Sunshine Beach (37 page)

The Realtor steepled his hands on the table. His brown eyes were filled with concern. “I'm going to say this one last time. I don't think you should do this.”

She nodded and smiled so that he'd understand that she'd thought this through. If she let herself think about the risks too much, she'd lose her nerve entirely. “I'm going to do this. Because I believe in
Do Over
and us. But if the worst
happened and you had to pay off the shortfall, at least I'd be losing Bella Flora to you.” She looked at him. “And you're the only person I know who loves her as much as we do. You've always said she was the best house on Pass-a-Grille.”

“Oh, she is,” he said, but there was no mistaking his reluctance.

For a moment she allowed herself to imagine the loss in vivid detail. Walking away with nothing into an uncertain future. But her mother's words came back to her. Like her mother, she would be proactive and if she got taken down, she was going to go down fighting. She looked the Realtor directly in the eye, then did the same with her father. “I promise I understand what I'm doing.”

“All right.” John opened a folder and withdrew a typewritten sheet of paper, which he placed in front of her. “This is the current estimated value of the house and grounds. This is the amount of the loan plus interest that I've agreed to guarantee.” He pointed to each number in the column and waited to make sure she'd absorbed it. There were an awful lot of zeros.

She swallowed, gave one last nod, then signed and dated the document. Her knees were slightly wobbly as she stood and followed John out to the front room. There Renée stopped them. “Hold on just a second. I'll send the rest of the cupcakes back with you for Dustin.”

“You must be looking forward to having him home,” Annelise said as Renée went to box up the cupcakes.

“That's for sure. Bella Flora has been really quiet without him,” Kyra said.

“It certainly has,” her father agreed.

Annelise smiled. Kyra realized there was something new in the smile, something that hadn't been there when she'd yanked the hotel renovation away from them with no thought of anyone or anything but her own feelings.

Kyra pushed away the resentment that still lingered. She
was speaking before she'd even thought what she might say. “We have the money to finish the renovation now. It would mean so much to all of us if you would reconsider letting us bring back the hotel. Or at least show you and explain why you should reconsider.”

Annelise began to shake her head. Was Kyra imagining that there was regret, even apology in the movement? “Couldn't you just agree to listen?”

The “no” was not immediate, but Kyra could feel it coming.

“Listen to what?” Renée asked, returning with the bakery box.

“We have the money for renovation, and we'd really, really appreciate a chance to discuss all the reasons why renovation makes sense.”

John and her father remained silent. Renée's reaction was everything Kyra had been hoping for, everything Annelise's was not.

“Oh, please, Annelise,” Renée said eagerly. “Couldn't we just agree to listen?” She placed the box in Kyra's hands.

Annelise said nothing for what felt like an eternity. Kyra held the box so tightly she feared for the safety of the cupcakes. She held her breath when Annelise turned and met her sister's eyes. “All right,” Annelise said finally. “But I'm only agreeing to listen.” It was clear she didn't believe there was anything they could say that would sway her. “But you better make it soon. The bulldozers are already on-site. Demolition is set to start on Monday.”

“Oh, thank you!” Kyra said. “Thank you so much.” She left immediately, pretty much dragging her father out, afraid to give Annelise a chance to change her mind.

She practically floated to the car, her feet barely touching the sidewalk. Dustin would be home soon, Daniel was bringing him, and she was about to deliver not only the money they needed but also the chance to win back the renovation.

“Well done,” her father said as they climbed into the
minivan and headed back to Bella Flora. “You're not afraid to go after what you want. I'd like to say you're a chip off the old block. But in truth you remind me of your mother.” Kyra knew from the way he said this that it was very high praise. “But I don't think I'd mention where the money's coming from just now. It would only upset her.”

Kyra nodded. The last thing on her mind was giving anyone anything else to worry about.

Kyra basked in her father's compliments all the way back to Bella Flora. A good deal of her rosy glow faded when she discovered Troy Matthews lounging by the pool. As if he had every right to be here.

“What are you doing here?”

“Sunbathing,” he replied. “Do I look like I'm getting burnt to you?” He sat up and handed her the sunscreen. “Will you put a little on my back? I should probably flip over.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “I'm thinking sugar water would be better.”

“Sugar water?”

“Yes, we could slather it all over you.”

“Really? We?”

“Yes. It would probably take a few of us to get you staked to the nearest ant pile.”

Her father laughed and excused himself.

Troy sighed in feigned disappointment. “I think you're going to feel bad about this latent hostility you have toward me when I tell you what I have for you.”

“My hostility is not latent,” she said. “If it feels that way, I'm doing something wrong.”

“Seriously, Kyra.” He looked up at her. “I've got some really good news.”

“For who?” she asked. “Because in my experience, the person you care about most is you. And your good news is not necessarily our good news.”

Her mother came out bearing glasses of iced tea.

“Please don't feed and water him,” Kyra said. “Once you do they never really go away.”

