Page 16 of See You Next Month

“No, he liked the idea of me being home and handling most of the day to day things. But we’re great at co-parenting so far.” Isabella looked over at Kelsey and tilted her head. “You had to do everything, didn’t you?”

“I’m kind of like you. I found something I was good at and could do from home while the girls were younger. I did most of my work while they were in school and scheduled their activities around the rest of my workday. It was quite a balancing act at times and it meant some late nights for me after they went to bed,” Kelsey explained.

“Did you wish you had a partner to help?”

Kelsey sighed. “There were times when I wished I had a partner to share things with. Sure, it would be easy to want help when they didn’t want to do homework, take a bath, or were just generally cranky. But for me, it would’ve been nice to have someone when they did things I was proud of. Like when they took their first steps or did well in school. It would’ve been nice to turn to someone and be excited for them together. It was a lot of little things.”

Isabella couldn’t keep from reaching over and squeezing Kelsey’s hand. “And now?”

Kelsey smiled. “They will both graduate soon and begin their careers. I know Emma will likely end up in the D.C. area immersed in politics and I wouldn’t be surprised if Dana moved after she finishes her nursing degree. I get the feeling she’s ready to leave the mountains, which is a big deal for her.”

Isabella smiled. “You really know your daughters.”

Kelsey shrugged. “I hope so. I want them to always know they can come to me with anything. We all need someone we can count on.”

“A partner would be nice for that,” Isabella said as she looked out over the water.

“Yeah,” Kelsey replied wistfully.

Isabella sat up and turned to Kelsey with a warm smile and extended her hand. “Well, Kels, you can count on me for the next year to be right here, by your side, doing all kinds of crazy adventures.”

Kelsey met Isabella’s eyes and took her hand. “Okay, then. You can count on me as well, Bella.”

They shook hands and both chuckled.

“I think it’s time for a drink,” Isabella said.

“Would you look at that, here comes an attendant. Make a note of how they appear just when you need them,” Kelsey said with a grin.

Isabella took out her computer and began to tap the keyboard. “I’m making a document we can share for notes. We may as well start now. Oh wait, I have an email from Carmen. I think it’s our itinerary for tomorrow.”

“Good afternoon, ladies. I’m Luis,” the attendant said with a smile. “Is there anything I can get you?”

“Hi, Luis. You are here just when we need you,” Isabella said.

“That’s my job,” he replied with a grin.

Kelsey chuckled. “Do you have a nice frozen cocktail that’s perfect for the beach?”

“I have a frozen mango or pineapple daiquiri that is delicious. Or there’s always the classic margarita,” he replied.

“Oh, the frozen mango for me, please,” Isabella said.

“I’ll have the pineapple,” Kelsey added. “We can share,” she said to Isabella.

“I’ll be right back,” Luis said.

“I like how we’ve settled on this sharing thing,” Isabella said.

“It’ll make our reviews more interesting.” Kelsey winked at her.

Isabella laughed. “Have we already started the job?”

“We’re simply taking notes, right?” Kelsey grinned.

“Right.” Isabella nodded and looked back at her computer. “Here’s our itinerary for tomorrow. She sent this to both of us. First, we have breakfast here then we take the ferry to St. John.”

“Hold on,” Kelsey said, taking her tablet from her bag. “I’ll follow along.”

---