by KaLyn Cooper
Greyson let go of Preston’s hand and ran down the gangway to his father and wrapped himself around his leg. His brother got a small pat on the shoulder for his exuberance. Their Dad’s reaction didn’t surprise Preston, then he remembered just hours ago when he’d rushed into Josh’s arms almost the same way...how good it felt when the big man had picked him up and rubbed his back. He suddenly felt sorry for Greyson.
Preston walked over and peeled his little brother from their father. He then picked up the small boy and held him, running his hand up and down Greyson’s back.
“It’s so good to have all my children here.” Their dad never let go of the woman who was only a foot taller than Preston. Introductions were made but no one shook hands. The kids just nodded their head one by one as they met Annabelle. “We’re on a tight timetable, and my little sweetheart needs to finish getting ready. She wanted to meet all of you before the wedding. The limousine is right over here.”
“Oh, honey, you know I’m used to getting ready in a flash.” She looked at Grandma Betsy and explained, “I often have less than ten minutes to change before I’m expected back on stage in a complete new costume.” To the children, she said, “I’m a prima ballerina. Your father fixed my broken foot, not that I’ll need it for dancing anymore.” She took their father’s hand and placed it on her belly. “The birth of our daughter will most likely end my stage career.”
At Kalista’s gasp, everyone’s gaze flew to her. “You...you are having a baby? A girl?” The words were slow, punctuated as though she had a hard time pronouncing them.
Their father stood a little taller, oozing with pride. “We aren’t going to announce it to our friends for another few weeks, but I guess it’s okay if you know. You are family, and I know you won’t tell anyone.” Even Preston understood the last sentence was an order. He wondered if it’d be okay to tell Mom. She was family.
Greyson slid down and grabbed Preston’s bandaged hand a little hard. He winced. His scrapes looked gruesome this morning when Mom had changed his bandages. Boy, would he have a story to tell the guys when he got back to school. It was cool enough to be in two weddings, but to get saved from a gang of big boys was awesome. He hoped the scrapes would still be there so he could show them to his friends.
As they all got settled in the back of the limo, Grandma Betsy told his dad, “Preston was attacked yesterday by a gang of boys.”
He waited for his dad’s concern. It never came. Instead, there was anger in his voice as he said, “I’ve told your mother time and time again that Mexico is a dangerous place. I never liked that your grandmother’s house was so remote and wish your mother wouldn’t take you there. Those small towns aren’t safe for women or children.”
Stunned, Preston couldn’t say a word. His Chel cousins lived in those small towns, and he loved playing with them. The adults looked after all the children. He’d been yelled at by his cousin’s grandmother more than once as they kicked the soccer ball too hard and onto someone’s porch.
Preston became angry and defended his mother. “It happened while we were shopping in the Hotel Zone in Cancun.” Then as if to jab back at his father, he added, “Josh was there to save me. He and Uncle Eddy.”
His father’s gaze ran over him head to toe. “Well, at least your face wasn’t damaged.” He then stared at his bandaged hands. “Put your hands behind your back when we take pictures.”
“We can have the photographs touched up if we need to.” Annabelle’s toothy smile and squeaky voice grated on Preston's nerves.
Their father gave Kalista a once-over then spoke harshly, “You can keep your hands behind your back, too. I don’t want those ghastly black fingernails showing in the pictures either. And be sure to pull your hair over all those earrings. I can’t believe your mother allows you to dress like that.”
“No problem...Daddy.” Kalista widened her smile to show both rows of teeth all the way back, matching Annabelle’s. His half-sister was growing on him. She had years of experience dealing with their father and he could learn a few things from her. She was the oldest in her family, and he was the older brother to Greyson. They had more than a few things in common.
“Dad, do I get to carry the real rings or just fake ones?” Greyson asked.
“What are you talking about?” His father glared down at Greyson.
