I shook my head, holding my hands out as if to block him. "Ohh, no. I learned my lesson yesterday."
"I could teach you to be better. I'm a very effective instructor." Brandon waggled his brows at me prominently in a way that made me giggle.
"Brandon!" Annabelle called from the pool. "Will you come swimming with us now? S'il vous plaît?"
Every afternoon after his tennis match with their dad, Brandon had demonstrated to Annabelle and Christoph his excellent impressions of various sea creatures. This generally led to countless games of Jaws that basically consisted of us chasing the kids around the pool while they giggled uncontrollably. Maurice and Janette often disappeared around this time, Maurice to work in their guestroom, Janette to the expensive Pilates studio in a nearby town. I didn't mind when they left, although I did wonder sometimes what kept them so long to get ready for their daily "errands." Sometimes they hovered upstairs for hours before they left. Brandon guessed they were probably getting it on and teased me for thinking too much about it.
Today would be even better. It was Marie's afternoon off, and I had volunteered to take the kids beachcombing in Chatham before the firework display that night. Unfortunately, Brandon also had to spend the afternoon working. I didn't mind too much, though; I was eager to get some time with the kids by myself.
But first things first.
Brandon pulled off his shirt, his perspiring, cut torso gleaming in the sun. Behind him, Janette snuck a peek over the rims of her glasses. I hid a smile; she was only six or seven years older than him, and I couldn't really blame her for looking. He was quite a sight.
"Papa, vous aussi?" Christoph's small voice piped up behind his sister.
They were both hanging onto a life-sized, alligator-shaped floaty that Brandon had bought for them yesterday in the village. The creature had already been used as a whale, a boat, a spaceship, and a subway train.
Maurice looked at his children as if he had just realized they were there, then curtly shook his head. Christoph's face fell, but his quick recovery indicated he hadn't expected his father to join them in the first place.
"Well, I'm coming in!" Brandon yelled, and to the children's giggling surprise, he launched cannonball-style into the center of the pool.
The massive splash sprayed me, Maurice, and Janette. Janette shrieked, and Maurice rolled his eyes.
I laughed. "Me too!" I jumped in to chase the kids with Brandon.
"Comme pisser dans un violon," Maurice muttered to himself as he brushed the stray drops of water off his tennis kit. He zipped his racket forcefully into its case, then strode into the house, mumbling more grumpy French idioms under his breath.
Janette stood up.
"I think I'll get ready for the afternoon too," she said as she put on her caftan. "I've got a spinning class in the village at two." She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head to look at me, where I was carrying Christoph on my back. "Are you really going to be okay with them for the entire afternoon? I can tell Marie to come back, you know, if you need a break."
I rolled my eyes. I wished I could be surprised that Janette found it strange to want to spend time with her children, but my life had taught me otherwise.
"We'll be GREAT!" I yelled before I tossed Christoph off my back to send him flying in the pool with a squeal. "Enjoy your class. We'll meet you in the village for dinner."
Janette glanced at all of us with a dubious expression, then shrugged. "As you wish. Ciao, darlings. Listen to your sister and be good."
The kids ignored her, too focused on Brandon's stalking underwater form to answer. Janette left, equally unperturbed.
After chasing the kids for a while Brandon hopped up to where I sat at the edge of the pool and wrapped a wet arm around my waist.
"You going to be all right with them all afternoon?" he asked as he nuzzled my cheek. "I feel bad I have to work."
I leaned into his lips and smiled. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? We'll be great. I'm actually really excited to spend the day just us. It's their last day, and I want it to be special."
While my time with Janette and Maurice had been mostly lukewarm and cordial, the last two days had allowed me to truly bond with my siblings. They were adorable kids, and I was already trying to figure out how to see them more often. Brandon had hatched a plan to convince Maurice to send them to one of the boarding schools in the area instead of the school they currently attended in Switzerland.
