Yes Daddy (Daddy Knows Best Book 2)

by Kelly Myers

  “Do you think so?”

  “Yes. I know I’m not objective, because we started sleeping together right away, but Luke, you really are a good boss.”

  “Oh I’m not gonna argue with that. I was curious why you were so emphatic about it though.”

  “You're fair, and you’re reasonable and you pay a really good wage. You also don’t micromanage and you trust your employees to do their jobs without standing over them.”

  “That’s how I run my teams in Seattle.”

  “And ,maybe that’s why you’re successful, because you don’t think of us any of us who work in your hotel as only low-wage earners who need to be spied on and condescended to.”

  “Any leader knows that’s the worst way to manage a team.”

  “You clearly haven’t spent any time around some grocery store managers!” She laughed. “Of course, you haven’t! You’ve heard all about my awful boss at the grocery store. Of course, they’re not all like that, but so many are. I think Daniela will jump at the chance to work as the property manager for your estate.”

  “That will definitely relieve some stress. As you know now I don’t need the money from this hotel, but I wanted it to keep running and serving families who wanted to stay on a close by beach. If I don’t have a property manager, then I’ll have to just close it down, unless the two of us are using it for a week or two. I could sell it but I really hate to do that.”

  “I agree that we should give Daniela a chance.”

  I loved the way Eden said ‘we’ as if she were helping me make decisions. That was exactly how I wanted her to be thinking, in terms of ‘we’ and ‘us’ as our relationship progressed.

  “Can you be ready to fly to New York City tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely,” she said.

  Now I just had to figure out how I was going to sneak into Tiffany’s, buy a ring, and then sneak out, without Eden noticing.

  The following morning I had my pilot bring the jet down to the Destin airport. I also had a driver come pick us up and drive us. In Seattle I had a full-time driver on staff. If we got married, I wouldn’t enforce that luxury on Eden, but I did need to know her reaction.

  As we pulled into the airport, Eden grabbed my hand. “I’ve never flown before,” she said.

  Right. She’d never left the state, or been on a boat, or visited the beach. So, it made perfect sense that she hadn’t flown on an airplane either

  “Well you’re in luck. Because my pilot is the best. And, we don’t have to shuffle through the airport or get scanned in security or eat terrible airport food. We’ll drive right up to the plane and get on.”

  “You have a private jet,” she said. She stared at me blankly.

  “Yes, and it’s really pretty nice. This is gonna sound like the most obnoxious comment in the world, but flying on commercial planes sucks. At least if you have another option.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Luke I’m not sure that I would’ve ever noticed. I grew up riding school buses with no air-conditioning and I just Rode a Greyhound bus for six hours not too long ago.

  Pleased that she didn’t seem disgusted by my extravagant display of wealth I laughed too. “Yes I vividly remember following that Greyhound bus to Savannah.

  When it was time to board the plane, the driver opened the door for her and I carried our bags onto the plane. He pointed to the seat right next to the window.

  “You’re not gonna want to miss the takeoff. The view from Destin is gorgeous.”

  Before long we were taxiing down the runway and heading into the air.

  “Are you nervous?” I asked her

  “Not at all,” she said. She pressed her face to the window. “No you’re right. You can see all the shades in the ocean water as it gets deeper.”

  We turned the plane over the water, and started north. Eden never took her eyes off of the view, and three and a half hours later, we were right over the heart of New York City.

  Just as I expected, Eden was smitten with New York. I took her to a Broadway play and to the Times Square and I took her to see the Statue of Liberty. We also visited Wall Street where I had quite a few friends and investors, and we paid our respects at the 9/11 Memorial. I still hadn’t figured out how to get to Tiffany‘s. Part of me wondered if I should just take her in and let her pick out her own ring.

  But no, that was the lazy way out. And I owed it to her to not make this about me but to make it about her.

  Finally I caught a break. “Luke you know I love you but I cannot keep up with your pace. I need a break. Relieved, I escorted her back to our Park Avenue Hotel. “Take a nap,” I said. “And when you wake up, we’ll go out to dinner.”

  Soon as she was asleep, I left her a note telling her that I stepped out to meet a former colleague who now worked in Manhattan. But I really rushed to Tiffany‘s, and once I was there I begged one of the sales people for help

  It needs to be the perfect ring,

  “Is your girlfriend high maintenance?”

  What the Hell kind of question was that? “No she’s the exact opposite. She's low maintenance. I could give her a fake ring from a vending machine and she wouldn’t be upset. But she’s extremely thoughtful and kind and generous and I want to honor that with my ring choice.”

  The salesman wiped his brow in mock stress. “Wow, that’s a tall order,” he said. “Then you’re a lucky guy and will find the right ring for your lucky lady.

  “First of all what does she look like? What's her coloring?” I pulled out my phone and showed him a picture of Eden.

  “You are a lucky man,'' he said. “She’s gorgeous. Since she’s a practical sensible woman I’m going to suggest…”

  Just as the salesman bent down to pull the tray out of the display case, a thought occurred to me. It was perfect. “I know exactly what I want now.”

  “Okay, let me hear it. If we don’t have it, we can have it made.”

