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

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

***KEITH***

K eith jumped off the boat, dock line in his hand and quickly tied the boat up, then waited while Montgomery cut the engines before throwing him the other rope. He was very aware of Max standing a few feet away with a worried frown on his face, but he ignored him, dreading the conversation they were going to have in only a few minutes. It had been wrong for him not to call Max and let him know that he wouldn’t be coming alone, but he’d been embarrassed and afraid his friend would postpone the project until he got his life straightened out, so he’d taken the coward’s way out.

Now he was going to pay the price, he thought. He just hoped his friend would understand once he knew the truth. “Montgomery told you, didn’t he?” he asked, remembering seeing the captain on the radio. “I know I should have given you a heads up, but well, it all happened so fast, I haven’t completely accepted it myself.”

Max looked over at the boat where Stella and Jordan were getting off, then shook his head. “It’s just so unlike you. I mean, where did you pick her up?” he asked. “I thought you were staying single until the business was booming. Now you’re involved with a woman, and she has a kid, talk about instant family.”

He stared at Max, realizing that he’d got it completely wrong. Then, he looked back at Stella and Jordan. “She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my nanny,” he said, looking back over at Max. “Jordan is my son. His mother dumped him on me three…no four days ago.”

To say that Max looked stunned was an understatement, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “I wonder if that’s what my face looked like when I found out?” he asked, all the tension and worry slowly draining away. “Now I’m almost glad I didn’t call. The look on your face is making me feel much better.”

“Your son…” Max sputtered. “How old is he?”

“He turned a year old a couple weeks ago,” he said. “He’s learning to walk and cutting his first tooth. I have no idea what I’m doing, but he’s my son, so here we are.”

Max shook his head as if to clear it. “Okay, I definitely wasn’t expecting this,” he said. “We’re going to have to make some different arrangements, I guess. Maybe you should introduce me. Your nanny looks like she’s going to cry.”

“Oh, don’t let her fool you, she’s tough as nails,” he said, a little smile on his face. “And it’s a good thing, I wasn’t very nice to her at first, but she really cares about Jordan, and she’s helping me figure out how to take care of him. It’s not as easy as it looks.”

“I still can’t believe you have a kid,” Max said, following him over to the boat. “Are you sure he’s yours?”

“He has my eyes,” he said. “And I had a DNA test done, he’s mine through and through.”

Max just looked at him and shook his head. “I want to hear how this happened later,” he said, then looked over at Stella and Jordan with a big smile on his face. “Hello, I’m Max, welcome to the island.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Stella said. “I’m sorry to show up unannounced, I hope it won’t be too much of a problem.”

“Of course not. There’s always room on the island for a few more,” Max said, then looked at Jordan. “Especially when one of them is like family.”

He slid over and took Jordan from Stella. “Jordan, this is your uncle Max,” he said. “Can you say hi?”

The baby gurgled, then reached for Max who took him like he was on fire, a shocked look on his face. “I’m not much of a baby person,” he said, staring down at Jordan. “But he is pretty cute, and you’re right, he does have your eyes.”

A rush of parental pride washed over him, the first time that had happened, and he was forced to breathe through it, tears stinging his eyes. “You might change your mind if you had to feed him or give him a bath,” he said, laughing to cover his emotions. “I ended up taking two showers last night.”

“It sounds like we have a lot to talk about,” Max said, laughing. “I can’t wait to hear all about how a baby got the best of you. Not very many people can claim to have done that. But first let’s get you settled. I think I’ll move you to the hilltop cabin. It doesn’t have the best view of the ocean, but it has two bedrooms.”

Stella let out a sigh of relief and they both turned to look at her. Her cheeks turned bright pink, and she looked panicked for a second. “Keith snores like a freight train,” she said. “I had to sleep with a pillow over my head all night.”

“I do not, that’s slander,” he said, but he was just as relieved not to be sharing a bedroom with her. “You were the one snoring all night. I’m surprised you didn’t wake the baby up. ”

“We sell earplugs in the giftshop,” Max said. “Maybe you both need a pair.”

They all laughed. “Come on, I’ll give you a quick tour, then we’ll go find your cabin,” Max said, then looked at the pile of luggage that was slowly piling up on the dock. “I’ll get someone to haul all of this up there for you.”

