I breathed an inward sigh of relief as we stood and shook hands. The constable ushered us out, all smiles now, and even arranged for a cab to pick us up and take us back to the boat.
◊◊◊
Surprisingly, it was just after lunchtime when we got out. It felt to me like we’d been in there all day, and it should be midnight now.
We made our way back to the boat. There, my mom, dad, Cassidy, and I got on the phone for yet another conference call to Ms. Dixon, Frank, and Fritz. Ms. Dixon chewed me up one side and down the other for taking matters into my own hands. But in the end, even she commended me on turning a potentially difficult to disastrous situation into something that hopefully would continue to be a nonevent.
I hugged an exhausted Cassidy, and an equally exhausted Brook, and shooed them on to their cabin to take a nap. All I really wanted was to crash until at least the end of next week.
I did give my mom and my dad big hugs, shook Ian’s hand, and gave Ava a hug before stumbling off to bed for my own power nap. Ian, in particular, gave me a look I wasn’t sure how to interpret.
The gentle rocking of the boat and my bladder finally forced me out of bed. I came up to the deck to find everyone else having a late afternoon snack that seemed to consist solely of fruit and cocktails.
When Mom finished her snack, she walked up to Cassidy and put her in a bear hug.
“Thank you for protecting my son. I was so worried about you,” she said.
“What about me?” I asked.
“I knew you were fine,” Mom said and then checked Cassidy over. “You’re okay, right?”
Cassidy had a big smile.
“Yes, I’m fine. I wasn’t worried with David at my side.”
“I wanted to kick some ass too,” Brook complained.
“Cassidy did hog the action,” I teased.
Cassidy gave me a look.
“Whoa, you’ve met your quota of hurting boys for this vacation,” I said, which made her laugh.
I had to explain the joke to Ian and Ava. They’d had no clue what a little ninja Cassidy was. She was happy I hadn’t held back.
Our vacation would be over soon, and we weren’t about to let a little thing like an armed robbery keep us from our appointed partying! We decided to go out for dinner, and then we’d go to one of the island’s touted nightclubs for some dancing.
It was amusing to see a police car parked at the entrance to the marina, with the second constable smiling at us as he leaned against the fender, arms folded. He motioned me over, and Dad came with me.
“I have been assigned to ensure the rest of your stay is trouble free and to protect the innocent citizens from you and your friend,” he said with a grin. “Oh, and the remaining two hoodlums have been detained and will be questioned … probably sometime on Monday. We don’t expect you will have any more problems on our fair island, but we want to be sure.”
I laughed and thanked him and suddenly had a thought.
“Wait here, please.”
I dashed back to the boat and grabbed two pictures of me as Stryker and a Sharpie and hustled them back to the marina entrance.
“What is Constable Vincent’s daughter’s name, and is there anyone special you would like to give this second one to?” I asked.
That grin just would not go away.
“His daughter is named Mariella, and if you would sign the other one to Corella, I would be most happy,” he said.
That exercise in government relations attended to, I gave him a wave, and we were off to have some fun.
We had a terrific seafood dinner at a waterfront restaurant, and then a wonderful time dancing at a club. Ian was pretty funny. He got hammered, and his amorous attentions to Ava had her in turn amused, delighted, and embarrassed. Hey, what are vacations for?
The second constable watched from afar, seemingly happy to spend his entire night ‘on duty’ watching the crazy tourists in a nightclub.
At the end, we caught a taxi home, and as we walked down the gangway, I turned and gave a last wave to the constable. He smiled and tipped his billed hat to me, then turned and walked to his car, whistling. Sometimes police escorts can be a lot of fun!
After I climbed in the sack, I reflected a bit before I nodded off. I now understood in my bones that what Fritz and Cassidy were teaching me about unarmed combat being a serious business. If she’d hesitated, I shiver to think what might have happened.
This was yet another lesson in being prepared for anything, including being ready for the ‘he said/she said’ moments. Equipped for those moments, I could and would be. I didn’t like it, but my feelings about it didn’t matter. It was necessary. It would be done.
◊◊◊
The rest of our vacation was uneventful compared to our scare. We got our helicopter tour in the next morning and then tried mightily to finish our vacation ‘bucket list’ before we had to board the plane home.
Cassidy and I had a long talk, and she decided that our relationship had to go back to just being friends. She knew that if she’d said yes to more, I would have stepped up and made her my girlfriend.
Talking about it on the flight home, Brook and I couldn’t think of a single thing we’d missed on our vacation list. I would go on a trip with her anytime. She was up for anything, and the more physical, the better. I thanked Brook for talking me into learning to SCUBA dive. Without that, I would never have seen and experienced so much of what we did. I also thanked her for bringing along Cassidy. Brook really didn’t have to, and she didn’t have to let her share our bed. I never did find out if they did anything naughty together, but I could tell they were even closer friends after the trip. I knew I felt closer to both of them.
The most important thing this week did was make me aware that I needed to take time for myself.
◊◊◊
Chapter 30 – Our Town Sunday April 3
It felt good to get home. I’d loved my vacation, but there is something about sleeping in your own bed. Being gone all week had made Zoe, Halle, and Pam eager to see me, but I’d promised Caryn I would sit down with her and talk about a budget. She wanted Brook and me to come to her new office because she wanted to show me what had been done so far.
They had gotten the office decorated. I was impressed that there were pictures of the farms and a variety of my movie and modeling images. Caryn and Megan joined Brook and me in the conference room. Megan had folders with our names on them.
“When we were in London, I showed David how much money he’s been spending. Now I need to get you up to speed on your spending habits,” Caryn said to Brook.
I hadn’t enjoyed Caryn shining a light on my expenditures. When Brook realized how much she spent on clothes, I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling. I was lucky because I got most of mine free. Then Caryn got to the section that showed Brook what she spent on our adventures. I was amused that she had the same reaction as I had: no big deal.
Megan went over Brook’s financials. The majority of her wealth was in L Brands stock, and that generated most of her income. She about had a cow when she learned about dividends and capital gains and how much she was paying in taxes. Megan offered to show her how she might reduce her tax bill.
My assets were split between farms, the strip mall, Mom’s real estate company, my college account and my house fund, Mass Investments, Jack Mass’s construction company, and other smaller ones. Caryn showed me that most of my income had come from my signing the Star Academy two-movie deal. Although I’d made money from everything else, I’d spent most of it on the farms and equipment. While I wasn’t in danger of going broke anytime soon, what I didn’t yet have was the income stream I needed. Mom’s business had just opened, the strip mall was in the process of starting to lease units, and my local farm was a money pit. Add in the charities, which couldn’t make an income, and employee salaries and benefits, with all their associated expenses, and I was bleeding money at a healthy rate.