by J. P. Comeau
And the sheer amount of information he threw at me took me a second to digest.
Gavin: All right, I’ve contacted Two Men And A Truck, and they’re going to be at your place next Wednesday. They’re coming with all the supplies they need to pack things up and haul things off. All you have to do is designate what you want to keep and what you want to throw away. What you can’t bring here, they’ll store in their storage facility, which will only cost about a hundred a month. Very reasonable. You can take care of it, or I can. Your choice.
Gavin: Also, make sure you pack a suitcase for this weekend. Be prepared for fun in the sun and lots of swimming.
Gavin: Oh! I almost forgot. When you come over tomorrow, choose where you want to stay. Any room is open to you as well as the guesthouse, and wherever you want to set up camp is fine with me.
Gavin: Did my messages go through? That was kind of a word vomit moment.
I blinked as my brain tried to register all of the information, even though it was well past midnight. But then, my fingers started typing back.
Me: Fun in the sun? Swimming? What are we doing this weekend?
I felt my eyes drooping as he messaged me back.
Gavin: It’s a surprise. Just pack how you would for the beach or something and have it ready. That’s all I ask. Now, I need sleep, and so do you. Get some rest, and I’ll see you around… eight? Does that sound okay?
I rolled over onto my side as I wrote back.
Me: Perfect. I’ll see you then. Night, Gavin.
Gavin: Night, Eva. Sleep well.
Me: You, too. Sweet dreams.
Gavin: You, too.
And as my eyes fell closed with my phone still in my hand, only one emotion registered as it filled me from head to toe.
Happiness.
I’d never felt this happy in my entire life, and I couldn’t wait to start this new journey I had found for myself.
15
Gavin
“It’s the day of, and you’re still not going to tell us where we’re going?” Eva asked.
Asia giggled. “I know where we’re going.”
Eva thumbed over her shoulder. “She knows, too?”
Gavin chuckled. “She thinks she knows. But she really doesn’t.”
Asia held her fists up in the air. “We’re going to the moon!”
Eva blinked. “Okay, so she doesn’t know. But, come on, Gavin. We’ve waited all week!”
I barked with laughter. “And you can wait another ten minutes.”
This week had gone swimmingly with Eva. She was still coming back and forth to the house, but the plans to move her in next week were solidified with the moving company. To my shock, Eva chose to stay in the main house with us instead of taking the guesthouse for herself. But, in some ways, I thought that was better. Asia would have her close at night, and it wouldn’t take much for me to see her after a long day if I wanted to poke my head in and take a peek at her luscious body after a long, hard day.
And with my place slowly filling up with Eva’s things and her scent, it damn near drove me wild to open that door after long days on set.
Asia gasped. “It’s Trey! That’s Trey!”
Eva leaned forward. “Is that… a dock?”
I nodded. “For yachts.”
She eyed me closely. “Do you have a yacht, Mr. Lincoln?”
I snickered. “I’ve got better things to spend my time on than a yacht I’d only use every once in a while. No, no. These yachts belong to a good friend of mine, Trey. He actually flips them, you know. Like some people flip houses?”
“He flips them and then rents them out? That’s actually pretty genius, especially since we’re so close to the water.”
I nodded. “And he had a last-minute cancellation on one of his boats.”
She gawked. “Wait, we’re actually going out on one of those?”
I grinned. “For the entire weekend.”
My daughter cheered from the backseat. “Yay! Yay! Yay! I’m gonna go swimming all day, Daddy. It’s gonna be awesome.”
I craned my neck around as I eased into a parking space. “You’re darn right; it’s going to be awesome. And there will be plenty of food and freshly squeezed apple juice just for you.”
She kicked her legs around in excitement. “Yay! I love you so much, Daddy!”
I chuckled. “I love you, too, princess.”
“What about drinks for the adults?” Eva asked.
My eyes found hers. “Trust me; there will be plenty of drinks and fun to be had by all people of all ages.”
Trey knocked his knuckles against my window. “You gonna get out and give me a hug, man? Or, do I have to rip this door off its hinges?”
I opened my car door with a smile on my face. “Get over here, asshole.”
My daughter gasped in the backseat. “That’s a dirty word, Daddy!”
I clapped Trey’s back as Eva wrangled my daughter out of the backseat. I held my arm out as they walked over, and I quickly introduced Eva to Trey, another good friend of mine. They shook hands before Trey tossed me a look that said, “we’ll definitely be talking about this,” but I shrugged it off to be dealt with later because we had weekend plans to keep.
“So, which one is ours for the weekend?” Eva asked.
Trey grinned. “I’m glad you asked. Right behind me with the beautiful red and blue decorative accents is—”
“A nightmare, that’s what it is.”
I furrowed my brow. “Huh?”
I watched as a shorter, stockier woman scurried up to us in a pencil skirt with her blouse tucked in. She had a couple of pencils stashed in her hair that had been twisted and pinned against her head. Her heels looked damn near deadly, and the way her face was flushed told me they’d been out here for much longer than necessary.
