Chapter 4

"How about highlighting different packages throughout the year?" Isabella said.

"Okay," Carmen said. "I'm listening."

"You could start in January and call it Winter at Coral Bay," Kelsey said excitedly.

"Yeah, and they can come back and do Valentine's Day," Isabella said.

"Oh, then spring break," Kelsey added.

"I see. That's interesting," Carmen said.

"You could come up with a different package for each month," Kelsey said.

"We already do something for Mother's Day and Father's Day," Carmen said.

"Oh, that's good," Kelsey said.

"Then you could have a family vacation, something for fall, then in November you can start the holidays," Isabella said.

"And it all culminates with Christmas at Coral Bay," Kelsey said. She could imagine all the things she could do with the website, highlighting each month and the special excursion packages.

"But who do we get to blog about it?" Carmen asked them both.

"Hmm," Kelsey murmured. She noticed Isabella was giving her a big smile.

"How about: Two Single Moms Do Coral Bay?" Isabella said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Two single moms?" Carmen asked.

"What are you thinking, Bella?" Kelsey raised her brows.

"Why not have us do it?" Isabella said.

Carmen gasped. "You two would be perfect. Isabella already has a significant following."

Kelsey tapped on her keyboard, pulling up Isabella's social media. "You do have a following, Bella!"

"So do you, Kelsey. Once people know you're the web designer they will take notice," Isabella said.

"Wait," Kelsey said. "You want us to come back every month and experience one of the packages?"

"Why not us?" Isabella said.

"We could do one on a budget and one with our kids," Kelsey said.

"Exactly." Isabella nodded.

"What about the couples package?" Kelsey said, lifting one eyebrow.

Isabella laughed. "We can do the couples' package, too. We're showing the options. Maybe we can bring some of our friends or—oh, I know! Your girls could bring their friends for the girls trip package. We can do this, Kels," Isabella said.

"I guess we could try some of the excursions while we're here this time and see if we can pull it off," Kelsey suggested.

"I'll get my staff started on what kind of excursions to put in different packages. You two can report back to me each day and give us an idea of what you think would work well together for each occasion," Carmen said. "I love this idea. You two are going to make Coral Bay the place to go in the Virgin Islands!"

"I thought we were supposed to do that with the website and brand," Kelsey said.

"What better way to show people!" Isabella exclaimed. "We can blog and do videos. People will see us actually living the experience."

"I think they would trust you more than an influencer," Carmen said.

"Yeah, we're just two single moms raising our kids and helping people find the perfect place for every occasion." Isabella sat back in her chair, smiling.

"Hmm, it could also show that it doesn't matter what time of year or what the occasion might be. Plus, you want your guests to return year after year. It could keep the resort fresh and make vacation plans easy because they already have the destination," Kelsey explained.

"Why go someplace else? You know what you're going to get at Coral Bay and there's no place better," Isabella added.

"I knew there was a reason we hired you two. You are the best!" Carmen exclaimed.

"Let's take a few days, do a few excursions, and see what we come up with before you get too excited," Kelsey said. "Bella, can you come back every month?"

Isabella nodded. "I can if you can."

Kelsey took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I think I can make it work."

"You know, one thing you haven't thought of is that these places we partner with may want to use your talents as well. This could bring you new clients," Carmen said.

"Hmm, I hadn't thought of that," Isabella said.

"Me either. I thought our focus was on Coral Bay," Kelsey said.

"It is, but the bars, boats, and other adventure businesses are private companies that need websites and brands, too," Carmen said. "You're free to recruit new clients."

"What do you think?" Isabella asked.

Kelsey stared into Isabella's eyes. "What did you want to do this afternoon?"

Isabella furrowed her brow. "I don't know. Sitting at the beach enjoying the sun, shade, and drinks sounds good."

Kelsey nodded. "Let's do that and we can talk more about this."

"Okay. You'll learn I can be a bit spontaneous. It's good that you like to think things through," Isabella said.

"Perfect. You can take the ferry to St. John tomorrow and spend all day on the island. I'll get together a few places for you to visit while you're there," Carmen said, getting up from the table. "I'll talk to you later as I get things going on my end."

Isabella and Kelsey got up and started to walk back through the building.

"How about we stop off at the bar?" Kelsey said.

"Yeah, I could use a drink after all that."

After they were seated at the bar and had ordered their drinks Kelsey turned to Isabella. "Now, let me get this straight."

"I thought you were gay," Isabella said with a grin.

"Very funny, Bella. You know what I mean," Kelsey said.

Isabella giggled. "You were saying."

"You want us to come back here each month and experience one of these packages. We'll write about it?—"

"And video," Isabella added.

"And video ourselves doing the various things, then we'll post it on the website," Kelsey said.

