Taylor laughed. "No, not hardly. I think I know of a few places you might like. Private, but not too private. Maybe a place you can work on your tans without any tanlines?"
Marilyn turned bright red, and I just laughed and nodded. "I think you have the general drift."
"If I call you in two days, will you have figured out when you can do your christening? Maybe we can do the vacation trip the week after that."
"We'll figure it out and I'll call you tomorrow.", I assured her.
We showed Taylor out, and I laughed at Marilyn's embarrassment. Then I chased her upstairs and showed her my technique for getting her out of her swimsuit. That kept us busy until Charlie woke up.
That afternoon, I had Marilyn call her Mom and see about getting St. Peter's for a christening. Harriet in turn called St. Peter's and got the first date available, which was Sunday, April 4. I then called Suzie and checked that April 4 was free for her.
"I guess so. You want me to drive to Utica? Can't we wait until the summer?", Suzie asked.
"You let me handle that. I'll let you know. Just be free that weekend, okay?', I assured her.
I turned to Marilyn. "Call your mom back. April 4 it is. I'll give Taylor the message." It was after five, so I left a message on her answering machine, and asked Marilyn to remind me to call her the next morning.
Taylor called us by 9:30 the next morning. We gave her the dates, and she said she would have some suggestions by the next day, and asked if she should come out again at the same time. Marilyn and I agreed to that, and Taylor came out at 2:00 just like before.
This time Marilyn had some fresh coffee brewed, and had a sugar and creamer set on the dining room table. I had to take two looks at them. They were a brand new and matching Raggedy Ann and Andy set. "You're kidding me, right?"
"They're cute!", protested Marilyn.
"They're atrocious!", I replied.
"They came with matching salt and pepper shakers, too."
I stared at her for a second. "Oh my God! My mother really was right about you!"
Marilyn simply stuck her tongue out at me and gave me a long and loud raspberry.
I turned to Taylor. "Wherever we're going, put me in the Learjet. Put her in a Goony Bird with only one engine!"
"She's right, they're cute.", laughed Taylor.
"You can sit with her on the Goony Bird!"
Taylor and Marilyn laughed at me, and Taylor pulled some files from her attaché case. "The first trip is certainly the easiest. You can fly out of Westminster, drop into the nearest airport to - your sister, I believe you said?"
I nodded. "My sister, Suzie. She's a student at the University of Delaware. I think that's in Newark."
Taylor's eyes unfocused a little as she thought for a second. "Yes, that's the main campus. I think the nearest airport is actually Philadelphia International. You could fly in there, pick her up, and then fly to the Oneida County airport, which is near Utica. Would that be close?"
Marilyn nodded. "That's closer than Syracuse."
"Okay, then. That's the travel arrangements. I would have a car waiting for you at the airport, and we can put you up for the weekend at the Sheraton. Would you want separate rooms or a nice suite for all of you?"
I grinned at my wife. "Do we keep her in the suite with us, or give her her own room and hope she doesn't get into trouble?"
"You're a mean brother! Give her her own room."
"Okay, but warn her about your brothers. In my family, at least, we don't think of a family reunion as The Dating Game!"
"Oooh, I'll get you for that!", Marilyn protested, laughing.
I turned to Taylor. "You'll notice she didn't deny that." Taylor didn't respond, though her eyes had an amused light to them. "I'd say two rooms at the Sheraton. And a decent sized car at the airport, maybe a Caddy or a Town Car, something that size. We'll probably bring enough gear to send Charlie into combat."
Taylor made some notes. "I'll let you know of the final details and you can let your sister know about the itinerary. That Sunday you simply reverse course. You drop the car off at the airport, fly to Philly and then back home. When will you want to go on your vacation?"
I looked at Marilyn and we shrugged at each other. "Maybe a day or two later?"
Marilyn said, "We'll need to do the wash and repack. If we fly home on Sunday, I don't see how we could travel again before Tuesday."
"Makes sense.", I agreed. "If we fly home the following week, how do we get Charlie back? Fly back up to Utica?"
"Why not fly directly from the Bahamas to Utica, pick him up, and then fly home?", asked Taylor.
I had to laugh at that. "Won't that freak out your parents!? They'll never believe us when we have them drive over to the airport and see us climbing out of an airplane!" I looked at Taylor. "What kind of an airplane?"
"Well, the first weekend, the distance is so short, you won't save any time in a jet. We can put you in a nice turboprop like a King Air. Going to the Bahamas is another thing. I'm figuring a Learjet for that."
I looked over at Marilyn. "Holy Christ! I told you to stick with me and see the world!"
"I just can't believe this!"
Taylor looked at us strangely. "Do you mind me asking a personal question?"
"Let me guess - what's with us and this vacation?", I responded.
"Yes. You're not my usual clients."
I grinned and nodded. "Okay, short version. I'm a very good investor in the stock market. However, until now, for the last few years in fact, I've been the property of Uncle Sam. I was an officer in the Army, in fact. After I ripped up my leg, I was medicalled out. I'm still a very good investor, but now I plan to goof off a little."
"You do realize what this vacation is going to cost, don't you?"
"When I said I was a good investor, I meant it. My net worth is around $40 million right now, and rising. Start buying tech stocks, Taylor. We are at the start of a long boom period in American finance."
Taylor blinked at that. "Wow! And you were a soldier?"
"Do you only want the poor people protecting you?"
"Wow!"
Taylor pulled out several colored brochures and spread them around the table. "Now, these are just a few possibilities. They're a mix of things in the Bahamas. Like I said the other day, the Bahamas are a bunch of different islands, most of which are quite lovely and have a small airport on them. The biggest island, well, there really isn't much of a biggest island. The capital is Nassau." She pulled out a map of the Bahamas and pointed to an island in the center of the small archipelago. "There's nice places here, but also some on these other islands. It all depends on what you want."
I looked at my wife and shrugged. I had been to the Bahamas before with her, back on my first trip, but always on a cruise ship, where we never stayed on the land. I didn't know much more about the place than what Taylor was saying. I turned back to our little lecture.
Taylor pulled out one brochure. "This is one possibility. It's in Nassau, the Graycliff, five stars, very discreet, very upscale, an old time estate converted to a very nice resort. Then again, there are also some places nearby, more conventional resorts, but also very modern. That's a possibility."