by Kira Blakely
I lay there in a stupor. The only sound was the whop, whop of the overhead ceiling fan and the call of the waves, luring me into their blue arms. I rolled over and went to sleep.
* * *
I awakened the next morning to a gentle tapping on my door. “Come in?”
There were two grinning faces in the opening. Meghan was peering over Mrs. Sims’ shoulder as she stood, awaiting my invitation to come in while holding a tray full of breakfast.
“I hope you don’t care,” piped up Meghan. “I asked Mrs. Sims to put both our breakfasts on a tray and bring them in to your room. I thought we might eat together. Uncle Brayden already left for work earlier this morning and Captain Bob is back and waiting for us.”
“Waiting for us?”
“Uncle Brayden said we, that is you and I, were going shopping and you’re getting a new wardrobe. Gosh, don’t tell me that’s not true because I was really looking forward to it.”
I smiled. “Of course, we can go shopping. Anyway, you might need a few things, too, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes!”
Mrs. Sims was smiling and setting up our breakfast on a small table by the window. Meghan pulled up two high-back wicker chairs and I grabbed for my brush in my purse before joining her. There was a bowl of fresh fruit: mango, banana, peaches, oranges, grapes and kiwi. Each piece was decoratively cut and looked absolutely delicious! I lifted a silver lid off a platter and found a selection of small pieces of sweet ham tinged with brown sugar at the edges, link sausage and bacon. Another platter revealed scrambled eggs and a bowl with white linen wrapped within it held fresh biscuits. I could smell the coffee in the small decanter set before my plate and tasted a little orange juice before digging in to the fruit. “Do you always eat like this?” I asked.
“Is there something else you’d rather have?” Mrs. Sims asked in a quiet but cheerful voice.
“Just not used to so much. It looks delicious, Mrs. Sims. I’m sure it’s perfect.”
Mrs. Sims nodded, and I could see she was pleased. She left us to chat.
“So, Meghan, where do you suggest we start today?”
“Well, hmmm… Uncle Brayden said there’s a lady who is supposed to shop for you. We’re meeting her at Utopia and then going in to Miami Beach. I think we’re going to start at the Design District and then do the Aventura Mall. There are lots of little shops, and I’ll just bet that lady knows them all. Uncle Brayden always does things with the best. We’re sort of lucky to live with him—at least I am.”
“I think you’re right. We are both lucky to live with him. So, you like shopping, I take it?”
Meghan nodded, munching her fruit. “Uncle Brayden says I have Paris in my blood. He’s going to take me shopping there for my sixteenth birthday and maybe, when I get old enough for college, he’s going to get me into one there and I can learn design. I love clothes.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fashion was never one of my strengths, I’m afraid. I’m good as long as I’m comfortable.”
“That’s the difference between good design and just designers showing off,” she said with an air of knowledge. “The best design is very comfortable to wear.”
“I’m really glad to be having you along, Meghan. I think you know what you’re talking about.”
“I’d better,” she answered, rolling her eyes. “If I’m going to make my living doing it, I’d better know what I’m talking about, right?”
I laughed and nodded. “You say Captain Bob is waiting for us?” I looked at the small clock on the nightstand. “What time is he expecting us?”
“Oh, he’ll just wait. It’s sort of his job to wait. Harper, have you ever ridden in a taxi? That looks so exciting to me!”
I grinned. “Yes, I’ve ridden in a few in my life, and I can promise you that having your own boat and captain waiting for you is even better than an old taxi.”
Meghan frowned. “I think people always want to have what they don’t already have.”
“I think you’re right,” I agreed. “Tell you what. If you’re finished, why don’t you give me fifteen minutes to get ready and I’ll meet you at the dock?”
She nodded, snatched another biscuit from the linen folds and scampered out of the room. I hit the shower, decided on a pair of casual khaki slacks and a t-shirt. I put on my walking shoes. Dressy gowns or not, I wanted to be comfortable looking for them.
