Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Kinsley
Dinner was at the resort at the end of Sanibel Island closest to Captiva, so it wasn't a far drive. The hostess sat us outside on the deck overlooking the water. It was a fancier restaurant, but there were families here, probably staying at the resort on vacation.
"This place is nice," I said to Shep when we were seated.
Maya's head was bowed over a kids' menu.
"We deserved something nice after ripping out a bathroom. I still can't believe we got all of that done in one day."
I wondered if the progress came from the pressure of me filming or Shep wanting to impress Maya with his demolition skills. "We worked hard."
We ordered. Then Shep leaned his forearms on the table. "Did you look at the video yet?"
I shook my head. "I haven't had a chance."
His gaze flitted over the water. "I'm curious how it came out. There are a lot of stretches where we're doing the same thing over and over again."
"It will need editing." I was looking forward to watching the parts where he interacted with Maya.
He sighed. "I don't understand why anyone would want to watch someone renovate a house."
"You were watching a renovation show when I was in the shower," I pointed out.
"Those shows look staged to me. Everything is too clean. The hosts are dressed so nicely; it's hard to believe they ever get dirty."
I laughed. "I've had similar thoughts."
"You can't convince me that they ever do more than what they film for the show," I continued, pleased that she agreed.
Kinsley sobered. "You think people won't be interested in you renovating the house?"
"Maybe they want to see inside the house, maybe see a before-and-after picture. But a play-by-play of the renovation? No way."
I had a feeling people would be interested in him. A gruff contractor who went soft for a little girl. He was going to win over a lot of hearts, but I didn't want to tell him that.
We were in this bubble where we spent so much time together; there were bound to be feelings. But it didn't mean that anything was supposed to happen between us. I was positive he didn't even think of me as more than a single mother that needed a place to live.
I wasn't looking forward to sharing Shep with the world. I'd promised to help him, but now I wanted to keep everything to ourselves.
Shep looked away. "Dad will be happy I finally made some progress and filmed it."
"You want to make your father proud?" I asked, trying to get a read on him.
He shrugged. "I've always been somewhat of a disappointment to him. He doesn't think I work as hard as my brothers or that I care about the business like they do."
I wondered if that was more of a perception thing. I'd noticed that Shep was capable of great focus, but it would appear as if he wasn't listening. But when I asked him questions, he was able to answer me.
I wondered if Shep was misunderstood by his family. It wasn't my place to psychoanalyze the situation. But it was interesting. It told me a lot about why he was the way he was. He wanted to impress his family, but I had a feeling it was more about being accepted for who he was.
"I'm sure that's not true," I said with a sinking feeling because I'd seen him interact with his family. They didn't expect him to finish the renovation on time.
He focused on Maya. "You want to play tic-tac-toe?"
She handed him a crayon, and Shep drew the lines for the game on the white space of the menu.
He worked with his family so closely that it would be hard not to be tied up in his family's thoughts and beliefs about himself. I'd worked in the office for a few years, and I'd heard what his brothers and father have said about him.
They didn't expect much from him and assumed he wasn't on top of his job.
It was one of the reasons why I kept a close eye on his projects and helped him organize the ordering and delivery.
In other companies, I might handle this type of work for all the project managers.
But Jon expected each project manager be responsible for their own project.
I didn't think it should matter if Shep had someone helping him. It was what he needed to be successful.
Shep bowed his head over the paper, his dark hair close to Maya's lighter strands.
That's when I noticed that someone had stopped by the end of our table. "Derek? What are you doing here?"
My face flushed as soon as the words were out of my mouth because he was holding hands with a woman. She wore a formfitting black dress and stiletto heels. Her blond hair looked like it had been professionally blown out. Next to her, I felt frumpy in my sundress.
Derek's gaze flitted from Maya to Shep. "I'm here on a date."
He didn't bother to introduce me to the woman who I'd never seen before. Maybe she was a tourist or someone just passing through.
Maya's gaze lifted. "Daddy!"
