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

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

***KEITH***

K eith sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee getting cold in front of him, his head pounding with exhaustion, no closer to the solution to his problems with the new regulations than he’d been three days ago. He had been working twelve hours a day, drawing up new plans, then abandoning them due to one issue or another, and he was beginning to wonder if the government had intentionally made it impossible for Max to expand.

A part of him was ready to throw his hands up in the air and give up on the whole thing. It had become more of a headache than he’d anticipated, and the truth was, he was losing money every day that passed without a building contract. He’d given his crew some time off, and there were a few projects in the works, but he’d been counting on this job and had turned down other work for it. Now it looked like it was all going to fall apart, and he’d be back out on the street begging for business like he’d been forced to do when he first started out.

“Well, good morning,” Stella said, coming into the kitchen, the baby on her hip. “Is there coffee left? ”

He just grunted at her, waved his hand at the pot, then went back to brooding, not in the mood for conversation. Stella plopped Jordan down in his high chair, buckled him in, and then spread some cereal down in front of him before walking over to the coffee pot, sending him worried glances the entire time. More than aware that he looked rough, he tried to ignore her, wishing she would just go away and leave him alone to suffer in peace.

Jordan was happily shoving the cereal in his mouth, carrying on what sounded like a conversation with himself, and he wondered what it would be like to be as carefree as his son. He thought about what it would be like to just give up, to accept that he’d never achieve all his goals, and be content just to be a small-time contractor. It wouldn’t be the worst life; the bills would be paid, he’d still get to do what he loved best, and he wouldn’t be able to shove his success in his parents’ faces, but maybe that didn’t matter so much anymore.

He snorted to himself; who was he kidding? He still wanted to show them that he wasn’t a waste of space, as they claimed, and he wanted to prove to them that there was more to life than money and status. Now, he’d never get that chance, something he’d been looking forward to since the day he’d walked out of his childhood home, planning not to return until he could show them just how wrong they were.

“Jordan and I are heading down to the beach this morning,” she said, topping his coffee. You should take a few hours off and join us; you look exhausted.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped. “I don’t have time to go play on the beach. I’m trying to save my business; in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t forgotten.” Stella said. “How could I with you stomping around here in a snit all the time?”

“I would hardly call it a snit,” he said, giving her a dirty look. “This is my life we’re talking about here, my business, my dreams. You can’t just expect me to act like nothing is wrong.”

“Look, Keith, all I’m trying to do is get you to relax a little. Sometimes the answers to the hardest problems come when you’re not trying so hard,” she said. “Come to the beach with us for a few hours. Jordan loves the water so much. You should see his eyes; they just light up as soon as he sees it.”

He whipped his head around to look at her. “What do you mean?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. “You haven’t been taking him swimming, have you?”

“Well, not in deep water…” she said, a look of surprise on her face. “I go in up to my waist and hold him while he tries to swim; it’s the cutest thing ever.”

“You have to stop doing that,” he said, standing up so quickly that his chair tumbled over. I don’t want him in the water anymore. It’s dangerous and reckless. He’s just a baby. He needs to stay on the shore, where he’ll be safe.”

“Keith, he’s always got a life jacket on, nothing is going to happen to him,” Stella said. “I know that you’re tired, but that’s ridiculous. The child obviously loves to be in the water, it would be cruel to keep him away, especially here.”

“This isn’t up for debate. I’m his father, and what I say goes,” he growled at her. “No water, that’s final. I’m going to work now so I can pay your salary, or did you forget that I’m your boss?”

“Really, Keith?” she asked, her face full of annoyance. “Are we back to that?”

“Well, it’s the truth,” he said, “and don’t you forget it.”

“Fine, I’ll torture your child if that’s what will make you happy,” she said, getting to her feet. “I just want to say that you can take safety too far, and you just have. Think about it Keith, if he’s drawn to the water, he should know how to swim. ”

“I said this discussion was over,” he said, downing the rest of his coffee. “Don’t expect me for dinner. I’ll be working late again; I’ll pick up something in the village.”

“What else is new?” Stella asked, taking Jordan out of the high chair. “We’ll be fine, don’t worry. We’re both getting used to not having you around.”

Stella’s parting shot hit home, and a wave of guilt washed over him, but he pushed it away and left the cabin. There would be plenty of time to bond with Jordan. He wasn’t going anywhere, but the job was too important to spend even a minute of his time playing with his son. He’d make it up to him when the plans were finished. He was just a baby; he’d never know if a few days went by without his father. The truth was, Jordan wasn’t really attached to him anyway, he wasn’t going to miss him.

Telling himself that his excuses for abandoning his son were all valid, he started down the path toward the building site on the other side of the island, hoping that this would be the day he’d have a breakthrough. Max was waiting for him on the path by his cabin, and together, they walked across the island to the site and got to work, trying for the fourth day in a row to work out the problems.