“Me and Preston. We’re the ring bearers,” Greyson babbled on. “So do we get to carry the real rings or are they fake? My friend Stevie, he was the ring bearer at his dad’s wedding and they weren’t real rings. Just fake ones on a stupid pillow that he had to carry.”
Annabelle looked up at their dad with shock. “I thought we agreed on no ring bearer since my sister decided not to bring my niece and make it a second honeymoon for her and her husband.” She was running out of breath and looked like she was going to cry. She breathed in and her voice rose to a shriek. “I don’t have a pillow for the rings, and we’ll have to tell the wedding planner as soon as we get there to find one and what about the programs. They were engraved back in Chicago.” Her jaw quivered as though she’d burst into tears.
“Now, darling, we’re not having any ring bearers.” He scowled at Greyson as if it was his fault Annabelle was upset. Turning his attention back to the annoying girl, he told her, “Take a deep breath.”
She inhaled dramatically.
“Now, now, my little sweetheart.”
She all but crawled into their dad’s lap.
Preston glanced across the car where Dalton sat beside Kalista facing him and Greyson. One corner of his half-brother’s mouth twisted to the side in disgust and his half-sister rolled her eyes before she turned away to gaze out the window.
Preston put his arm around his little brother and whispered in his ear. “You and I get to be the ring bearers for Uncle Jack’s wedding on Saturday. He’d never go back on his promise. And we’re not carrying a silly pillow. Aunt Jillian showed me the awesome big shells we get to carry and we get to keep the shells forever.” That seemed to bring his brother’s spirits back.
Within minutes they arrived at the old plantation house. Preston had been there twice before on tours when Mom’s friends from Chicago came to visit. When they all exited the car, his father kissed Annabelle for a long time before she left to go get dressed. It felt wrong to Preston, but he supposed that since his mom and dad were divorced, they wouldn’t ever kiss again. Maybe his mom was already kissing other men and maybe he’d get a new dad.
An idea hit him. Maybe Josh could be his new dad. He liked Josh.
“Why don’t you take the kids into the bar and get them something to drink while I go change,” their dad said to Grandma Betsy. “We have about an hour and a half before the wedding starts.”
“Go get us a table, and I’ll be right there,” Grandma Betsy instructed Kalista. “I need to talk with your dad a minute.”
His sister shrugged, strode into the bar like she’d been there before and plopped down at a table next to the windows. When a waiter arrived, she sat up straight and pretended to be an adult. “I’ll have a margarita, and he’ll have a cola.” She nodded to her brother beside her before she looked over at him and Greyson. With a smile, she asked, “Boys, what would you like to drink?”
Breakfast had been a few hours ago and he knew his little brother needed to eat and drink often because of his heart condition, so Preston answered for both of them, “May I have a cola? Greyson needs fruit juice. And do you have some crackers he can have?”
The bartender gave him an understanding nod. “I think I can find something for our youngest little man.” He turned his attention back to Kalista. “Is that a virgin margarita, seniorita?”
Her smile was that of a much older girl. “No. Not in a while.”
The waiter left with a smile on his dark brown face.
They all watched through the window as Grandma Betsy and their father had what seemed to be an intense conversation.
“He’s such a dickweed.” Kalista shook he
r head.
“What do you mean?” Preston wasn’t sure what that word meant, but he knew it wasn’t good and was probably a swear.
“You’ll see.” She looked around the empty bar then leaned over the table and dropped her voice. “When he married your mom, he totally forgot about us.” She waved her hand between Dalton and herself. “Why do you think we never met until today? You’re my half-brothers. We share DNA.”
Preston didn’t know what those letters meant but he didn’t think it was bad. “So?”
“If he weren’t marrying little miss,” she made air quotes and changed her voice to a pretty good impression of Annabelle, “‘I’m a prima ballerina.’” Kalista changed back to her normal voice and continued, “then we’d still be living separate lives back in Chicago. I never knew you existed until I saw your baby pictures on Grandma Betsy’s mantel. Think he told me I had a new little brother? Hell, no.”