  I wanted her ring to look like a collar. She wouldn’t be able to wear a collar at college, or at work, not if she were a medical professional. But she could wear a ring that looked like a collar. Was I going to be able to describe this to the salesman?

  I didn’t want to give away too much. Because I still valued our privacy. I scanned the display case with my eyes and found everything that looked exactly like what I was looking for. It was flat with no diamond, it stuck up above but the band was wide and had diamonds embedded in the circle.

  “It wouldn’t be nearly as flashy as the five carat diamond that I would have probably chosen.”

  The salesman got that for me and I tucked it in my pocket. When I got back to the hotel Eden was still asleep and I was able to grab the note and throw it away without her even knowing I was gone. Because of the time constraints our world wind trip to New York came to an end way too soon.

  “I had no idea I would like the city so much,” Eden said. “I’ve been to Atlanta and I liked it all, but that was a long time ago. And it was a totally different experience,” she said.

  “We can come back anytime,'' I assured her.

  I had traveled to many of the major cities in the world, and New York was definitely one of a kind.

  Once we were back on the plane, I brought up my extreme wealth to her. There was no putting this discussion off any longer.

  “Eden, I have to ask you a serious question. Please be honest, because I feel that if we’re going to be in a committed long-term relationship, then we need to be on the same page about our lifestyle. Does my money bother you? I know you expressed some discomfort with it when we were in Savannah.”

  “What do you mean, am I comfortable with it?”

  “To be blunt, sometimes it seems unfair that I have so much, when other people have so little. And if the stuff like the private jets, and the drivers, and the penthouse, bother you, then I would be willing to give them up.”

  Eden clapped her hands to her cheeks. “Luke, no! I don’t want you to give up your lifestyle for me. The wea
lth doesn’t bother me, although I would like to know if you support any charities.”

  “Yes, that’s an easy answer. I donate at least ten million every year to children’s research hospital’s and inner-city schools. Is there a charity you would like to support?”

  “I don’t want to take away from those important causes. But if you’re looking for a new one to add on, then domestic violence is always something that I would support if I had the means. And I plan to donate to that cause once I’m a doctor.”

  “Consider it done,'' I said. “When we get back, find a shelter or a legal aid clinic, and I will make a donation that is set up to pay them a stipend every year, as long as they are operating legally.”

  “It’s that easy? I thought a little more of a proposal was usually involved.”

  “Well it would be, if I didn’t already know and trust you. If you were a stranger, I’d have you write up a full proposal. But since I do know you, then I will be happy to donate to whatever place you choose.”

  She flung her arms around my neck right there in the plane cabin. “Thank you so much; that means so much to me. My mother was never in the right mental state to actually use any of the resources that were available to her. But, there are so many others who are willing to use it, and it would be nice to know that I was the reason that they had that option.”

  I tugged her closer. “Consider it done. Now how do you feel about joining the mile high club?”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Eden

  Once we were back at Apricot Sunset, Luke stared at me intently. “Have you been able to forgive me yet?” Luke asked.

  I had forgiven Luke already, how could I not? I still wondered if I’d overreacted. Maybe I had, but my feelings of dismay had been genuine, and not a manipulation. I’d truly felt like he used me, even though that had never been his intention.

  After a lazy morning lying on the beach, we came in for lunch, and Luke laid a paper map on the table.

  “What’s this for?” I asked.

  “Are there any states you’d prefer for college? There are fifty to choose from.”

  I knew of several good undergraduate schools that offered a great pre-med program. “It might be too late to transfer, or apply.”

  “Then start in the spring,” he said, as if it were that simple. And I guess it was, if you had access to his money. Which I now also had access to.

  He was right. I’d waited this long. If I started five months after I planned, then it wasn’t the end of the world.

  “I like the University of Colorado in Denver.”

  He bent closer and looked at Colorado on the map. “I was in Denver this spring. It’s a great place.”

  “So, you wouldn’t mind living there?” I asked.

  “Not at all. It’s more like Seattle than Seagrove is, so I’ll fit in just fine. You haven’t been to Colorado before?”

  “No. I’ve been to Georgia, Florida, and now South Carolina.”

  “You’re going to love Colorado. It’s one of the prettiest states we have. There are soaring mountains, clear lakes and rivers, and lush green grass.”

  “But, no beach. You’ve lived near a beach most of your life, from what you’ve said.” I didn’t want Luke longing for home. Even people with money could miss a place.

  “So I’ll get used to living near a lake. We’ll be able to snow ski too.”

  “Obviously I’ve never done that either.” I had some doubts about my ability to fly down a snowy mountain with thin boards strapped to my boots.

  “You’re going to love it. As soon as the slopes open, we’ll go.”

  “I’ve got to find a school for the twins, and get them registered.”

  “Have you told them we’re moving somewhere else?” he asked.

  “No. I wasn’t sure it would happen. I doubt they’ll be too upset. They were already going to have to move to Tallahassee with me. We’d planned that before we walked out on Mike. At first they’d thought they might want to stay with him and finish high school in Georgia with their friends, but it became clear that wasn’t going to be possible. He’d been so erratic that the girls and I had discussed what to do if he ever did become violent.”