In response, I got another kiss on the neck. "I don't know how well I'm going to concentrate," he said, "knowing that you're running around town in this."
His hands dropped low to play with the side-ties of my bikini bottoms. It wasn't a terribly skimpy suit, but it was flattering and showed off my curves well. My breath caught in my throat; it had been incredibly hard keeping our hands to ourselves until we were behind closed doors each night. More than once Brandon had dragged me upstairs in the middle of the afternoon to discuss some "business" only to tackle me onto the bed.
"Touché!" Christoph yelped, slapping Brandon on the butt with a loud, wet thwack!
Brandon jumped, the momentary spell between us broken.
"That's it! One last round of King of the Mountain!" he cried, turning around and diving back into the water after the shrieking, laughing children.
I grinned and dove after them. This weekend wasn't anything I'd expected, but I was happier than I'd been in months.
~
A few hours later, I was shepherding the kids into town after beachcombing and sand castle-building on Brandon's property. Chatham was packed for the holiday, but luckily most of the tourists were at some of the other neighboring towns to view the larger fireworks displays. This was apparently the first year that Lighthouse Beach would have a display, so while the beach was already starting to fill with onlookers, it wouldn't have nearly the crowds that would be at Orleans or Hyannis.
My phone buzzed in my purse, and I pulled it out to find Brandon calling.
"Hey," I said. Christoph and Annabelle stopped at the window of a closed toy store, giving me a moment to chat.
"Hey, beautiful." Brandon's voice was tense and frustrated.
I frowned at my reflection in the shop window. "What's wrong?"
He sighed loudly enough that I could hear him, even on the busy street. "We're kind of wrapped up in the some things here. Maurice asked me to help him with this...deal...he's trying to put together, and it's taking more time than I thought. We're nowhere near done. Do you mind taking the kids to dinner without us?"
I glanced down at Annabelle and Christoph, who were currently debating whether American dollhouses were better than French ones.
"No, it's fine," I said. "They've been great. Are you sure you can't just take a break, though? You have to eat."
"Unfortunately, not," Brandon paused for a moment. "I'll tell you more later. We'll meet you on the beach for the fireworks, okay? Try to get a spot near one of the lifeguard stations so I can find you."
"Okay," I said. "I hope everything is all right."
He heaved another great sigh. "It will be. I think."
We hung up, and I found the kids looking at me expectantly. I pasted on the biggest smile I could. To hell with the fancy farm-to-table place Janette had chosen. If there were ever kids in need of fast food, it was these guys.
"Vous aimez des hamburgers?" I asked.
The instant grins on their faces told me everything I needed to know.
Fifteen minutes later, we were comfortably ensconced at a picnic table outside a local diner, watching tourists ambling around Chatham while we enjoyed our very American meals of burgers, fries, and chocolate milkshakes.
"I'm so glad you guys were able to visit," I said for what must have been the fifth or sixth time that weekend. I meant it, too. "I'll really miss you when you go back to France. You'll have to come back and visit."
"Oh, we are not going home," Christoph said casually before taking a monster bite of his burger. For such a s
mall kid, he ate a lot. "Not until Papa can get us back our house."
I frowned, French fry in midair. "What's wrong with your house?"
"Well, it's not ours right now. The big men come to take our furniture," Christoph continued before taking a long pull on his milkshake.
"Idiot!" Annabelle hissed next to him. "On ne doit rien dire!"
"You keep forgetting that I can understand you," I remarked calmly, causing Annabelle's face to turn bright red. "What is it you're not supposed to tell me?"
Christoph stared at his sister, then shrugged. "C'est notre sœur." She is our sister, he reminded Annabelle.
Annabelle sighed. "Donc, we had to move. Papa thinks I don't know that he is in trouble, but I do. The...how do you say...le conduit? For the air?"
She looked to me for help.
"The vent?" I guessed.
