A Wonderful Kind of Love: A Billionaire Small Town Love Story (Kinds of Love Book 2)

by Krista Lakes

“Laura, is it going to be nice today?” Ivy asked. “It looks cold outside.”

  “Yeah, it will warm up soon,” she replied. “The sun will show up here any minute. At least that's what the weather says.”

  Sitting on the kitchen table nearby was Laura's giant gym bag that she'd had since high school. It was stuffed with everything she could think of that was swimming related. Since Dallas still wasn't a confident swimmer, she'd brought his inflatable arm floaties and a small paddle board.

  In addition to that, she'd packed goggles for the kids, three beach towels, every bottle of soda she had in the fridge and of course, some water toys. There was a Frisbee, a football and a giant blow up beach ball.

  I hope this is everything we'll need, she thought. Since I don't really know exactly where we're headed, I'm not sure what else to bring.

  Despite having pressed Ethan the night before for some clues as to where he was taking them, he'd kept his lips sealed. He said it was a surprise and that she was going to have to wait. She'd racked her brain, trying to figure out where they could go that involved a real beach but didn't include a plane. They lived in the middle of Colorado, after all. So a beach without a plane wasn't exactly a possibility unless he was about to take them on a thousand mile road trip to California.

  She heard a car pull up in the driveway and she glanced out of the kitchen window to see a big, black SUV with tinted windows and shiny chrome wheels.

  “Hey, guys, are you ready?” Laura asked. “Looks like Ethan is here.”

  She gathered up a few last minute things, including her purse and cell phone. The kids stood by her side, at least until the doorbell rang. Then all hell broke loose.

  “I'll get it!” Dallas shouted, then sprinted toward the door.

  “No, let me!” Ivy replied, following him as though they were fighting over a million dollars.

  Laura chuckled to herself and heaved the gym bag over her shoulder, then made her way toward the front. The kids pulled open the door, to reveal Ethan standing in the doorway.

  She usually saw Ethan in a three thousand dollar suit, or at least an expensive pair of jeans. When she saw him standing in her doorway wearing bright red swim trunks with Hawaiian flowers on them and a white t-shirt, she nearly fell over from shock.

  “Hey, hey!” Ethan said, holding out his arms as he knelt down to receive hugs from Dallas and Ivy. “You guys ready to hit the beach? Do some swimming?”

  “Yeah!” They both cried out in unison.

  In addition to his outrageous swim trunks, Ethan also had a giant silly beach hat on. It was made of straw and was so big that the sides flopped down a bit. To top it all off, there was an obvious smear of white sunscreen plastered over his nose.

  Laura couldn't stop laughing as she walked to the front door.

  “The kids say that they're ready, Laura,” he said, with a broad smile. “Now the question is, are you ready?”

  She nodded, but couldn't seem to stop chuckling. “I don't know if I'm as ready as you are. You look very prepared for this adventure.”

  “To be fair, I had to stop at the store and buy this outfit,” he said. “I asked for something that would make me look cool at the beach, and the girl there recommended all of this.”

  “Was she blind?” Laura asked, with a playful smile.

  Ethan cocked his head to the side. “You know what? I didn't think about that, but now I'm kind of wondering.”

  “Hey, Ethan,” Dallas said. “You've got a little sunscreen on your nose.”

  Ethan pretended like he hadn't noticed, reaching his hand up to touch the blob of sunscreen. “I do? Oh jeez, how silly of me. I'm such a klutz.”

  All four of them started laughing. Laura locked the door, and they all headed to Ethan's car in the driveway. Craig was in the front seat of the SUV, and as soon as he saw the group, he hopped out and walked swiftly toward Laura.

  “Good morning, Laura,” he said. “Here, let me get that bag. It looks heavy.”

  “Thanks, Craig,” she said, handing him the gym bag.

  Craig grunted as he lifted it over his shoulder. “Jeez, what's in here? You packing bricks or something.”

  “I didn't know where we were going, so I packed everything I could think of,” Laura said, giggling. “I might have overdone it, though.”

