When she walked away, Natasha looked at Jaren, who cocked his head to the side. “I mean, if you trust Nolan, I guess I’m good with it,” he said. “We’ll have to save up to cover the week without work.”
“Oh, so now you’re good with it? Nick jumps on board, and suddenly you’re good?” She rolled her eyes playfully, turning back to Andy. “I’ll have to talk to my team at work, see about moving some shifts around to make sure we have coverage.”
“But you’ll go?” Andy asked.
She pursed her lips, dragging out a long inhale. When she met Jaren’s eyes, he gave a dubious nod, and she copied it. “We’ll go.”
All eyes fell on me, waiting for what we’d say. At that point, we were incredibly outnumbered. On one hand, I could desperately use a vacation, but on the other, it was such short notice. And I hated the thought of being away from the girls for that amount of time.
“Come on now,” Nick teased, bumping my arm with his. “You don’t need my permission, but I’m giving you the week off, too. We’ll go half capacity, let Heather and Kelsea fill the schedules with cleanings for the week.”
“Can we even afford to do that?”
“We can do whatever we want. We’re the bosses,” he said with a wink. I looked away, then glanced at Brad.
“What do you think?”
Brad seemed conflicted. “What about the girls?”
I chewed my lip in thought. “We could take them down to my parents, I suppose. Depending on where the flight leaves from, I mean. Maybe we could drive to Florida and fly from there?”
He nodded. “I’m fine with it if you are,” he lowered his voice, “but we don’t have to go if you aren’t comfortable with it.”
I closed my eyes, picturing the sand, sun, and sea already, despite the growing lump of worry in my belly. “Okay,” I said, opening my eyes and looking at Andy. “We’ll do it.”
“All right,” he said, a little too loudly, pounding a palm on the table and lifting it up for high fives.
We all laughed, because as with so much else in our lives, we were all in it together. Andy tossed around awkward high fives, though we were all seemingly lost in our own thoughts as Lila came back to take our orders.
I should’ve been more excited than I was—and maybe I should’ve taken that as a sign.
I thought the worst that could happen was that I’d miss the girls too much. Or get a bad sunburn. Maybe the budget would be a little shorter that month when all was said and done, but all in all, it would be the trip of our lives. A vacation to remember.
It was a vacation I’d remember, that’s for sure.
But I had no idea that what I thought would be the worst wouldn’t even scratch the surface of the nightmare that was about to unfold.
Chapter Six
Laura
I spent the plane ride to the first island worrying about my children, who were staying with my parents at their beach home in Florida. A whole continent away. Would my parents abide by my wishes not to overload them with sugar? Would they watch them closely during their time at the beach? Would they remember to apply extra sunscreen to Elena’s sensitive skin? Worries and regrets plagued me, a heavy pit in my stomach as I stared out the window watching the clouds with intent. Was this selfish? Going on a vacation, just the two of us? What did the girls think of us? They’d been all too willing to stay with their grandparents, it was true, but deep down, did they resent us for leaving?
Brad seemed to share exactly none of my reservations. He insisted that they loved my parents, and my parents loved them—which was true—and that everything would be fine.
Brad always assumed everything would be fine, and though he was usually right, it did little to settle my frantic nerves. We were the perfect yin and yang—always on opposite sides of every spectrum. I was hot, he was cold. I was worried, he was calm. He had a temper, I kept my cool. I was a drinker, he was done after a beer. We held opposite ends of each and every argument, and yet somehow, as his hand slid into mine, it just worked.
From the airport, we were chartered to a large catamaran, which would see us safely to the island. It was a long, eight-hour journey, but the boat was loaded down with food and drinks, and the captain and crew had been playing music all day. Everything was in place and everyone was having fun. It was the most seamless transition I’d ever experienced. Everyone we dealt with was kind and courteous, and everyone knew what was happening and where we would need to be sent next.
We rode atop the catamaran, the warm sun beating down on my face, wind whipping through my hair. Despite the sunscreen I’d applied at the beginning of our journey, I knew I was beginning to burn already. Brad’s forehead was bright pink, and I knew he was trying his hardest not to get sea sick. I could practically taste the salt in the air.
“We made it, guys! There it is!” Andy called, standing up from his seat and pointing straight ahead. Emily sat beside him, one long leg crossed over the other, wearing her signature ponytail and a black bathing suit underneath a see-through white dress. I followed Andy’s finger, to where we could make out the shape of an island in the distance—a golden lump in the vast blue.
As we grew nearer, it began to take shape. The island was largely forest, green palm trees as far as the eye could see. Toward the edge of the water, just where the sand changed from dark and wet to light and dry, there were eight white, reclining chairs, no legs, just flat on the sand. Behind those, there were dozens of hammocks placed sporadically around the trees.
“Holy cow,” I said, sucking in a breath.
“Woohoo!” Andy screamed, cupping his hands on either side of his mouth. “Look at that!” He pulled Emily to stand up next to him, kissing her lips.
“It’s incredible,” Brad whispered in my ear, and incredible it was.
There were small, shaded huts with beds and chairs, open and waiting for us. Off to the left, there was a round, enclosed pergola, with a handful of white dots of employees moving inside them. And behind that, further down the shore, there was a large structure with lights shining from it, despite the bright sun, and I could make out tables and chairs sitting in front of the building, scattered among the sand under an oversized awning hanging from the building.
Far to our right, I saw tiny cabin-like structures. All wood, the front half on short stilts, the back half on the sand. The sunlight glinted across the large windows on the front of each one. The cabins were in groups of four, scattered across the entire right-hand side of the island, clusters of palm trees separating them as if they’d been planted for that purpose. The cabins stretched out as far as the eye could see. In short, it was pure paradise—everything you’d expect a tropical getaway to be, from the airy feel to the salt in the air. Suddenly, my sunburn didn’t bother me so much.
Across from me, Megan was snuggled into the crook of Nick’s arm, a warm and carefree smile on her face.
Beside me, Natasha and Jaren sat. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other most of the flight, nor since we’d boarded the boat. Natasha had an open book on her lap, fighting the wind and flipping the pages tirelessly, while Jaren wore dark sunglasses, his head bobbing against the railing so much that I wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t fallen asleep.