“Do you miss him?”
“Yes, but not the same way I think you miss your parents. I can’t explain why, but I think that maybe since he wasn’t around much before, that it was easier to accept that he wasn’t ever going to be around again.”
“But don’t you feel like you were robbed?”
“Sometimes. But my mom did a great job in making sure that I didn’t miss out on anything. We had this old neighbor, Mr. Willett, who had lost his wife a couple of years before my dad died, so my mom used to ask him to do ‘man things’ with me,” he said, using the air quotes around the words man things. “He had this boat that he was constantly fixing up, in fact I’m not entirely sure the thing ever actually worked. But he taught me about boats and mechanics and all that. Mr. Willett passed when I was in college, when he was ninety-three. Losing him was rough.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. The look of sadness in her eyes consumed Kyle as he took her in. She felt everything so deeply, and even though she’d never met the old man, he knew that she was heartbroken over his death simply because Kyle had been.
“Do you ever wish you’d had a normal childhood?” he asked.
She went to answer and then paused. “You know, I’ve never really thought about it. Even if my parents hadn’t passed, I still would have grown up on the resort. Maybe my mom and aunt would have enforced a little more normal kid stuff, but I don’t feel like I ever really missed out. I still had birthday parties, and learned how to ride a bike. Okay, so learning how to cook was on an industrial stove and I have been driving a golf cart since I was seven, but my uncles always took off work for Christmas, so Santa still came to visit. Uncle Miller made sure that my experience was as normal as he thought it could be considering the situation. In his mind, he was a single dad, and he took on the majority of the parenting load. Although Uncle Vaughn and Uncle Gray were always right there to help, so I’m sure that was a relief. But that also meant I had multiple parent-types enforcing the rules. So, I was still forced to do my homework before I could go out and play, and you know that I had a very strictly enforced curfew. I was like pretty much any other kid on the island.”
“I guess I just have a hard time imagining growing up on the island.”
“I’m sure that growing up in the States is very different. But I think if the only thing that had been different about my situation was that we had been in the States rather than St. Thomas, then not much would have changed. Each one of my uncles would have taken on the same role, it just might have looked a little different. But, really, I loved the childhood I had. I really have nothing to complain about.”
“Other than maybe that curfew,” Kyle laughed.
“Ugh. Uncle Miller was the one who put it in place, but I don’t know that he ever really cared, as long as I was home by a reasonable time and he knew where I was. He knew his kid, and he knew I wasn’t going to get into that much trouble. As I’m sure you can imagine, it was Uncle Vaughn who was the stickler about it. One time, knowing that Leona and I were going to be out way later than allowed, I set all the clocks back by like three hours in each one of the big house apartments so that it looked like I came home on time. Next morning I thought I woke up late, because the clock read what I thought was like three hours behind. Turns out, Uncle Gray had gone and changed them all back after I got home so that I wasn’t found out.”
“I have a new respect for the man.”
“Right? Teenage Drea thought about changing them to get away with it, but it never occurred to her that she’d have to change them back.” She shook her head, laughing at the memory. “I only found out it was Uncle Gray who did it because after I rushed out to the common room, he was sitting there waiting for me. He just laughed, told me what he did and that it would be our secret. And you know what, now that I think about it, I don’t know if he ever told the other two or not.”
“He strikes me as the type that would take such a thing to the grave.”
“Unless you tickle it out of him. Don’t let him know I told you, but tickling is his weakness.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, should I ever need to tickle my boss.”
“He won’t be your boss forever, though, right?” she asked, hesitantly. He could tell she didn’t want to push the issue.
“That’s my plan.”
“What makes you want to go out on your own so bad? You don’t hate working at the resort, do you?”
“Not at all. Working for your family has been one of the best experiences of my life. But I have always dreamed of being my own boss—making my own schedule and doing things how I want to do them. I have all these ideas, and I want to try to make them into realities.”
“Why don’t you just talk to Uncle Gray about them? I know he’s been looking to have someone take over the marina and boat excursions. You’d be perfect!”
“He offered me that role about three months ago, actually.”
“And you turned it down?”
“Not turned it down, per se. Just told him I’d need time to think about it. He told me that he’d give me all the time I needed.”
“But the answer is going to be thanks, but no thanks?”
“Unless something changes, yes. One, I don’t want to force my ideas on him. It’s still his baby. I saw firsthand how that goes at the marina I worked at in Florida. It doesn’t end well when they are no longer in control. But I want to be able to work with the cruise ships for day tours, as well as people who are staying on the island at a rental house or something rather than a resort. Maybe even run a discounted tour or two once a month for locals who work in the tourism industry who don’t get to do the fun things all these visitors get to.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I really think you should talk to Uncle Gray. He values your opinion.”
“I know,” he sighed. “And I know he wants to expand into more adventure-type things, which is why he needs someone to take over the boats, but I still don’t feel that I would be able to do everything I want to. Every idea I have would still be subject to the approval of your uncles.”
“That’s fair,” she said, resigning herself to his answer. “What’s number two?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. If I’m out on my own, we can be together.”
“Aren’t we together now?”
“I mean really together. Out and proud together. Not worried Kyle might lose his job together,” he said, referring to himself in the third person. “Our relationship would be one less thing that would be subject to their approval, at least where the resort was concerned.”
He knew he sounded like a broken record. But he also knew that regardless of how much her uncles liked him as an employee and her friend, accepting him as her boyfriend would be another thing entirely. It would be an uphill battle all of its own, and one he was only prepared to fight if he had a way to support her that wasn’t dependent on the resort.
“I was really a consideration?” she asked. It hadn’t been what he expected her to say, so it caught him a little off guard.
“Yes, of course. You have been for a very long time, sweetness. I have wanted you since the moment you showed up at the dock that day in Florida.”