Page 85 of Ardently Yours

I glance toward Henry, who gives me the same look of confusion as his brother.

I could tell them that not everyone can afford a yacht. That’s a conversation I need to have with them soon, and often. But rightnow, I need to sell them on this experience as a good time, not necessarily impart life lessons. “They’re great for when you want to have asmallparty. You don’t have to take any staff or crew at all. You can take it out on the lake all by yourself. And you can turn the engine off and float in silence with just the sound of the waves and the birds.”

Henry eyes the pontoon with new respect. “I’ll try it.”

Gabriel wiggles his behind to a beat only he can hear. “Pontooooon. Yeah. Pontoooon. Yeah. Gonna ride a pontooooon. A shiny floatie pontooooon. Yeah.”

I ruffle his hair. “We’ll get settled in. Charlotte and Bronnie will be here tomorrow afternoon. We have to make sure everything is ready for them.”

Henry scowls. “I don’t want strangers on my vacation.”

“We already talked about this. Charlotte is my friend, and Bronnie might be frightened in a new place. We want to make her feel welcome. You two can share your toys and play with her.”

Gabriel twists his face up. “You want us to play with a baby?”

Henry crosses his arms over his skinny chest. “Not just a baby, agirlbaby.”

“Since when do we judge people based on things like age or gender or any other prejudice?”

Henry drops his arms. “Sorry.”

Gabriel scuffs the toe of his shoe against the gravel and looks down. “Sorry.”

I pull Gabriel into a hug and squeeze Henry’s shoulder. “I know change can be scary, but you’ll like Bronnie and Miss Charlotte. I’m sure of it. Besides, Bronnie’s not a baby. She’s four. That’s only two years younger than you, Gabriel and four years younger than Henry. It’s not that big of a difference.”

Henry adjusts his glasses. “Four years is an immense difference.”

“You may find you like having her around. You won’t know until you give her a chance.”

From his position on the porch, Reese gives the all-clear to enter the cabin. My last-minute change in venue went over like a lead balloon with my security team.

I straighten and smile down at the boys. “Now, let’s see if the people I hired to stock this place did their jobs.”

Gabriel bounces. “The man at the gas station said they have pop here.”

“That’s what they call soda. It won’t taste any different than what you’d get in New York.”

Henry grabs his backpack from the backseat and trudges his way up the wooden steps to the front door of the cabin. “It’ll taste different,” he predicts darkly. “Because we’re in Michigan, and the air smells like fish pee.”

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Charlotte

Iroll into thegravel driveway and put my Escort in Park behind Arden’s black Cadillac. This place is bigger than it looked in the photo Arden sent and doesn’t exactly match my request for “normal,” but it isslightlymore down-to-earth than the other places I’ve been with him.

I wipe my sweaty palms on my denim shorts, then step out of the car into the crisp sunshine of a warm spring day. My floral canvas duffel bag sits next to Bronnie’s purple suitcase in the hatch.

When I move to the backseat and lift Bronnie from her booster seat, she looks around with wide eyes.

“What,” she whispers in delight, “is this place?”

“It’s a cabin where people stay on vacation. You’ve never had one of those. We're going to have fun.”

Her gaze falls on the pontoon at the end of the dock, the giant Jenga blocks on the huge porch. The cornhole and ladder ball games set up on the lawn.

She nods seriously. “Yes, we are.”

When she squirms to be put down, I give her my “I am so serious, young lady” expression. “Do you see the lake?”

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