Sunrise Kisses (The Kisses 8)

“Have I ever let you down?” Charlotte asked, not letting go of the bag.

Elijah growled and she let go of the bag.

“What's 'hangry'?” I asked, not recognizing the word.

“You know when you haven't eaten, and it makes you mad at everything for no real good reason? That's hangry,” Charlotte explained as Elijah nearly ripped open the bag and pulled out some sort of breakfast sandwich. He immediately began to devour it. She raised her eyebrows at the big man. “You'll make sure?”

“Yes, I'll make sure he eats. I'm the one he takes his temper out on if I forget,” Elijah informed her, stuffing the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth. I kept waiting for him to comment to me about last night, but he never did. After finishing his sandwich, Elijah nodded politely to everyone in the kitchen and hurried back out carrying his coffees and sandwiches to Mr. Belrose.

I shook my head, unsure of how the tiny brunette survived bossing around the giant bodyguard. He certainly scared me a little. I sat down at the table across from Dad. He was staring into his coffee like it held the answers to the universe.

“You okay, Dad?” I asked, kicking him gently under the table when he didn't look up. “You don't look like you slept well. Or did you just stay up all night talking to Jackie?”

He narrowed his eyes at me, but took a sip of his coffee. He hated when I teased him about Jackie. As much as he insisted that the adorable woman from next door wasn't his girlfriend, the two of them spent an awful lot of time talking on the phone whenever they were apart.

“No, Jackie had to work today, so we didn't talk long.” He took another big sip of his coffee and I smiled. He had been talking with her. I liked Jackie and I was glad that my father had someone in his life that cared for him. He rubbed his jaw and looked up at me. “Remind me to get a dentist appointment when we get home. I think I have something wrong with one of my teeth.”

“If you'd like, I can have someone here on the island look at it,” Charlotte offered from her spot against the center island. She came and sat down at the table next to me. “There are several doctors, dentists, and other medical services located on the island that Mr. Belrose has access too. As his guests, you would have access to them as well.”

“Like, concierge doctors?” I asked, taking a sip of my perfectly sweetened coffee. I had heard of doctors that catered to the rich and famous, but I had yet to actually ever meet any. I didn't make anywhere near the kind of money that required.

Charlotte nodded. “Basically. Since this island is known for it's expensive tastes, the doctors here are all world class. The doctor on our retainer even has his own portable x-ray machine as well as a whole car full of medical equipment. He's like a driving hospital.”

Dad took a sip of coffee and nodded. “If it's not a bother, Charlotte. I'd be very much obliged to have that dentist take a look at it.”

I frowned. My dad hated doctors. Hated them with a passion, especially after what we went through with Mom. I knew he must be in a fair amount of pain to willingly see one.

“I'll see to it,” Charlotte promised, pulling out her phone and making a note. She then looked over at the woman cooking and grinned. “Now, Lucia makes the best omelets and french toast on the entire island and it looks like she's ready.”

I grinned as the apron donned woman came over with two heaping plates of food. She carefully set each plate down in front of my father and I, as if we were her children and she was feeding us breakfast. It smelled like breakfast heaven and had my mouth watering.

“Will Mr. Belrose be joining us?” I asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. After this morning, particularly the way he had smiled, I found myself hoping that he would come and sit next to me. I wouldn't even try to tackle him or anything.

“Bastian? No.” Charlotte shook her head and picked up her fork. “He doesn't exactly do breakfast.”

Lucia made a “harumph” noise as she placed more food on the table. “Not for my lack of trying.”

“Oh,” I replied, doing my best not to be disappointed. “I saw him out on the beach earlier. I thought that since he was up, he would be here.”

“He'll be out on the water until his first meeting,” Charlotte answered, her eyes following Lucia as she put a steaming plate of food down in front of her. She was practically drooling on the table for her omelet. “If he could get decent phone reception out in the cove, he'd take all his meetings out on that paddle-board. Though, I swear, if he breaks another one, I'm going to have to strangle the man.”

“Breaks another one?” I asked. My voice squeaked just a little bit, but luckily no one seemed to notice.

Charlotte sighed. “The things are not that easy to break, but he seems to enjoy destroying them. He can certainly afford to, but it's kind of an ongoing issue between the two of us.”

“Oh.” I smiled secretly to myself, waiting for my food. I now understood why he was sneaking out of the house with the board wrapped up. I wasn't about to tattle on him to Charlotte, though.

“Lucia, no french toast for me please. This looks even better than usual.” Charlotte said, as Lucia put the food down in front of her.

The older woman smiled and wiped her hands on her apron. “Well then, get to eating before it gets cold.”

I looked at my plate, unsure of what delicious thing I wanted to eat first. The omelets were cheesy and gooey with all sorts of perfectly cooked, fresh vegetables and the french toast was thick and steaming. I went for the french toast first, as there was real maple syrup on the table, and nearly moaned. The outside was the perfect level of crispy while the inside was melt-in-my mouth soft.

“Lucia,” I groaned. “This is fantastic!”

She beamed and stood up a little taller. She wore her apron with pride. “Thank you very much, miss. I'm glad you like it.” She wiped her hands on her apron one more time and then went back to the kitchen, turning on the sink and washing dishes while she hummed a happy song.

The mark of good food, silence, sat comfortably around the three of us as we ate. I couldn't believe how good the food tasted here. I could tell that everything was fresh and of the highest quality. Charlotte finished her meal first.