Chapter 2 #2
He caught her easily, lifting her off the ground for a moment, the way he had done since she was tiny. “There’s my favorite girl,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Her dark hair smelled of sunshine and strawberry shampoo.
Emma hugged him fiercely, then turned and threw her arms around Penny as well. “Hi, Penny!”
Penny’s face softened into a genuine smile as she returned the hug. “Hi, sweetheart. How was school today?”
Isabel Graham, Darius’s younger sister, followed more slowly, her steps measured.
At fifty-eight, Darius’s younger sister still carried the graceful beauty of the Wayne family, but grief had left shadows beneath her eyes that no amount of rest seemed to erase.
She had lost her husband Robert two years ago and her son Jonathan and daughter-in-law Sarah three years ago in a tragic accident.
The weight of raising Emma alone had aged her in ways Darius wished he could fix.
“Hello, Darius,” Isabel said, offering a tired smile. “Penny, it’s good to see you.”
“Hello, Bella,” Darius smiled at her.
“Gran, I’m going to find Mr. Arnold to get something to eat. I’m starving,” Emma said.
“Yes, go,” Isabel smiled at her granddaughter. “And have food, Em. Ice cream is not food.”
“But Gran…” Emma moaned. “It’s the last day of school, and I usually have ice cream to start the summer with.” She gave a charming grin.
“After you’ve had some real food,” Isabel insisted.
“Okay!” Emma relented with an exaggerated sigh and rolled her eyes before rushing out of the room.
“The energy of children,” Penny said with a laugh.
“I know.” Isabel smiled after her granddaughter, who slammed the study door shut with such a bang that she jumped. “And they think a door is only closed if it’s banged shut.”
They all laughed before Darius turned serious as he eyed his sister worriedly. “But, really, Bella, how are you feeling today?”
“Better. I’m glad that I let you and Penny persuade me to join that grief group, as it has really helped.” Isabel shrugged lightly as she lowered herself into the chair beside Penny.
“I’m glad it’s helping,” Penny said.
“Yes, at first I thought it would be awkward and uncomfortable having to share and try to put into words what I was feeling,” Isabel admitted. “But the women there… they understand without having to put words to it.” Her eyes went distant for a while. “They’ve all been through something similar.”
Darius felt a familiar ache in his chest. He had watched his once-vibrant sister slowly fade after the losses in such a short space of time. Without Emma, he sometimes feared Isabel would have simply slipped away, lost in the grief that had swallowed her whole.
“I went to group therapy for a while after my parents died,” Penny told her. “I went back after my divorce, and it really helped me to channel my hurt and anger.”
“And how are you holding up now that your divorce is finally through? After how long was it again?” Isabel asked Penny, compassion filling her eyes.
“It’s been two years now.” Penny sat back and blew out a breath. “And I still go through bouts of anger and humiliation, but the pain is completely gone now. It just stings a little, but I think that’s just the leftover humiliation.”
“You do know he didn’t want to divorce you,” Darius pointed out gently.
“Then he should’ve thought about that before taking another woman on a luxury holiday using my credit card,” Penny replied, her tone dry. “Some mistakes can’t be forgiven with flowers and apologies.”
“Fair point. I’m just glad it’s behind you now.” Darius nodded. He knew how it had cut Penny up.
“He didn’t deserve you, Penny,” Isabel said softly. “You’ll find someone new.”
“Oh, goodness, no,” Penny said with a little snort. “Honey, I’m sixty now and really do not understand the modern-day dating scene.” She smiled. “I’m at the stage where I’ve made my peace with buying a few dogs, maybe a cat, and a parrot.”
“A parrot?” Darius asked in surprise. “I thought birds freaked you out. Something about the feathers gave you the creeps.”
“Yes, I remember when those pigeons surrounded us at the park where we took Emma to see the ducks,” Isabel reminisced. “You had a small freak out when one came too close to you.”