Captain Bob saluted as he welcomed me aboard. Meghan was already ensconced in a swivel side chair, a life preserver hugging her torso. “I’m really excited,” she told me, and I could have told that by the light in her beautiful green eyes.
When we made port at Utopia, I wanted to go inside and tell Brayden hello, but Meghan shook her head. “He told me when he left that he had a busy day planned. Might be better to wait until he comes home tonight. Besides, then you’ll have things to show him.”
I wondered at the feminine wiles already developed in this small minx of a girl. I had a feeling, Brayden or not, she would go a long way on her own.
“Aren’t you excited about your new car?” she asked, and I could tell she was desperate to show it to me. I was excited, but it felt extravagant for Brayden to have given me such a gift. I decided it was an advance on salary and if anything happened, I’d return it to him immediately. I still hadn’t brought myself to the point of being as casual about money as he had.
“I can hardly wait! Do you know which door it’s behind?”
She skipped to the door next to where I’d seen Brayden keep his own car. “This one!” She pointed repeatedly, and it was like being with a child at Christmas. Her enthusiasm was contagious and I was loving it. I pulled out the keyring Brayden had given me and selected the key that was smallest and didn’t look like an ignition key. I plugged it into the lock panel next to the garage door and turned it. Instantly, the door began to rise and there, with its grille facing me and a giant white bow with ribbon cascading from its roof, sat a baby blue Mercedes Benz convertible. I gasped.
“Do you love it? Do you just simply love it?” Meghan was dancing around in her excitement. “Get in and see if you fit!”
If I fit? I motioned her to the passenger door and I tapped the key fob to unlock its doors. I climbed in beneath the wheel and sat there, my mouth agape at the instrument panel before me. I’d never sat in a Mercedes before and while the cockpit of a plane has the ability to make a girl hard with desire for all of its buttons and switches, this baby belonged to me! I was beside myself with anticipation and I knew from its reputation that a Mercedes was known for more than its cockpit, so to speak. To answer Meghan’s earlier question, I most definitely did fit behind the wheel. The wheel was leather-bound and as I put the key into the ignition and turned it, the motor found its voice and I felt like I was sitting with the power of a rocket beneath me.
“Put the top down!” Meghan pleaded. I bent forward, searching the controls for the switch, but she’d beaten me to it. I heard a soft whir and the car top lifted and then folded into the trunk. She tapped the sound system and music surrounded us. I reached down and shifted the car into drive. I was right. The car drove like a dream and I fought the desire to press the gas pedal all the way to the floor.
“Where to?” I asked her and she pointed north. That seemed perfectly logical and off we went.
It turned out to be a wonderful day. We met with the personal shopper Brayden had engaged and sat on tufted powder-blue chairs as clothing options were paraded before us. The shopper, Margie, was professional and therefore exactly what Brayden had ordered. Her tastes were a galaxy away from mine, so while I tried to follow her lead, and did in a number of selections, I also followed my own heart and sense of style in others. I don’t think I’d ever had a poor sense of style so much as a poor pocketbook. That was no longer the issue.
Once we’d parted from Margie, we took in some trendier stores so Meghan could do a little shopping of her own. She was approaching that age when she was developing a sense of self, includ
ing personal style. It was all about self-expression and from what I could tell, she was well beyond her years.
“I think we need a mani/pedi,” Meghan suggested.
“Lead the way!”
As a teenager, girlfriends and I had given one another manicures, but I’d never had a salon pedicure before. Meghan had, and she seemed innately comfortable in the salon setting. Although she and I were separated by a generation, I discovered she was highly intelligent and mature for her age, and I genuinely enjoyed her company. She was fun; giving me a younger perspective. I think for her, I had a nice mix of youth that let us relate to one another, and yet enough age on my part to be an authority figure. I wondered which of us needed one another more.
“Tell me more about how you grew up,” she urged. I didn’t think she was ready to know more about the seedier aspects, so I touched lightly on who my parents and sister were and how I’d come to know Brayden.
“I’ll bet he was a real jerk in high school,” she commented, to my surprise.
