Discovering Daisy (Little Star Cruises #2)

Chapter Eleven

It was the following day when the Little Star docked on a small island just south of Cuba.

Palm trees swayed gently in the warm breeze. The white sand looked as pure as freshly fallen snow. The scents of flowers and fruit mixed with the ocean’s aroma and filled the air.

“Is this paradise?” Daisy asked.

She was holding Daddy’s hand, having just left the ship, and her mind could barely take in all she was seeing. It was almost overwhelmingly beautiful. It was certainly a far cry from the group foster home she’d grown up in. With its cinderblock walls and high chain link fence that made it resemble a prison, that home couldn’t be any more different than this tropical heaven.

“Sure looks like paradise,” Wyatt said. “It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong. But I think paradise might be my farm.”

She squeezed his hand tighter. “I can’t wait to see it.” She then sucked in her bottom lip and thought a moment before adding, “That is, if you want to take me there.”

He stopped walking and turned to face her. There, standing under a towering palm, he stroked her cheek. “Honey, this isn’t just a cruise week fling for me. I’m your Daddy now, baby. Forever.”

She smiled, her eyes twinkling, as she said, “Forever and ever?”

He chuckled. “Yes, love. Forever and ever.”

He kissed her forehead and then lips. After giving her a tight hug, he took her hand again and they started walking, “Of course, I don’t want you to miss out on your dream. You worked hard to open up your own shop. And it was a big honor that Captain Reagan asked you to bring your creations to the Little Star.”

“It’s a dream come true,” she said. “I can’t imagine living on the Little Star. But I can’t imagine living without you, either.”

“Well, what if we did both?”

“What do you mean?”

They walked past a tiki hut that had three sides lowered, forming bar tops. Stools were placed around them, and patrons were getting drinks from the smiling bartender who stood inside.

They kept walking. A group of Littles ran past them, yelling about all the fun they were going to have, laughing as they zoomed farther onto the island, their bare feet kicking up sand in their wake.

“What if we spent some time on the Little Star so you could operate your shop, and then we went back to my farm and you opened a shop there? You could have two locations,” Wyatt suggested. “Like a franchise. I’m sure Captain Reagan could find someone to work the ship’s location. But we could come for a cruise every couple of months, and you could check on things. It might be the best of both worlds.” He lifted her hand to his lips, kissed it, and then added, “But if you want to live on the ship, baby girl, I’d give up the farm for you. I think paradise is wherever you’re at.”

Butterflies danced in her stomach. It took her a moment to form her words. She finally said, “Wyatt, I want to go to the farm. I kind of like your idea of my shop having two locations. And we would still come on the ship. But…I want to build something with you. I want to see what the farm becomes. Besides, with all the Littles flocking to it, you’re going to need toys for them!”

He nodded. “And lucky for me, I’ll just happened to be married to an expert toymaker.”

She giggled. “Married!”

He kissed her hand again. “I said this is forever. We’ll need to get hitched eventually, darlin’.”

His southern drawl came through strong when he said it. She laughed.

“You know, when the time comes, this island would make a perfect wedding spot.” She stopped and pointed back toward the shoreline. “Right there would do nicely. I can just see it all set up now. A gazebo. Tiki torches. Some chairs for our friends from the Little Star to sit in as they watch.”

“Hmm. You never know, baby girl,” he said. “You just never know.”

***

Wyatt walked Daisy to where she was meeting up with Ella, Levi, and Nelly.

The other Littles waved excitedly when they saw Daisy approach.

“Isn’t this place wonderful?” Nelly asked.

“Sure is!” Daisy said.

“You should’ve been here when they had the go-karts running,” Levi said. “The track went right up to the ocean. It was amazing!”

“What happened to them?” Daisy said.

“They, uh, shut down after a naughty Little…well, did something naughty,” Ella said. She winced and bashfully offered, “It was me.” A moment passed before she said, this time with a smile, “But they’re going to reopen them once they install guardrails! It’ll be fun.”

Daisy smirked. She imagined whatever had happened had earned Little Ella quite a spanking.

