Chapter 13
Zane
“You’re certain this is okay?” I ask Sloane.
She rolls her eyes. “For the millionth time, get out of here. I’ve got this.”
I know she does. She’s the one who taught me how to change a diaper when I realized I couldn’t phone my mom every time Adele needed changing.
“Okay. I’ll be back before dinner.”
She waves me away. “Don’t worry about it. I have the night off from Rumrunner.”
Guilt stabs me in the chest. She works full-time at the bar. She shouldn’t be spending her day off babysitting for me.
But this is the deal we made, I remind myself. She gets a place to live for free, and I get a nanny for when I need to escape the island.
“Thanks.”
She salutes me. Damn, she’s cute and sexy and beyond sweet, holding my baby in her arms.
“Now, go jump out of a plane or go boarding down the side of the mountain or do high jumps with a motorcycle or whatever it is you’re going to do.”
“Just skydiving today.”
“Just skydiving.” She scoffs. “Just another boring day at the office.”
My days at the office are extremely boring. But I don’t complain. If it weren’t for Eli, I’d be forced to find a job away from Smuggler’s Hideaway and probably have to – gulp – wear a tie. No thanks.
“Go.” She shoos me away. “You’re going to be late.”
Late? I’m never late when it’s time to do an extreme sport or catch a flight out of here. But when I check my watch, I notice I am indeed running late.
I kiss Adele’s hair. “Bye, baby girl. Behave for Sloane.”
I hesitate on the porch and Sloane shoves me. “Go.”
I don my helmet as I make my way to my motorcycle. I straddle my bike and glance back one more time at my family. No, not my family. The baby I’m currently caring for and the nanny.
I rev the engine and away I go. I don’t look back again.
I arrive at the airfield forty-five minutes later. Unfortunately, there isn’t an airfield on Smuggler’s Hideaway. The island is too small.
Between the three towns of Smuggler’s Rest, Rogue’s Landing, and Pirate’s Perch, as well as the Mermaid Mystical Gardens amusement park, Sirens & Stables horse stables, Barnacles & Barnyards petting zoo, and all the other tourist stops, there isn’t any room for an airfield on the small island.
“Hey, man,” I’m greeted with back slaps and handshakes by my three buddies – Mac, Layne, and Conner.
“I thought you were motorcycling around South America and wouldn’t make it,” Mac says.
“Change of plans.”
Layne laughs. “There’s always a change of plans with you.”
I shrug since he isn’t wrong. I’m a free spirit. I come and go as I please. Except those days are over now since I’m a dad.
Are they? I don’t have to fight Daisy for custody. I can return Adele to her.
Except Eli’s private investigator hasn’t been able to find Daisy. What kind of mother abandons her baby to a stranger she met for one brief night?
“Come on, straggler.” Conner motions me toward the hangar.
I push thoughts of Daisy and Adele out of my head – today is my day to have fun and forget about my worries – and hurry to follow.
The hangar isn’t very busy. In the summer, it’s packed with tourists making tandem jumps, but it’s December now, and only the diehard skydivers – me and my buddies – are here.
I get my parachute out of my storage bin and find a spot. I haven’t jumped in a while and want to repack it. I open it up and condoms fly everywhere.
Conner, Layne, and Mac burst into laughter.
“We thought you might need some protection considering recent events,” Layne manages to say in between bouts of laughter.
I give him the finger. “You knew why my plans changed all along.”
“Dude.” Conner shakes his head. “The news traveled across Smuggler’s Hideaway faster than a sighting of Sammy.”
Sammy’s a seal that lives on the island. He was captured by the sea life sanctuary north of the island when he was injured as a pup. After he recuperated, they set him free in the ocean. He didn’t make it far before he decided he preferred to stay on land where people feed him.
“You don’t live on Smuggler’s Hideaway.” None of them do.
Conner waggles his eyebrows. “But Serena does.”
“Who’s Serena?”
“His latest sidepiece,” Layne explains.
Sidepiece? Conner’s married. Happily married as far as I know.
“What happened to Jenny?” His wife.
“Nothing.” Conner shrugs. “She works all the time and doesn’t have time for me.”
My brow wrinkles. It’s Sunday. If he doesn’t see his wife enough, he should be home with her and not fooling around with his friends.
Mac groans. “If I have to hear Conner whine one more time about his wife, I’m going to hurl.”
“I don’t whine,” Conner claims.
“Whine. Whine. Whine,” Mac teases.