Isabella nodded. "I'll also post it on all our social media accounts and other vacation travel sites."

The bartender served their drinks and Kelsey reached for hers, taking a long sip.

"Do you not want to meet me back here every month?" Isabella asked.

"It's not that. It's just…"

"It's just what?"

"Are we interesting enough for people to want to follow our antics?"

"Sure we are!"

Kelsey looked at Isabella and studied her for a moment. She had the most beautiful blond hair with mischievous blue eyes and a vitality that came across when she smiled. Then there was her cute accent. People would fall in love with her. "So we'd come back next month and do winter in Coral Bay."

"Right. You've always wanted to go to the beach for Christmas to get out of the cold. It's the same idea."

"But what about next month? It's Valentine's Day," Kelsey said.

Isabella nodded. "Just because we don't have, uh, partners or boyfriends," Isabella said with a smile, "doesn't mean we can't show what the resort has to offer. There are a lot of single women that do ‘Galentine's Day' where they get together with their other single friends."

Kelsey chuckled. "I've heard about it. Maybe we could get a couple that's already here to do the romantic Valentine's thing with us while we do Galentine's."

"That's a great idea," Isabella said. "See there, we can do this, Kels."

Kelsey smiled at Isabella and took another sip of her drink. That was the second time today that Isabella had shortened her name to make her point… Or was she trying to convince Kelsey to do this?

"How about we change into our swimsuits and find ourselves a nice little spot under an umbrella on the beach?" Isabella suggested. "We can figure out what we want to do over the next few days and plan this epic year of adventure."

Kelsey smirked and then smiled. "As long as we're near the bar. I'm going to need several more of these if you want me to agree to this outrageous undertaking. Do you have any idea how far out of my comfort zone this is?"

Isabella laughed. "You're the one that travels light and is supposed to be showing me how to let go. Oh, that's another thing we can highlight on these trips. The ideas just keep coming." She clinked her glass to Kelsey's.

"Oh, man. I'd better hold on."

"I've got you, babe. Don't forget, we're a couple," Isabella said with a wink.

Kelsey laughed and slid off her bar stool. She held out her arm. "Come on, other half, let's go."

Isabella giggled and put her arm through Kelsey's as they started back to their bungalows.

"I can tell you're unsure about this," Isabella said as they walked past the pool. "Give me the afternoon to convince you."

"You seem to be quite sure we're up to this and that people will want to see what we do here," Kelsey said. "Coral Bay isn't one of the big resorts. You know they're counting on us to make them a better fit than the larger and more popular destinations."

"I realize that," Isabella said.

Kelsey stopped outside her bungalow and looked at Isabella. "Don't you have a friend you'd rather do this with?"

Isabella smiled. "Go change and I'll meet you at the chairs and umbrella outside our back doors."

Kelsey sighed.

"I'll explain to you why I'd rather do this with you than anyone else."

"Okay," Kelsey said and went inside her bungalow.

So many thoughts were flowing through her mind. The idea of coming back to Coral Bay every month was a bit daunting. However, Kelsey traveled for work from time to time, so that wasn't a problem. Carmen was right that they would have the opportunity to secure new clients and that was good for her business.

She opened the drawer where she'd stored her swimsuits and selected a sapphire blue one piece swimsuit with a long sleeve oversized sheer cover-up. Once she'd changed, she found the canvas tote bag she'd packed to take on the beach. Inside she threw sunscreen, a towel, and a hat. Kelsey had brought along all her electronics on the trip, including her laptop and her tablet.

She chuckled to herself. At one point she had envisioned sitting on the beach and reading a book or two on her tablet. "I'm not sure I'll have time to do that now," she mumbled. Kelsey still put the tablet in her bag in case she needed to take notes or look something up while she and Isabella discussed this crazy idea.

Did she want to come back every month and do something new with Isabella? The thought made her smile. She barely knew this woman, but they did have several things in common. This led her to ask the question: Was there anyone in her friend group she would want to take a trip with every month? Probably not.

Since she and Isabella were doing this for a client it gave them both a shared responsibility of working together and doing a job. They shared the same goal of showing the resort in the best light possible in order to gain new guests. These monthly adventures were more than just a vacation.

When Kelsey thought about the idea in this way it made sense for her and Isabella to be the ones to not only go on the excursions, but also to promote them. Potential guests would know they didn't work directly for the resort or the companies providing the excursions, so their opinions would be more valuable.

Kelsey smiled. Maybe this could work. The idea of seeing the islands with Isabella could actually be fun. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase I love my job.

She chuckled again, slung her bag over her shoulder, grabbed a bottle of water from her refrigerator, and opened the back door.

"Well, paradise. What do you have in store for me today?"

Kelsey put on her sunshades and walked out onto the sand with a smile on her face.