitting him. They’d been through a lot, these kids. Losing their mom first, and then their elderly father. Yet here they were, laughing and playing just like kids should. Lucas was surprised to find his eyes clouding with tears as he watched them.

  “They’ve been good,” Stephanie said proudly. “Look at them,” she said, gesturing towards the pool. “They’re just normal kids, having a great time. Right now,” she added. “Earlier, there were some tears. But that’s to be expected.”

  “Yeah?” Lucas asked, waiting to be told more.

  “Yeah,” Stephanie replied, “Lily and Gwenna spent a lot of time together cuddling on the couch, and I saw Gwenna wipe Lily’s tears and get her a tissue.”

  “You did?” Lucas asked.

  “Yeah,” Stephanie said. “And Hutch seemed to have a hard time going to sleep some night, but Harley was there for him. Harley read him a story,” she relayed.

  “Oh, really?” Lucas said with a chuckle. Harley didn’t know how to read yet, but he read by memory.

  “Yes, The Little Engine Who Could. He seems to know that one.”

  “Yeah,” Lucas agreed, laughing.

  “It was so cute,” she told him. “Hutch fell asleep on his shoulder. And then when I checked them a few minutes later, they were both passed out together on the bed.”

  Lucas laughed at that picture. “Well, kids, I guess it’s time we best be going,” he told them after they had gotten their fill of swimming and seemed to be slowing down. It was good if they could get most of their energy out before the drive back home.

  “Stephanie, I cannot thank you enough,” he said when he turned to his sister. “And thank Eric, too.”

  “I will,” she said as she leaned her head on the open door.

  “You seem sad to see them go,” he commented as the kids piled into the car.

  “I am,” she admitted. “A little.” She laughed then, and gave her brother a hug goodbye. “You take care of yourself,” she told him. “Drive safely. Especially with those kids in the car.”

  “I know,” he agreed. “My speeding days are over.” He wasn’t one to drive the speed limit. Almost no one did in California.

  “I hope so,” Stephanie told him. She sent him off with a kiss on the cheek, a wave, and a smile.

  Chapter 29

  “Where’s Miss Thea?” Those were the first words out of Gwenna’s mouth when they got back to the yacht and she had a look around.

  “Ah, she’s not here,” Lucas answered Guinevieve. He had forgotten all about this, the fact that the kids would be asking about her.

  Gwenna stood there for a moment, stunned to silence.

  “But don’t worry, we’ll have fun without her,” Lucas blurted out. “I mean, it’ll be fine. We’ll get by just fine,” he reassured the oldest of the children.

  “No, we won’t,” she refuted him. Hands on her hips, she gave him a hard stare as Hutch grasped her leg.

  Just then Lily came in the room. “What is it?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” Lucas said, at the same time Gwenna spoke up.

  “Miss Thea’s gone, too,” Gwenna told her. Her tone was accusing, and Lucas couldn’t blame her.

  Maybe it was his fault.

  Well, certainly, it was.

  “Miss Thea?” Lily looked shocked, incredulous.

  It made Lucas’ heart break.

  Which then made him angry. “Look, it isn’t my fault, okay?” he nearly yelled. “We’ll get a new nanny. A nicer one. A better one.” What was he saying? He sat on the couch, to get a grip on his feelings and rein in his tongue.

  “A new nanny?” Lily looked appalled. “But we want Miss Thea,” she said with a whimper.

  Lucas sighed and put his head in his hands. He just couldn’t deal with this right now. He had his own emotions to deal with, now that both Grunt and Nicole had died; now that Thea had left, too.

  “Whatsa matter, Daddy?” Harley asked when he came into the room.

  “Just get out of here,” he yelled now. “I can’t deal with this. Just… go watch TV or something.” He turned to Gwenna, whose mouth was gaping open. “Go set everyone up with a movie, would you?”

  “Ok, D…,” she stopped short of saying Daddy as all the kids filed out of the room.