Shep shifted so that she could climb over him to get to her father. She lifted her hands for a hug, and the woman reluctantly let go of Derek's hand. From the surprised look on her face, I wondered if she knew he had a child. It must be awkward for him, but I wasn't going to make it any easier.
Derek carefully extracted Maya's arms from around his neck and set her down. "Who's this?"
I couldn't help but compare the two men. Shep would have held her for as long as she wanted. He wouldn't have cared about sticky hands or his clothes.
Shep stood and held out his hand. "Shepard Kingston. Kinsley works in our office, and she's helping me renovate my grandmother's home on Captiva."
Derek's nose pinched as he shook his hand. There was nothing he could say about the situation. When I called to tell him my place had been flooded, he hadn't even asked where I'd be staying. As long as I was in charge of Maya, he didn't need to know the details of my life.
Maya moved back to the booth, sitting on her knees. She picked up her crayon and continued to draw another tic-tac-toe field.
Derek looked from Shep to me. "This is cozy."
Shep grinned, one of his lazy, easygoing smiles that never failed to charm everyone and put them at ease. "These two lovely ladies helped me demo a bathroom today. I figured taking them out to dinner was the least I could do."
Derek backed up a step. He must have concluded that Shep wasn't a threat. In other words, this wasn't a date. I hadn't dated anyone seriously since we broke up. I went on dates but kept those to the weekends Maya was with him.
I'd never met anyone I'd want to bring around Maya. Derek had never mentioned anyone serious either. But then again, how could it be serious when he didn't tell them whether he had a child or not?
"Our table's ready," the woman said, looping her hand through Derek's elbow.
I didn't mind her display of possession. Derek had became unattractive the moment I realized he wasn't into being Maya's dad. He was there for her, but he did the bare minimum, and a lot of the time, I think he was annoyed by her presence.
He was an okay dad, but that wasn't good enough for me. Especially since I'd observed Shep interacting with Maya. My expectations were higher than ever. I wanted a man who loved Maya as much as me. Not someone who tolerated her.
"It was good seeing you, Derek. Enjoy your evening," I said politely.
Derek merely nodded as the woman led him away.
Shep sat down. "Maya's dad?"
I nodded. "We dated in high school and on and off through college."
I sensed that Shep wanted to ask more questions, but thankfully, he wouldn't, not with Maya present.
It was obvious that Maya wasn't that concerned about her father being here with another woman. I wondered if he ever brought women around her. If so, she hadn't mentioned it.
"You guys have a good relationship," Shep said matter-of-factly.
"We co-parent nicely. But then again, I make all the decisions in our custody arrangement. He prefers it that way." He didn't care where she went to the doctor as long as I handled the visits. He didn't want to be bothered with the billion emails that the school sent out.
I sensed that Shep had more questions about Derek, but I was happy that he didn't voice them.
The part that bothered me was that Derek decided that Shep wasn't interested in me, and then he was able to walk away.
Did he think that Shep wasn't interested in a single mom?
Was I that out of the dating scene that I wasn't a good prospect?
I certainly hadn't worn a black dress and stilettos for our dinner, but then again, this wasn't a date.
Shep had taken me out as a reward for our hard work. He had never given any indication that he was interested in me as anything other than an employee.
I shouldn't be thinking about doing anything to jeopardize my job with Kingston Construction, so why did it bother me so much? Shep could have any woman he wanted. I'd seen the looks he'd gotten when he walked in with us.
Most islanders knew I worked for his company, and surely, the rumors had gotten around that I was living with him because of the flooding. It was easy to dismiss me.
Shep was more likely to be with a tourist wearing a cocktail dress than a single mom from the island.
"Is everything okay?" Shep asked.
"I'm just hungry."
Our food arrived then, and the subject was forgotten. I checked Derek's table here and there, and they seemed to be getting along. It didn't seem like a first date. I wondered if Maya cramped his style on the weekends he had her.
We ate, and Maya talked about her new bathroom and when it would be done. Shep was great about answering her questions. It also allowed my mind to wander. Maybe it was time for me to think about dating again.
If Derek could, why not me? I wasn't getting any younger, and I wanted a relationship with someone.
Someone like Shep who adored my daughter.