Yikes!

“Well, what are you all going to do?” Wyatt asked.

“We’re going to play on the treehouse,” Levi said. “It’s massive and built just for Littles.”

“It’s more like a tree complex ,” Nelly said. “Like something right out of Swiss Family Robinson. ”

“Well, you all be careful,” Wyatt said. “Daisy, honey, I’m going to talk to some of the other Bigs. You stay with your friends. No wandering off by yourself. And meet me back at that bar in exactly one hour. Look at your phone.”

She did so.

“What time is it?”

“Two, sir.”

“We meet at three o’clock, then. Go on. Have fun.” He playfully swatted her diapered bottom as she scurried away with her friends.

He watched her with a smile.

Damn. His cutie was too adorable.

***

The Littles climbed up the first tower of the expansive treehouse complex.

“How cool is this?” Daisy said, marveling at the structure.

“It reminds me of that big treehouse at Disney World. Only this is better,” Levi said.

“I’ve never been to Disney World,” Daisy said.

“Maybe your Daddy can take you,” Levi said.

Daisy liked the sound of that. It wouldn’t be a very long drive from the farm in Georgia.

She continued her climb with the others, but as she neared the top, she couldn’t shake the suspicion that they were being watched.

She stopped walking and took a look around.

Halfway up a wooden staircase, Ella stopped and looked back down. “What’s wrong?”

“Are we the only ones on this treehouse?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Ella said. “There might be someone up top. Or below us that we can’t see. But I haven’t spotted anyone else yet.”

Levi nodded. “Same. I think we have it all to ourselves.”

“It’s like our own personal clubhouse,” Nelly said with a giggle.

Daisy looked around some more. That uneasy feeling was growing. It was as if she knew eyes were boring into her. She checked behind her. A waist-high wooden railing ran the length of the platform, boxing it in to reduce the risk of falling. She walked toward the back and glanced through the trees. She couldn’t see much as it was heavily forested.

She peered through the green leaves. She gasped, pushing off the railing and staggering backwards.

“There’s a man in there!”

“What?” Ella, Nelly, and Levi said in unison.

Ella started to run down but Levi gently grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Let’s go up. There’s a way off.” He yelled past her. “Come on, Daisy!”

Even as they ran, Daisy heard what sounded like the clicking of a camera. Was the man taking pictures of her and her friends? The ship had professional photographers. They captured special moments and sold them to passengers. But this was different! The man had paint on his face, green and black, like camouflage. He was trying to blend in. He hadn’t wanted the Littles to know he was watching.

They reached the fourth level. The very top. They were towering over the island with an amazing panoramic view that showed lush green grass, stately palms, colorful flowers, and other plants that eventually gave way to beautiful blue ocean.

“I thought you said we could get down!” Daisy said.

“We can,” Levi said. “Strap in.”

That’s when Daisy realized there were zip lines that ran to the ground.

She put on a provided helmet and then hurried into the harness. The others did the same. Thankfully, there were five lines running parallel to each other, so they each had their own with one to spare.

“Let me help,” Levi said, hooking Daisy’s harness to the galvanized aircraft cable that ran at an angle from the top of the treehouse complex to the ground. “Just push off whenever you’re ready.”

She gave the thumbs up. Ella and Nelly did, too.

“Let’s go then!” Levi said.

They pushed off at the same time, yelling as they swooshed over the island and down toward the ground. Had they not been fleeing a peeping Tom, the experience would have been even more fun. And somewhat peaceful.

Daisy’s feet tapped the ground and she started working them, as if walking briskly, coming in for a nice, smooth, controlled landing.

She was unfastened and out of her harness in a matter of seconds. “I’m going to get my Daddy!”

Her friends followed her.

***

As it turned out, Wyatt had been enjoying a rum punch with Captain Reagan and the other Bigs.

“Daddy!” Daisy had yelled, stopping before him, panting her words as her lungs fought hard to suck in precious oxygen. “There was a man in the treehouse! Hiding in the trees and taking pictures of us!”