“Troy says he has an offer of some kind for us and I think we need to hear what it is,” Maddie said.

“An offer?”

“Yes, I was just getting to that when you threatened to stake me out to an ant pile.”

“Well I have news, too,” Kyra said.

“You can both fill us in,” Maddie said. “Avery and Nikki should be out any minute.” She pulled two straws out of her pocket and set them next to the iced teas. “Have you heard anything from Daniel, Kyra?”

Troy's cocky smile slipped slightly at the mention of Daniel Deranian.

“He texted before takeoff that he thought they'd be landing at Albert Whitted around four
P.M
.”

“Perfect,” Maddie said. “I thought we could have a welcome home picnic for Dustin. It's too hot to even fire up the grill, so I'm making ‘handwitches.'” Her smile turned slightly dreamy. Kyra imagined she was remembering William and Dustin eating smooshed PB&Js together on Mermaid Point.

“He'll love it,” Kyra said. “And I agree, it's way too hot to fuss.”

Avery and Nikki came outside blinking against the harsh sunlight. The five of them settled at the table on the loggia.

“All right, let's have it,” Avery said. “But I only want to hear good news. If anything else goes wrong, I plan to throw myself into the Gulf and start swimming to Mexico.”

Nikki grimaced. “What does it say that I envy the fact that you
have
a plan?”

“Good grief,” Maddie said. “I think we need to dig down deep to try to tap into our inner optimists. Surely things can't get any worse.”

No one argued. But no one seemed inclined to do any internal digging, either.

“Want to flip a coin to see who shares their news first?” Troy asked. “Or should I go ahead since I'm the guest?”

“You left off ‘unwelcome' and ‘uninvited,'” Kyra pointed out. “You showed up under questionable circumstances and disappeared the same way.”

“No, I came here and worked for you for free,” Troy said. “Then I left to try to find you a new gig. I came back when I found one.”

“A new gig?” Avery said. “Okay, Troy goes first.”

Kyra swallowed her objections and sat back, arms crossed.

“Bottom line, HGTV wants you,” Troy said. “They don't care what the show is called and they don't need it to be reality TV. Their whole channel is design and construction and they'd be a much better fit. They've been watching your numbers and they seem to think you can resolve the threat of a lawsuit.”

“People know about the lawsuit?” Nikki asked.

Troy nodded. “I think that's still part of the plan. They're doing everything they can to make you as unattractive as possible to other networks. But I think HGTV will be willing to wait until things are settled and you're free.”

“I don't know,” Avery said. “I've already done a show for HGTV and it didn't end well. I was treated every bit as badly by the program head there as we have been at Lifetime. I'd still rather do our own thing.”

“But you need a whole lot of money for that. And a
project,” Troy countered. “Last I heard you didn't have either.” He spoke directly to Kyra, his voice challenging while his eyes seemed to be sending all kinds of contradictory signals that she was too irritated to want to try to decipher.

“Yeah, well things have changed a bit since you left on your ‘mission to save us.'” Kyra air quoted. “We now have access to one and a half million dollars.” She paused to let this sink in. “If we can bring the reno in at a million, we'll have enough left to fight the network's lawsuit if we need to.”

“What did you do? Run to your ‘boyfriend'?” Troy aimed air quotes back at her. “Or should we just call him your sugar daddy?” Troy's face was tight with anger. “He doesn't even need those movie star looks to hold on to you, does he? Not as long as he's got all that money.”

“Troy,” her mother admonished. “That's not fair.”

“You can believe whatever you want to,” Kyra shot back. “You are the biggest . . . oh never mind.” She turned her back on him. “Does it really matter where the money came from?”

“Yes, of course it does,” Avery said. “We wouldn't want anyone put at risk. But I don't see anything wrong with Daniel wanting to help. He is the father of your child, and it's not like he'll be out on the street if something goes wrong.”

Kyra was careful not to flinch at the thought of being out on the street, since it would be them and not Daniel who would be there. Nor did she correct Avery's assumption.

Nikki did flinch at the “father of your child” comment, but said only, “As long as you're not taking on anything you don't think you can handle?”

“No,” Kyra said, relieved it was only a half-truth and not a full-fledged lie.

“You're not committing yourself to something you might come to . . . regret?” her mother asked softly.

Kyra forced herself to meet her mother's eyes and realized that Maddie was worried that she had somehow obligated herself to Daniel in ways she otherwise might not have. It
was with relief that she was able to say, “No, absolutely not.” Because that, at least, was true. She was committed to trying to save
Do Over
and no matter what happened, she would not regret that decision.

“I'm feeling some actual hope here, but I'd feel even better if we had a project,” Avery said. “Or knew where to find one.”

“That's the best part,” Kyra said. “I saw Annelise and Renée. And Annelise is, I don't know, something's different. The bulldozers are already on the property and they're set to begin demo on Monday.”

“That's the best part?” Avery frowned.

