The Dragon’s Brave Nanny (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #4)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

***KEITH***

K eith was as shocked by his own behavior as the people around them but couldn’t seem to stop himself from acting like a huge jerk. Everything had been such a mess since the night that Melissa had shown up at his door. He’d become a father instantly, and now, he was attracted to the one person he shouldn’t be. It was no wonder anger was his first defense against this latest assault to his senses. He was overwhelmed and drowning.

Conscious that they were being watched and not with amusement, he helped Stella get the baby and all the gear past the boarding desk, forcing himself to smile at everyone like his entire life wasn’t crumbling around him. After they found their seats, he graciously offered Stella the window, then buckled the car seat in and helped her get Jordan settled. The baby was content to watch the activity around him for a few minutes, but then he started to fuss, and he couldn’t suppress a groan, knowing what was coming next.

“Hey, mister, what’s all this fussing about?” Stella asked the baby, then looked over at him. “Do you think he’s hungry? ”

He looked down at the baby. “How would I know?” he said. “Maybe you should ask him yourself.”

“Or maybe you could tell me when you fed him last,” she said with a sigh. “Could you just try to work with a little bit here?”

“Oh, yeah, well……” he looked at his watch. “I guess it has been a while since we ate.”

“So, we’re going to go for hungry this time,” Stella said, poking the baby in the stomach and making him laugh. “What would you like to eat, young man? I hope your dad packed you some food.”

“I’m not a total idiot,” he said. “There are bottles in the diaper bag. He’s been going through six or seven a day. The kid eats like a horse.”

Stella looked up at him, a look of surprise on her face, then back down at the baby. “That’s because he should be eating real food, not just milk,” she said, a note of judgment in her voice he didn’t like. “At this age, he should be eating a wide variety of foods. Most grocery stores have entire aisles dedicated to baby food, and the age is printed right on the jar.”

He knew all about the baby food at the grocery store, he’d stood in front of the shelves for ten minutes, picking up jars and putting them back down, completely paralyzed by indecision, then finally just walked away defeated. Unable to admit that he’d been beaten by the baby food aisle, he ignored her, pulled a bottle out of the diaper bag, handed it over, and then got his phone out of his pocket.

“We’ll find a store when we get to Bermuda,” he finally said. “If the kid needs baby food, we’ll get him some, end of discussion. I have some work to do. It would be nice if you could keep him quiet.”

Stella gave him a dirty look but turned her attention to Jordan. “Your daddy is a bit of a grump, isn’t he?” she asked the baby. “We’ll just ignore him, that’s what we’ll do.”

The baby was already slurping from the bottle like he was starving, and he felt a pang of guilt that he hadn’t been feeding his son right. He pushed it away immediately, telling himself he’d been doing his best. It’s not like he’d starved the kid, it wasn’t his fault he didn’t know what he was doing. Considering he’d been thrust into the role of parent without warning, he wasn’t really doing that bad, and he wasn’t going to feel guilty for making one little mistake.

To his relief, the baby fell asleep as soon as the bottle was drained and didn’t stir when the plane took off from the airport, leaving him free to pull the plans he’d put together for Max out of his briefcase. Stella gave him a look he couldn’t read, pulled a book out of her bag, and settled down in her seat without a word, but he could feel the judgment radiating off of her.

Ignoring it, he opened the plans, and for the rest of the flight, he was lost in the little community he’d created specifically with the island in mind. This job was a big jump for him and the little contracting company he’d built, but if he got it right, it was just the thing he needed to finally expand the business and start making a difference in the world. The making a difference in the world part wasn’t as important to him as expanding the business, but it was clear that the world was changing, becoming more conscious of the damage humans were doing to the planet, and he was going to capitalize on that movement.

The job on Heart of the Ocean was the first step, and he wanted to get it right. The requirements to build on the island were tough with not a bit of wiggle room, but looking at the plans, he felt a thrill of excitement at what he’d managed to create. He just hoped that Max liked it as much as he did and didn’t want to make very many changes. He was anxious to get started building. It was a dream job in a dream location, the chance of a lifetime, and he wasn’t going to waste it. He was going to seize the opportunity and make all of his dreams come true.

***Stella***

Stella followed Keith out of the airplane, the smell of humid salty air filling her lungs, and she felt a surge of excitement. “Do you smell that?” she asked Jordan, smiling at him. “That’s the ocean. We’re going to have so much fun, we’ll build sandcastles and splash in the water.”

