Page 3 of The Prodigal Prince

Fiona smiled and held out her arms as a five-year-old bundle of energy slammed into her

“Did you have fun, Munchkin?”

Her revised HEA launched into a story about the turtle sanctuary and how they all had the chance to hold a baby sea turtle.

A baby sea turtle apparentlynotnamed Crush.

With a laugh, Fiona watched as the small love of her life took off for the play area of the resort pool then turned to her nanny.

“It went well?”

Tinsley laughed. “Of course it did. But how are you feeling?”

“Much better. Between the ice pack on the back of my neck and a couple of hours of good sleep, the headache seems to be gone.

Tinsley set her bag on the next lounge chair over. “I’m glad. You deserve to enjoy this vacation. You’ve worked hard this year.”

Fiona acknowledged the statement with a nod, though she didn’t entirely agree with the sentiment. She remembered her days working in a fast food kitchen.

Working on a fluffy movie for a few weeks and a recurring spot on a sitcom for a streaming service couldn’t actually be construed as hard.

Or at least not the same kind of hard most people were familiar with. Just like her title of “single mom” was much easier than it could have been.

Like many things in life, it wouldn’t have been her first choice.

But like many such things, it was so much better than she could ever have imagined.

Besides, given the biological father’s reaction to her announcement, they were better off without him.

If she’d needed his financial support, it might be different, but if she retired this year, she could live the rest of her life without worrying about how much things cost.

Within reason, of course. Her days of flying in private jets were largely a thing of the past already.

It still surprised her she’d managed to keep her pregnancy and entrance into motherhood a secret, but she wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Tinsley stretched out on the lounge chair but kept her eyes on the children playing.

Fiona understood the unspoken question. “Nothing really. If you want to go do something on your own, go ahead.”

Tinsley grinning as she stood. “Thanks.”

Fiona used her best mom glare - the one she still need to perfect. “Be careful. Don’t go anywhere alone with anyone.”

It wasn’t the first time Tinley had been enamored with someone she met randomly and didn’t know anything about.

Fortunately, none of them had gone terribly wrong.

Yet.

Her many hours of listening to true crime podcasts meant Fiona had probably become paranoid.

Tinsley waved to Fiona as she walked toward a man standing near the bar covered by a thatched roof. Fiona watched carefully for a few minutes as they simply sat on stools next to each other. For the moment at least, he seemed to be on his best behavior

Tinsley was a big girl. She could take care of herself, in more ways than one. Fiona made certain her nanny could defend herself if the need ever arose.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. The next one ended up much the same, except it included the dolphin experience. It was everything Fiona could have hoped for.

Tinsley spent the evening having dinner with the man she’d met, but assured Fiona her new friend was just that, a friend and not someone she might be... romantically interested in. They simply had fun hanging out.

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