Page 79 of Besties
“Let our boys spoil us, okay? You’ve worked so hard your entire life, and now you have the chance to enjoy yourself.”
“What he said,” Richie told her. “This is a very important cruise for me, and I needed to have my family there. Please?”
She melted as she stared into his eyes. “But it’s got to be expensive.”
And it was. Richie told me the excursion would cost almost sixty-five thousand per person, and I freaked out. Knowing how hard it was to come up with money, I hedged. We fought about it, but then he shut me up with a kiss. A very long, very deep kiss that ended up with him sucking me off, then lifting my legs and screwing me into a gibbering mess.
After that, I was willing to listen when he told me how much this trip meant to him. Our parents were getting older, and the times we’d be able to do this were going to be less and less, and then one day, we’d never be able to go anywhere with them again.
Thatsobered me. After Walter’s attack, I’d worried about him and Mom. Now, Richie was giving her something she’d always dreamed of, and I was making good money too, so we would work it out.
“It’s fine, Mrs. Desmond. Trust me, I have it all covered.”
And he did. For the first time since he’d been working at Teaching Time, Richie wanted something for himself. He’d put it on his card, and asked if I was okay with it. I was, and asked him if it could be a gift from the two of us. He was insanely happy about that.
It would take us a while to pay it off, but I would happily help him. He’d left Allyssa in charge and told her she was welcome to call, but only if things got dire. She took me aside and told me that after all the crap he’d gone through, she wouldn’t bother him and asked me to please take good care of him.
It was going to be my pleasure.
Richie needed this vacation. He’d lost nearly forty pounds due to the stress of possibly losing Teaching Time, and it didn’t look good on him. He was pale most of the time, but now he was drawn and sickly. A trip to the doctor had netted him a diagnosis of stress and anxiety. That had gotten him a referral to talk to someone about his fears.
He admitted to me later he’d been having nightmares of kids saying he failed them, which freaked him out horribly. On this trip, I would take care of him and remind him he’s loved by so many people. I had all of the letters written by the kids who’d used Teaching Time, and every night before bed, I would read him a couple. That list of stories had grown exponentially after news broke of what had happened to Richie and Teaching Time, as thousands of people from across the globe added their voices to those I’d contacted.
Still, it rattled Richie far too much. He redoubled his efforts for Teaching Time, sometime working long into the night, then falling asleep at his desk. When I tried to wake him, he’d mutter he needed five more minutes, then fall back to sleep. I finally talked him into seeing someone, and he’d been making great progress, I think.
Suffice it to say, I hated James for what he and his people had done to everyone at Teaching Time—especially Richie—and I was glad they were going to prison. I wished I had let Dixon take him apart.
After we boarded the ship, we checked in. Richie’s parents gushed about the ship and their suite, but then told him they’d be happy to have my mom and Walter share with them. He promised them it wasn’t necessary, as they had their own, as did he and I.
Mom strolled around the ship, taking in the amenities, learning the layout of the place we’d all be calling home for the next month. She gushed at the steel, glass, and wood of the rooms, fell in love with the pool and the view from the deck. Walter was her constant companion, even after he found out there were golf simulators onboard.
Richie handed out the itinerary for the trip, the ports we’d be stopping at, and the cities and towns we’d be seeing. Mom broke down. She’d never traveled internationally, and to find out she was going to see Reykjavik, Halifax, Sydney, Oslo, and Copenhagen had her crying.
Yeah, my mom was real emotional.
The cruise went smoothly. We’d get together and have breakfast every morning, then we’d all go off and explore things that interested us. When we hit the ports, we’d split up to see what caught our attention. Mom and Walter loved to visit museums, while Richie’s parents went to seek out locally made crafts. Richie and I—oddly enough—visited the schools everywhere we went to see how they worked to learn what we could use in the next iteration of our Tools suite.
Fine, it was business-related, but it was one of the few hobbies Richie had, so I indulged him.
We boarded the ship after exploring Reykjavik, all of us having stories to share. Of the places we’d been so far, Reykjavik had been my favorite. At one point, Richie disappeared into a small shop while I was checking out some of the Icelandic magazines. When Richie came back, we picked up several of the items written in the native tongue, because, of course, Richie could speak Icelandic. I mean, seriously? I could get English copies and read them myself, but having him read to me in that smooth, velvety tone? I might not be bright, but I ain’t no dummy.
That night Richie asked if we could all do dinner together. It was great listening to what everyone saw and did. Mom couldn’t stop talking about how Walter had taken her to the Icelandic Phallological Museum. She was scandalized by the multitude of dicks and dorks, but that didn’t stop her from exploring the entire place. She had to tell us about the sperm whale dick and how big it was, the little hopping penis statues—which Walter bought for a few of his friends—and so much more.
“So what you’re saying is you could have spent more time there?” I asked.
Her cheeks flared. “Maybe a little while.”
We all laughed at that. Then Richie stood and said, “Well, would you like to know what I did today?”
Everyone answered, “Of course.”
“While Allyssa was setting all this up, I went online and found this adorable little shop. While Max was looking at the magazines, I went in to buy something I’d ordered a few months ago.”
He reached into his pocket and then turned to me. He dropped to one knee and held out his hand. In his palm was the most stunning ring I’d ever seen. A filigree platinum band surrounded by black diamonds, it glinted in the lights from the chandeliers. I was gobsmacked.
I admit, when I was a kid, I used to dream of getting married. It would be me there, with Richie as my best man, standing before the judge or priest or whomever and pledging to spend my life with them.
Never had I dreamt that it would be Richie I would be marrying.
