“You’re a good friend,” Lexi told her. “And I really appreciate the way you look out for Jonah.”
Connor could actually feel his daughter preening at the compliment.
“Is the party almost over?” Jonah asked as he draped himself across Lexi’s legs. “I’m bored.”
“You are?” she asked, rubbing his back. “I thought you were having fun playing video games.”
“I was, but I wanna go outside.” Lifting his head, he looked at her. “Can we go play on the playground? Please?”
The ceremony had been at one and the reception started immediately after. Right now it was just around six, so things would be winding down soon.
“In a little while, buddy,” Lexi told him. “Once Kelsey and Jayce leave, we will too, okay?”
“Okay,” he grumbled.
Beside them, Slater stood and pulled out his phone. He winked at Jonah like he had a plan. Connor watched as he quickly tapped out a text and waited for a response. Two minutes later, he sat back down.
“So…Nora’s down at the boathouse taking care of a few things. I asked her if maybe she wouldn’t mind coming up and taking the kids down to the playground,” he explained. “I’ll go too, in case you’re both not comfortable with it. She’s a great person, and she’s really good with kids.” He looked at Connor. “I know you know your staff is going to take care of everything, but I’m sure you’re going to hover.”
“I don’t hover,” he mumbled.
“Seriously? Do you want me to point out some of your recent hovering moments?”
They both knew what he was talking about, so Connor shook his head. “Fine. I hover.”
“Exactly.” Then he looked at Lexi. “You know Nora’s awesome, and she and Jonah have hung out a lot this past week. Maybe if she takes him and Annabeth down to the playground, you can enjoy the last little bit of the reception and see if Kelsey needs anything.”
“That would be nice…”
“Okay! Then it’s settled. She’ll be here any minute.”
Both kids jumped up and cheered just as Milo strolled over to join them.
“Hey! What’s all the excitement, huh?” he asked with amusement.
“We’re going to the playground with Nora!” Jonah announced.
Milo looked at all of them. “Who’s Nora?”
“Dude, I told you,” Slater replied. “She’s my assistant. We used to work together out west, and now she’s here at the resort. I thought you guys had met. Earlier today she mentioned that she accidentally knocked your drone into the lake and then dove in to get it for you.”
“She’s your assistant?” he demanded hotly. “She’s a menace! And she cost me a top-of-the-line drone!”
“Oh, uh…” Slater nervously raked a hand through his hair. “Yeah, so…I didn’t know that it broke.”
“It landed in the lake! Of course it crapped out!”
Connor quickly got to his feet. “Okay, okay…I’m sure it was an accident.”
“She threw a rock at it,” Milo said through clenched teeth. “Why would someone throw a rock at a drone unless they were deliberately trying to break it?”
Glancing over his shoulder at Slater, he said, “He’s got a point.”
“And I’m sure there’s a logical explanation, okay? And when she gets here to get the kids, I’ll ask her. I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding. Nora’s a people person. She wouldn’t do something destructive on purpose.”
No sooner were the words out than Nora was walking toward them. Her eyes narrowed at Milo, and he caught her frown right before she turned her attention to the kids and smiled.
Interesting…
