by Natalie Ann
Then he’d gotten pissed and she knew beyond a doubt she made the right decision because that scary man that hit her that night looked like he wanted to do it right there in front of witnesses. The look in his eyes…she’d never forget how cold they were.
A security guard was walking around and she flagged him over and asked him to escort Rod off the campus, that he was bothering her.
She knew it wouldn’t happen, that Rod walked away seething. But it got written on record that he was there and she asked for help.
He came back two more times trying different approaches, and the school agreed to move her to a more secure area on campus, letting her finish up her classes in private. Her plane ticket had been paid for by her parents to return, but she’d been able to move the date up, and the minute her last final was done, she’d gotten the hell out of there and put it behind her.
Or so she thought.
Now she had to wonder what this all meant and if she should tell Mac or not.
And by the end of the night, she calmed herself down and said that letter was no threat. It was just Rod wanting what he didn’t or couldn’t have. He’d been like a selfish child that couldn’t get the pony he wanted. She’d heard his friends make comments to that in passing, even his mother.
She was in America right now. She had no clue where he was and didn’t care. He had no pull on this island. Hell, she was dating the chief of police on an island that was founded by his ancestors. If anyone had some kind of pull it was Mac.
Which was all the more reason she was going to keep this to herself for now.
22
Walks of Life
“Sidney, thank God you aren’t running late tonight.”
“Amanda, what are you doing up this late?” she asked.
Work had been busy and the letter from Rod had been flushed from her mind like the result of gas station sushi eaten for dinner. The last thing she expected was to come home and find Amanda up past midnight pacing around the house, wearing a hole in the floor.
“Kayla’s water broke about thirty minutes ago. They are flying to Plymouth now.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because I just got the call ten minutes ago myself. Kayla called while Hunter was driving them to get on Egan’s chopper. I could hear Hunter cursing in the background that he knew they should have just left the island this week and waited the birth out like he planned and not be stuck here.”
Sidney smiled at Amanda’s grin. “Hunter is always so calm. How was Kayla?”
“She was trying to relax him, saying they had plenty of time. Hunter wanted Egan to land the chopper on the roof of the Retreat, but by the time Egan drove to the office and flew to the Retreat, Hunter could just meet him. She thought she just had gas pains earlier in the day but realized they might have been contractions. They were still pretty far apart.”
“She would have been fine on the island if she had to give birth,” Sidney said.
The island had a small hospital. More like an urgent care on steroids. It was there for emergencies, outpatient surgeries, tests and procedures and births for those that stayed on the island. It had several beds, but not a huge amount of wards. Many would rather go off island to give birth, but of course it wasn’t always planned and the hospital wasn’t equipped if there were any emergencies with the child or mother.
Hunter wasn’t taking any chances and knew his cousin Ava, who was Kayla’s doctor, delivered in Plymouth, not on the island. She may be in the clinic one day a week for appointments, but she didn’t go to the hospital unless there was an emergency delivery while she was here.
“And you know Hunter wants the best care possible. It’s probably a good thing that Kayla didn’t tell him about me or he might have whisked her off the island weeks ago.”
Sidney moved forward and put her hand on Amanda’s. “It’s going to be just fine and you know it. But we are stuck here until the first ferry.”
“We are. But Drew said Egan would come back and get us if we wanted to go there. I’m so tempted but really think it’s best to let Hunter’s family be there. His parents and Hailey left Boston once they got the call and are driving down.”
“I feel like Kayla is my sister and want to be there too. But why don’t we get some sleep—or try to—then I promise to be up in time for the first ferry. Do you have a lot of appointments tomorrow?”
“One in the morning, but she’s a regular and I’m going to text her and see if I can reschedule. With any luck we’ll know how close Kayla is and how the day will go for me to figure out my afternoon appointments.”
“I’d hate to call in on a Friday if I don’t have to,” she said. “Butch isn’t always happy about that, but I will if I think I’ll be stuck there or late.”
“We’d be back before the last ferry anyway,” Amanda said. “Let’s get some sleep and see how it is in the morning.”
She went upstairs, brushed her teeth and got into a tank top and shorts, then climbed into bed. Even knowing she had to get up early, she was still too wound up to sleep, so she did what she said she was going to do before she found out one of her best friends was in labor. She grabbed her printed sheet and some colored pencils and decided to lose herself in her favorite childhood activity.
She found within fifteen minutes she was relaxed and her eyes were drooping. When she could barely stay within the lines, she put it all away and shut the light off after setting her alarm to get up.
The next thing she knew it was morning and she was stumbling down the hall to shower. She’d already seen the light on downstairs and heard some noise in the kitchen.
“Did you get any sleep at all?” she asked Amanda when she walked in. The coffee was made and she grabbed a mug and poured it.
“A few hours. I texted Hailey already to get an update and she said the contractions are pretty close now. Kayla might even have the baby before we can get there.”
The first ferry would leave at seven, forty minutes from now. They were only about ten minutes away from the docks and would probably leave the house within ten minutes to board with their car for the forty-minute ferry ride.