She nodded, satisfied. "Oui, the vent in his office, it connected to my room at home. I could hear a lot that he didn't know." She looked at me with sudden terror. "You will not tell?"
I placed a hand over her small one and tried to look reassuring. "Sisters don't tell on their sisters."
Annabelle's small shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. "Bon," she said.
"So, what did you hear?" I asked before I took another bite of my burger.
An uneasy look crossed her face. "I don't like to listen to him fight with Maman. But I know she was very angry with him about something he did. She said that if he did not get our money back, she would find a way to do it without him. The men came to take our things the next week, and Papa says we are here to try to fix it." She looked up, her large brown eyes full of questions. "Do you know what he needs to fix, Skylar?"
Both of the children's faces zeroed in on me, unblinking. Clearly, they were both extremely concerned with their father's situation, what little they knew of it. I gulped.
"Um, no," I said, although now I was certainly curious. Maybe this was what was keeping Brandon.
When Christoph looked like he might cry, I gave him my best "don't worry" smile. I set my burger down and reach across the table for both of their hands.
"I'm sure we'll figure it out," I said.
It was all I could say. Both the kids nodded and went back to their meals. Their normal chatter returned as we started speculating about what kinds of designs the fireworks would have.
After dinner, we went to the beach and laid out a blanket. We had bought some cupcakes from a shop in town, and the kids were happy to lay with me, telling stories about France while we waited for the fireworks to begin.
"I wish you came to our house in France," Christoph said. "When you lived there too, I mean."
I squeezed his shoulder. He was a small boy for his age, but solid.
"It's probably better this way," I said. "When I lived in Paris, you were only a baby. You wouldn't have remembered me."
"I would remember," Christoph said.
"Me too," Annabelle echoed, and they both burrowed closer to my sides as we watched the sky above us change colors in the twilight.
Just as the sky turned dark and the crowd was starting to hum with anticipation of the main event, Brandon, Maurice, and Janette appeared, bearing flashlights.
"Finally!" Janette cried as we scrambled up. "I thought we'd never find you! Skylar, darling, you really should check your cell phone more often."
Maurice and Janette sat in the front of the blanket, with Annabelle and Christoph on either side of them. Maurice made no move to touch either of his children, but I noticed Christoph sidling closer and closer to his father until their knees touched. Only then did the boy sit still.
Brandon landed on the blanket beside me with a huff just as the fireworks began over the water. Even in the din, I didn't miss the way he kept glaring at Maurice and Janette.
"Everything okay?" I asked, nudging his shoulder. "I thought you would be here earlier."
I pressed my nose into the crook of his neck and inhaled. His scent was so calming. Brandon reached a hand to briefly clasp my face to him, then pressed an absent kiss on my cheek before releasing me.
"It's...I'll tell you about it later," he murmured into my ear after another sharp look at Maurice. "But it's safe to say that Maurice and Janette aren't just here on a typical business trip."
I frowned, then dropped my face into a more neutral position when Janette peeked over her shoulder to smile at me.
"I got some vibes like that from the kids at dinner," I muttered while giving her a forced smile. "Why? What happened today?"
Brandon just shook his head and pulled me closer.
"Later," he said again. "I'll tell you later."
We continued to watch the fireworks, but the familiar knot of stress in my stomach constricted again. Would I ever be able to bring anything else to Brandon's life besides family drama? The arm around my shoulder tightened, as if Brandon could feel the tension.
"Hey," he said into my ear. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing I––we––can't handle, okay?"
I could see the fireworks reflected in his eyes, which searched mine for reassurance. He didn't want me to worry, or to bolt, most likely.
"Okay," I said, and moved further into the nook of his shoulder. I only wished my gut felt the same way.
~
Chapter 28
We left at five-thirty the next morning on a plane that Brandon had opted to charter so that we could both work (and talk) on the way back to Boston. Maurice and Janette weren't joining us, having decided to go to Martha's Vineyard for the rest of the week to visit some friends from New York.
