Page 24 of Marrying the Nanny

“If we wanted to live here and run it, we would already be doing that,” Trystan pointed out.

“What about your sister? Where is she going to live?”

Reid sighed. Trystan set down his fork. Logan sat back.

“She’s not a puppy you can leave at the pound,” Glenda said sharply. “She’s your responsibility.”

“Mom,” Logan warned. “Don’t lecture us on responsibility. Not when the man who left us in this position showed none.”

“So you’re going to be just like him and take none?”

“Glenda, we have responsibilities,” Reid pointed out. “Careers. Lives. How are we supposed to drop everything to raise a kid?”

“Said every woman in history who has faced an unplanned pregnancy. Welcome. And need I point out, all of you were unplanned? Not you, Emma. I have no idea, obviously, but Reid? Your mother will kill me, but their anniversary was April, not February. You attended their wedding, so to speak.”

“Also there’s no Santa Claus,” Logan said with mock empathy. “Sorry, champ.”

“He was consistent in one thing, at least.” Trystan shook his head and picked up his fork. “Do you think he ever figured out what caused it?”

“Clearly not.” Logan nodded at the kid chewing her fist as she rocked back and forth.

Reid wasn’t surprised to learn he’d been conceived before the wedding. His mother had made a few comments over the years that had caused him to wonder, but asking her about her marriage was something he avoided. And Glenda’s revelation was hardly the important piece right now.

“Look.” Reid pushed away the stew he’d lost his appetite for and braced his head in his hands, fingers splayed into the spikes of his hair. “Pulling Raven’s Cove back into the black isn’t something that will get wrapped up in a week.” He’d been resisting saying that aloud, but it was time to accept reality. “I’ve starting making changes at my office so they can work without me. I’ll lease my place in Calgary and work remotely from here to restructure the resort and get the season started. I’m still going to need a substantial investment from you two. I can’t afford to cover it myself. I’ll be aiming to take it back to the way it was so that once it’s through probate, it will sell for a profit. But this ecotour idea of Tiffany’s—”

“Have you run the comparisons?” Trystan asked.

“On what? African safaris? The ecotours are a passion project for someone not holding down two jobs and putting a house together on the side. I’m not going to have time to burp a baby. I’ll tell you that much.”

“So you’ll keep me here for that?” Emma asked. Her voice was small, but her urgency high.

“You’re only here until the end of the year,” Glenda reminded her, making Emma flinch and look at her plate.

“Look, the ecotours are not a terrible idea.” Trystan winced as he said it, giving the impression he hated to admit it. “Tiffany ordered the same customized boats they use for tours south of Klemtu. They sell out every summer and have a wait list.”

“You’re saying there’s a market and it brings good jobs to the area that don’t involve clear-cutting or pipelines.”

“I wouldn’t say ‘good’ jobs. It’s carrying luggage for spoiled tourists.”

Reid opened then shut his mouth. Trys wasn’t being lazy or snobbish. He was reminding Reid that Reid shouldn’t presume the locals, many of whom were loosely related to Trystan’s mother and were members of the Heiltsuk nation, would leap on service jobs or even welcome more tourists into their unceded territory.

“I hear what you’re saying,” Reid assured his brother. “So we sell the boats and take a bath.” Much like driving a new car off a lot, the pair of yachts would become secondhand goods the moment Raven’s Cove took possession of them.

“That doesn’t sit right, either,” Trystan said with another wince. “Whoever buys them will use them to fill the vacuum we’re leaving. They might be pure capitalists, not showing any respect for the environment or possessing any of our traditional values. That might as well be a license to clear-cut.”

“What do you want from me, Trys? I’m only one person. I’m supposed to be out there dangling fish for Shamu on top of everything else?”

“I’m saying that if I can demonstrate enough value to the local community, someone responsible might be persuaded to buy it. I’ll stick around and get the tours off the ground. Or, out to sea,” he corrected dryly. “I wasn’t prepared to take over this entire project. It is too much.” His circled his hand to indicate the day-to-day operations. “I still have episodes to fulfill. But I think the visual interest and challenge in launching the ecotours could be fodder for one or two.”

“An hour-long commercial? Shameless,” Logan chided.

“Forty-two minutes, and do you want to turn this place around or not? Hell yes, I’m going to market this to the target demographic that is my audience. Armchair travelers don’t really want to hike into the wilderness and build their own fire anyway. They want someone to carry them there and hand them a weenie already on a stick.”

“You really think people will pay for that privilege here?” Reid scratched his cheek, thinking of the corporate heads who thought nothing of flying to Banff or Whistler for a weekend of skiing. Maybe there was potential in booking some as teambuilding getaways. “It’s expensive to get here,” he reminded Trys.

“Ballers drop a hundred grand cruising the Keys for a few days,” Logan mused. “It could be a matter of making it exclusive enough.”

“Glad you’re on board,” Reid said. “You’ll stick around to burp the baby, then?”

---