“That’s fast, right? Don’t they normally say the first child could take a long time?”
“Not everyone is the same. But yeah, if her water broke around eleven thirty, she’s looking at an eight- to nine-hour labor. Hailey said Kayla was holding up better than Hunter.”
“That’s so sweet. She’s tough.”
“She is. I know they are both nervous and scared. Unsure, but I think they’re going to be great parents.”
“Me too,” she said. “And do you mind if I steal two of your cookies to get food in my stomach? Sugar and caffeine are a must.”
Amanda took Sidney’s coffee out of her hand. “Go get your boots on and whatever you need. I’ll put this in a travel mug and put together some snacks for us to eat on the ferry ride over. Something better than cookies.”
Sidney laughed. “There is nothing better than your cookies, but I suppose you are going to counter it with fruit?”
“Two bananas, one for each of us, then we can eat whatever else we want with it.”
“Yes, Mom,” she said and left the room to do what she was told.
The minute they rushed into the maternity ward they were greeted with huge smiles. “Did she have the baby?” Amanda asked.
“She did. About twenty minutes ago,” Hunter’s sister, Hailey, said. “Dr. Ava Mills came out to say Kayla and the baby were both fine. Hunter was sitting in a chair staring at the wall like he’d seen a ghost. Once everyone is cleaned up we can see my new nephew.”
“Do we know a name yet?” Sidney asked. Hunter and Kayla weren’t saying and it had been driving everyone nuts.
“Not yet. No clue what the big deal is unless they still can’t agree,” Nicole, Hunter’s mother, said.
Amanda and Sidney took a seat and waited. “I guess I’m kind of glad it worked out this way,” she said. “We would have
been useless sitting here and pacing like everyone else.”
“Tell me about it,” Hunter’s father, Charlie Bond, said. “But I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
Charlie hadn’t been a huge fan of Kayla’s when he found out she and Hunter were dating. He’d been even less excited when Kayla discovered she was pregnant. But everyone worked it out and got along great now.
“At least we should be back in time for your afternoon appointment,” Sidney said to Amanda.
“Yeah. And in time for you to go to work. I hate to cancel if I can avoid it and this is a new client. I would have though,” Amanda said.
“And Kayla would have been mad, you know that. But we don’t have to worry and we get to see Mommy and baby too.”
“I know, I’m so excited,” Amanda said and heard Hailey laughing next to her.
“You and me both,” Hailey said.
Hunter walked out a minute later with the baby in question in his arms. “Everyone want to come meet Benjamin Stephen Bond?”
“Oh,” Nicole said. “You named him after my father.”
“Both grandfathers,” Hunter said.
Sidney and Amanda stood back to let the new grandparents and aunt see the baby first, then they made their way closer.
“He’s so tiny,” Sidney said.
“Kayla won’t agree after pushing him out,” Hunter said. “All ten pounds two ounces of him.”
“Yikes,” Amanda said. “Poor girl.”
“She’s tired, but wants to see everyone. I told her you two were here and she started to complain that you had work and she didn’t want you to miss it.”
“And she says I’m the mother of the house,” Amanda said.
“Why don’t you two girls go see Kayla first,” Nicole said. “We’ll be occupied with the baby.”
Sidney looked at Amanda and nodded knowing they’d get to visit with the baby in time.
When they walked into Kayla’s room, she was propped up and drinking water. “I want food,” Kayla said. “They finally gave me water, but I’m starving. I feel like I’ve been working out for days straight.”
Amanda smiled. “I remember. You need your rest too.”
“I know,” Kayla said. “They are getting a private room ready and Hunter is staying here with me tonight. We thought we’d stay in Boston for a week or so at his parents’. You know, get a little help and support because we are terrified. But I told him we are adults and can handle this. I just want to be home in our bed and our place. We can figure it out.”
“You can and you’ll be fine,” Amanda said. “I’ll come help as much as I can so you aren’t overdoing it.”
“Nicole offered to come and stay a few nights and I think I might take her up on it. At least the first night we are home. She’s going to stay on the island and be close by too.”
“That’s great,” Sidney said. “I can’t wait to spoil baby Benjamin.”
“Ben,” Kayla said. “Hunter was really close to both his grandfathers. But Nicole’s father died when Hunter was a teen. They called him Ben, so he wanted to call our son that.”
“I think it’s a great name,” Sidney said. “Nice and strong. Ben Bond.”
“Yeah,” Kayla said. “The next in line for The Retreat. Only if he wants it.”
Sidney knew the story. The Retreat could only be handed down to a Bond, and a male Bond. But Hunter didn’t agree with it and wouldn’t hold it over his kid’s head when the time came.
“We all have to do what works for us,” she said.
“We do,” Kayla said. “The three of us work, right?”
“Yes,” Amanda said. “And we will be there for you too.”
Sidney looked at the three of them in the room, three women from different worlds and walks of life. Kayla, a foster kid. Amanda, from a higher middle class upbringing who left home after a falling out over her teenage pregnancy. Sidney, on her own after leaving home to escape the loss of her sister and the embarrassment she felt over what happened with an abusive relationship. Her parents were there for her. They loved her and they cared. But they had no clue.
