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

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

***KEITH***

“ S ince you made lunch, I’ll do the dishes,” Keith said, getting up and starting to clear the plates.

“I’ll help,” Max said, joining him. “That was a wonderful meal, Stella. Next time will be my turn. I’ve learned a few things in the kitchen living on the island.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Stella said, smiling at Max. “I’m going to go check on the baby. He should be waking up from his nap anytime now.”

Max looked over at him when she was gone and grinned. “You might have found yourself a keeper,” he said, then paused to see his reaction. “Doesn’t that scare the hell out of you? I’d be panicking right now if I was you.”

“Wow, hold on a second. Stella and I are still getting to know each other, slow down,” he said, holding up his hands. “We’re a long way from anything serious. Don’t rush things. This is enough of a surprise as it is, and I don’t need you making more out of it than there is.”

“Fine,” Max said, but the smile was still on his face. “But I’ve seen this happen three times now. I know what it looks like. ”

“That’s not what’s happening,” he said. “Stella and I are…”

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. “I wonder who that could be,” he said, looking back into the cabin. “You’re the only one I know on the island.”

“Mateo must be back from the big island,” Max said. “I forgot to tell you he went over there this morning to try and reason with the ministry, not that it will do any good. He’s probably just stopping by to tell me how badly it went and suggest for the millionth time that I just leave the island.”

“Oh, come on, Max, he didn’t seem that bad to me,” he said. “He actually seems like a pretty decent guy. He’s just trying to do his job.”

“That’s easy for you to say, but I’ve been tripping over him every time I try to make a move around here,” Max said. “And if I have to hear one more time how special this island is, I think I’m going to puke. Sure, a few weird things have happened around here, but it’s not the island. It’s all just a big coincidence.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” he said, shaking his head. “Aren’t you going to answer the door?”

Max let out a big sigh, “We were having such a nice day.”

When Max came back, he had not only Mateo but a woman with him, and he quickly dried his hands. “Hey, Mateo, good to see you,” he said, then held his hand out to the woman. “Keith Sanders, nice to meet you.”

“This is my wife, Marianne,” Mateo said. “She’s going to spend the week with me. The kids are staying with her parents, who are giving us a little alone time.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Marianne said. “You look busy. Would you like some help?”

“That’s very kind of you to offer, but I’m just about done,” he said. “Maybe you’d like to go out to the porch. I’ll bring something cold to drink in just a few minutes.”

When they were gone, he let out a long sigh. “Well, what do you think?” he asked, suddenly nervous. “Is it good news or bad?”

Max shrugged his shoulders. “With Mateo, it’s hard to tell,” he said. “But let’s go find out.”

“Find out what?” Stella asked, coming into the room, the baby on her hip. “What did I miss? Is someone here?”

“Mateo and his wife,” Max said. “He’s been over on the Big Island trying to get the ministry to relax the restrictions on the island. We were just about to find out how it went. Come on, I’ll introduce you. Keith promised us something cold to drink.”

When he came outside with a tray of glasses and a sweating pitcher of ice-cold lemonade, the adults were chatting happily and Jordan was on Marianne’s lap, looking up at her like he was in love. He poured everyone a glass, not wanting to interrupt their conversation, then sat down in the empty chair next to Stella and found her hand under the table. She looked over at him a bit surprised, then smiled at him and squeezed; her understanding that he needed some support, making his heart swell with affection.

As soon as there was a lull in the conversation, Max jumped in, “What happened with the ministry?” he asked. “Were they willing to listen to reason, or are they still busy playing politics?”

“You know the government, playing games is what they do best,” Mateo said, shaking his head. “It took me days to even get them to see me, and then they made me wait for an hour, but…I did get them to listen, and they’ve agreed to loosen some of the restrictions.”

There was a brief silence around the table. “This better not be a joke,” Max said. “I wouldn’t find it very funny.”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this,” Mateo said, then looked over at his wife and smiled at her. “I fought for you this time, my friends. I don’t like you being on the island, but if you are going to be here, your employees should be able to have their families here if they want them.”

“This is great. We might be able to pull this off now,” he said. “What did they change? Please tell me we can cut down a few trees, and it would be nice if we didn’t have to use those composting toilets. I should go get all the plans I’ve drawn up and see if any of them will work now.”

“I’m sure the ladies don’t want to sit here and listen to us,” Max said, getting to his feet. “Why don’t we go inside and talk there? Or we could move to my cabin; there’s plenty of room.”

