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

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

***KEITH***

K eith stood looking out at the ocean, sucking in deep breaths of the fresh morning air, listening to the breeze rustling through the palm trees, and for a second, almost forgot why he was there. Closing his eyes, he gave himself a few more minutes to enjoy the morning, then turned around and with fresh eyes, envisioned his plan completed, the cabins built, the paths laid, and a smile slowly spread across his face.

“Okay, I showed you the site,” Max said, breaking the silence. “Now you have to tell me about Jordan. You’ve been avoiding it for too long. Come on, Keith, I thought we were friends. This is one of the biggest things that’s ever happened to you, and you won’t say a word about it. I won’t judge, I promise, you should know that.”

“I don’t know that there’s anything to judge. I mean, I didn’t really do anything wrong,” he said, turning his back to the beach and walking over to Max. “At least I don’t think I did.”

“Well, I can’t help you decide if I don’t know what happened,” Max said, walking over to his beach chair and sitting down. “Come on, I’ve got cinnamon rolls and coffee from the village, and let me tell you, Connie makes the best everything. You don’t want to miss out.”

He sat down next to Max and took the cup of coffee he offered. “You grow these beans on the island, don’t you?” he asked, then took a sip. “Stella was gushing about how good the coffee is. I guess I can see why.”

“Best coffee any place on Earth,” Max said, handing him a plate with a huge cinnamon roll. “Give that a try, and then spill your guts.”

“I met Melissa at a wedding, you know, one of those horrible things you have to go to because someone important invited you. It was a destination thing in Hawaii,” he said, then paused to take another sip of the coffee. “I barely knew anyone there, and after a couple of hours, it was clear they really weren’t my kind of people; then Melissa showed up, and well…we hit it off. It was just supposed to be a weekend thing. You know how it works at those things, and I was careful, I didn’t just go charging in unprotected.”

Max laughed, “That was a good way to put it,” he said, then became serious again. “She never told you? You had no idea?”

“Not until she showed up at my door with Jordan in tow,” he said. “I don’t think we even exchanged phone numbers that weekend, and I didn’t expect to ever hear from her again. You know how it is.”

“Actually, I haven’t done anything like that for a long time,” Max said. “I don’t mean to judge, but aren’t we getting a little old to behave like that?”

“It seemed harmless enough at the time,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Don’t judge me. I don’t do stuff like that all the time, I was bored…”

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter why you did it,” Max said, waving his hand in the air. “What happened when Melissa showed up with the kid?”

“His name is Jordan,” he said, slipping back to that night. “She said that she couldn’t raise him alone anymore, that there was something wrong with him, and she couldn’t cope with it.”

Max’s head whipped around, “Something wrong with him?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“There was a lot of blubbering, so I didn’t get everything she was saying, but basically, Jordan is stronger than most kids, and when he gets around water, his eyes begin to glow,” he said, then paused to let that sink in. “I didn’t know what to say, I was speechless, then before I could stop her, she shoved Jordan into my arms, ran to her car, and drove away.”

Max stared at him for a second. “That can’t be right. I mean, Jordan is just a baby, and he shouldn’t be showing signs like that yet,” he finally said. “What is the kid, some kind of super shifter?”

“This isn’t funny,” he said. “Between suddenly becoming a father and finding out my kid is already showing signs that he’s going to be a shifter, I’ve lost my sense of humor.”

“It’s just not possible,” Max said, shaking his head. “Maybe it was a trick of the light or something. There’s no such thing as a baby shifter, it just doesn’t happen.”

He let out a sigh of relief, “That’s what I thought, but Melissa scared me that night,” he said. “I’ve looked for her. I’ve got someone looking for her right now, but it’s like she vanished.”

“If she was as freaked out as it sounds like, you might give her some time,” Max said. “She might come back on her own. The bonds of motherhood are pretty tight.”

“That’s what I keep hoping,” he said. “Not that I don’t want my son, but a nanny isn’t a replacement for his mother, and I’m helpless when it comes to taking care of him. ”

“Speaking of your nanny,” Max said, grinning at him. “What’s up there?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, even though he knew exactly what Max was getting at. “She’s been a huge help, even if she’s going to bankrupt me buying baby things.”

“Oh, so there’s nothing going on between you two?” Max asked. “I was sure that I detected a spark at lunch yesterday, but I guess I was wrong. She’s a very attractive young woman. Maybe I’ll invite her to dinner on her night off. She does get those, doesn’t she?”

A surge of jealousy, too powerful to control, surged to life inside him, and he was forced to take a deep breath before replying. “I would prefer it if you didn’t,” he said. “I need Stella to concentrate on her job and she won’t be able to do that if you’re trying to romance her. I thought you said we were too old for stuff like that anyway.”