  Chapter 30

  It had been months since she’d seen or thought about Mr. Lucas Flaire, Jerk Extraordinaire. Okay, well, maybe she’d thought about him, and maybe she had almost dialed his number on several occasions, but she hadn’t seen him or talked to him. She did, however, listen to his voice once, when she’d used the phone at her new place of employment. In a flurry of foolishness, while everyone else was away from their desks at lunchtime, she’d dialed his number (yes, she had it memorized, from all the times of staring at it on her contacts list in her phone) and then promptly hung up. But not until he’d said Hello several times. Yes, several. He himself had told her the proper definition of that word, which was seven or more.

  Okay, not true. He said Hello only three or four times, and then she hung up, because he sounded so pitiful. Who answers the phone with that many Hellos? Didn’t he know it was uncouth to say it more than once or twice, or you sound desperate?

  It was unbecoming to sound so desperate.

  And at that thought, Thea nearly snorted. Because that was her. Desperate. How embarrassing.

  She should have never called him. Not even to hear his voice. At least he couldn’t trace her, because
he didn’t know where she worked.

  Thea sighed, closed the car door, and walked into church. It was like a breath of fresh air to be attending the same church for so long now. She loved it here. She had friends here. They were a church family. Yes, in these past few months, she had even taken the time to join a Bible study and get to know some of the women better. She’d even had lunch with them, in a group, when they all went out after the study. It was refreshing, so wonderful, to make connections, to finally be reaching out to other women. And they accepted her. They liked her.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised, maybe, but she was.

  Sometimes in life she felt like an outcast, for no discernible reason. Just that being around people her own age made her compare. She was never sure if they’d like her or not. Never sure if she’d measure up.

  But these women had been impressed with her childcare knowledge. They even asked her for parenting advice, when they’d found out she was so good at disciplining and loving children. She had a gift, they said. She knew the right things to say and do when it came to rearing children.

  It was comforting, to have them notice what she’d always felt, what Raven used to deny, until recently: That she’d been right to become a nanny. That it was her calling.

  This is what she was thinking when she walked into the Sunday school classroom fifteen minutes before the service time. Whitney was already there, writing the schedule on the board, and getting the crafts and the children’s nametags ready.

  Thea loved this second-grade classroom. The children were no longer babies, but able to think rationally and deeply, to consider God and how he interacts with the world. She loved to see their intellect blossom, to see them question and figure out who God was and the wonderful things he did. They had so many questions, so many ideas. They were, in a word, fascinating.

  And all she wanted to do was to help their faith blossom.

  That, and love them.

  She couldn’t help but love them.

  Thea was on the computer, setting up the worship songs for the day. She had chosen three songs, all about faith. One was saying that even if your faith was as small as a mustard seed, you could still move mountains. How that worked exactly, Thea had no idea. But she believed it. She believed it with all her heart.

  This is what she was thinking and doing when Gwenna walked in.

  Thea’s mouth could have dropped to the floor. She could have fainted from surprise. And then to see Lucas being the one to drop Guinevieve off.

  His hair was shorter now, with some of it pulled forward dashingly over his forehead, just like she’d always wanted. His eyes shone with happiness and mischief as he looked at her. “Well, don’t just stand there. Say Hi at least,” he said.

  But her heart was on the floor. Her resolve had melted away and she stood there, speechless, practically salivating.

  He always did this to her.

  She hated it.

  “Hi Thea, it’s great to see you,” he spoke, since she couldn’t.

  By now Whitney was noticing. She came over and touched Thea’s elbow, grounding her and bringing her back to reality. “Hello,” she said to Lucas. “Welcome to Rock Church. We’re glad you’re here.” Having said her usual spiel, she winked at Thea and walked away. “That’s what we’re supposed to say,” Whitney said under her breath as she went to tend to the children who were already there.

  “Hi,” Thea said, finally finding her voice.

  Gwenna was standing behind her, watching their interaction, waiting her turn.

  Thea turned to the little girl she loved so much, picked her up in her arms. “It’s great to see you,” she said, smiling up at her. Gwenna was too big to carry this way, and her shoulders were currently a foot taller than Thea’s head.

  “Oof,” Thea said, setting her down again. “You are getting so heavy. You are getting so big and grown up.” She stood back to admire her. “What are you doing here?”

  “We came to see you,” Gwenna blurted out.

  Lucas shifted his feet and looked embarrassed as he stared at the floor.