  And he had, and their plan had come in handy.

  “Yes. He sure did.” Luke hugged me right. His strong arms felt amazing.

  He cleared his throat. “I’ve got us a sailboat for tonight,” Luke said.

  He looked nervous as he said it, which set off alarm bells in my head.

  I’ve never seen Luke look nervous, not even for a second. Not even when the hurricane blasted through Seagrove, not even when he had to rescue me and Madelyn from that same hurricane, and not when my crazed stepfather showed up. He didn’t seem nervous when his ex-wife was bugging him or when I left with the twins because I was angry.

  So, what in the world could make him nervous?

  I was scared to find out. But, I also wasn’t going to turn down new experiences. “Sure, I’d love that.”

  “We’re going to leave in about thirty minutes,'' he said. “You don’t need to pack anything. I have everything we need.”

  Okay, that was a weird thing to say too. Now he was fidgeting, and Luke was not a fidgety person; he was all alpha, always in control of his behavior and emotions. I found myself twisting my own hands together wondering what could have brought this on.

  Had he changed his mind about our relationship? Had he changed his mind about moving to Colorado? Maybe he changed his mind about hauling me and the twins across the country and paying for my college?

  I couldn’t really blame him, as all of those were life altering decisions. He assured me that he was 100% ready to move to Colorado, but that was a massive change from his current lifestyle. He’d been enjoying his life in Seagrove before I arrived -- he described it as a mental detox from the corporate world. And, now I had interrupted it. No, not interrupted, I disrupted it. And, now it was ending for good. He’d only be able to come back in little snippets, a week or two at a time. He wouldn’t be living here again full-time, not if he moved to Colorado.

  Eden, he’s a billionaire. He has all the time and money in the world and of course he’s going to change his mind.

  Who doesn’t want to live on the beach? The only problem was that I had already given up my scholarship and my grants to go to Florida State University. I would not be able to get them back.

  What the hell was I going to do? Acid ate away at my stomach. I put on a pretty white and dress and some boat shoes and tied my hair back. Whatever happened, I was going to stay calm this time, and make the most of it.

  The sailboat was small, and Luke knew exactly what he was doing.

  Which made sense, because he was a billionaire who grew up in a wealthy family. He had probably grown up sailing in Greece and then sailing in Seattle. He even mentioned sailing on the Willamette River in Oregon just a few months ago. Even though he might be considering breaking up with me over our vastly different lifestyles, I still enjoyed watching him work.

  As he set up the boat, he patiently explained each part of the sailboat to me, and what each part did to make the whole thing work together so that we can navigate the waves. I did my best to pay attention, but my mind was churning and my stomach was too.

  There was a nice breeze blowing, the sun was setting, painting vivid colors across the horizon, and I was on a sailboat with a handsome man who I loved. But I couldn’t enjoy any of it.

  Finally, once the sales were up and we were out in the sea, he looked at me. “Eden, Is there something wrong? You seem distracted.”

  I wasn’t going to lie to him. We’ve both been down that path before and he hadn’t worked out well for either one of us. If we were going forward from here, we both had to speak up when there was an issue.

  “Have you changed your mind about us?” I asked.

  His eyebrows drew together. “Changed my mind, why would you ask me that?”

  “You’ve been acting really weir
d today, and it’s setting off alarm bells in my head.”

  “What do you mean I’m acting weird?”

  “You looked nervous up at the house. You were sweating, and you were stiff and jerky, and your eyes were darting all over the place. That’s not like you at all. You weren’t even nervous when the hurricane was about to shred us to pieces. You weren’t nervous when Mike was threatening to kill us all. The fact that you’re nervous now kind of stands out.”

  He stared at me. “So what came to your mind as to why I might be nervous?” One his hands kept drifting to his pocket. Was he trying to find a way out of this conversation?

  “Because you want to break up?” I asked. “Because you realized how different we actually are. Because you don’t want to move to Colorado and pay college tuition for me. And don’t forget -- paying living expenses for sixteen year old twins?”

  “Whoa. Where is all of this coming from?” Luke made his way toward me and sat down. He put his hand on my shoulder. “Eden, what’s going on? Are you having second thoughts about us?”

  “No. I am not having any second thoughts. I thought you were having second thoughts.”

  “Why the hell would you think that?”

  “I just told you. Because you were acting nervous.”

  “Okay, clearly I’ve screwed this up.” He took my face into my hands, as he so often did. “I love you. I have not changed my mind in any way. I was acting weird because I planned a nice night out for us, and I apparently can’t control my mannerisms.”

  I looked at him suspiciously. That sounded like bullshit, but I did believe him. If he was going to deliver bad news, he would have done it when I confronted him. “Okay. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions.”

  He pulled a large basket out from under the deck. “I brought us some snacks. Why don’t we enjoy some food, and regroup?”

  He had a tray of nice cheese, fancy crackers, and some dried slices of meat. He cracked open a bottle of merlot, and poured us both a glass. We munched on the snacks and sipped the wine, and marveled at the striking hues of the sunset.