That had been all Wyatt needed to hear.

Now, he was barreling across that island, heading toward that treehouse. The island was small. There weren’t very many places this guy could hide. Even if he’d managed to climb down the tree by now, he couldn’t get too far. He wouldn’t get away.

Wyatt would make sure of that.

Captain Reagan and the others followed after him, but they were no match for Wyatt’ speed, and he wasn’t slowing down to wait.

He arrived at the treehouse but went to the side, bypassing the stairs. He had a hunch that the mysterious watcher would be coming down the back way. Sure enough, that turned out to be the case. The guy was finishing his shimmy down the tree when Wyatt reached for him.

The man must have sensed it, because he ducked and moved out of the way. Wyatt’s momentum caused him to hit the tree. The guy took off.

The small collision hadn’t done much to slow Wyatt down and he easily gave chase.

They ran deeper into the island, the opposite direction of the bar and the docked Little Star ship.

As small as the area was, it didn’t take them long to hit the ocean.

Wyatt pumped his legs fiercely, gained some ground, and then lunged for the fleeing suspect. He wrapped him in a diving tackle. The man fell hard onto the sand with Wyatt on top of him.

“Oomph,” or a sound like that, filled the beach as the air left the man’s chest.

Wyatt got off the guy and stood. The man tried to, as well, but was having too hard a time. Finally, he managed to stand up and swung the camera around in a fit of desperate rage, now clearly in survival mode and willing to do whatever just to get away.

Even with the paint on his face, Wyatt recognized him.

Evan.

Rage filled Wyatt, causing time to slow down. He saw the camera coming with clarity, stepped aside, and easily dodged the blow. He then swung his own fist, stepping into a right hook, and putting a lot of power behind it.

It connected to Evan’s jaw with a painful crunch.

The man went down hard in the sand. He was out cold.

***

It was forty minutes later when the mess was finally straightened out.

“So that guy is with a website?” Daisy asked, once the island’s small police force had carted Evan away.

“Yes, honey,” her Daddy explained. “Turns out, it’s a site that features pictures of women in diapers and dressed as Littles.” He smiled. “I’m all for such a thing. As long as it’s consensual. But that’s the thing—he saw you and knew you’d be perfect for the site. When he couldn’t get close to you, he decided to get the photos he wanted any way possible.”

“So he didn’t really want to date me, huh?” Daisy said. “He wanted to recruit me.”

“That’s right,” Captain Reagan said. “And I feel partly responsible for this. As the captain of the Little Star, it’s my job to keep my passengers and crew safe. I’m sorry, Daisy.”

“Thank you, sir, but this isn’t your fault,” Daisy said.

“She’s right,” Wyatt said. “That guy went through the vetting process the same as every other passenger. He passed the background check. My guess is he just thought he’d come on the cruise, recruit models, and make some money.” He shook his head. “He’s lucky I only punched him once.”

Reagan smiled. “Well, his troubles aren’t over. You know, had he taken those pics on the ship, he would have been arrested and housed onboard until we returned to Florida, where he would have been handed over to state authorities. Here, though…well, he committed the crime on this island. He’s now entangled in their justice system. He’ll be treated fairly. But it’ll be some time before he gets to go back to the U.S.”

“You know,” Wyatt said, “we have a word for guys like him back in Georgia.”

“What’s that?” the captain asked.

“Dumbass,” Wyatt said.

The group laughed.

“Well,” Captain Reagan said as he looked at the Littles, “you all still have a couple of hours before we set sail again. Why don’t you all go play. And this time, you don’t have to worry about that creep.”

The Littles cheered.

Before she ran off to join the others, Daisy hugged Daddy one more time. “I trusted my gut. Just like you told me to.”

“I’m proud of you, baby girl.”

They kissed.

She stood there, tangled in his arms, resting her head on his chest as she looked out over the ocean, listening to the waves lap at the shore.

“You know,” she said, “I was wrong earlier. This is actually the perfect spot for a wedding. Right here.”

“Hmm,” Wyatt said. “You never know, baby girl…”