Chapter Six #2
“Careful, Bell,” Fitz says. “I hear babies are contagious.”
“That might be possible if there were a man in my life, which there isn’t,” she quips. “And that’s another reason I should hold him and not Keira. She had a date last night. I wouldn’t want her catching baby fever.”
That surprises me, since Keira claimed to have sworn off dating a while ago. “Who’d you go out with?”
Keira rolls her eyes.
I glance at Fitz.
He shrugs and says, “It’s not my day to keep tabs on her.
Are you still hosting poker tomorrow night?
Jamison is in town, so he’s coming with Brant, and Jock and Levi are busy, but Archer will be there.
” Jamison and Brant Remington and Jules’s brothers, Jock, Levi, and Archer, are some of the guys we grew up with.
Brant and Jules’s brothers live on the island, but Jamison and Brant’s other brother, Rowan, moved away years ago.
“Yup,” I say. “It’ll be good to see Jamison. Grant, are you coming?”
“We’ll see,” Grant says.
“He’ll be there,” Jules says. “He’s not missing another game just because he’s a daddy.”
“Does Jamison even know how to play poker?” Bellamy asks. “He’s a science nerd.”
“A hot science nerd,” Keira says.
“He’s an astrophysicist,” my father interjects. “I doubt there’s anything he doesn’t know how to do.”
“Except women,” Keira says. She and Jamison dated in high school, and it did not end well.
“You’d know,” Bellamy says.
“Shut up and give me the baby,” Keira snaps.
“See, Grant?” Jules exclaims. “ This is why we shouldn’t wait too long to have another baby.”
Grant looks at her like she’s lost her mind, and I laugh.
“She’ll just hog that baby, too,” Keira complains.
“All right, enough of the baby war.” My mother holds her hands out, wiggling her fingers. “May I please have my grandson?”
As Bellamy hands Stevie to my mother, Keira says, “Are you freaking kidding me? Am I invisible over here? Do you not hear my voice?”
“Oh, honey, why do you think I asked for him?” My mother nuzzles Stevie as she walks over to Keira and then hands her the baby.
“At least now we know who Mom’s favorite is.” Bellamy rolls her eyes.
Keira flashes her own cheesy smile.
And so begins our typical family get-together.
Breakfast is delicious, and as usual, there’s never a lull in conversation. “Jules, honey, how are you feeling?” my mother asks, as if she and Jules’s mom haven’t been by their house every other day to see the baby.
“Like I just pushed a watermelon out of my body, but it is totally worth it.” Jules gazes lovingly at Stevie, nestled in the crook of Grant’s arm.
“Fitz, is there a problem at the resort?” my father asks.
“No,” Fitz says, focusing on his phone.
“Then how about putting your phone down and joining us?” my father suggests.
“Sorry.” Fitz pockets his phone. “I was just checking out the hotel for that conference you’re sending me to.”
“There’s plenty of time for that later,” my father says.
“Fitz, you’re going away ?” Keira asks. “As in, leaving the island?”
We all look at him with surprise.
“Yeah. I’m taking Mom and Dad’s place at the resort owners’ conference in December,” Fitz says.
“Try not to sound so excited about it,” I tease.
Fitz gives me a look that says he’s not going to fake excitement for my benefit.
“I know you love the island, Fitz, but you need to get used to going to things like that,” my mother says. “This place is going to be yours one day.”
“It’s about time you got out of here and saw the world,” Grant says.
“A conference sounds exciting,” Jules says. “Where are you going?”
“Costa Rica,” Fitz says.
“I’ll go with you!” Bellamy offers. “We’ll have so much fun, and it’ll be great for my social pages. Think of all the women you’ll get with that kind of exposure.”
“As if Fitz needs your help?” Keira says. “He has to fend women off every time he goes out.”
“Think of all the new female resort customers he’ll get if he’s featured on my social pages,” Bellamy says.
Fitz picks up his coffee cup and shakes his head. “Sorry, Bellamy, but this is a solo excursion.”
Bellamy rolls her eyes. “You’re no fun. What if I promise to stay out of your hair?”
Fitz looks amused. “You think I’d let you run around Costa Rica alone? Not a chance.”
“Whatever,” Bellamy says. “Hey, Kei, you and I should book a trip. Have you thought any more about selling your goodies online?”
“What goodies are those?” Grant asks sternly.
“Her tasty treats, you weirdo,” Bellamy says.
“Don’t worry, Grant, I’d never sell my body or my baked goods online. I don’t like working for other people,” Keira says.
“You work for other people now,” Fitz points out.
“I work for myself,” Keira insists. “Customers buy the things I choose to make.”
As they dispute the subject, my father speaks over them. “Wells, how did things go in New York?”
“Yes, honey. Tell us all about your trip,” my mother adds.
“He had a great time hobnobbing with the stars,” Bellamy chimes in.