“I once lifted a hurt bird and the feeling of the feathers…” Penny shuddered. “Just gave me the creeps. But I had to hold it until we got to the animal clinic, and since then…”
“Yes, I must admit they do feel weird,” Isabel agreed. “But a parrot?” She smiled. “They have sharp beaks and bite.”
“They can talk too,” Penny pointed out. “So I thought it could be a good companion for a crazy pet lady.”
That made them all laugh, and in that moment, Darius made up his mind they were all going on vacation.
He glanced at his wristwatch. They would leave in two hours, giving them all the time to pack and for his assistant to rearrange any meetings he might have and change the important ones into video conferences.
The conversation flowed easily for a few minutes, and Darius watched them, feeling the familiar pull of family that had become more important to him in the last few years than any business deal.
“How would the two of you and Emma feel about getting away for a real summer vacation this year?” Darius dropped it into the conversation, drawing his sister’s and Penny’s attention.
“Is this another work thing? Because we know how that goes. We go with you, then we never see you, and we end up doing everything on our own.” Isabel’s eyebrows rose immediately as she eyed him suspiciously.
“No,” Darius said, the small white lie slipping out smoothly. “This time it will be different. Beach walks every morning, great restaurants, an entire summer beach festival with music and fireworks, and local markets. It’s going to be wonderful where I’m taking us.”
“Where?” Penny and Isabel asked at once, suspicion coloring their voices.
Darius smiled, letting the moment stretch just a little. “Sweet Blossom Bay on Sanibel Island. We’re going to have a great family summer vacation.”
The study door had swung open as Darius announced the destination, and Emma’s eyes lit up like the Fourth of July as she stepped into the room.
“Sanibel Island?” Emma breathed, staring at Darius. “Where you took us just after Grandpa died?”
“Yes, sweetheart,” Darius confirmed, glad at least one of his family members looked excited.
Isabel still looked wary, but a tiny spark of interest flickered in her eyes. Penny, ever the professional, simply raised an eyebrow as if she already suspected there was far more to this “vacation” than he was letting on.
“I would love to go back there,” Isabel told him.
“I suppose I could take the time,” Penny said, “Especially as my boss is inviting me.”
“Good, then I suggest you all get packed because we’re leaving in two hours,” Darius informed them and grinned at their shocked faces.
The next few minutes were ones of the three occupants in his study fleeing in sheer panic to get ready for their impromptu summer vacation.
Darius leaned back in his chair as his office fell silent.
He was feeling the first real stir of anticipation he had felt in months.
Sweet Blossom Bay held the final piece he needed to complete his vision.
But for the first time in years, the thought of acquiring those last two properties didn’t feel quite as urgent as the idea of spending an entire summer watching his family heal under the gentle Gulf sun.
He glanced down at the open folder still spread across his desk. The Bay View Beach House paperwork sat on top, waiting for the last of his signatures. Penny had marked the pages with small colored tabs in her usual meticulous way.
Darius reached for his pen and signed each line, the strokes neat and final.
Decades of waiting reduced to a few minutes of ink on paper.
He should have felt triumph. He had felt triumph after every other deal of this size in his career.
But the man whose family had once filled that beach house with summers and laughter had died less than a year ago, and his daughter had let it go because the grief had made it too painful to keep.
Darius had won by waiting for the loss of someone he had never personally met.
The paperwork was clean. The ethics, he was less sure of.
He closed the folder and set the pen down beside it.
The locals of Sweet Blossom Bay had a saying that the bay brought lost things home.
Darius had never been the sort of man who put much stock in that kind of folklore.
He had built an empire on numbers and contracts and the long game, not on bay breezes and small-town legends.
But standing alone in his quiet office, with the deeds to a coastline he had spent his whole life chasing, finally signed and waiting in front of him, he found himself wondering whether he had been lost for a very long time without ever knowing it.
The Gulf was waiting. So was his family.
Darius picked up the folder, turned off the desk lamp, and went to pack.