  Other parents were beginning to arrive, and he stepped out of the way. With a wave of his hand and a bashful smile, he spoke: “See you later, after service,” he told Thea before he dashed away.

  “Bye,” she called out before turning to help the other parents with check-in.

  Peeling each name tag off the paper secured to the clipboard, Thea felt her heart pounding in her throat. She could barely stand, yet she had a job to do, and if she could only focus, the job she’d been doing for the past six years would come naturally.

  Chapter 31

  All throughout the service, Lucas was sweating. Maybe it was the fact that they needed to crank up the air conditioning. Maybe it was the hot coffee he had been sipping, which was now in a travel mug on the floor by his feet. Maybe it was shaking hands with strangers and greeting them. How foreign of a concept. He hadn’t been to a church in so long, and the one he went to sometimes as a child did not have people greet each other like this.

  It was not until the worship leader had everyone stand for the last song that Lucas began to relax. Singing always did this to him. It calmed his heart while exercising his lungs. He tried not to sing too loudly, though his usual style was to belt out the words of a song while cranking up the volume. What good was singing if you couldn’t do it wholeheartedly? But in public–now, that was a different thing. In any case, he was surprised how wonderful it felt, how refreshing, to worship God in song. This song was upbeat and joyful, full of encouragement and faith and hope that things would turn out right. He was just beginning to believe it.

  It was great to hear Pastor Rogue introduce himself after the worship. Lucas felt now like they were long lost friends, having shared the moment in the pastor’s office when Lucas accepted Christ. It was like coming home, all of it, and it brought great relief and comfort to his soul. The sermon was on forgiveness, and Lucas listened intently. He had many people in his life that he needed to forgive.

  He looked around at the room, surveying the crowd. The sanctuary was nearly full, though it must have seated over a thousand. There were people from all walks of life, young and old, men and women, able-bodied and handicapped, well-off and not-so-much, dressed up and casually dressed.

  “Today we are going to offer the Lord’s Supper,” Pastor Rogue said. “Together we are going to partake in communion. I’d like to read this passage in First Corinthians before we begin, to give you a little background. I’ll begin in Chapter 11, Verse 23, which says, The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” The grape juice does not actually become the blood of Christ, but rather it is symbolic of the blood of Christ, poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. The wafers, or bread, do not physically become the body of Christ, but rather they are symbolic of his body, broken for us. Christ gave all for us, so that we could be saved from sin and darkness. He saved us from an empty life, to an abundant one. Joy is ours. Peace is ours. Love and faith are ours, and they last forever, eternally.”

  The pastor reached his arms out as if to encompass the entire congregation. “I don’t know about all of you, but for me, this is a beautiful thing. Do you realize what we have in Christ? Every spiritual blessing, everything we could ever need. Before I was a Christian, my life was in shambles, man. I mean it,” he said with a wry chuckle. “Christ rescued me from sin and darkness. He can rescue each one of you as well.”

  At that point Pastor Rogue presented the gospel and prayed the sinners’ prayer over everyone who wanted to participate, just like he had done for Lucas not long ago in his office.

  Lucas noted that
there were round silver trays at the tables around the room. For reasons he didn’t understand, he was beginning to get nervous. He’d never had communion before, and it was looking like he and the entire congregation would be participating in this age-old sacrament together.

  “There is one more thing I want to mention before we share communion together,” Pastor Rogue said. “I’d like to read the next verses, 27 through 29, which say, So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. You see, it is important that we come to the Lord in communion with a clean slate. Matthew 5:23-24 says, Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. It is clear that the Lord wants us to value our relationships, and keep short accounts with people. This means apologizing when necessary. Even if you think you did nothing wrong, if someone is upset with you, it is important to do your part to bring peace. Romans 12:18 says, If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. We must humble ourselves and try to make things right. So, I am asking you, as a church body, to all stand now and close your eyes and pray with me.”

  The pastor said a prayer that the Lord will reveal to everyone present if there is a need to approach someone and make things right.

  Lucas wiped his forehead. This was heavy stuff. But no one here needed his apologies. He didn’t even know anyone here but Thea, and she was upstairs, working with the kids, so he could hardly go up and discuss things with her. Interrupting Sunday school for a private and personal conversation was surely not what the pastor meant.

  “Lucas.”