“I should really get unpacked,” Marianne said, then looked down at Jordan. “But I’m having so much fun with this little one, I don’t want to leave. I miss having babies around.”

“Don’t be getting any ideas, sweetheart,” Mateo said. “Four is more than enough.”

Marianne laughed, “Darn, I guess I’ll just have to wait for grandchildren then,” she said, grinning at Mateo. “I think I’ll hang around here for a little longer if that’s okay with Stella.”

***Stella***

“I would love it, and so would Jordan,” Stella said, meaning it. “Besides Keith, I haven’t had much adult company. You boys go on inside. We’ll be just fine.”

When they were gone, she refilled their glasses and then sat back in her chair. “I’m so happy for Keith. This project is really important to him,” she said, thinking about all the hours he’d worked trying to pull it all together. “I hope everything works out now.”

“I’m sure it will. Once Mateo decides he wants something to happen, it’s difficult to stop him,” Marianne said, a note of pride in her voice. “He can be very stubborn when he wants something. He asked me out ten times before I said yes.”

“I sense there’s a story there,” Stella said. “I love a good love story.”

An hour had passed before she knew it, and Stella realized that she had been a bit starved for adult interaction. “It’s been so nice talking to you,” she said. “Maybe we could get together while you’re here, we’re going to be here for at least another week.”

Before Marianne could answer, the three men came trooping out onto the porch. Keith was in the lead, with a look of confusion on his face. “Stella, do you know where this came from?” he asked, holding up her drawing. “It was stuck in with all the stuff on the desk, but I know it’s not mine. Honestly, I wish it was, it’s brilliant.”

Her heart starting pounding, a wave of panic washed over her, and for a second she couldn’t think of anything to say that would explain what she’d done. “Oh, I was just playing around,” she said, jumping to her feet and taking it out of his hand. “I was bored that day it rained…there was nothing else to do…I’ll just go put this away.”

She tried to slip into the cabin, but Max blocked her way. “Hold on,” he said. “If that’s as good as Keith says it is, I want to see it.”

“I was just messing around, it probably wouldn’t work anyway,” she said, cursing herself for not destroying the drawing. “You’d just be wasting your time.”

“No, you wouldn’t be,” Keith said, walking over to her with a confused look on his face. “It’s a really good idea, Stella. I don’t know how you came up with it, but it’s brilliant. Show him.”

After reluctantly handing over her version of the plans, she tried to slip inside the cabin, hoping to avoid the questions she knew were coming. Keith reached out and took her hand, giving her a questioning look. She almost blurted out the truth right then, but Max lowered the sketch and studied her over the top, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

“This is it; this is what we needed,” Max said, shaking the page at her. “Tree houses, I never would have thought of that, and retractable steps, it’s genius. I need some more time to study this, but I think we should start working on blueprints for the cabins. I love the idea of each one being different.”

With a shaking hand, she reached over and flipped the page over, then looked over at Keith, afraid that he was going to be mad. “I’m not one hundred percent sure about the math, but…well, this is what I was envisioning.”

Keith looked over at her, his face full of surprise, then took the page from Max and studied the blueprints before shaking his head. “You did this in a day?” he asked. “This is some serious stuff here, Stella. I don’t understand.”

Realizing that all eyes were on her, she tried not to panic. Now, instead of just telling Keith the truth, she was going to have to tell three other people. “It’s just something I did in my old life,” she finally said. “Like I said, the math could be all wrong, so…”

“Your old life?” Keith asked. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I think this little boy needs a nap,” Marianne said, getting to her feet. “And I really should be going. I have to get unpacked, and Mateo promised me a tour of the island.”

“I should really be going too,” Max said. “Resort business to take care of and all that.”

The cabin emptied out in seconds, leaving her and Keith staring at each other. “I should go put Jordan down for his nap,” she said, taking him out of his highchair. “It’s way past time.”

“And then we’re going to talk,” Keith said, his eyes following her. “No more secrets, Stella. ”

Jordan was asleep as soon as she covered him up with the blanket, but she stayed in the room for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. She hated lying to Keith. The only problem was that telling him could put both him and Jordan in danger, but not telling him was going to break the fragile bond between them, something that filled her with a deep feeling of regret.

It was time to admit to herself that Keith had become an important part of her life. She didn’t want to lose him, didn’t want what they’d begun to come to an end. Telling him the truth was the only way forward. At least there wouldn’t be any lies between them. If he didn’t take it well, she’d just have to deal with the fallout.