“No. The best part is that they agreed to hear us out. I think if we come up with something they can get excited about, we might have a shot at finishing the Sunshine Hotel.”

“Oh, my God.” Avery jumped up and threw her arms around Kyra. “I feel like one of those death row inmates who's being led to the gas chamber when the last-minute call from the governor comes in.” There was another bone-crushing hug. Then she hugged Maddie. “For giving birth to Kyra!”

There were celebratory hugs all round. Only Troy kept his arms to himself.

“I'm going to call Chase and Ray right now,” Avery said. “What do you say we have that picnic at the hotel? We'll need as much time as possible there before sunset so we can figure this out without having to do it by flashlight.”

Daniel and Dustin pulled up in front of Bella Flora just before five
P.M
. They arrived in the longest, most pimped-out white limousine Kyra had ever seen. All it lacked was a flashing neon sign that read,
Here I am! Look at me!

Kyra gritted her teeth. “What in the world is he doing?”

“He's obviously not planning to sneak in under the radar,” Troy said tartly.

She ignored the cameraman, not quite able to believe what
she was seeing. Just when she was getting ready to go out and remove Dustin from the car, the driver, dressed in a fancy uniform with brass buttons and a matching cap, got out and hurried around to open the door.

Neither Daniel nor Dustin wore a disguise of any kind. For a man who had been so gleefully inventive and had wardrobe and makeup people at his command, it was decidedly odd to see the two of them so . . . them. They strolled up to the front door chatting animatedly, Dustin moving and looking like a mini version of his famous father. Each step was a money shot if ever she'd seen one, assuming there'd been a photographer there to capture it. The only thing that might have been more adorable would have been if Dustin were riding on his father's shoulders. They were at the front garden gate when Daniel swept Dustin up into that very position. They sort of chortled at each other before ambling up to the front door. Just your everyday A-list movie star and his illegitimate child.

“What's going on?” Kyra asked as she met them out on the front loggia.

“Just enjoying the day.” Daniel slid an arm around her shoulders and gave her a long, lingering kiss. It was the sort of public display of affection that they'd been careful not to give in to even when they were actually seeing each other.

“Have you lost your mind?” she asked, pushing him away, eager to get back inside before someone saw the three of them together.

“Not that I'm aware of,” he replied amiably, still standing too close and showing no inclination to go inside. He leaned down so that she could take Dustin from his shoulders. Dustin looped his arms around her neck and started kissing her.

“Bliss!” she exclaimed as he gave her a butterfly kiss with the thick dark eyelashes that were so like his father's. Lifting his shirt she blew a very loud raspberry on his belly. Daniel reached out and tickled him. For at least those few moments
they might have been a real family, the kind that had the right to be seen together in public, to tease and to tickle. All three of them were laughing by the time they went inside and closed the door behind them.

“Quite a show you put on out there.” Troy stood in the foyer, a one-man unwelcoming committee. “Too bad there were no paparazzi there to see it.”

“It is, isn't it?” Daniel said, not at all perturbed.

Her mother came out of the kitchen smiling, her arms open wide. Her father wasn't far behind. Dustin clambered down and raced to them. When the kissing and hugging died down, Maddie walked over to greet Daniel. “It looks like Dustin had a great time. Would you like to stay for dinner? We're having a picnic on the beach behind the Sunshine Hotel.”

“I'm sure Daniel needs to get going,” Kyra said.

“Actually, I'm not going anywhere,” Daniel said. “I'd be glad to stay for dinner. I've been wanting to see the hotel. After that I'm checking into the Don CeSar. The Don's a big enough hotel that word should get out. I plan to stay there until someone notices.”

“Running low on adoration?” Troy asked.

Daniel shrugged. “I have it on good authority that the
Do Over
cast can't afford to be forgotten right now. So I thought I'd hang around. At least until word gets out that I'm here.”

Nikki told herself it wasn't running away since she was headed in the general direction of the Sunshine Hotel. But the truth was, she'd had to leave Bella Flora because she couldn't bear watching Daniel Deranian and his obvious affection and attachment for his son. Every time she looked at him, all she could see was Joe Giraldi, he of the angry tic in his cheek and the righteous indignation.

He'd had the nerve to ask if he was the father and basically
called her a liar and a cheat. After he'd known that Malcolm was trying to use her and was not in danger, had known that she was being watched.

Her bare feet pounded the sand, splashed through the too-warm shallow water. Zinc oxide ran down her nose. The oversized straw hat flopped as she walked. All around her, people seemed to be enjoying themselves. She took every smile, every laugh as a personal affront. How could they be so happy when she was so miserable? How could they go on about their lives when her body and her entire life had been hijacked? With each step the litany of losses rang louder. Her company, Heart Inc., was ancient history,
Do Over
was in the toilet, and the one time she'd let herself fall all the way in love, what had happened? She'd driven Joe away. She had babies growing inside her for Christ's sake. And their father was off somewhere trying to convince himself they weren't his.