28. Something Better Now

28

SOMETHING BETTER NOW

" T his is so exciting," Raine said when they walked into their hotel room six weeks later in the Bahamas. "I've never been on a vacation before like this. Never a plane either. You're sure I didn't break your fingers?" The airplane flight had her so terrified she wouldn't let go of him.

Aster turned and grinned at her. "No. My fingers are fine. You did well. I don't even think of flying anymore."

"I know," she said, looking around their suite. She'd balked at this trip, but Aster had pushed. The fact he'd said he'd never had an adult vacation either and didn't want to go alone was what wore her down. "Do you miss it?"

She also learned that there was no arguing either with him for paying for it all. He did agree to let her pay for some things on the trip. It was the only compromise they had.

Money wasn't as tight as it'd been for years and she could swing it no problem and it'd be a chance of a lifetime.

"No," he said. "I don't miss it at all. I've got something better now."

He grabbed her from behind and lifted her in a hug, then dropped her on the bed, his body coming down on top of her after he'd rolled her.

He was on his hands in a pushup pose, his lips to hers and then he just dropped down and all but squished her if he didn't catch himself.

He moved to the side quickly so he wasn't on top of her.

"What was that?" she asked, laughing. "Did you lose your balance?"

He hesitated a second and then said, "Yeah."

"No," she said, sitting up. "I'm around kids enough to know when one is lying to me. What happened?"

She was looking at his arm that had given out and realized it was his left.

"I got a cramp in my chest and shoulder area and it caught me off guard."

"A cramp?" she asked.

"Like a muscle spasm. It happens. Don't get all in a panic over it. I've got a lot of scar tissue going on and it's common and I was told to expect it."

She kept staring at him and could see he was telling the truth, but she was worried.

"Maybe you should see your doctor," she said. "Just to be sure."

He laughed and sat on the side of the bed. "Raine. I was at the cardiologist last month. I had an EKG and an echocardiogram. Everything is pumping, flowing, and moving the way it should. There is nothing wrong and no reason for you to get concerned or worked up."

She frowned. "You didn't say you went to the doctor."

He lifted an eyebrow. "I didn't know I had to tell you about my appointments."

Her shoulders dropped. She had to let this go.

Wasn't this something that Colton had said to her before? That she wanted to know everything he was doing when he was doing it even if nothing came about it.

He'd argued that he didn't tell her he was looking for jobs outside of their hometown because maybe he wouldn't get anything and why worry her for something that might not come about?

She didn't want to buy that when he said it, but it'd made sense. Her arguing he could have told her when he at least had an interview fell on deaf ears, with him coming back saying one interview meant nothing.

"You don't," she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Hey," he said, getting up and pulling her into his arms. He held her and she needed that. Sometimes it scared her how much he understood her. "It's not a big deal. It really isn't. I got a clean and good bill of health. I'm a guy. We don't tell women everything we are doing or what is going on in our bodies. There is nothing to worry about."

"If there was, would you tell me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "But you don't need to worry. I told you before I'm not stupid. I'm getting checkups when I need them. Every six months. All is good."

She had to believe him, as she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"Okay," she said. "Thanks. And don't try to hide it if you get a cramp or something. You could have hurt me falling like that."

He tapped her on the nose. "I'd never hurt you. I moved my weight to my other arm easily enough. You could have just thought I was getting frisky. You like it other times when I'm a little aggressive."

She felt the heat fill her face as she moved out of his arms. "Now you're trying to embarrass me."

"Is it working to get your mind off of what just happened?"

She walked over to the big window off their living room and looked out at the view of the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. "It is. Wow, look at this. It's amazing."

"It sure is," he said. "I know this is the first year you're not home for a holiday. Are you okay with missing Easter dinner with your family tomorrow?"

She'd never missed any holiday ever in her entire life. She lived close enough in college to go home on the weekends if she wanted, but she rarely did since she was with Colton and they were having fun on campus.

But holidays were always with her family and Colton sometimes joined them.

Colton's parents were divorced. He lived with his mother and stepfather who didn't do any big holiday celebrations. Or if they did, they went away for them and she was never asked to join. Or Colton had to go with his father who was a few hours away.

