Given (Give &Take) (12 page)

T
he next morning I got up early. Mom and Mr. Simcoe were talking plants and boring me and Aunt Jan to tears, so we took off for the orchard.

“You have something on your mind, so spill it,” Aunt Jan said.

I could never hide anything from her. “Nadia’s hell-bent on making me hate her for some reason.”

“It’s working?” She chuckled.

“Oh yeah. I don’t know what to do. Merrick and I fight all the time about her. He’s determined to believe she’s his little princess even though she’s Satan’s spawn and she has no intention of leaving anytime soon.” I slashed the big stick I was carrying across some tall sea grass. “We got into it yesterday in the dress shop. Next thing I knew, Merrick was there, she’s bawling her eyes out in his arms, and I’m the evil stepmom in
Cinderella
.”

“That’s a tough one.” Aunt Jan stopped to watch a heron take off from a tree along the path. “Why do you think she’s got it out for you?”

“All I can figure is she doesn’t want any competition
for her daddy’s affections. She wants him all to herself, so when he kicks off, she gets all his cash. She’s consumed with the idea that he’ll start up Rocha Enterprises again. She thinks he’s wasting his life here doing nothing.”

She gave me a sideways glance. “Is he? I mean, if you take an objective look at the situation. You know him better than she does. Should he be retired in his early thirties? Will he be happy doing nothing for the rest of his life?”

“Thanks. You sound just like her.” I smacked my stick into the ground.

“Don’t get pissy with me. Sometimes we’re too close to the trees to see the forest—is that the expression?”

“Something like that.”

“I’m not saying she was right and you were wrong. It’s not about right and wrong, it’s about finding a seed of truth to plant in common ground.”

I stopped and stared at her. “Wow, you’re all kinds of philosophical this morning.”

“No coffee yet. I’m very Zen.”

We walked down the rows of fruitless key lime trees. The citrus scent still clung to the leaves and grass. Thinking that maybe there was a seed of truth in Nadia’s claim that I wasn’t encouraging Merrick like I should be was a bitter pill to choke down, but like Aunt Jan said, I had to consider everything she said objectively.

Maybe she was right.

The problem was, I hadn’t known Merrick in his business prime, when everything was going his way and the
real estate development industry was bowing at his feet. I came in at the end when his legacy was a minute from being flushed down the drain.

But there was one person who knew the Rocha Enterprises Merrick like the back of her hand.

What was the saying? Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer? Something like that. Like Aunt Jan, I was feeling Zen.

Beck and Joan landed on the island just after noon. I hadn’t told Merrick they were coming. “What’s this about the dickhead getting a vintage Harley?” Beck asked. “He’s not going to kick me off the island for coming to see it, is he?”

I grabbed his arm as the three of us walked toward the golf cart. I’d missed him. “No. He’ll probably want to break down and give you a big ol’ man hug for being here. His women are ready to kill each other.”

“I heard Nadia was here,” Joan said. “Things not going well on Paradise Island?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Don’t piss me off, Joan. You’re the real reason I wanted you guys here. I need to talk to you.”

“You want to talk to me?”

“Shit,” Beck said. “It must be bad.”

“I need your perspective,” I told her.

“Well,” she said, sitting down in the golf cart, “we’ve reached a new level of awkward.”

Beck got behind the wheel out of habit. “I think it’s referred to as friendship.”

“No,” Joan and I both said in unison, then acknowledged each other with mutual smirks. What we had was the ability to put differences aside for both of our benefit when needed. We had zero in common outside of the people we both cared about. If it weren’t for them, we’d never speak again.

“Whatever,” Beck said. “I’m glad I had brothers. I don’t get you women at all.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, pointing to the left. “Go to the boathouse. We’ll leave you there with Merrick and his new toy.”

At the boathouse, I put my finger up to my lips to tell them to be quiet as I turned the door handle. Merrick was alone inside, rubbing a soft rag over the Harley’s gas tank. “Hey,” I said. “I have a surprise.”

He walked toward me smiling. “I like your kind of surprises.” He snapped the towel, aiming for my hip, but I dodged out of the way.

“Not that kind of surprise.” I opened the door wide and Beck stepped in.

“I’m allowed visits still, right?” he said, holding a hand out to Merrick.

Merrick looked like he’d just been thrown a life raft as he shook Beck’s hand, then pulled him in for a man-hug-back-pat thing. “Good to see you, man. Glad you came out.”

Beck’s eyes roamed the Harley and he whistled. “Look at that fucking thing. How’d you get that, you lucky bastard?”

I grabbed Joan’s wrist. “Come on. Let’s leave them in their shiny metal and motorized glory.”

“Okay,” she said, letting me lead her away, “but I have a feeling I’m going to need a drink for this convo we’re about to have.”