She swore. Like an adult.
Their drinks arrived along with crackers and a bowl of ceviche. Awesome. Preston and Greyson loved the local shrimp dish and it was perfect choice for his little brother.
“What’s that?” Dalton crinkled his nose and pointed to the bowl of ceviche in the middle of the table.
“Mine.” Greyson reached over and pulled the whole bowl toward him.
“But we’ll share.” Preston’s gaze locked with his little brother’s. “It’s shrimp and a bunch of other stuff. Mexico food. You can try it. It’s really good.” He slid the bowl to the middle of the table.
“I’ll pass,” his older half-brother said, waving a hand.
“Shrimp?” Kalista grabbed a cracker. “I’ll try it.” She took a tentative bite. “Not bad.” Then she dug in with the rest of the cracker.
Raised voices outside the window caught their attention. Their father was arguing with Grandma Betsy. Feeling bolder, Preston tried what he thought was a swear word, “He can be a real douchebag.”
Kalista choked on her ceviche. “Do you even know what a douchebag is?”
Well, no, he didn’t. “That’s what my Uncle Jack calls Dad all the time so it can’t be good. What is a douchebag?”
He stared at Kalista waiting for an answer. Finally, quiet Dalton answered with a grin, “Our father.”
The whole table erupted in laughter.
Grandma Betsy arrived and seated herself. “Looks like you kids are getting along.”
Yes, they were. Preston was happy he had an older, very sassy, sister who sat back and sipped her margarita. Maybe this wedding had taken a turn for the better.
Chapter 14
Lilly glanced over at the four gigantic cruise ships docked in the Cozumel port as Jack maneuvered the speed boat into their slip at the marina. Every emotion imaginable roiled within her. She was excited and apprehensive as she looked at the Caribbean Breeze. Next week that city of steel floating around the Caribbean Sea would belong to her family. So would another one just like it, the Caribbean Dream. She always loved a new family investment and this one would be more fun than another manufacturing facility.
There would also be more financial risk. One little thing, like the false Ebola scare last February, could create so much bad press that would negatively affect the entire industry. If something catastrophic happened on their ship, it could damage, or even destroy, their new company, American Caribbean Cruise Line.
Docked beside their next purchase was an even larger ship with a navy blue hull that was owned by one of the most expensive international cruise lines in the world. He-who-she-didn’t-have-time-to-waste-thinking-about would have one of the largest staterooms aboard that ship. The honeymoon suite, for the newlyweds.
Lilly’s thoughts wandered to her honeymoon. After her huge, beautiful wedding, they had taken a month-long trip through Europe, spending an entire week at her friend’s villa on the Italian coast. In retrospect, it had been his suggestion that they stay with several people she knew, making it relatively inexpensive. The man was such a user, and abuser, of relationships.
Disappointment—in him, and herself, the dissolution of her marriage and the family life she’d always expected to have—fought with good memories of the birth of her boys. The joy they’d brought her as toddlers discovering the world around them. They were growing up so fast. And at this very moment they were on the other side of the island attending their father’s wedding.
Her boys were facing so many changes, meeting a half-brother and sister, siblings they’d never even seen before today. She should have questioned her ex, made him explain to the boys that they had half-siblings, something. Here she was, a highly respected attorney, one who could take whatever another lawyer dished out and she’d throw him a hardball right back. Yet, in private, she let that asshole rule her life as though she’d been a mindless child.
Why in God’s name did I let him get away with that shit! She had to talk with Greyson and Preston about their feelings concerning the wedding when they returned, make sure they were okay.
As she and her whole family walked the short distance to the joint offices of the Caribbean Excursion Consortium and the American Caribbean Cruise Line, Jack slung an arm around her shoulder. “The boys will be just fine. How much damage can Dr. Dickhead do in a few hours?”