Layne steps between the two. “Enough. The pilot should be here any minute. I want to get at least three jumps in today.”
I motion to the concrete floor covered in every color of condom in existence. “Someone needs to pick up all these condoms.”
Layne slaps my shoulder. “Get to work.”
I find a broom and sweep the condoms into a pile. I nearly throw them away. I don’t have time for random sex since I now have Adele.
But I won’t always have Adele. My stomach cramps but I ignore it. It’s true. I won’t always have my baby girl. Her mom will return and my life will go back to normal.
I gather the condoms in a trash bag and throw it into my locker.
“Here.” Layne hands me a beer as I get to work on packing my parachute.
“I’m good.”
“You’re not going to change now that you’re a dad, are you?” He motions to Mac. “He hasn’t changed since his kids came around.”
I don’t want to discuss this topic and the easiest way to avoid it? Accept the beer. Which I do.
He pats my back and I return to my parachute. I don’t need more than five minutes to pack it, considering I’ve been jumping since I was eighteen years old and saved enough money from my job at Wok the Plank to pay for skydiving lessons.
The pilot arrives and I don my wing suit before hitching my parachute on my back. I follow Mac into the airplane while Conner talks on the phone and Layne has another beer.
I frown. Two beers before noon is a bit excessive. Has he always drunk this much?
“How you doing with this dad gig?” Mac asks once we’re seated on the bench inside the plane.
“I don’t know how you do it, man. The midnight feedings, the dirty diapers, the crying. Fuck. The crying about does me in.”
He shrugs. “It’s easy. I visit my kids once a month. No worries about all the other crap.”
Once a month? I can’t imagine spending only one day a month with Adele. But if Daisy has custody, I’ll be lucky if I see her once a month.
My stomach falls to the floor. I don’t want to be an absent dad. I don’t want my kid to grow up wondering what he did wrong. Why he wasn’t enough for his dad to stay.
And I don’t want to miss out on Adele growing up. She’s already changed so much in the week I’ve lived with her. I can’t imagine missing her first words, her first steps, her first day of school.
I’m falling in love with my daughter.
The knowledge hits me with such vehemence, I nearly slam my head into the side of the airplane. I contemplate the door. The urge to jump to my feet and hurry back home to Adele – who’s starting to mean the world to me – is strong.
Layne and Conner climb into the plane and my chance to escape disappears when they shut the door behind them.
The pilot switches on the engines and a hum of excitement flows through me. I’ve missed this. Not merely the skydiving. I’ve missed all of my adventures. My weekends are usually full with skydiving, motocross, or travel.
It isn’t long before the pilot indicates it’s nearly time to jump. We stand in line at the door to wait for his signal.
The second he gives it, the door is open and Conner jumps first. Followed by Layne. I’m third with Mac bringing up the rear.
I scream into the wind as my heart pumps and adrenaline fills my veins. I wish Adele could see me now. I wonder how old a child needs to be before they can make a tandem jump. I’ll find out. If Adele is mine, she’ll enjoy skydiving as much as I do.
I’m busy contemplating my baby and nearly miss the cues for our formation. We practice building a few shapes before it’s time to open our parachutes and land.
We do two more jumps before I decide to pack it in.
“What are you doing?” Conner asks when I open my locker to put away my parachute. “We have time for another jump.”
“Sorry, I need to get home.”
“At least have another beer with us before you go,” Layne insists.
I hold up my hands. “No more beer. I’m on my bike.”
“You’ve had two beers. You’re fine.”
I am fine. But if I have another beer, I won’t be.
“No worries,” Conner says. “We can have a beer on the island. Did I tell you Serena has a best friend who’s single?” He waggles his eyebrows. “I love threesomes.”
I have no interest in Serena’s friend and he shouldn’t either. He’s married. I’m not usually the moral police, but I watched Mom fall apart when she found out Dad left her for another woman. I could never cause that pain.
Mac slaps me on the shoulder. “Once you get the custody arranged, you’ll have more time to spend with us.”
Except I don’t want to give up custody of Adele. I want my daughter in my life every day. Not one day a month. The thought still shocks me, but it feels right.
I stalk to my bike, wondering if my friends have always been this big of assholes. How did I miss this? A cheater, a drinker, and a negligent father.
If this is my normal life, I need a new normal. Maybe a new normal, including a baby girl named Adele and her sexy nanny.
Slow your boat, Zane. Adele is my baby and I shouldn’t abandon her but Sloane is a step too far. Relationships are not for me.
Except…
Being a dad wasn’t for me either.