Nadia and Paul were spending his last hours at the pool. Mr. Simcoe had taken Mom and Aunt Jan out on the boat for their final afternoon here. Joan and I sat at the kitchen island. I’d made her a strong margarita and nervously munched on chips, unsure how to begin.

Joan tapped her fingernails on the countertop. “You’re not going to ask me about sex, are you?”

I dropped a chip onto the floor. “Sex? No. Why would I need to ask you about sex?”

She shrugged. “You know. He and I have a history in that department, so I figured if you were having problems…”

“We’re not having problems with sex!” This was a mistake. Too late to turn back now. “Do you think he’s happy being retired?”

“Oh,” she said, leaning back and staring across the room, considering her answer. “For now I think he is. He was under a tremendous amount of stress for a long time before you came into the picture. He was burnt out. Sick of the politics of the industry. This is a nice break for him.”

“But you said break, so you think he’ll rebuild Rocha again?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “No question. Merrick has
too much ambition, too much motivation, and too many ideas not to act on them. I give him three years tops. You two will get married. You’ll pop out a kid and he’ll be ready to have his professional life back.”

How did everyone see the future so clearly when all I saw was a blur? How did Nadia and Joan know Merrick so much better than me? I knew he was brilliant and talented and driven, but he’d been so content with letting his company go, like he knew it was time. He turned the page with grace and, as far as I knew, had never suffered doubts.

I wasn’t some stupid dreamer who thought that a baby and I would be all he’d need. Joan made perfect sense. He’d want a rounded life with family and a career. Hell, I did, too… I think. We hadn’t gotten that far. We knew we wanted to be married and someday we’d probably have a baby, but we were okay with not planning our lives farther than now. Why was everyone else looking ahead for us?

“Was there something else?” Joan asked. The way she watched me, there was no way she couldn’t see the turmoil going on inside my head.

I gave in and let out my fear, sat it right between us… with Joan of all people. “I’m afraid I’m not good for him because I haven’t even thought about him working again. I haven’t asked him or encouraged him. I just took it at face value that he did what made him happy and he seems like he is. Nadia said I wasn’t good for him because I wasn’t helping him get back up on that horse. I just—”

“Knock it off, Rachael. What’s making you act like a
whiny baby? You’ve always been strong enough to stand up to me and now this chick strolls in and says he’s her dad and you’re falling apart? Get your shit together, woman.”

She leaned her elbows on the island, coming closer to me. “Listen to me. We both know Merrick’s not a child. For all intents and purposes, he raised himself and his sister. He knows what he wants and gets it. You don’t have to guess or push him. He’s not one of those men who need a mommy. He needs a partner and that’s what you are to him. So stop questioning everything.”

Laughter blurted out of my mouth. Just like I thought, Joan didn’t hold back. “Thanks. That was exactly the kick in the ass I needed.” I felt better than I had in days.

“I’d let you hug me, but we both know we don’t want that.” She reached over and grabbed a handful of chips from the bag. “Maddie’s been racking her brain trying to think up ways to keep Nadia away from the Weston Plantation. I swear, you two are acting like a tsunami blew in and wrecked your lives.” She waved a hand in the air. “Treat her like any other petulant child trying to get attention and
ignore her
. She’ll go away.”

“Merrick won’t ignore her; that’s the problem. And she won’t ignore me. I think she’s trying to come between him and me, so she’s up my ass with these comments trying to provoke me so he’ll think it’s me confronting her instead of the other way around.”

She took a sip of her drink. “It’s working.”

I dropped my forehead against the counter. “I know.”

“Ignore. Her.”

I raised my head. “It’s that easy?”

A sly smile crept across her lips. “It’s that easy.”

I had my doubts, but what other option did I have?

H
aving Beck here made me question asking him to leave in the first place. It was a relief having someone to confide in that was outside of the situation. Plus, it was Beck, and I had to admit I missed the guy.

Having been raised by the duplicitous asshole that was my father, I’d never trusted another man enough to call one a friend. They were peers, employees, or competitors, but definitely never friends.

Beck was the first guy I ever trusted and called friend. Lucky for him, that meant I dumped every last effed-up detail on him. Every last thing that had come up since Nadia called from France.

“This is definitely messed up,” he said, leaning against the worktable. I hadn’t moved one thing from his desk or touched any of his tools. He’d left most of them behind, like he knew I’d need him to come back.

“As messed up as Rachael and Joan running off together like they did?” Rachael had grabbed Joan’s wrist like they were best friends. That was not normal.

Beck dropped his head and looked at me like I was missing
something. “Really, dude?” He shifted and crossed his arms. “Let’s put it this way. When I was a kid, we had two cats, both female. They hated each other. Never did get used to living together. Then my mom thought she’d bring a third cat home—also female. The first two teamed up against the new one. It’s like some kind of crazy woman thing. It’s innate in their species. They hate each other until there’s a bigger threat, then it’s on.”