And when Trey cleared his throat, the short woman started talking again. “They haven’t gotten anything right. We’re having to change out all of the food and drinks. They fulfilled the prior order. We need at least another hour.”
Trey shook his head. “We don’t have another hour, Leslie. Our customers are here.”
She looked at me briefly from beyond the thick, green rims of her glasses. “Right. Anyway. My point is, unless they want to eat like a vegetarian party of seven, they’re going to have to wait.”
Asia slid her hand into mine. “What about my juice?”
The woman peeked down at my daughter. “They actually got the apple juice right, so don’t you worry about that.”
“Phew,” my daughter said, “that was a close one.”
Eva giggled as she rubbed my back. “I don’t think waiting another hour is a bad thing, do you?”
Trey chuckled. “The two of you can take the hour to get your stuff settled on the boat while we’re switching out food and things of that nature. If you’ll follow—”
Leslie interrupted him again. “Actually, that isn’t a good idea. I’ve got all hands on deck; so many men are rushing on and off the boat right now to get it ready. I don’t want them getting trampled.”
Trey smiled down at her. “I’ll take them down into the cabins and such where they can set up their rooms. It won’t be an issue.”
Leslie scoffed. “Trey, I’m telling you, it’s not a good idea. You said so yourself that customers shouldn’t see the boats until—”
Trey cut her off. “He’s not just any customer. He’s a good friend who has invested in my efforts, and you’ll do as I tell you. Otherwise, I’ll need a new assistant. Understood?”
Leslie glared up at him. “Come with me, everyone. I’ll show you to your rooms.”
Trey smiled and patted my shoulder, and I simply shook my head. He seemed to have his hands full with that one, but it didn’t take a genius to know why he kept her around. While shorter and stockier women weren’t my thing, she was definitely Trey’s type. He was probably trying to get laid before he fired her or some shit. And who was I to stand in the way of my friend’s happiness?
“Be careful with that one,” I murmured.
Trey leaned into my ear. “I could tell you the same thing with yours.”
The two of us bumped fists before Trey walked us over to the yacht. And dammit, even my own eyes almost bulged out of my head. The damn thing was a behemoth of a vessel. It could have easily been one of those yachts everyone saw in photographs that people rented to throw parties on for days on end. The red and blue accents contrasted the crisp white design, and the bright colors would be seen even from a plane flying from above, which I guess was the point if we were going to be in open waters.
“We’re spending the entire weekend on this thing?” Eva asked.
Trey led us onto the yacht as people rushed and bustled around us. I heard Leslie barking orders off in the distance as Trey’s smile grew. I shook my head at him before I walked over to Eva, pressing my hand against the small of her back.
And when she looked up at me, I winked. “All weekend. I already have the perfect place for us to dock as well. There’s this small, sandy island about ten miles off the coast. We can dock there, sleep on the yacht, and then jump off the edge of the boat and swim right from a private little beach where we can sunbathe, hang out, and just be together.”
Her jaw hit the floor as her eyes danced around the massive boat. Yet again, I got a chance to shock her to her very core, and I loved it. I had stunned her into silence as she pulled away from me, allowing her fingertips to run across the smooth, wooden railing that ran along the expanse of the outer rim of the yacht.
And Asia was so excited that she rushed down the steps to claim her room with her bag in her hand.
“I’ll show her to her room, you guys!” Leslie called up.
Trey yelled down the stairs at her. “She’s in the room farther to the back!”
“Yeah! I know! I’ve worked with you for five years, remember?”
I chuckled. “She’s a spitfire.”
Trey sighed. “And she keeps me in line, which is exactly what I need.”
I stood beside my friend. “So, what can we expect from this weekend? Because I’m not going to lie, I didn’t realize we’d be booking out the biggest yacht in the damn marina. Especially with the little you charged me for this stuff.”
He shrugged. “We’re using as much as we can from what we’ve already ordered for the party that canceled because you know how I hate waste. So, there wasn’t much else to purchase. They had to forfeit their deposit, so that chiseled away half of what I would’ve charged you upfront in the first place.”
“I really appreciate it, man. Seriously.”
He smiled at me. “Just make lots of memories. Good ones. Okay?”
“You got yourself a deal there, man. Thanks for this.”
He clapped my back with a tight hug one last time before we started following behind Eva as she walked around to take everything in.
“There will be a small staff of two working for you during the weekend. Their cabin entrances are separate from yours, so you won’t see them often. One will be cooking fresh foods and snacks, and the other is your bartender. They’ll be on the clock from sunup to sundown unless you release them earlier.”
I nodded. “Anything else I need to know?”
Trey shrugged. “Just treat her with care. Don’t dock her on the sand. Shit like that.”
“I’ll take good care of her. I promise.”
“I know you will. It’s the only reason why I considered doing this for you. You’re always good to my stuff, so I’m not worried. Leslie!”
I heard her heels clicking behind us. “What?”
He turned around. “Is everything ready?”
I peered over my shoulder and sat Leslie nodding her head as she ticked off a checklist. “There’s one more box I need to track down, and then we’ll be good.”
Trey smiled at me. “Perfect. We’ll get out of your hair, then, and the three of you can set sail in about ten minutes.”