Max laughed, “I was just testing you,” he said, grinning at him. “I wasn’t wrong about that spark after all.”

***Stella***

Stella was just covering up the baby when the front door slammed, followed by the sound of angry footsteps, then there was a loud thud, and Keith began cussing. Jordan began to stir, so she made a dash for the door, slipped through, and then closed it behind her. She was surprised to see Keith staring down at what appeared to be a toilet.

He let out a few more curse words then kicked the toilet. “You’re going to wake the baby,” she whispered. “Why is there a toilet in the living room?”

Keith looked over at her, a scowl on his face, opened his mouth, then closed it again, took several deep breaths, and looked down at the toilet again. “This is what the Bermudian government thinks should replace a septic tank in the new cabins,” he said, turning around and stomping into the kitchen. “It’s a composting toilet; it has to be emptied and the refuse shipped back to the main island; it’s going to cost Max a fortune and ruin my plans for the cabins.”

She followed him, giving the strange contraption a wide berth. “Has that thing been used?” she asked, wincing when he gave her a dirty look. “Sorry, I just had to make sure.”

“This is a total disaster, all those hours I spent working on the plans, and in only a few sentences, the government made it all worthless,” he said. “The toilets aren’t the only thing; we can’t cut any trees down, not even the dead ones, and we can’t put the foundations down any deeper than two feet. I can’t build something that will withstand a hurricane if I can’t build a solid foundation. Oh, I almost forgot the best part: the plans aren’t artistic enough, and the cabins don’t blend in well enough. I’m a contractor, not an artist. It’s beyond ridiculous.”

“Oh, Keith, I’m so sorry,” she said, pouring him a cup of coffee. I know how important this job is to you. But I’m sure you can figure something out. You know what they say: where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

She got a dirty look for that one, too. “Okay, I can see you’re not in the mood for a pep-talk,” she said. “Maybe I’ll just go to bed and let you stew for a while, unless you want me to stay.”

“No, that’s okay, I’ll be fine, go on to bed,” he said, then looked over at her. “How was Jordan tonight?”

“Tired out after our day at the beach, he went right to sleep. I’m sure he’ll sleep through the night,” she said, surprised that he remembered to ask. “Maybe you could make some time for him tomorrow. It would probably do you both a lot of good.”

“I’ll think about it,” Keith said, sighing. But I’m going to have to work on new plans tomorrow, so I’m not making any promises.”

“Fair enough, you’ve got to pay the bills,” she said. “Good night, Keith. I’m sure it will all work out if you just give it some time.”

“Thanks, Stella,” he said. “I hope you’re right.”

She felt a little guilty leaving him alone in the kitchen but knew she needed to keep her distance from him, knew that sitting down with him and offering any more support would only bring them closer together. But when she closed her eyes, even as exhausted as she was, she couldn’t stop thinking about the problems with Keith’s plans, leaving her tossing and turning for hours. She finally fell into a deep sleep, and soon after, began to dream, visions of cabins tucked up into the trees filling her head, and she woke up with a start, the solution to Keith’s problem in her head as she drifted back to sleep.

She woke to the sound of Jordan cooing in his crib, early morning sunlight steaming in through her window. She got out of bed and stood outside the closed door, wondering if she should go in. When the baby began to fuss and there was no sound of movement behind the door, she knew that she didn’t have any choice and slowly cracked the door open.

Walking quickly over to the bed, she scooped up the baby, keeping her eyes averted from the bed, knowing she wasn’t awake enough to see Keith sleeping. But out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed that the bed was still made and looked over at it, confused instead of aroused. Leaving the bedroom, she went down the short hallway to the living room, stopping when she saw Keith draped over the plans for the employee cabins, a black marker still in his hand.

Tiptoeing over, she tried to look over her shoulder at them, but his body covered most of it up, and a second later, he jerked awake, forcing her to step back. “What happened?” he asked, still groggy. “Why did you wake me up?”

“I think you fell asleep at the desk,” she said. I didn’t wake you up; you woke yourself up. Maybe you should go to bed. You can’t have slept well out here.”

“I’ll be okay,” Keith said, rubbing his neck. “I just need some coffee.”

“Coming right up,” she said while shoving the baby into his arms. “Jordan needs to be changed.”

To her surprise, Keith groaned but got to his feet and carried the baby back to the bedroom, and she quickly stepped over to the plans. She scanned them as quickly as she could, not sure if what she’d dreamed was possible, but hooked now and unable to stop thinking about it. There was nothing she loved more than solving puzzles, and the plans had become a puzzle, one she was determined to solve.