And these three women found each other on Amore Island and then one by one they found a Bond man further strengthening their...bonds.
23
Always Want It
“So I hear the new addition to the Bond family looks just like a Bond,” Mac said to Sidney later that night at the bar.
“How did you find out? I mean who he looks like.” Sidney had texted him earlier this morning when she was in Plymouth to share the news. At first when he got the text and read, There’s a new Bond in town, he’d been stumped. Then he grinned and realized who she was talking about.
“My mother texted me. News like that travels fast in the family. I didn’t ask who told her, it didn’t matter. My guess is it all started with Nicole Bond, texting Janet or Helena Bond, then one of them contacting my mother.”
Though Nicole Bond wasn’t a sister-in-law to either Janet or Helena, Mac knew they were close. Helena and Janet both ran a lot of fundraising and charity events on the island as they lived here. Nicole not as much, since she lived in Boston now and was traveling more with Charlie semi-retired. But just as Hunter, Eli, Drew and he were close even though they weren’t first cousins, their mothers were all still close too.
“Amanda and I missed the birth by a short period of time, but we grabbed the first ferry off the island we could. I guess this is one of those times where being on the island makes you feel trapped.”
“Yet Hunter got off just fine,” he said, taking a sip of the beer she’d put down in front of him. It was close to ten now. He hadn’t planned on coming in at all but wanted to see her and try to convince her to come back to his place after. It seemed all they could ever do was fit this time in and he’d have to get used to it, he supposed.
“That’s because he called Egan and got a private flight,” she said. “Not many can afford that.”
“They can’t,” he agreed, “but Egan would do that for anyone in the family and not charge.”
“I know,” she said. “Amanda told me that Drew told her Egan extended the offer to come back and get her and me and fly us over, but Amanda declined. I’m kind of glad of it. I’ve never been in a chopper before.”
“No?” he said. “Maybe I’ll see if I can get us a tour and go on a date.”
“What?” she asked. “We don’t ever really get to do much together. I feel bad about that.”
“I could set it up if you want.”
“After I said I’ve never been in one and was glad that I didn’t have to? Hang on,” she said.
She was working and though the bar wasn’t that busy this time of night there were still orders that needed to be filled. The last thing he wanted to do was get her in trouble.
She came back a few minutes later. “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “I’m just here enjoying a beer and hoping I can convince you to come to my place after.”
“No convincing needed there,” she said. “I’d love to. I’ll just have to put my dirty clothes back on since I didn’t plan ahead.”
“Or we can wash what you’ve got on and you can run around my house naked while they get clean.”
Someone at the bar snorted when he said that and he realized that he might have been a little bit too loud. He wasn’t one for airing personal conversations out like this and it seemed he was doing it more and more lately.
Sidney looked at the guy who snorted and then said, “Hey, you do what you can.”
The man laughed and turned to Mac and winked. “I might have to try a line like that next time.”
He hadn’t realized it was a line and wasn’t going to contribute to this conversation anymore either.
Sidney went back to work and he finished nursing his beer.
When Sidney’s shift ended, he walked out with her, made sure she was in her car, then pulled out of the parking lot knowing she was following.
He parked in his g
arage, waited while she got out of her car and walked in the entrance with him, then hit the button to shut the door.
He barely got the light flicked on and Sidney had her arms around his neck, her mouth on his. “I’ve been thinking of this all day long. I’m so glad you came into the bar tonight. It’s like you read my mind.”
“I know we didn’t talk about getting together tonight,” he said. “I’m sure you’re tired on top of it since you were up so early and at the hospital.”
“Never too tired to spend time with you,” she said.
She was moving him toward the kitchen, her hand tugging him. “What are you doing?”
“Getting some water. I’m thirsty and I know you are going to wear me out. I need to hydrate. I just didn’t want to let you go while I did it.”
She filled a glass and chugged it. He put his hands on her hips and lifted her up and set her butt on the counter where it had been before when she was only wearing his shirt and teasing him and trying to make him late for work.
“Remember this?” he said, his mouth going to hers, his hand between her legs over her jeans.
“Yes, I do. Are you going to give it to me on the counter, Mac?”
“I am. If you want it.”
“I always want it. I’ll always want you,” she said, her hands going to his shirt and lifting it over his head, then tossing it on the floor, her fingers getting ready to attack the buttons on his jeans if he didn’t step back.
“Slow down.” He was still trying to get his bearings over her comment that she’d always want him. He knew it was just a figure of speech, but it still hit him hard.
“You always want to slow down and I always want you to move faster.”
“Somehow we’ve got to find a happy medium. Maybe meet in the middle?” he asked.
“I know where I want you to meet me.”
She lifted her shirt over her head, his hands going for the clasp on her bra and sending it flying in the room somewhere. He didn’t care at the moment. All he cared about was getting his hands and mouth on her naked skin, touching and tasting as much of her as he could.