  Craig tossed the bag into the back of the SUV and then opened the rear door for them.

  “Alright, I can fit adults in the back row. Car seats go in the middle row,” he said. “If anybody wants to sit up from with me and listen to good music, feel free.”

  “Not it,” Ethan said. “Craig stinks.”

  “Eww, not it,” Dallas said. “And I ride in a booster seat. Not a car seat.”

  “Not it!” Ivy chimed in.

  Laura laughed. “Fine, I guess I'll sit up front. We don't want stinky Craig getting lonely.”

  “Hey, now, just because I'm a big oaf, doesn't mean I don't have feelings,” Craig said, flashing a wink. “Just joking. I actually do kind of stink.”

  He made his way to the driver's seat and sat down.

  “Sit in the back row with me,” Ethan whispered dramatically to Laura. “It's a bit of a trip, and I'll get lonely back there all by myself.”

  “You sure Craig will make it alone?” she asked, with a pretend concerned face.

  “I think he'll live,” Ethan said, flashing a wink. “Is your car unlocked? I'll grab the kid seats.”

  She pulled her keys out of her purse and hit the button to unlock her car. Ethan ran over and removed the car seats and balanced one on each arm as he walked back to the SUV.

  “I can get those,” Laura said, hurrying over to help.

  “No, I got it,” he said. “Take a seat in the back and relax.”

  She shrugged, then crawled into the car, sliding toward the back row. Meanwhile, Dallas and Ivy stood outside, watching Ethan wrestle with the car seats.

  “So wait, this buckle goes where?” he asked. “No, this can't be right.”

  Laura sat silent for a moment, just enjoying the show. Finally, though, she realized she had better help him. Because after five minutes, he wasn't any closer to getting the seats in than when he had first started.

  “You sure you don't want me to do it?” she asked. “I've done it a million times.”

  Ethan let out a defeated sigh, then nodded. “Yeah, you'd better. I'm getting nowhere.”

  “I think it's cute that you tried, though,” she said, squeezing his arm as she scooted up front to install the seats.

  “You'd think I'd be good at it,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “Considering I run a car company and all.”

  “You run a car company,” Laura told him, putting the last buckle in place. “Not a car seat company.”

  As soon as they were all secured, Dallas and Ivy hopped in and buckled themselves up. Ethan and Laura sat next to each other in the row behind the kids.

  “Alright, Craig,” Ethan called out. “We're ready to hit the road.”

  “You got it,” Craig said, then pressed on the gas to begin their trip.

  Laura turned to Ethan. “So you still won't tell me where we're going?”

  He shook his head and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “No way, Jose. It's a surprise.”

  “Well, I thought about it a lot last night, and I think it's important that I share something with you,” she said.

  He suddenly looked concerned. “What's that?”

  “I checked and re-checked the Colorado map, and I'm about one hundred and ten percent positive that there is not a beach here. At least not one that isn't currently full of ice and absolutely freezing. I didn't want to burst your bubble, but now I think you should know.”

  “Very funny,” he said, reaching his other hand over to tickle her right above her hips. “Believe it or not, I actually knew that. Now, if you could just trust me, we'll be there before you know it.”

  Laura leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Okay, but don't blame me if we drive for ei
ght hours and don't see water.”

  Ethan chuckled and relaxed his head back into the seat, closing his eyes. “I promise I won't blame you if that happens.”

  They rode in silence for less than five minutes and just a few miles before Dallas spun around in his seat and gazed at Laura.

  “I have to go potty,” he said while crossing his legs as if to hold it in.

  Her eyes widened. “Dallas, are you kidding me right now? You just went, right before we left the house.”

  Dallas let out an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes as he faced forward once again. “Fine. Never mind, I guess I can hold it.”

  Ethan leaned close to Laura. “Can he hold it? We can pull over somewhere. I'm sure there's a gas station or something on the way.”

  “No, it's alright,” she said. “He'll be fine. As long as we're not in the car for too long. Speaking of which, how far away is this secret location that you're taking us?”