Keith just grunted, a scowl on his face as he waited while she strapped the baby into the stroller. “We’re supposed to be at the marina in half an hour,” he finally said, tapping his toes. “Can’t you hurry up?”

“Are they going to leave without us?” she asked, stepping behind the stroller and walking past him. “I thought this island belonged to your friend or something.”

“It does, but we’re supposed to be there……” he started, then let out a sigh. “Look, I like to be where I'm supposed to be when I’m supposed to be there. My customers expect it, and my employees deserve it.”

“Oh, I see,” she said, then shook her head. “I don’t know what your story is, but having kids has a way of derailing even the best-laid plans. You might want to relax a little, and allow extra time to get where you’re going when Jordan is with you.”

“I don’t need a lecture from you. Just do your job, and we’ll get along fine,” Keith said, pushing past her and striding down the terminal toward baggage claim. “And I’ll lead the way. You’ll probably get us lost; women have no sense of direction.”

She walked behind him, fuming but reminding herself that she needed the job, and managed to calm herself enough to put a smile on her face for Jordan’s sake. They picked up their bags in silence, loaded everything up on a cart, and headed outside to find the shuttle that would take them to the marina. Just as they made it to the sidewalk, Keith’s phone began to ring, and he paused to answer it. A frown appeared on his face as he listened to the caller.

When he hung up, he looked up and down the sidewalk at the signs for the shuttles, then took off in the opposite direction, not even bothering to say a word to her, and she had to suppress another wave of anger and annoyance. Hurrying to catch up, she waited a few minutes for Keith to explain what they were doing, but he just stood tapping his toe on the sidewalk, an unhappy look on his face.

When it was clear he wasn’t going to share, she took a deep breath to steady herself. “What are we doing?” she asked, keeping her voice calm. “I thought we were going to the marina.”

“Plans change,” he said. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. Just take care of the baby, and I’ll worry about where we’re going.”

She stared at him, her mouth hanging open in shock for a second, but then the anger took over. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is, but this is clearly not going to work,” she said, her voice shaking with fury. “You’re a fool if you think I’m just going to follow you blindly wherever you go. I don’t know you. You could be up to something sketchy, and you clearly don’t care about the baby. I’m beginning to think this job isn’t on the up and up. I’m giving you five seconds to explain, and then I’m turning around and taking a plane back home. Your time starts now.”

Keith glared at her for a second. “You wouldn’t dare,” he growled. “We have a signed contract; you can’t just walk away. I’ll sue you and the placement agency. ”

“You could try, but you’d lose,” she said, glaring back at him. “You should have looked at that contract a little closer, there’s a little thing called the safety clause in it. I believe it says something like if I don’t feel safe with you at any time I can walk away from the job, and I’m pretty sure refusing to tell me where we’re going is a good reason to invoke that clause. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you were intentionally trying to make me mad or something. Now, what’s it going to be? Tell me where we’re going, or I’m out of here.”

“Women should be heard, not seen,” Keith muttered under his breath. “I don’t have time for this.”

“Okay, then, that’s my answer, I guess,” she said, turning and heading back toward the terminal. “I’ve had all of your misogynistic attitudes I can take. Good luck with the baby, do your best not to kill him.”

It took a few seconds before Keith came running up to her, pushing the stroller. “Wait, I’m sorry, I’m just in a rotten mood today,” he said. “Don’t go, Jordan needs you; I have no idea what I’m doing, and he hates me.”

She stopped, turned around to face him, and put her hands on her hips, then waited. “There’s a storm out in the ocean a few miles from the island. Max wants us to stay in a hotel for the night,” he said. “The boat will pick us up in the morning when the weather clears.”

“That’s it?” she asked. “That’s what you didn’t want to tell me? What’s wrong with you?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me, I just didn’t think I had to explain myself to an employee,” he said, his voice full of arrogance. “Last I checked, you work for me.”

“If that’s how you treat all your employees, I’m surprised you have any,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ll stay, but we’d better get a few things straight right now. I may work for you, but I’m a human being who deserves to be treated with respect. I’m not going to just follow you blindly, so if something changes, I want to know. I’m here to take care of Jordan, but I’m going to take care of myself as well, I’m not your property. You don’t own me, so stop acting like you do.”

She expected Keith to fire back at her, but he stood there, shocked for a second. “You’re right, I behaved like an idiot,” he finally said. “I’m sorry. Maybe we can start over.”

“Fine, but don’t push me,” she said, turning around. “I don’t make idle threats.”