Page 10 of Hiding Rose
I stared down at the tissue in my hand and fought the panic rising in my chest. “I’m afraid,” I whispered. “I’m afraid of what he might say and I’m afraid of leaving Kupid’s Arrow. Jarrett is out there somewhere.”
Gideon frowned. “You can’t risk losing function in your leg because you’re afraid of the minute chance Jarrett would be in Honolulu. Besides, I can fly you to the university and land right on the roof of the hospital. I’ll be with you the whole time and no one will get near you.”
I leaned back and to the side to relieve the pressure building in my hip. Kate squeezed my hand. “I can see the pain etched on your face right now. Please, let us do this for you.”
I nodded once. “Okay, but you have to let me pay you back.”
Gideon smiled. “You won’t need to pay us back. The daycare director is a salaried position. Unlike hourly, medical insurance is part of the package.”
I glanced between them, my heart racing at the thought. “Really or are you just doing it because I’m a friend?”
Gideon chuckled. “Yes, really, and no not because you’re a friend. First of all, you’re family, but all of our salaried employees get health insurance. There’s a small monthly premium you pay, but it’s no big deal. We’ll get you all the information tomorrow, but you’ll be covered now.”
“Drugs, too?” I asked, my tone disbelieving.
Kate squeezed my hand. “Drugs, too. Your medication will be covered with most having no copays since you use generics.”
I was shaking and fought back more tears. “You don’t know what a relief it is to hear that. I pay over two hundred a month right now for my medication, and I don’t always take it when I need it so it stretches further. Two hundred dollars might not seem like a lot to you, but for me it’s a lot of money.”
Gideon squeezed my shoulder. “I know, which is why I’m glad I could offer you this position. I’m only able to offer it to you because you worked hard to earn your extra credits to get certified. You’ve earned this position in both the way you’ve performed and the dedication to the education needed. I want that to be a clear understanding, so there’s no doubt in your mind.”
I nodded quickly. “I understand, but I can still be thankful I even had the chance to prove myself to both of you. That only happened because you opened up your life to me. I would do anything to pay you back even a smidgen of what you’ve done for me. Let’s face it, playing with babies all day isn’t hard work.”
They both laughed, and Gideon shook his head. “You make it look easy, but I know for a fact it’s hard work. I also know for a fact the university has some clinical trials you may qualify for, which is why I’ve been hounding you to go see them. I’ll give you the number and you can call. If you decide to make an appointment, I’ll take you. Deal?”
I rubbed my temple. “Okay, I think it’s a good idea. You know how I hate to be a burden, but I would feel better if I had it looked at again.”
Kate sighed. “You’re not a burden. You more than carry your own weight here. Being stubborn serves you nothing if you’re missing out on opportunities to fix the damage he did.”
They were right. I was being stubborn. The biggest reason wasn’t my fear of Jarrett as it was my fear of finding out the leg will be like this forever. “I’m not sure I can live with this kind of pain the rest of my life,” I whispered. “I’m afraid to hear the answers and I’m angry I have to feel this way.”
Gideon frowned and pounded his fist in his hand. “You shouldn’t have to feel this way. Niko is doing what he can to locate Jarrett, but he’s not getting far. We will get him, and you will get justice, Rosie. I promise you. It may take years, but we will find him and he will pay.”
I took a deep breath in and held it before I let it out. “Get me the number and I’ll call tomorrow.”
Kate and Gideon heaved a sigh of relief in tandem. “Good,” Gideon said relieved. “I’ll text you the number. Tell them who you are, they’re expecting your call.”
I nodded. “I promise to call right away in the morning. As for tonight, I came here for a reason. Now that you’ve told me your news, I would like to show you mine. Do you have time?”
Kate cocked her head. “Sure, but what news are you talking about?”
I glanced around the room. “I’m not sure there’s room here. Is the conference room empty next door?”
Gideon stood. “Sure, want to head over there? You’ve piqued my curiosity and I have something to show you, too.”
He picked up a tube off the floor and motioned for Hope to bring her toy and follow us into the conference room. I set my messenger bag on a chair and dug out a folder.
“You know I’ve been working on a plan to offer the guests options to use Kupid’s Play Castle for activities, and for hourly daycare,” I said, and they both nodded. “The problem is, we don’t have the space. The daycare center isn’t near big enough for the few employees’ kids we have now, and we have ten more on a waiting list. I’ve run the numbers every way possible, but I can’t see it working in the current facility. Frankly, I can’t see anyone wanting to work in the current facility for very long without going stir crazy, either. There are no windows, and getting kids to the bathroom alone is an adventure. If we’re thinking about offering childcare to guests, we can’t do it as we’re set up now.” I opened the folder and laid out the diagrams. “I considered a freestanding building near the beach, but it concerns me for several reasons,” I said, pointing at one of the plans. “You have access to the beach, but it also means if a child escapes they could be in the water before anyone was the wiser. A freestanding building would give us more space, but in the case of bad weather, or a tropical cyclone, we could lose it much easier than being in, or connected, to Kupid’s Arrow Hotel. A separate building also makes security a nightmare, and you know parents count on us to keep their kids safe while in our care.”
Gideon crossed his arms. “I agree. I thought about a freestanding building myself, but the cons outweigh the pros.”
“Right. There are two options we could consider, but since I don’t know the zoning laws for building an addition to the hotel, I focused on using space we already have. If you want to consider an addition, I would hope you would take the information I have in this plan and use it to guide your design, as the set up I have designed incorporates the laws and several conveniences into the plan.”
Gideon and Kate both leaned over the table to inspect the paperwork as I pointed. “I’m sure you can tell these are the two adjoining rooms we don’t use on the backside of the first floor. Currently the large conference room holds extra chairs and tables, and the ballroom is used as overflow for dry goods.”
Gideon tapped the table. “It’s all the rooms are good for. They’re in the back of the building and guests aren’t interested in renting them for events. There’s no access to the kitchens either, and it makes it nearly impossible to cater anything. They’ve been on my radar since I bought the resort, but I haven’t yet found a good use for them.”
I held up my finger. “I may have found the use. Sawyer mentioned no one uses them for events because of the distance from the kitchen, but there is a half kitchen there already with a fridge, sink, and counter. There are also bathrooms right next door. While they aren’t connected, I think it might be possible to make a door on this side into the bathroom. If not, well, with more staffing, we could work out leaving them as they are. Here,” I pointed at the sink and fridge, “there would be space for an efficiency kitchen. What I would like to see happen is planning weekly menus with the kitchen. They would bring the food prepped and ready to be heated and have it in the fridge before opening Monday mornings. The staff then only has to heat it, using microwaves or a convection oven to keep it safe for the little ones, and we don’t have to stress the kitchen staff any longer.”