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. “Again, I really appreciate this. Thank you.”
“You three enjoy yourselves, and we’ll see you around noon on Sunday.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “See you then, man.”
Trey and Leslie walked off while they softly bickered about something, and my stomach hit the floor. Of course, I had a text message from Marissa. It was like every time my life started on a good path, she felt it in the ethers and just had to spoil the moment. I peeked around and saw Eva with my daughter as they gazed out toward the ocean, pointing at the fish swimming around the bow of the boat.
So, I slinked off into the lower cabins and tucked myself away to read this damn message.
Marissa: Just wanted to let you know that I snagged another modeling gig in Paris. Kind of like the one I did a couple of years ago, but I’ll be gone longer this time. We need to talk.
I felt my entire body tense as I typed a message back.
Gavin: How long will you be gone this time?
Those three little dots danced around for a while. In fact, almost three entire minutes passed by before only two words popped up on the screen. Two little words that made me see red.
Marissa: Six months.
My hands started trembling as she quickly sent another message on the heels of that one.
Marissa: I thought we could have this conversation on the phone, but I guess I can ask here. I’d like you and Asia to come with me to Paris for those six months. I think she’d love it since she loves traveling, and you could take a break like you always talk about doing.
I decided to call her because I sure as hell wasn’t typing out this conversation with her. And the phone didn’t even get through the first ring before she picked up.
“Is this a good call or a bad one?” she asked.
I drew in a sobering breath, trying to calm my raging anger. “Since when did you think I wanted a break from my career?”
“You talked about it all the time when we were married.”
“Yeah, and then we got divorced, and I realized it was you I needed the break from.”
She scoffed. “Well, ouch.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Asia and I aren’t going to Paris with you. No way.”
“Did you even ask her what she thought about it?”
“She’s seven. She doesn’t have enough forethought to understand what I’d be asking her. And besides, what would she do about school?”
“I mean, you’d be taking time off work, so you could homeschool her.”
I blinked. “So, I leave behind my career that I’ve worked so hard for to homeschool our daughter halfway across the world while you pose for pictures for six months.”
She sighed. “Why the hell do you always have to belittle what I do for a living?”
“I’m not belittling your job; I’m belittling your critical thinking skills.”
“You know what? I’ve had enough of this conversation already. All I needed was a yes or a no. That’s it.”
“Well, the answer is no.”
“And there’s not even room for discussion?”
I leaned against the wall. “You didn’t say that. You just said yes or no.”
Her voice grew harsh. “Since when did you start being such an asshole?”
“Since you started assuming that you could go out and prioritize yourself while still dropping in whenever you wanted to in order to play Mom. Do you know how much you’ve turned my life upside down because you can’t do what’s best for Asia? Do you know how much I’ve had to sift through and how much I’ve had to plan just to get regular help for her so you can go gallivanting off and play the card of ‘single working mother’ while I’m back here actually being a parent?”
She hissed at me. “Well, I also take these jobs because I’m more than just a mother. My career is just as important as yours.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, and if you really wanted to co-parent, we should have talked about this before you even took the damn contract
in the first place. But, you didn’t think about that, did you? You just thought you could call, make demands, and talk me into changing my mind when you knew the answer would be ‘no.’ So, why are you wasting my time?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not sure who’s on the phone, but if you could put my Gavin back on, that’d be great.”
I growled at her. “I haven’t been yours in a while, and I never will be again. We co-parent, but that’s it. Understood?”
“You really are a piece of work, you absolute shithead. I’m done talking about this. I shouldn’t even have to discuss my career moves with you when you don’t even do that with me.”
I felt my voice rising. “I always talk about my career when it takes me out of the damn country, Marissa! I’ve talked with you about it every single time! And every single time it comes up, you come up with a damn good reason why I shouldn’t go, so I don’t. Do you know how much that has stunted my career? But, I willingly do it to keep the peace between us and to try to provide some sort of stability for Asia. Do you not care about any of that?”
There was silence on her end for a long time. But, when she spoke, her words were sound and calm, which told me just how angry I had made her.
“If you can yell at me like that, then you’re obviously yelling at our daughter like that, and I won’t stand for it.”
Disbelief filled my veins. “And what I won’t stand for is my daughter having a selfish mother who calls her an accident right in front of her, dumps her into my lap when it’s convenient for her, then goes around lying to me about small things like firing some nanny I hired that actually had to quit because she got pregnant.”
She shrieked at me. “And we wouldn’t even be having this argument right now if you weren’t absolutely insistent on the fact that I keep our child in the first place!”
Her words spun my head, and I lost control of my mouth. “Well, then I guess you’ll be hearing from my lawyer when I file for sole custody. So, be on the lookout for that paperwork.”
“Gavin, wait. I’m—”
I hung up the phone on her and pinched the bridge of my nose. I drew in deep, sobering breaths, trying to calm myself down from my raging high. My hands quaked. My knees felt weak. The world spun around me, threatening to make me sick. But, above my head, I heard the pitter-patter of feet before my daughter’s and Eva’s giggles flooded down the stairs to my left.