Brandon looked visibly relieved at their decision. We had all been exhausted after the fireworks, and he'd refused to tell me anything while the Jadots were possibly within earshot. Once we were on the plane en route to Boston, he finally told me why they had missed dinner the night before.
"They kept me cornered in my office until close to ten, giving me the hard sell on why Ventures should sell out to BNP." He rubbed a tired hand over his face. "They had contracts and everything. It made no sense, especially with the two of them there. I mean, he has to know I'm in no position right now to be making those kinds of deals. It's basically an open secret that I'm thinking of selling off."
It wasn't easy for Brandon to admit that out loud. But it was looking more and more like full divestiture from his companies would be the price of both his divorce and his entry into politics.
"Do you think he was trying to get in on the ground floor?" I wondered. "Capture some of Ventures' best investments before anyone else does?"
Brandon shrugged. "Maybe. But I would have expected a lot more subtlety about it. You know, I think he's really in some deep shit at BNP. I've never had someone and his wife sell me together on a deal before. And definitely not for three hours. Christ, I was a prisoner in my own house."
He gave me a crooked smile and kicked his feet up on the chair facing him. One hand dropped to my thigh and squeezed lightly.
I frowned, considering. "Well, according to the kids, they had to move out of their house in Paris. I don't think they are going back anytime soon."
Brandon's brows raised, causing his forehead to wrinkle slightly. "Jesus. No wonder they seemed to desperate. Shit, think about all that time they were alone in my office!" He pulled open his laptop. "I'll get Margie on it."
"Brandon," I said, interrupting his typing.
He looked up, big eyes full of concentration, but also compassion. "What, Red?"
"You don't have to do this," I said. I knew he wouldn't stop, but I needed him to know anyway. "Whatever is going on with them, you don't need to rescue Janette and Maurice. She's...they're...it's not like Bubbe and my dad, okay? They're not our responsibility."
"Oh, I know," Brandon said grimly. "I've seen them with you. And their own kids." His eyes flashed at the mention of Annabelle and Christoph.
The truth of what was really happening hit me: that once again, Janette had duped me into believing that she had something to of
fer besides her true colors. Her sudden appearance and generosity after nearly ten years of sporadic-at-best communication should have been more suspect. If they were truly in financial dire straits, then the lavish gifts of the piano and clothing were even more manipulative than I'd thought. I wasn't the target: Brandon was. I could only hope they had other options and would be able to take his rebuke at face value.
"We will make sure those kids are taken care of, though," Brandon said.
I couldn't help but smile. Brandon had fallen in love with my little brother and sister just as much as I had. I couldn't help but wonder how much of his protectiveness was linked to the way he had not been able to escape his own parents when he was the same age. His experiences as a young child fed his tendency to go a little overboard trying to please the people he loved.
"So this week." Brandon flipped through his jam-packed calendar on his phone. "Dinner on Wednesday? Otherwise I probably won't be available until Sunday." He twisted his lips ruefully. "Consequences of taking four days off."
I leaned my head happily on his broad shoulder. Things really were back to normal again––back to the place where he couldn't bear to wait a week to see me. I was thrilled; I felt the same.
"Just a quick one," I said. "But FYI, I'm probably going to go back to New York next weekend to check on Dad."
I could feel Brandon's frown.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," he said.
"Brandon, I can't just leave him down there. He's an addict in recovery, not to mention he's dealing with the stress of healing, unemployment, and being the potential target of a mobster."
I toyed with the pages of my book; when I said everything out loud, it made me even guiltier that I hadn't stayed in New York to begin with. Everything seemed to be calm and casual in Brooklyn, but that hadn't stopped me from checking on my dad on a daily basis since my last visit. The security team Brandon had installed was getting thoroughly annoyed with my constant requests for updates. But even though there had been no word from either Katie Corleone or Victor Messina, that didn't mean they weren't still circling. It just meant they were planning their next move.
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