Chapter 16

"Ithought we were going hiking," Dana said, walking into Kelsey's office.

"We are. I need to finish one more thing," Kelsey said, staring at her computer screen and tapping the keyboard.

Emma walked in and picked up the framed picture sitting on Kelsey's desk. "This is a good picture of you and Isabella."

Kelsey gazed up at her and smiled. "That was a fun day."

"Weren't they all fun days?" Dana asked.

Kelsey tilted her head. "Yeah, they were."

"And to think you didn't want to go," Emma said.

Kelsey closed her laptop and swung around in her chair. "The idea of having Christmas at the beach meant that you two were supposed to be with me."

"I'll go with you next year. I promise," Dana said.

"You had a good time though," Emma said. "And scored a sweet deal for the rest of the year. Then there's Isabella."

"Yeah, what about Isabella?" Dana asked.

Kelsey could see the curious amusement on both their faces. "Bella is my friend," she stated calmly.

"Did you hear how she said, Bel-la?" Dana teased, drawing the word out.

"I did," Emma replied. She widened her eyes. "She's Isabella to us, but Bella to Mom."

"Okay, you two, that's enough. Bella and I will be doing this for a year. Anything more than friends would complicate things."

"So you're saying there might be a chance," Dana said.

"I did not say that."

"Come on, Mom," Emma said. "You've been texting and talking to her every day since you've been home."

"Yeah, and your face lights up when you talk to her. It doesn't do that with other clients," Dana added.

"She's not a client. We're collaborators," Kelsey said.

"Maybe you should try to collaborate on something else," Dana mumbled.

Kelsey smirked. "I heard that."

"What other friends do you dance with?" Emma asked, raising her brows and staring at her mother.

"I should've never told you about that," Kelsey said, shaking her head.

"I'm glad you did. The excitement on your face was adorable."

"You'll see in March when we go on the girls trip. We're just two friends who have fun together," Kelsey explained. "I will admit, I haven't connected with another person as quickly as I did with Bella. It feels like we've been friends a long time."

"Have a fling with her," Dana said.

Kelsey scoffed. "I'm not having a fling with Bella. Why is this so important to you?" she asked, looking from Dana to Emma.

"It's time you had a girlfriend. We're not going to be around as much when we graduate. You sacrificed for us all these years. It's your turn," Emma said.

"I didn't sacrifice anything," Kelsey said, standing up. "I love our family. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"We don't want you to trade it. Just open your eyes and your heart to what could be. You haven't been this interested or liked someone this much… ever," Dana said.

"You do things with Uncle Joel and Aunt Gabi and I know you've been on a few dates," Emma said.

"How do you know?" Kelsey said, narrowing her gaze.

"I just know, but you're different when you talk about Isabella," Emma said.

Kelsey sighed. She wasn't surprised the girls had noticed how happy she was since meeting Isabella, but it didn't matter. They had a job to do. Besides, she never had any inklings that Isabella thought of her as anything other than a friend. But there was that kiss at the airport…

"When we go in March, we'll take you to our favorite bar. The owners are gay and there's always women there. I'll open my eyes then. How's that?" Kelsey asked, trying to placate them.

"Fine," Emma said.

"But Isabella will be there, too. Your eyes should be looking in her direction," Dana said.

Kelsey shook her head. "So stubborn," she mumbled. "Are we going hiking or what?"

Isabella read the email from Carmen with their itinerary for the January trip. She reached for her phone and called Kelsey.

"Hey you," Kelsey said, answering the phone.

"Hey, Kels," Isabella replied. "What did you think of Carmen's email?"

"Hi, Isabella," a voice said through the phone.

Isabella chuckled. "Is that Dana or Emma?"

"It's both of them, actually. We just came in from a hike. I'm going to FaceTime you. It's time for you to meet these brats," Kelsey said.

"Okay," Isabella said, punching the button. She grinned when Kelsey's face appeared. "Hi." Isabella felt her heart skip a beat. Where did that come from? She talked to Kelsey just about every day, but those were texts. She watched as Kelsey flipped the camera around.

"This is Dana and that's Emma," Kelsey said, gesturing to the two young women waving into the camera.

"Hi," Dana said. "Give me the phone so we can see Isabella."

A moment later the screen was filled with the girls" faces. "We've been meaning to ask you," Emma began.

"Hey, hey, hey," Kelsey said in a warning voice.

"We want to know what you did to make our mom so happy. Whatever it is, keep doing it," Emma said, glancing up at Kelsey.

"You'll have to ask her because she did the same thing to me. Your mom knows how to have fun!" Isabella said. She wished she could see Kelsey's face because she imagined her cheeks would be red.

"It's easy to have fun when you're with the right person," Dana said. "We're looking forward to March."

"I am, too. I can't wait to show you the islands," Isabella said. Just then Wyatt walked into the living room from the hallway. "Hey, come here, Wyatt. I want you to meet someone."

Wyatt walked over and plopped down next to Isabella. "This is Wyatt. He's my oldest," Isabella said into the phone. "This is Dana and that's Emma."

"Oh, you're Kelsey's daughters. We get to go on a family vacation with you," Wyatt said.