A couple of hours later, Max let out a long sigh. “We’ve looked at this from every angle we can, I think it’s time we took a break,” he said. “Let’s take the rest of the day off. Some time away might help, and I have some things I’ve been ignoring that I really need to handle.”

He knew that Max was right, knew that he’d crossed a line into obsession, and his outburst that morning popped into his mind. “Maybe you’re right,” he said with a sigh. “I just wanted this to work so badly; I can’t help but think they did this on purpose, that they’re trying to keep you from expanding.”

“Maybe, but I’ve learned that if you’re patient, things have a way of working out,” Max said, shrugging his shoulders. “You look exhausted, and you’ve been a grump for the last two days. I don’t want you to think about this for the rest of the day, and if you’re not in a better mood tomorrow, we’re not working then either.”

***Stella***

Stella plopped Jordan down in the sand, slightly out of breath from the walk to the beach, handed him a bucket and shovel, then turned to unpack the rest of their things. “I’m sorry, little man, but we have to stay out of the water today,” she said, unfolding a blanket and spreading it out. “But I’ve brought lots of other fun things for us to do, and I don’t think it would be breaking the rules if we played in the shallows.”

She wasn’t expecting the baby to answer, but it was oddly quiet behind her, and she turned around, surprised to find him crawling toward the water. “Hey, kiddo, you can’t do that,” she said, running over and scooping him up. “No going into the water alone, especially without your life jacket.”

The baby struggled in her arms for a second, reaching for the water, but she turned around and headed back to the blanket. “Let’s see what we can find to entertain you,” she said, digging through the bag after she set him down. “Look, I brought your blocks. Let’s play with these for a little while.”

Jordan looked over at the water again, and for a second, she thought she saw more than just the spark of interest, it was almost like his eyes were glowing, but it was over so quickly, she couldn’t be sure. Handing him the blocks, she studied him for a few minutes while he played with the blocks, but nothing happened, and she decided it must have been sunlight or a trick of the light coming through the trees. Feeling foolish, she began unpacking their lunch and the rest of Jordan’s toys, shaking her head at her wild imagination.

It wasn’t long before Jordan was bored with the blocks, and she handed him another toy, but it didn’t last any longer. She began to wonder how she was going to keep the baby entertained if they couldn’t swim. After he’d played with and discarded every toy she’d brought, listened to her read both the books in the bag, and had a snack, Jordan began to get fussy. Wondering if he needed a nap, she turned to dig his blanket out of the bag, but when she turned back to him, he was gone.

This time Jordan wasn’t crawling toward the water, he was walking, his stubby legs churning in the sand, and she could only stare for a second. Jumping to her feet, a part of her wondering if this was a dream, she went after him and scooped him up in her arms. This time he fought her, going limp first, then throwing his body around trying to get away, screaming at the top of his lungs the entire time.

She made it back to the blanket with the baby still in her arms, collapsed to the ground, and wrapped her arms around him. “Jordan, come on, it’s okay,” she said, rocking back and forth. “I promise I’ll talk to your dad tonight, make him understand how much you love the water, but you have to stop this.”

Jordan relaxed in her arms, and she loosened her grip. He was instantly squirming again, and this time when he looked up at her, his eyes were definitely glowing. Gasping in shock, she was torn between pushing him away and holding him closer. Sensing her hesitation, the baby slipped out of her arms and headed for the water again, his only focus was the waves rolling up on the shore.

Jumping to her feet, she stumbled toward the baby, now hoping that she was dreaming, her mind unable to accept what she was seeing. When she got to Jordan and reached for him, he turned on her, hissing and spitting, and she fell back in the sand, her breath coming in short gasps. The baby was still on the move, getting closer and closer to the water, and she started to panic, sure that he was going to be swept out into the ocean.

Scrambling to her feet, she raced over to the blanket, grabbed the life jacket, turned, and ran back to Jordan, who had reached the water. He was sitting on his butt, happily splashing his hands in the water, and cooing to himself, looking like the adorable baby she’d grown to love again. Approaching him slowly, afraid that he’d try to get away from her again and go deeper into the water, she held out the life jacket for him to see, hoping it would keep him calm.

“Hey, kiddo, I guess you’re not going to take no for an answer,” she said, crouching down next to him. “So, how about we put this on, just to keep you safe?”

Jordan gave her a toothless grin, splashed so more in the water, his eyes perfectly normal, and she quickly slipped the life jacket on. Almost numb with shock, she plopped down onto the wet sand and let the cool ocean waves wash over her, trying to make sense of what she’d just seen. She was still sitting next to Jordan an hour later when he began to fuss, then crawled into her lap, and she realized that it was lunchtime.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, still a bit wary. “Are you going to let me take you away from the water? Because I don’t think I can take another one of those…well, I don’t know what that was, but I’m still a little freaked out.”

The baby just looked up at her, a grin on his face, and for a second, she almost thought that he understood her. “Okay, then, we’re going to go back up to the blanket and have some lunch,” she said. “Then I think we both need a nap.”