“Meghan! Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Maybe because he can be a jerk once in a while now.”
“You shouldn’t talk about your uncle like that,” I chided her.
“I notice you didn’t deny it, though.”
What was I supposed to say to that? I decided on the least explosive and said, “Let’s get some ice cream!”
I could tell by the look in her eyes that she didn’t buy my subterfuge. “It doesn’t matter,” she summarized. “Sometimes it’s good to have a jerk on your side.”
I marveled at the wisdom in one so young. I also agreed.
Chapter 12
Brayden
I’d thought I was happy. I’d convinced myself that work was what I was meant for and to build resorts, all along the coast, was how I would spend my life. I was wrong, so very, very wrong.
My cell vibrated. I put away the image of Harper, naked and waiting for me in bed, and forced myself back to reality. “Yes?”
“We need you for a number of things. Could you stop by the front desk when you have time?” Gail asked.
“No problem,” I pretended and gave myself a few more moments of dreaming about Harper. Her green eyes were like dark whirlpools in the Atlantic; light and swirling at the surface but the deeper one got, the darker the color and the sense of inviting isolation. I was hard, too hard to make an appearance, so I pulled up a spreadsheet and forced myself to look at some numbers for diversion. We were doing very well; not much negative diversion there. I was about to close it out when something caught my eye. It was a figure in bright bold red, in our liquor purchasing column. How had I overlooked this the day before when I’d gone over last month’s stats? Well, it wasn’t really a question of how I’d missed it. That much was obvious. Recently, I’d been unable to think of anyone other than Harper and where she was or how I was going to involve her in my life. I swallowed hard and remembered that I had a business to take care of. I didn’t depend on Utopia for income. I had plenty to last me several lifetimes. I just didn’t like the idea of having holes in my boat. I wasn’t about to be called on the carpet by my own attorneys and auditors.
Snapping my head back to the present, I immediately left my office and headed to the front desk. Then, my bookkeeping department and I were going to have a little talk.
* * *
I could tell by the look on Gail’s face that she was dreading whatever she had to tell me. Steeling myself, I attempted a smile to give her confidence.
“Hi, boss.”
“Gail… so, what’s up?”
She inhaled deeply for courage. “Okay, first thing is the party from Switzerland is complaining that we don’t offer mineral baths. They’ve booked eight rooms for a month, so thought you might like to deal with them. Second, there seems to be some issue with liquor shipments and accounting keeps looking for you. Third, the heater is out in the pool and even though it’s still eighty-five degrees, some of the guests are claiming to be chilled. Last, the man who says he’s your brother is in the Cabana and has had too much to drink. He’s insulting guests and they’re leaving. I called security but they won’t touch him without your approval, since he’s your brother and all.”
Her nose was scrunched as if preparing for a bomb to explode. I switched into my ultimate efficiency mode and took it off her shoulders. Gail acted as more of a concierge than in guest booking. “Okay, see where you can find the nearest spa offering mineral baths and have the limo shuttle take our Swiss guests there for a visit on us. Please call maintenance on the pool and tell them I said I want it fixed yesterday, but in the meantime, post a small, but conspicuous sign out there that says we’re letting the natural elements maintain the pool temperatures for the short-term due to the seasonal heat. Call accounting and tell them I’m on my way in thirty minutes, to sit tight. Then call security and ask them to escort my brother to my office.”
She nodded and stepped back into the office to carry out my orders. I stopped by the tearoom to pick up two cups of strong coffee and went back to my office to wait on Collin. I didn’t have to wait long.
I made a mental note to get a secretary, or maybe move Gail to a desk area outside my office door as Collin unceremoniously barged in. The security escorts looked uncomfortable, but I nodded my thanks and they seemed grateful to leave.
Collin wasn’t alone. Harper’s sister, Stephanie, was hanging on his arm.
“So, brother, you finally decided to show up for work, have you?” Collin blustered, and Stephanie affixed a non-committal face. I wondered what she was after. I didn’t have to wait long.