“I heard about that from the Bra Brigade,” my mother says.
“They said your picture was all over social media.” Jules’s grandmother Lenore is the ringleader of the Bra Brigade, a group of women who seek out private areas on the island and sunbathe in their bras.
She started the group decades ago when she was a teenager.
She and her friends have continued the tradition, and over the years, they’ve recruited their daughters, granddaughters, and friends.
“It was. I saw the pictures,” Keira confirms.
“How’d you get invited to that party anyway?” Bellamy asks. “Did you go with Victory Braden?”
“You were with Victory?” my mother asks with far too much excitement. “As I recall, you showed quite an interest in her at Sutton’s wedding, and it’s no wonder. She’s as sharp as a tack, and beautiful.”
“She blew him off at the wedding,” Keira throws in casually. “I don’t think she’s into guys like Wells.”
You’d be surprised at just how into me she was.
Until she blew me off.
“What do you mean a guy like Wells?” Grant challenges.
“He’s not exactly boyfriend material,” Keira says.
“Neither was I,” Grant says. “But things change.”
“Thanks, Grant, but it doesn’t matter. I didn’t go with Victory.”
Fitz raises a brow in a silent question.
I kept my word to Victory about our tryst staying between us and didn’t tell him we hooked up Friday night. I’m not about to give him any indication of it now. “I wanted to network for the restaurant, so I asked Leni to get me on the list.”
“Does that mean you saw an acceptable property in the city?” my father asks.
“Not yet, but I met with Seth Braden while I was there, and he’s interested in partnering.
” As I say it, my thoughts return to Victory.
If she really wants to forget we ever hooked up, is it fair to partner with her brother?
But even that thought feels wrong. I can’t shake the feeling that whatever this is between us isn’t over.
“Are you sure you want to be in New York City?” my mother asks, drawing me from my contemplation. “Did you get the listing of available properties in Chaffee from Charmaine?” Chaffee is one of the other small towns on the island.
“I did, Mom, and I appreciate the time you took speaking with Charmaine, but as I said before, I want to branch out.”
“I thought you didn’t want a partner,” Fitz says.
“I wasn’t looking for one, but partnering with Seth might make sense. He and Jared Stone own a number of highly successful restaurants. Partnering could save me from making mistakes. It would also allow me to expand faster.”
“Those are good points, son,” my father says. “But be careful expanding too fast. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin. I assume you’ll talk to your attorney about this before doing anything?”
“Of course,” I say.
“Are you planning on moving to the city?” Bellamy asks.
“Not permanently, right, honey?” my mother asks.
“If you’re in New York, who’s going to run this Rock Bottom?” Keira asks.
I’ve been wrestling with all of those questions, but now I can’t think beyond Victory.
My family is waiting for an answer, so I go for a change in subject. “There are a number of things to consider before I make any decisions, like whether I should try Keira’s blueberry pastry this morning instead of a scone.”
“Scone,” Fitz says, and snags the last blueberry pastry.
“Dude!” I complain, reaching for it.
Fitz licks the top of the pastry, which makes all of us laugh.
“You’re a jackass,” I say.
As I reach for the scone, Grant steals it from the platter and eats half of it in one bite, flashing a gloating grin and making us all laugh harder. I fucking love my crazy-ass family.
After breakfast, Keira is holding Stevie when he starts fussing. “Better give him to Uncle Wells,” I suggest. “Your grumpiness is scaring him.”
“ My grumpiness?” she says as I take him from her. “Have you met his father?”
“Your daddy isn’t very grumpy anymore, is he?
” I say to Stevie. He’s a sweet little guy, with soft brown peach fuzz and the cutest button nose.
When Jillian asked me if I wanted to have children, I answered off the cuff.
But there’s no denying that every time I hold Stevie, I feel something .
A tug, an urge. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely there.
I smile down at my nephew, and he stops whimpering.
“See, Auntie Kei? We understand each other.”
She scoffs. “Makes sense. Your intellectual age is closer to his than mine.”
I nuzzle against the baby’s cheek. “Hear that, Stevie? It’s called jealousy. Get used to it. Good-looking guys like us get it from every angle.”
After helping our parents clean up, Keira and I say our goodbyes to the others and walk out together. “Hey, you never told me if you have a date today.”
“Only with some cupcakes,” she says.
Great. Now I’m thinking about Victory again. Fucking cupcakes . As if the idea of eating frosting off her luscious body hasn’t messed with my head enough already. I really need to get her off my mind, and there’s only one surefire way to do that.
“What about you? What’s on your agenda today?” Keira asks.
“I’m going to catch a few waves, and then I’ll head over to the restaurant.”
“Have fun.” She opens her car door and says, “I hear the water is colder than usual this weekend.”
“Perfect.” Maybe I can freeze Victory out of my head .