“Ah,” I said, getting a clear picture. “Nadia’s the bigger threat. I can see why Rachael would feel that way—even if it’s not true—but why would Joan?”

Beck waved a finger. “It’s not just Joan. Maddie’s been having fits, too, ever since catching wind of Nadia having some grand plan for the Weston Plantation. That’s stepping into Maddie and Joan’s territory.”

“Jesus. Navigating around these woman is like walking through a mine field. I didn’t feel this pressured when I had to find my way around government regulations in foreign countries. At least then the rules didn’t change overnight.”

Beck laughed and picked up a wrench, tapping it in the palm of his hand. “You know what you need to do, right? Find something for Nadia that doesn’t involve this place or MJ’s. Keep her busy somewhere else. Divide these women up.”

Divide and conquer. “Good plan. But that means I’ll be busting my ass to keep them apart for the rest of my life.” No good. “They have to find a way to get along. That’s all there is to it.”

Beck stretched and came to stand next to me, admiring the bike. “Good luck.” He smacked me on the back and chuckled. “For once, I’m glad I’m not you.”

I balled up the towel I’d been polishing the Harley with and tossed it on his desk. “So, what about you? How’re things at MJ’s place? I hear you guys wrapped up the west wing.”

“We did. Looks great, too. That place is coming together. He wants to start on the big outbuilding next, make it into a guest house. Joan’s got someone working on the plans.”

“Why didn’t anyone mention this to me? Rachael could draw up those plans, no problem. She’d love it.” MJ and I needed to have a little talk.

“Listen, I don’t want to get into the middle of all of this, but I think MJ figured it would be easier if he had someone else do it. That way Nadia wouldn’t get involved and it wouldn’t end up being turned into a country club clubhouse.”

“She’s his sister. He can’t turn his back on her, too. I won’t have them all against her when she hasn’t done anything—”

“This time.” Beck shot me a stern look. “Not everyone can be as forgiving as you. If you push her on them, it’ll blow up in your face. Give them time to come around on their own.”

Damn, he was right. I wasn’t a patient person. Square pegs fit in round holes if you cut the angles off. That’s what I did. I made things happen whether they were meant
to or not. Sometimes it worked—like with Rachael—and sometimes it didn’t, but I always grabbed what I wanted by the neck and didn’t let go. “What am I supposed to do in the meantime? Let them plot against each other? Ignore the tears and the arguing?” I paced in a circle, shoving my hands through my hair. “I can’t take this, man. I’m on the edge here.”

“Yeah, you’re stuck.” Beck tossed a leg over the bike and sat on the seat. “You don’t want Nadia to leave and Rachael lives here. Not that you’d want her to go either. Right?”

“Of course not. They both have to be here. Guess I could build an octagon and let them go at it MMA style.”

Beck threw his head back and laughed. “Now you’re talking. I put a grand on Joan to whip all their asses.”

“Shit. I’m with you on that.” I sat down at his desk and kicked my feet up on it. “How’s that going anyway? You and Joan?”

He grasped the bike’s handles and leaned back. “You know, I’ve dated competitive women in the past. The difference this time is that she’s not competing with me. That’s a plus. To be honest, my issue is how everyone else sees her. It’s like dating Dracula or something. Everyone thinks she’s this horrible monster. Once you get past that tough exterior, though, she’s nothing like that.”

I knew what he was talking about from past experience. Although Joan and I never got as close personally as we did physically, she let me see past her tough chick routine every once in a while. “Do you like what’s in there?”

He laughed. “That sounds dirty.”

I chuckled and let it go. Joking was his way of changing the conversation when it came to something he didn’t want to talk about. “We should probably go make sure Joan and Rachael haven’t tied Nadia to a tree and set it on fire.”

“If we must.” He got off the bike and we headed for the door.

“Thought about Nebraska?” I asked.

“Thought about it. Haven’t gone. Obviously.”

“Yeah.” There was another square peg I’d shoved into a hole it might not actually fit in anymore. “Well, if you don’t want to go back, you can hang around here. Only if it’s what you want, though. Don’t do it for me.”

“Why the hell would I do anything for you, ya selfish bastard?” He patted my shoulder and shook his head, smiling.

The bonfire flames licked the air, crackling and sending smoke up into the sky. Nadia wasn’t tied to a post in the center of it, but judging by the looks on Rachael and Joan’s faces, she was lucky not to be.

It was a little past seven in the evening and the sun had just set. Paul, Sylvia, and Jan had to be heading out to get to the airport soon, but we thought a quick hot dog roast like Rachael used to have in her backyard when she was little would be fun while her mom and aunt were there.