***Stella***

Stella took a deep breath of the salty air and looked around the little village tucked into the trees, feeling a bit like she’d just been dropped into paradise. “The island is beautiful, Max, a little paradise in the middle of the ocean,” she said. “I’m so lucky to get to spend two weeks here, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Max said. “We offer a lot of activities, but I’m not sure how many you’ll be able to do with the baby.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Jordan and I will make our own fun,” she said. “We’ll go to the beach, take hikes in the jungle, and I’ll enjoy lots of down time when he’s napping. You don’t have to worry about me, I know you and Keith will be busy working on the new project. It sounds very exciting.”

“Getting approval wasn’t easy. The government in Bermuda can be a little difficult to deal with,” he said, then looked over at Keith. “By the way, there were a few more restrictions the ministry wanted before they approved the project. We can meet tomorrow at the site and go over them.”

“More restrictions,” Keith groaned. “I thought we were finished with the planning stage. This is going to hold up construction. I was hoping to get started next week.”

Max started laughing, “Keith, I’ve got bad news for you then, you’re on island time now. Nothing around here gets done in a hurry,” he said. “Besides, I didn’t invite you here just to work, I wanted you to enjoy the island. We’ll put together a construction schedule while you’re here. It will take time to get the supplies we need and a crew over here, which could take a couple of weeks. I’ll get started once we finalize the plans, but it’s going to take time.”

She could see the disappointment on Keith’s face and felt bad for him. He was putting all his energy into the expansion. Waiting was going to kill him. “I guess if that’s the way it is, I’ll have to be patient,” he said. “I have a lot riding on this, Max. We have to get it right.”

“Don’t worry, Keith, this project is just as important to me as it is to you,” Max said. “But for the rest of the day I want you to relax. Let’s go up to the village and have some lunch, then I’ll give you the grand tour.”

Stella tucked the last of her new clothes into the dresser and then looked over at the pile of rejected things on the bed, relieved not to have to wear them anymore. After shoving them back into the suitcase and stuffing it up on the top shelf of the closet, she looked into the closet, pleased with what she saw. Her wardrobe was very limited, but she’d chosen carefully, and she felt more like herself out of the ill-fitting clothes. She just wished she’d had the forethought to stop at a drug store for nail polish, razors, and a few other things.

Deciding that she and Jordan would head back to the village to check out the stores as soon as he got up from his nap, she left her bedroom and wandered onto the deck surrounding the cabin. The sound of birds calling to each other filled the air, and she looked around in the trees spotting the brightly colored creatures, then sank into a rocking chair with a sigh. Perched up in the trees, the cabin had a great view of the wildlife that made its home high off the ground and made the awkward climb up the ladder to the front door worth it.

Rocking back and forth, she studied the lines of the cabin, changing a few things in her mind, adding a set of retracting steps, twisting the cabin on its foundation to improve the flow, and realized with a jolt that she missed her job. Design had always been in her blood, but she hadn’t been like most little girls, dressing up their dolls, doing their hair, and dreaming of winning beauty pageants with her own creations. She was the little girl who played with Legos and blocks, excelled at math and science and loved nothing more than to spend an entire Saturday building a bridge out of toothpicks just for fun.

She loved nothing more than taking a client’s vision and making it come alive on paper or the satisfaction of seeing her hard work become something real, a part of the world around her. A wave of sorrow washed over her when she realized that she might never be able to use her skills and vision ever again, that all her years of hard work might be wasted. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the negative thoughts aside, telling herself that it would all work out, the man would be caught, put in jail, and that would be the end of it.

Getting to her feet, she went back into the cabin and did a quick search of the tiny kitchen, making a list of the few things that were missing, then put together a snack for the baby. Staying busy was her only defense against the dark thoughts when they came upon her. It kept the fear and frustration at bay, and allowed her to forget for just a while that she was a wanted woman.

The snack ready, she looked around the cabin, suddenly not so sure down time was a good thing anymore, but only a few seconds later, she heard Jordan begin to stir. “Hey, little man,” she said, slipping into the room. “Well, look at you standing up in your crib. How would you like to try that on the beach after we go shopping?”

Sweeping him up out of the crib, she changed him, then gathered the diaper bag and left the cabin for the walk to the village. They met Keith on the way back from checking out the building site, and he took Jordan out of her arms with a happy smile.

“Where are you two off to?” he asked. “Mind if I tag along?”