  “It should only take us about forty-five minutes or so,” he said.

  “Yeah, Dallas will be fine then,” she said. She shrugged innocently. “Forty-five minutes, though? Where exactly are we going?”

  “Nice try,” Ethan said. “But you're not going to get it out of me. Remember, it's supposed to be a surprise.”

  Laura wasn't one for being patient and certainly not when it came to surprises. She was the kid who, on every Christmas morning, got up long before sunrise and stared down at the Christmas tree to see if she could spot Santa. It wasn't to catch a glimpse of the old gray-bearded man either. No, she knew what he looked like. Her real reasoning was to try to find out what her gift would be before anybody else in the house was awake.

  So being taken to some mystery beach had her curiosity turned up to level ten.

  Maybe he's taking us to a lake? She thought, sitting back in her seat. There were a handful of lakes near Denver, but all of them would still be half-frozen this time of year.

  While Laura was busy trying to figure out where they were going, Ethan was having fun with the kids. He was taking one of the foam, bendy noodles that Laura had brought and was poking them with it. He started off by pressing it into Ivy's side and then as soon as she spun around, he hid the noodle out of sight.

  “What?” he asked, with an innocent expression.

  “What was that?” Ivy asked.

  “I don't know what you're talking about,” he said.

  She turned back around and once again, Ethan poked her with the noodle. Every time he did it, he looked like he hadn’t done anything. Dallas saw him, though, and soon the little game had him laughing. As soon as Ivy realized what was going on, she started laughing too. Watching the way Ethan interacted with them made Laura smile. It also helped to pass the time and the next thing she knew, Craig was looking up in the rear view mirror to tell them that they had arrived.

  “We're here,” he said. “I'll drop you off in the front.”

  Finally, I get to see where this so-called beach is, she thought, gazing out the side window of the car.

  Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw the sign, which loomed high above the parking lot.

  “Water World,” she said, then turned to face Ethan. “Oh, my God. Ethan! I love Water World! How did you know?”

  He smiled with delight. “I didn't know, actually. But when I tried to find beaches in Colorado, this was about the closest I could get.”

  “It's perfect!” she wrapped her hands around his neck.

  “Dallas, did you hear that?” Ivy said. “We're going to Water World!”

  “Yes!” he squealed and kicked his feet in excitement. “This is the best day ever!”

  The mood in the car was one of pure joy. Everybody had a huge smile on their face. Laura couldn't have been happier, or more surprised, by Ethan's choice. Sure, Water World didn't exactly have a traditional beach, but she didn't care about that. They had water, a wave pool, rides and everything in between. In a lot of ways, it was actually better than a plain old beach with a bunch of sand.

  “I would never have guessed,” she said, hopping out of the back seat. “You definitely did a good job of not giving any clues.”

  “I thought for sure you were going to figure it out,” Ethan said. “I'm glad I was able to surprise you.”

  “I honestly had no idea,” she said, shaking her head. “This is really great, though. Thank you, Ethan.” She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

  “Anything for you,” he said, with a smile. “Now, what do you say we get in there and start doing some rides? Huh, kids?”

  “Yeah!” Dallas and Ivy shouted, as the unbuckled themselves from their car seats and hopped out onto the sidewalk. “Let's do it!”

  Ethan went to the back of the car and grabbed the gym bag, slinging it over his shoulder. Before he closed the door, he told Craig that he'd text him when they were ready to go.

  “It'll probably be sometime this afternoon,” Ethan said to him.

  “No problem,” Craig said. “Take your time. I'll be around. Just let me know when you're ready.”

  Ethan walked up to Laura and the kids, with a smile on his face as wide as she had ever seen.

  “You guys ready?” he asked.

  “Let's do it!” Ivy said.

  Laura hadn't felt that happy in quite some time. She realized that she didn't feel that way because she was about to go and have a relaxing time at Water World, though. She was happy because Dallas and Ivy were happy. That was enough for her.

  “This is going to be so much fun,” Laura said.

  Then the four of them headed toward the gates, to begin a fun-filled day on the beach.