“I know, and Betsy is there to look out for them. She knows her son is an ass, and she truly loves her grandchildren.” Lilly still worried about her kids. She always would. “Thanks for offering to pick them up in the boat. I didn’t even think about that.” And wasn’t she a terrible mother for not considering that option? Truth be told, she’d wanted to stay as far away from that wedding as possible. But this way, her boys would be back under her wings much sooner, and she could repair any damage her ex had done immediately.
“Right on time,” Jessica said as their entourage entered the second floor offices. Large windows faced the ocean, but the view was currently filled with the hull of another line’s ship. “Over the past month, I’ve interviewed everyone aboard both ships.” She handed Lilly a file folder. “These are the current managerial employees I think we should offer contracts.” She gave Jack a small stack of papers clipped together. “These,” she hesitated ever so briefly, “I’m not so sure about. You said to pull anyone who may look the least bit questionable.”
Jack glanced at the top piece of paper and raised his brows. “The security director for the Caribbean Breeze?”
“Especially him.” Jessica shrugged and stood. “I know he was Mossad, and most cruise lines have men like him in security, but this guy...he just gives me that—”
“It’s okay.” Jack looked her in the eye and told her. “That prickle on the back of my neck has kept me alive more than once. It’s good to follow your instincts. I’ll check him out.”
“What was it exactly that he did or said that made you uneasy?” The lawyer in Lilly had clicked on. She was looking for anything that could legally be used against him in case they had to keep him on through the transition.
“Nothing I can pinpoint, just an overall feeling, like he didn’t want me there.” Jessica’s mouth thinned into a tight crease. “He wasn’t what I’d call condescending, more patronizing. As though I was an evil he was forced to endure. But he was very careful about what he said and the words he chose.”
“Was it a language issue?” Levi suggested.
“No, he spoke excellent English, albeit with a heavy British accent.” She pointed to a line on Jack’s paper. “He graduated from Oxford. Nor was it the aristocratic attitude you sometimes get from someone with his pedigree.”
She took a deep breath. “He was my last interview of the day and it was getting close to the time they needed to depart. I don’t think he was worried about guests, but he sure checked out everyone on the staff as they returned. He seemed to hurry me off the ship.”
Lilly smiled. No one made Jessica Evans do anything she didn’t want to do. If she caught a whiff of something out of place with an employee, not exactly above board, she’d purs
ue it until she got the answer. She’d saved Girard International more than once.
Jessica looked at her watch. “We should head over. The captain has invited us for lunch at his table. He’ll give us a tour of the ship before and after we eat.” As they headed out the door, she added, “He’s concerned about his job. He was in command in February when the woman who had been to Africa got sick. He made the executive decision to have her taken to Cancun when the ship’s doctor indicated it might be Ebola.”
“That was certainly a Charlie Foxtrot for me and all the other small excursion companies,” Jack admitted. “But I’m thankful it wasn’t Ebola. It hurt our business for a few days, but it could have been much worse.”
“It slammed their cruise line hard enough to sell us two ships at half the value.” Levi shook his head as he looked up the steel hull that was taller than a twenty-five story building and larger than a city block. “Let’s hope these ships make us as much money as our Great Lakes tankers do.”
“Is money the only thing you ever think about, Levi?” Lilly chastised.
“No.” He smiled at her and moved in close. Quietly he said, “I think about women. Often. But I had one of those last night, and I’ll have a different one tonight.” He gave his sister a knowing smile. “But I’m not the only one who got an itch scratched.”
Oh, shit. Lilly lifted her brows as she glared at her older brother.
He threw an arm around her and gave her a brotherly hug. Whispering in her ear, he admitted, “Lil, I’m glad for you. Josh seems like one of the good guys. Hell, Preston thinks he’s a superhero. And I’ll be forever grateful to Josh for rescuing that little boy. I just hope it was more than a thank-you fuck. You deserve better than that.” He kissed the top of her head and released her.