Surely there was someone out there for me.
I kind of assumed that no one would want to date me because of Maya.
Derek had always been indifferent to her, so wouldn't another man be too?
But Shep had destroyed my assumptions about men and made me think that anything was possible.
Maya asked to wash her hands, and I said she could since I could see her walk to the bathroom and go inside.
Shep placed his cloth napkin on the table. "You're quiet tonight."
"I was just thinking about Derek being here on a date."
His forehead wrinkled. "Does it bother you that he's seeing someone?"
"Not at all. But I wonder if it's time for me to get back out there. Maybe there's a guy out there who won't mind that I have a daughter."
Shep shook his head. "Any man who's worth anything will love Maya."
"I wonder how hard he will be to find." Someone who'd play with Maya at the table and sing toothbrushing songs to her to get her to brush her teeth.
His jaw worked. "You want to date."
I shrugged. "Maya's with him every other weekend. So I can go out then. There's no reason for me not to."
"How are you going to go about finding someone?"
My brow furrowed. "The usual way I suppose. Ask my friends for recommendations and get on a dating app."
He shifted in his chair. "A dating app?"
"Yeah, you've never done one?" Then I rolled my eyes. "Of course you haven't. You wouldn't need to."
The waitress cleared the table and asked if we needed anything. "Can you bring us the dessert menu, please?" Shep replied.
I appreciated that he'd asked for one.
He placed his elbows on the table. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You walk into a room and heads turn. You're handsome, charming—"
Shep grinned. "You think I'm handsome?"
I rolled my eyes. "You know you are. That's part of your charm." He was confident and sure of himself in all areas except when it came to his family. He kept those insecurities bottled up.
Maya crawled over Shep's lap before he could stand to let her in. She leaned against him, clearly tired.
The waitress placed the menu in the middle of the table.
Shep picked it up. "They have ice cream with chocolate sauce. Does that sound good?"
At Maya's eager nod, Shep handed the waiter the menu. "Ice cream, please."
"Sure thing. I'll get that for you right away."
"When we get home, it's bedtime for you," I said to Maya, and she didn't protest. It had been a long day for her.
Shep patted her head. "I need you rested for tomorrow. We have more work to do."
Maya curled her hand around Shep's arm, and my heart melted. Was she this affectionate with her father? I had no idea how they were together. We'd parted when she was just a baby, so I could only imagine.
I shifted the conversation back to work. "What can we do while we're waiting for the bathroom stuff to come in?"
"We can't work on my bathroom since we're using it, but we can rip out yours next. Then the others. One bathroom at a time," Shep said with more confidence than I'd heard him use since we started talking about the renovation.
"You think we'll meet the deadline?" I asked him, suddenly nervous about getting everything done.
"You mean so Elena and Hudson can get married?"
I blew out a breath. "Yeah."
"We'll do our best. But this is something we're doing on weekends and evenings."
"I can look for more design options when I'm at work and get a few more mock-ups to you for the other bathrooms. Do you know what style you'd like to use?"
"Something similar. Updated but still traditional."
I nodded. "I can do that."
The waitress brought the scoop of ice cream and set it in front of Maya with two spoons. When she left, Shep asked, "Are you going to let me eat that?"
"Sure," Maya said, surprising me.
She rarely shared her ice cream and never with someone who wasn't me.
They picked up their spoons and ate. I wondered if Shep even realized how much of a big deal this was.
Shep lifted his gaze and smiled at me. He was seemingly unaware of my inner turmoil. Was it a bad idea to let Maya get so close to Shep when our living situation was temporary?
By summer, the renovation would be done, and there wouldn't be a reason for me to come over to his house.
A flash of pain ran through my chest.
Shep paid the bill when it came, saying it was his treat, and he lifted a sleepy Maya into his arms. I walked next to him, noting the curious looks we were getting. Maybe it was him holding Maya that made us look like a couple.
It felt good to have someone carry Maya through the restaurant and buckle her into the seat. Shep shared the parenting load with me, and enjoyed Maya's company. He was such a good man, and it was going to hurt when I had to leave.