  Chapter 26

  Laura

  Ethan, Laura, Dallas, and Ivy and made their way down the sidewalk and toward the front gates of Water World. Laura remembered many happy summer days at this water park as a kid. It was a quite good backup plan to come here.

  As they walked, Laura realized that something didn't feel quite right. There wasn't the sound of any kids laughing or water splashing on the other side of the fence, where the park was. In fact, it was pretty much silent except for their own feet as they scuffed across the pavement.

  That was when she glanced back toward the parking lot. She saw Craig driving away in the SUV, cutting across the parking lines on his way to the exit. He was the only car in the lot, though. Not a single other one was parked.

  That's weird, she thought. This place is usually packed.

  She reached over and touched Ethan's arm to get his attention.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Look,” she said, nodding toward the empty parking lot. “We're the only ones here. I'm pretty sure it's closed.”

  Ethan smiled. “Oh yeah, it's closed. It actually doesn't open up for another week.”

  “If it's closed, then we can't get it,” she whispered. “What will we do? The kids are so excited. Maybe we can find another pool somewhere.”

  “It's actually a good thing that it's closed,” he said.

  “How so?” Laura asked, not understanding. Closed was bad.

  “Because,” he said, taking her hand. “If it weren't closed, then I wouldn't be able to do this. Come with me.”

  Ethan took Laura in his right hand and Dallas in his left. Ivy held onto Laura as they approached the gate. As soon as they got close to the main entrance, a young man in khakis and a blue polo shirt stepped out to greet them.

  “Good morning, Mr. White,” the man said with a friendly smile.

  “Good morning,” Ethan replied. “Is everything ready?”

  Laura's jaw hit the sidewalk.

  No way, she thought. Did he do what I think he did? Did he rent out Water World for us, before anybody else could get in?

  She glanced past the employee, noticing that none of the rides were moving. There wasn't anybody else there at all.

  “We have everything set up for you as requested,” the man said. “I'll go ahead and notify everyone that you're here. We aren't full
y staffed today, as you can imagine, but please let me know whenever there's a ride you'd like to try, and I'll make sure that someone is there to start it. We do have lifeguards on duty. The park is all yours today. Please let me know if there's anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable.”

  Ethan glanced at the kids who were ready to jump up and down with excitement. “I think we're ready.”

  “In that case, please follow me,” the man said, then turned around to lead the group through the turnstiles. He walked for a few feet and then stopped. “Oh, and Mr. White, the wave pool with the adjustments you requested is just around the corner there. Just go past the funnel cake kiosk, and it's on the right. You can't miss it. It's all ready to go, just like you requested. Hope you enjoy it.”

  “We most definitely will.” Ethan squeezed Laura's hand.

  She stood next to him with an expression of pure joy mixed with a little bit of shock. If she had learned anything about billionaires, it was that they could afford anything they wanted. This was beyond amazing. Water World was one of the most popular parks in the entire state, and he'd somehow managed to get them to open early and have it stocked with employees to run the rides. It must have cost him a small fortune, and he did it all for Laura and the kids. She felt all warm and fuzzy.

  “So, if I heard that guy correctly, we have this entire park to ourselves,” Laura said, facing Ethan. “Did I hear that right, or am I going crazy?”

  “You heard it right,” Ethan said. “It's all ours for today. No lines on the rides, no screaming kids, just the four of us hanging out and enjoying the sunshine.”

  She didn't know what to say. She was overwhelmed with happiness, and tears of joy made their way out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

  “Sorry,” she said, wiping the tears away. “I don't mean to cry. I just can't believe how sweet you are. You're way too good to us. You know that?”

  “Not true,” he said. “I can never be good enough. That's a fact.”

  “Laura, can we go on the water slides?” Ivy asked, her face beaming with excitement. “I want to go on the dinosaur one!”

  “Of course, Ivy,” Laura told her. “We can go on any ride we want. Ethan made it so that we won't have to wait in any lines. The whole park is ours for the day. Can you believe that?”