"That's what I heard. Do you like to snorkel?" Dana asked.

"I've only done it once," Wyatt said.

"Me too. We can learn together," Emma said.

Isabella saw a shy smile grow on his face. "Let me get Gus. You can meet him, too."

He hopped up and left the room and Isabella looked back at the phone. "Are you happy to be home with your mom?"

Dana and Emma exchanged a look and grinned. "Yes. She's sitting right there so we'll never hear the end of it," Dana said. "But we missed her."

Isabella laughed. "You missed a good time. Maybe you should've come with us."

"Told you so!" Kelsey yelled.

"This is my little brother, Gus," Wyatt said, pushing him down on the couch next to Isabella.

"Hi." Gus grinned. "Do you like turtles? I hope we get to see turtles when we go on vacation with you."

"I do like turtles," Emma said, chuckling.

"My mom saw turtles with your mom when they were there for Christmas," Gus said. "Mom brought me a turtle."

"She did?" Dana replied. "We got T-shirts."

"I got a cap," Wyatt said, squeezing next to Gus.

Isabella held the phone so the boys' faces were in view. She could see Dana and Emma were smiling as they asked the boys about their Christmas gifts. A smile spread across her face. Why shouldn't their kids get along as well as she and Kelsey did? It shouldn't surprise her, but it certainly filled her heart with happiness.

The kids chatted and made plans for the vacation they would take together until Isabella finally took the phone back. "Okay, Kelsey and I need to talk business. Why don't you write down all the things you want to do when we get there?"

"It was nice seeing your face, Isabella," Dana said, handing the phone back to Kelsey.

"Did you hear all that?" Isabella asked as she got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Yes. They were so cute."

"They really were. Are you in your office?"

"I am now," Kelsey said, sitting down in her chair.

"Show me your computer," Isabella said.

"What? Okay."

Isabella waited for Kelsey to turn the camera around and saw their picture sitting beside Kelsey's computer. "I was just checking to make sure our picture was still there."

Kelsey chuckled. "Where else would it be? It's supposed to make me happy when I'm stressed."

"Has it worked?"

"It has. I had a lot to do yesterday and had to juggle several accounts. Your smiling face helped me through it."

Isabella grinned. "I'm glad. So Carmen sent an email with our itinerary for the January trip. I wanted to see what you thought, but if you just came in then you haven't had a chance to see it."

"I'll pull it up now. What did you think about it?" Kelsey asked.

"I think I'm looking forward to lazing on the beach behind our bungalows with you," Isabella said.

"Are you having a hard day?" Kelsey asked, smiling at Isabella.

"Sometimes Spencer is an ass," Isabella replied.

"Well, duh, he'd have to be to let you go," Kelsey said.

Isabella chuckled. Kelsey always knew how to make her smile. "That's right. What an idiot."

"Absolutely," Kelsey said.

"Thanks. That helped," Isabella said. "I think he must be dating someone new because I already made sure he would have the boys while we're gone in January and now he's trying to switch weekends."

"Oh no."

"It's okay. My mom will help out if need be, but I'm not letting him start this now. He knows how important this is for us and Coral Bay," Isabella explained.

"Do we need to switch weekends?" Kelsey asked.

"No, Carmen gave us dates for the first three trips. I sat down with Spencer and we put them in the calendar. He knows the deal."

Kelsey smiled. "Okay. Uh, does him dating someone bother you?"

"Not at all," Isabella said. "I think I've gone on maybe two dates since we've been divorced, but he's been busy in the dating realm. It's fine and I want him to be happy as long as he's thinking about the boys."

"Does he bring his dates around Wyatt and Gus?"

"He hasn't been serious with anyone yet. We agreed to be mindful of how new partners will affect the boys."

"Hey, look at me," Kelsey said.

Isabella looked away from her computer and into the phone.

"Listen," Kelsey said as music began to play through her phone.

Isabella's eyes widened. "That's our song!"

Kelsey chuckled. "Our song?"

"Yes. That's how I think of it now," Isabella explained.

"It won't be long until we're back in our vacation life," Kelsey said as the song continued.

"Will you dance with me when we get there?"

Kelsey nodded. "I can"t wait."

"Thanks, Kels. You not only made my days in the islands better, but you're doing it from Denver now, too."

"You'd do the same for me."

Isabella smiled. I'd do just about anything for you, she thought.

"I'd better go find something to make us for dinner. These divas of mine can get bitchy when they're hungry," Kelsey said.

Isabella laughed. "I have a couple of those as well, but I call them princes."

Kelsey giggled. "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye, Kels," Isabella said and ended the call. She sighed and pulled up a picture of them on her phone. What was it about Kelsey Kenny that always managed to brighten her mood?

Isabella was looking forward to their next trip. It would be nice to see everyone again, but she couldn't wait to simply sit with Kelsey and do nothing.

"I like them, Mom," Wyatt said, coming into the kitchen.

"I think we'll have a good time together, don't you?"

"Yeah, they're cool and didn't treat us like little kids," Wyatt replied.

"That's because you're not a little kid, but you'll always be my little boy," she said, grabbing him and pulling him into her lap.

Wyatt groaned, but let her cuddle him for a moment. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, Wyatt."