She looked back and thought maybe that was selfish on her part to never do much with his family but then reminded herself she'd never been asked. Her parents always thought that was odd, but what was she going to say? It wasn't her choice.

"I'm fine with it," she said. "My mother was cooking for River and Emma and the baby. Ivy and Brooks are going to Jasmine's. She wants to play with the babies and I don't blame her."

Jasmine's son, Gabriel, was two and a half months old. Dahlia's son, Grayson, was six weeks old. Then there was Jasmine's daughter, Cori, who would be two in May. Ivy had told her that Wesley was excited about the egg hunt and she wanted Brooks to see how much fun kids and babies could be.

With her brother's wedding just a month away, she wondered how long it'd be before Ivy was pregnant. Ivy had baby fever and even Raine's mother had noticed it.

Thankfully her older brother didn't seem to mind and always joked about how much fun it was to try.

"Poppy has had a busy month," he said.

"I know. Ivy told me, but I'm sure you know from Daphne. Is she excited?"

"She is," he said.

Daphne was hired to be Poppy's nanny and would be moving east in the next few weeks. Aster was going to take a few days off and fly to Texas, help his sister pack up and then drive the twenty-five hours back with her stuff in a moving truck.

She knew Daphne was thrilled but also worried about the big changes going on. Even though she wouldn't be working full time right away.

Poppy's other nanny, Julie, was happy to just be caring for Rose's son and future daughter.

"I keep telling her to relax about not being there all day every day. She has to ease into it. Poppy and Reese are giving her a salary and starting it right away and she's embarrassed about that and living on the property without doing much work."

"Do you blame her?" she asked. "I wouldn't feel right either. It'd be like a charity job to me."

Aster sighed. "I know she feels that way, but I've told her repeatedly not to feel like that. I think she finally understood after I told her to research the McGills and their fortune. She knows Reese was a professional poker player and that he even keeps his hands in a few tournaments once or twice a year in Vegas for fun."

"She told me she looked into them more. Did you know that she feels out of place more than anything?"

"Yes," he said. "She told me. And I reminded her where Poppy and her sisters came from. They've worked their way to where they are."

"That's what I said too. Not to look at their money but rather them as a person."

"Exactly," he said. "Money is just something we need to live, but how much each person needs or wants is an individual choice."

She laughed. "Good point. Okay, what should we do first? I know I'm hungry. It's past lunch but too early for dinner."

"Why don't we go walk the beach and maybe get a snack to hold us over? Then you can plan all the activities for the week."

"I get to plan them out?" she asked. "How come you're not? It's your vacation too."

She didn't want to be the one doing everything. Just another thing she'd been told before. That she planned too much and never went with the flow.

The last thing she wanted was to come across as this person who had to do everything on a vacation to get their money's worth.

"I'm providing the adventure," he said. "I got us here. You're doing the activities. How is that?"

"I like that," she said. "You can swim, right?"

"I can," he said. "What do you have in mind?"

"I always wanted to swim with the dolphins. What do you think of that?"

"I think that's a great thing to do."

She did a little body wiggle in excitement. "Then let's change out of these jeans and get some shorts on. We can walk hand in hand on the beach and get our feet wet in the ocean."

"You do have a romantic side to you. You argued over the rose petals and candlelight."

"I know," she said. "It's silly. But we are here and I do like to walk the beach and let the water run over my toes. I like to feel the sun on my body too. Then we can come back and see what fun things there are to do here. I don't want to be ramming all the time though. It's a vacation and we both work so hard. It'd be nice to just relax."

"Agreed. I don't know how long I can sit by a pool, but I'll do it."

"Yeah, I'm not someone that sits still much, but I don't want to be stuffing everything into the few days we are here either."

They'd be flying home on Thursday morning, so four full days, five nights, which was more than enough.

"Let's play it all by ear. If you need to make reservations for things, then we'll do that first and work around the rest."

Raine was opening her suitcase and pulling out shorts and a tank top, then undressing and folding her jeans and shirt, putting it in a drawer. She'd unpack later, but right now, she was ready to get outside and just enjoy this time with her boyfriend.

"Perfect. See, I don't have to plan it all out."

He frowned at her and shook his head, but she poked him in the stomach as if she was joking because she didn't want to be questioned either.

Time to enjoy herself and put all her fears and past behind her.