Page 68 of Dr. Brandt

“Nah,” Cameron jumped in with a laugh. “Addy told me she thought you didn’t know how to drive the first time you rolled up to McDonald’s in that Bentley.”

“Hey, assholes, would you please stop bickering for half a second?” Collin interrupted and looked at me. “Elena and I have a Range Rover that we hardly ever drive. It’s yours.”

“Collin,” I went to speak but stopped when he put his hand up.

“If Elena didn’t have to leave for work last night, she would be sitting here and insisting on it.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, exhaling as he looked at me seriously. “Please don’t make me go home to my gorgeous, fiery Cubanita goddess and explain why I allowed her new friend to stress out about transportation when we have cars at home collecting dust.” Collin raised his eyebrows at me expectantly. “She wouldn’t hear of it, and everyone knows what my goddess wants, my goddess gets.”

“He ain’t lying about that,” Jake teased his friend as everyone laughed.

“Seriously, though,” Collin continued, leaning back in his chair. “We’re all here to help, and we want to help. So, take the week and enjoy the Pacific Ocean while we dummies get back to work.”

“Speaking of work, I work remotely, so I probably need to get back too,” I said.

“Every mother electronic device you might need for business is on this yacht. There are even four meeting rooms if you need to do a video conference or something,” Jake said.

“Really?” I questioned. I shouldn’t have been surprised. This yacht was insane.

He chuckled. “If I want Jim or Alex and Spencer to get on this boat, they can’t be cut off from their empires, you know. God forbid the Wi-Fi not work; they’d probably jump overboard and swim to shore if that happened.”

“Very funny,” Jim said as Avery laughed and knowingly nudged him on his side.

“Wow, okay. Well, let me think about it. It just makes me feel a little irresponsible, like it shouldn’t be this easy.”

“Life is hard enough, Jessa,” Collin said. “Take help when offered because not all problems have such an easy solution. No need to drown when everyone is throwing a life preserver; you feel me?”

He was right. I didn’t have to decline their offers because my ego or sense of decorum told me to. I had a lot of issues to tackle, and now, because they were so generous, worrying about a place to stay and a way to get around wouldn’t be on that list.

“You’re right,” I said with a smile of relief and gratitude. “You should be a therapist.”

“I’m married to one,” he chuckled. “And when I forget to stay positive, she handles that shit with a quickness.”

“I appreciate all of this, thank you all,” I said with as much gratitude as I felt.

Cam rose and glanced over at me. “So, you’ll be staying aboard, then?” He smiled, but his eyes were sad, and I felt that in my heart.

“I just might,” I said with a smile.

He looked at the others at the table, “I’m going to head to my room for a bit. I’ll see you all on deck after the storm passes.” He waved his hand in the air as he quickly went away.

I knew something deeper was going on with Cameron, and I was the cause of his sadness. I could tell he was grateful for the generosity of his friends, but something wasn’t right with him.

“Would you all excuse me?” I said, standing up.

“Absolutely,” Jake said too quickly.

“No worries,” Jim said, staring curiously in the direction where Cameron disappeared.

“Relax,” Collin added. “The kids are with the activity coordinator, and, trust me, they’re having a shit-ton more fun than we will for the rest of the day.”

“Activity coordinator?” I questioned.

“Yep,” Jake grinned. “Best damn hire I’ve ever made on this yacht. It’s practically like dropping them off at Disneyland. The only bad part is that Jacks may never want to get off this thing once it reaches Long Beach.”

Jim laughed. “No shit. Addy would rather be on this yacht than my company one, and she named the goddamn thing.”

The rest of the gang continued talking while I went hunting for Cameron’s room.

This place was like a floating palace, and I should’ve known better than to go roaming these halls alone without a freaking map. I could tell the bad weather had arrived because I felt it moving a bit for the first time being on this yacht. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to notice.

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