“Collin, Stephanie, have a seat. Here, I’ve gotten you a cup of coffee,” I said, holding one out to Collin and then proffering the second to Stephanie, who shook her head.
“Don’t want coffee.” Collin’s headshake was slow and cockeyed, demonstrating just how badly he needed it. “Want money.”
He’d come straight to the point, and I cussed inwardly at myself for hoping it would be uncharacteristically something else.
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” I asked.
Collin looked at Stephanie and the two burst into laughter. I could feel myself flush as I realized their little double entendre. This was out of hand. I could argue with two drunks or hand over some cash and get rid of both of them. Pulling out my personal checkbook, I looked Collin straight in the eyes. “I hope you’re sober enough to understand what I’m about to say, brother dear, because I won’t repeat myself. I’m going to give you a check right now, and once a month for the next eleven months you’ll get one just like it. On that twelfth month, one year from today, you’re on your own. No more money from me, no more staying at Utopia except as a paying guest and starting today, this minute, do your drinking somewhere else. Leave my guests alone. You continue to harass my guests and the checks end immediately. I’m serious, Collin. This is it.”
“I’m serious, Collin,” he mimicked me in a feminine voice. “And just what are you planning to do to enforce that, little brother?” He was trying to bully me. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed that I’d grown up in the meantime.
I drew back the check I’d been holding out to him. “Okay, then we can stop it now.” I put my checkbook back into my inner pocket.
“I wouldn’t do that, bro,” he snarled, suddenly dead sober. Collin had always been able to snap out of a drunken state, valid or not, within an eyeblink.
“I gave you the rules.”
“Give me the damned check. Don’t want to hang out at this pansy-assed joint any more than I have to.” He snapped it from my fingers and looked toward Stephanie, pulling out the top of her tube top and looking down at her pancake tits. “Hmmm… Looks like Steph here and I might spend a little time in the room,” he commented, knowing fully well it would make my skin crawl. Housekeeping had already been placing subtle comments with Gail that they’d cleaned up non-stop parties and residual vomit from Collin’s room.
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br /> He rolled to his feet, pulling her with him and headed to the office door. Opening it, he turned back toward me. “By the way, bro… you’re laying them a little young these days, aren’t you?”
I was puzzled. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, just that I saw you gave Harper a pretty little convertible and she brought a young chickee with her to ride in it. The way I see it, you’ve got your dick in Harper and the young one is lickin’ your ass so you can get off.”
I froze. As I realized he was talking about Meghan, a cold, white sheet of absolute hatred descended over me. I couldn’t even think straight but luckily, I’d developed a poker face over the years at school and fell into that now. “Whatever,” I said casually and pulled out some paperwork from my drawer to divert the intense rage I was trying to submerge. There was no way Collin could learn about Meghan, or the fact that the two most important people in my life were living on a nearby island. I knew he didn’t know about that—he’d have added it to the stinger he served me.
Collin saw he’d missed the target so he pulled Stephanie’s top down to her waist, bent and sucked one of her meager tits. Smacking his lips loudly, he said, “C’mon, Stephie. Thank God I’ve got the better of the sisters.”
They stumbled out and I prayed Stephanie had the good sense to pull up her shirt before they got into the lobby. That didn’t measure up, however, to the seething anger and fear I was feeling. Collin was spying on me and now Harper, it appeared. If he’d been close enough, he would have seen how much Meghan resembled Cory and the worst thing imaginable would have become my daily nightmare. I immediately made arrangements to have Harper’s car garaged at a nearby facility that also had boat dock access. I had to protect Meghan.
I dealt with the details on my list, including the balance in the liquor order. Something was very wrong. Our supplier had cut us off due to lack of payment, which was completely unbelievable. The supplier was showing as having delivered more than twice the liquor we acknowledged receiving. Where had the rest gone? I authorized immediate payment to the supplier and assigned one of my bookkeepers to track down the missing shipments. I dreaded discovering the culprit. My employees were valued and loyal.