Sunny's Love (6 page)

“I have?”

“Oh, yes, she wouldn’t have offered to watch the kids so we could go out tonight if she didn’t like you.”

“But I thought she was crazy about the kids.”

“She is, and she would have spent the evening with them, she just wouldn’t have pushed us to go out together.”

“I see. A conspiracy in the making, you know I caught Alma and the kids whispering when I walked downstairs this morning. They got very quiet and secretive when I entered the room.”

“They’re all in it together. I hope you don’t mind, Sunny. They mean no harm, but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can certainly put a stop to it. I don’t want anyone to make you feel uncomfortable in my home.”

“It’s fine, in fact, I think it’s cute.”

“Personally, I do, too. But like I said, if it gets uncomfortable for you, let me know. Here we are, Sunny. Welcome to a Li’l Taste of Heaven.”

He chuckled as he got out of the car and walked around to open her door and help her out of the car.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just thinking about the staff and the kids trying to play matchmaker and thinking we’re not onto them. We should play tricks of our own on them.”

A few stolen kisses for them to see perhaps, she thought as he helped her out of the car and took her hand.

They walked into the restaurant and were immediately greeted by the hostess and the manager who
’d seen Chase walk in.

“Mr. Dupont, welcome. I see you arrived safely.”

“We got in this afternoon, as a matter of fact. Jason, Janice, I want you to meet Sunny. Can you believe she’s never been to one of our restaurants? We’re going to show her the royal treatment tonight.”

“You
’re in for a real treat, Miss Sunny.” Jason smiled as he shook her hand.

Janice
also smiled and led them to a table and took their drink order.

“This is beautiful, Chase. The décor is just like heaven.”

“Yes, that’s the idea.”

Janice brought their drinks and went back to her post in the front of the restaurant. A waiter soon came to take their order.

“You order for me, Chase.” Sunny told him with a smile. “I trust you.”

“That’s good to know.” He placed the order and after the waiter had left, he added, “
Glad to hear you trust me, because I trust you too, Sunny. I trust you with my children, who are the two most precious things in my life.”

“Oh, Chase, thank you. I absolutely cherish the two of them already.”

“I’m again, so thankful to have met you.”

The waiter brought their salads
and the conversation changed to small talk.

The entire meal was, as promised, heavenly
. And by the time they were finished, several of the employees had stopped by to say hello and get a peek at the boss’s ‘new lady.’

Chase was friendly to all of them and thanked them for the wonderful service.

“Ready to go, Sunny?” he asked as he walked around and pulled out her chair for her.

As they were pulling out of the parking lot, Sunny asked, “Where to now?”

“You’ll see.” He drove until they were on the highway that ran along the beach. He parked in a public access lot and turned to her. “You said you wanted to see the beach, so let’s take a moonlight stroll.” He helped her out of the car then removed his socks and shoes, throwing them in the back seat. “You might want to take off your sandals, Sunny. The sand will feel so good on your feet.”

“Okay,” she replied as she removed them and laid them on the floorboard.

“Come on, Miss Drake. Let me show you what Florida life is really like.” He took her hand and led her to the beach.

They strolled together for
a while, quietly talking, when Sunny suddenly noticed a couple walking in front of them. The man took the woman in his arms and kissed her.
How wonderful to be walking here with the one you love.

“Young love is great, isn’t it, Sunny. Do you miss Scott still?” Chase asked as he stopped and searched her face.

Taken off guard for just a minute, she replied, “I rarely think of him, Chase. He was my first love, my only love, but I realize now he wasn’t the one for me. If he had been, he would have married me and not her. He wouldn’t have been attracted to her in the first place. He’s happy and I hope to be happy someday, too.”

“I was worried you
might be pining away for him, when you told me you hadn’t dated since the break up. You’re too special, Sunny, not to find true love.”

“Thank you, Chase. I don’t know about the special part, but I do hope to find true
love,

someday
,” she answered softly as she thought, and I’d like for it to be with you.

Settling into
her comfortable bed after returning from the beach, Sunny thought about the dinner and walk on the beach that she’d shared with her employer.
He thinks I’m special,
was her last thought before sleep overtook her.

After she’d dressed the next morning, she went in search of the children
. She woke both of them and had picked out their clothes for the day. Ali insisted on dressing herself, so Sunny went to help Brice. When she went back to check on Allison, Chase was in his daughter’s room.

“Need some help here?” She laughed as she watched him attempt to put a ponytail in the little girl’s hair.

“P
lease, Sunny, help me. Daddy isn’t doing a very good job,” Ali begged as Chase feigned a hurt look. The little girl tried to spare his feelings by adding, “Daddy, don’t be silly. Ponytails are a mommy job, not a daddy job.”

“Or maybe a nanny’s job, Ali,” Sunny gently reminded her. She took the hairbrush Chase offered her and swiftly achieved the perfect ponytail.

“I don’t know how you did that, but thank you.” He grinned at her as he glanced at his son, who’d been watching the entire scene with interest.

“Ready for breakfast, Bricey?” he asked the little boy.

“Yes, what’s Alice making for us?”

“We
’ll have to go downstairs and see, but whatever it is, we’ll be polite, won’t we?”

“Alice cooks good, Daddy.”

“Yes, she does, but just in case she or Alma would ever cook something you didn’t like, you know you have to be polite, right?”

“Yes, Daddy, we know that
,” Ali answered him with a sigh.