“Stick a fork in me,” Jan said, leaning back in her chair
with a hand on her stomach. “You’re a good weenie roaster, Merrick.”

“Thanks, Jan. Better to be a weenie roaster than a weenie.”

Beside me, Nadia burst out laughing. “That’s hysterical!”

Rachael and Joan exchanged irritated glances. It pissed me off. Nadia wanted my affection. Sure, her fake laughter was pretty obvious, but it didn’t deserve their level of criticism.

I eyed Rachael across the fire. She collected herself and shut off the blatant disregard for Nadia’s feelings. And mine.

What the hell was going to happen when it was only the three of us on this island?

“How long are you staying, Nadia?” Joan asked.

“As long as my dad will let me,” she said, turning to me with what surely passed as puppy dog eyes.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew what she was up to, but still… she was my daughter. Hearing her call me Dad was awesome. “You’re welcome for as long as you’d like to be here.”

She lowered her voice and said, “Shouldn’t you check with Rachael first? She owns this place, right?”

Right. Rachael did own the island and the hotel. I’d gifted them to her so my father couldn’t take them along with every other property I owned. He’d lied about putting Rocha Enterprises, the company my grandfather left me in his will, into my name when I graduated. Since it was still in his name when I built it to its billion-dollar status, he thought he had the right to take it all away from me. Turtle
Tear was more Rachael’s than mine from the beginning. If any of my properties were going to be saved from Enzo’s greedy fingers, it was Turtle Tear.

Since the island and hotel were hers, if she wasn’t happy with Nadia being here, was it fair of me to expect her to let her stay? Was it fair to Nadia to make her be here where she wasn’t wanted? Should I be here causing this for both of them?

Maybe Beck was right. Divide and conquer. I could take Nadia and go away for a while, take a long vacation somewhere. Let Rachael have some time to get used to the idea of me coming with not just MJ, but Nadia as well.

I couldn’t change that, so something had to give.

“Dad?” Nadia said when I didn’t answer.

“I’ll talk to her. I’m sure we’ll figure things out. I know it hasn’t been easy for either of you.”

“I’m trying,” she whispered. “She hates me.”

“She doesn’t. We need to talk about your relationship with your grandfather. Having a better understanding of where you’re coming from will go a long way with Rachael. Tomorrow, when everyone else is gone, the three of us will sit down and have a talk about everything.”

She stared into the fire and nodded. “Okay.”

Step One: Communication. Something I’d never been very good at, but if I was going to be the best husband I could be like I’d promised, getting everything out into the open was key.

A little while later, we helped our guests gather their
suitcases and headed to the landing pad. Beck, Paul, and I loaded the helicopter while the women said good-bye. I knew Rachael would be teary when her mom and Jan left, and it was hard for me to see her upset when I couldn’t do anything to fix it but tell her they’d be back soon and she could visit whenever she wanted to make the trip. If I told her that now, though, she’d think I was trying to get rid of her.

Constantly avoiding land mines—this was my life now.

“Take it easy. Come see us soon.” Beck grasped my hand and we shook and patted each other on the back.

“We’ll be up soon. Tell that son of mine I hope he got a good grade on that exam he bolted out of here to study for.”

“Will do.” Beck held up a hand to wave at Joan. “Time to go!”

She herded Sylvia and Jan to the helicopter, Rachael following along looking forlorn. They drove her crazy half the time they were here, but when they left, it killed her.

I shook Paul’s hand. “I won’t think this good-bye is for good this time. Come back whenever you want.”

“Thank you for having me. Come back to France and stay with us again.”

“We will. Tell your mom and dad hello for me.” I stepped back and let Nadia say her good-bye, turning away when the kissing began. What I assumed a father should feel seeing his daughter kiss a man—a sort of anger washed with embarrassment for both of us—wasn’t what I was feeling, but there was something nagging about seeing it.

When they were all tucked inside, Rachael, Nadia, and I stood back. Beck lifted the helicopter off the ground and they were gone.

I put one arm around Rachael and the other around Nadia. “Just me and my two girls.” Both of them needed cheering up from seeing their loved ones depart. “How about we go back and make s’mores?”

“I’ve got a headache,” Rachael said. “I’m going to go upstairs and lie down.”

“I’m on a diet,” Nadia said. “I’ll sit with you if you want to make some for yourself.”

I recognized this test for what it was, and there was no way I was going to fall for either of their traps. Going upstairs was picking Rachael, and staying by the fire was picking Nadia. “You know,” I said, “I think I’ll find Mr. Simcoe and see if he wants to pick up our game of chess from earlier in the week.”

Back at the hotel, I left them both and went in search of solitude. I did need to get away and take a vacation—alone.