Harvest Moon (Virgin River #15)(73)

“There you go,” Stu said, lifting his glass. “To a perfect vacation. And a perfect friendship!”

The ten-day sentence began with Courtney sitting in coach with four kids while the two fun couples enjoyed first-class. The little ones were well-behaved, thanks to being used to babysitters and the abundant supply of books and portable DVD players with their favorite movies and snacks. Aaron and Conner lasted about an hour before they started kicking the seats in front of them, scraping and making too much noise. Courtney knew she was taking a chance, but she couldn’t help herself—she exacted a little revenge on Stu and Sherry. When the flight attendant asked her if she was responsible for the boys she said, “Actually, I’m the au pair for these two little angels. The parents of those two are in first-class. Maybe you should get them?”

Stu came back, warned them sternly, frowned at Courtney and went back to his party. He had to come back three more times. He leaned his face close to Courtney’s and said, “You’re pushing me.”

“Quote—‘they don’t need that much watching,’” she said. “End quote. Indentured servants only have two hands.” Then she smiled into his annoyed eyes and mouthed, I hate you so much.

She did what was expected of her for six hours; Ann and Dick came to check on their kids but never had to be called out of first-class. By the time the plane landed in Maui, Courtney was exhausted, hungry and near tears, but Ann was impressed.

Stu had a stretch limo waiting, and Courtney helped herd all the luggage and children to the car. When they reached the condos, they parted company, and Courtney went with Stu, Sherry and the boys to their condo to settle in. Before they even had their luggage dropped off, Sherry walked next door and said to Dick and Ann, “Drinks on the beach in a half hour!”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ann said. “The kids might need a nap after that long plane ride.”

“Courtney will watch them. Won’t you, sweetheart?” Sherry said.

She straightened her spine. “I didn’t get food on the plane,” she said. “They don’t serve food in coach. Just in first-class.”

“Oh, darling,” Ann said. “You must be starving! I’ll have something sent up to you and the kids from the beach bar immediately. Can you get the kids settled or do you need my help with that?”

She thought for a second. Ann was as selfish as Sherry, but wearing a ‘nice suit.’ “Just go,” she said wearily. “Mom?” she said, the word souring in her mouth. “Please take the boys with you so they don’t wake the little ones.”

“Courtney,” Sherry answered with a laugh. “They can’t go to a bar!”

“I can’t handle all of them at nap time.”

“They’ll be fine on the beach,” Stu said.

Ann wrote down her cell phone number and put it by the hotel phone. “Just call me if there’s any problem, Courtney. I’ll come right up.”

Courtney eyeballed the phone, then shot a glance at Stu.

“Go ahead, everyone,” Stu said.

When the room was clear but for Courtney, Stu and the two little kids, Stu said, “I’m going to call Lief, tell him where we are. If you call him, the deal’s off. You’ll be moving back in with me.”

“I should tell him I said I’d do it.”

“I’ll tell him. Just don’t let me down and I won’t let you down.”

Two hours later, a pizza was delivered to the condo where Courtney was babysitting two children who, after sleeping on the plane, were not at all tired.

This time, she thought to herself, Lief is going to kill him. She was looking forward to it. If she survived this.

Lief’s appointment with his lawyer was very encouraging. With Courtney’s strong desire to live with Lief in Virgin River along with the accompanying issues of bites, stitches and sleeping on the floor while everyone else in the family not only had a bed but their own bedrooms, this should be a slam dunk. Not to mention the fact that Stu had kicked her out, given her up to Lief. After all, she was fourteen-and-a-half years old, not four-and-a-half. And she wasn’t choosing to live with Lief because she could get away with murder—since living with him her appearance had changed dramatically as had her grades. She had new friends and new and healthy hobbies such as riding.

“Unless Stu fights you on this, I don’t see a problem,” the lawyer said. “Could take us a while—courts move slowly. But she shouldn’t have to go back to him.”

So Lief texted her. Good news. Lawyer says we’re going to be fine. Finish this visit on good terms and we’ll have our custody.

About four hours later she texted back. thanx. U R the bomb. Having fun. TTYS

It didn’t feel right. First of all, her responses were usually immediate. Even a half hour or hour seemed too long, but four hours? And Courtney didn’t text things like, “You are the bomb,” which had gone out a long time ago. And TTYS, for “talk to you soon,” was a more adult acronym.

As soon as he’d gotten her response, he’d texted right back, You all right?

Great. Later, came right back at him.

So he went to the airport the next day, fully expecting to see the entire Lord family in the boarding area, ready to go. When he didn’t see them, he assumed they were running late. But as boarding time neared, he became more worried. Then as most of the passengers got on the plane and departure time approached, he went to the gate agent and asked if they had already boarded.