Sunny giggled as she watched the three of them interacting together. Once again, Chase had demonstrated
what a good father he was.

The four of them
entered the dining room together. They weren’t disappointed when Alice carried steaming plates of French toast to the table.

“I love French toast, Alice
,” Ali told her with a smile that would win anyone’s heart.

“Me
, too,” Brice told the woman who beamed at the praise from her little buddy.

“What about you, Sunny? French toast okay?”

“Of course, Alice, I haven’t eaten this good since I lived at home.”

“
Are you the grab a cup of coffee on the way out the door type, Sunny?” Chase teased.

“Pretty much, yes, I usually had a piece of toast and orange juice in the car on the way to work and coffee after I arrive at the office.”

“I figured as much. You’ll have to get used to real food here. Alma and Alice are both excellent cooks.”

“Thank you, Mr. D.” Alice
seemed pleased at his words.

“Everything I’ve had so far has been wonderful. I’ll probably gain so much weight
with all this wonderful food. My bikini won’t fit by the end of the summer.”

“Bikini
, huh?” Chase asked. “I was planning a family outing to the beach tomorrow. Are you going to wear your bikini, Sunny?”

“If you
’d rather I didn’t I also packed a one-piece.”

“Bikini is fine by me.” Having voiced his opinion, Chase quickly busied himself with his food.

When breakfast was over, Chase asked Sunny what was on her agenda for the day.

“I thought I
’d take the children out to the patio and read to them for a while. Then I thought we might take a dip in the pool before lunch and naps afterward.”

“Sounds good, I have business to attend to if I want to clear tomorrow for the beach, so I’ll leave you to it and I’ll get busy. I’ll see you at lunch.”

He walked into the home office and closed the door leaving Sunny and the children to move forward with their day.

***
*

When Alice announced lunch would be ready soon, Sunny told the children to get out of the pool. She dried them off as best she could and took them to their rooms to get dressed.

Chase came into the dining room, with the same strained look on his face she’d noticed the night before they left Des Moines.

“Everything
all right, Chase?” she asked as he sat.

“Business problems, nothing for you to be worried about, but thank you for asking.”

As soon as he’d finished his lunch, he went back to his office and stayed there until dinnertime. The strained look hadn’t left him causing Sunny to wonder what kind of business problems he was facing.

Sunny noticed whenever he was with Ali and Brice, he was very good at focusing all of his attention on them, no matter what was going on in his world.

“So tell me all about your day. I know you swam this morning. What did you do this afternoon?” he asked the kids.

“Sunny made us take a nap after lunch.”

“And
that
is a good thing.” He laughed at his son who apparently didn’t agree.

“Then we took a walk
, and then we baked cookies,” Ali chimed in, obviously pleased with her day.

He looked at Sunny. “That sounds like fun. Do you think Sunny would help me bake cookies sometime?”

“Maybe if you ask me nicely.” She giggled at the thought of Chase Dupont in the kitchen. But then again, he did own a chain of restaurants.

After dinner when the children were asleep, he invited Sunny to join him for a drink again.

Once they were seated, he said, “I’m having some problems with the restaurant chain, Sunny. There’s a large chain trying to take over my company. I’ll never let that happen and will take whatever steps necessary to stop it. I’ve worked hard and no one is going to take it away from me. I didn’t say anything earlier. I don’t want the children to know.”

“Of course, they don’t need to be worried about you. Is there anything I can do to help?” Sunny reached over and touched his hand soothingly.

“My attorney and I had a long phone conversation today about this. There may be something you can do, Sunny, but it’s a huge thing for me to ask of you. I’d rather wait until I go back to Des Moines next week and discuss it with him further before I bring you in on this. I just wanted to let you know the situation.”

“I appreciate your trust in me, Chase. I won’t say anything to anyone.”

“I’d trust you with my life, Sunny. You’ve more than proven, in the short time I’ve known you, what a genuinely good person you are.”

“Why…thank you, Chase. I’m just being me.”

“And that’s what makes you so special.” He stood up then and walked over to where she sat. Bending down, he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and continued, “I’m going to bed now. If you’re coming up, I’ll walk you.”

Stunned by the conversation and the kiss, she allowed him to help her up
. Once again, he walked her to her door, only tonight was different. When they reached her room, he hesitantly pulled her into his arms, as if he were afraid she would reject him. He looked into her eyes, before he leaned down and kissed her soundly on the lips. When he released her, he said, “I’m sorry, Sunny, I don’t mean to offend you. It’s just been a hard day and having you to talk to about it helped me more than you know. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“I’m not offended, Chase, maybe a bit confused.”

“We’ll have a long talk after I return from Des Moines next week. You’ll know all there is to know then. For the rest of this week, I’m officially on vacation. Everything is under control for now.”

“I’ll see you in the morning, Chase. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sunny. Sleep well.”

She
ran to the bed and collapsed on it as soon as she shut her door, puzzled about what he’d said.

Sunny and
Chase walked with the children between them down to the beach. It was a lovely stretch of beach not far from the house. The afternoon sun was past its hottest time of the day, but Sunny rubbed both the kids down with sunscreen before beginning to apply it to herself. Chase had spread two large blankets on the sand. After the kids were occupied with sand castles, he took the tube of lotion from Sunny’s hand.

“Let me help you.” He poured some of the lotion into the palm of his hand and began to rub her back as she sat in front of him on the blanket.