Ivy and Dallas both stared at her, waiting for an answer. Their eyes were overflowing with tears, and they looked legitimately scared. She hadn't seen this level of fear in them before, and it scared her. Their lower lips trembled, while they attempted to hold back another wave of sobs.
“Please, please don't do this, Laura,” Ivy said. “We need you.”
The sincerity in Ivy's voice caused the shattered pieces of her heart to turn into dust. She couldn't do it.
Right then, Ethan approached them. He knelt down and wrapped his arms around all three of them.
“It's okay, guys,” he said. “No planes.”
Laura lifted her gaze and looked at Ethan. Ivy did the same and wiped the tears from her cheek with the back of her hand. Dallas and Ivy were still crying and clinging onto Laura as though she was about to vanish in a puff of smoke.
“No planes?” Ivy said, sniffling.
Even Dallas released Laura a little bit and looked over at Ethan. For the first time that morning, Laura could feel a sense of relief in the two kids.
“It hurts me to see you guys like this,” Ethan said. “I don't want any of you to have to do something that scares you this much.”
Laura frowned. The last thing she wanted to do was to cancel the trip and let those plane tickets go to waste. She couldn't even imagine how much money it took to buy four tickets on a private jet.
“Ethan, what about the tickets?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Don't worry about the tickets. When you own a jet, they're refundable. Besides, I have a pretty good backup plan.”
Laura cocked her head to the side. “You do?” She wondered what in the world someone planned instead of a trip to the Caribbean.
“It's actually pretty good,” he said with a shrug. Ethan put his hand on Laura's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “The whole point of the trip was to make you guys happy, and if it's not doing that, then I don't want to go.”
“Thank you, Ethan,” Laura whispered. A sense of relief washed over her. It wasn't just the kids that were anxious.
“Besides, we can always go another time,” he promised. He looked down at the children still clinging to Laura. “It's pretty clear, though, that the time is not now.”
She was disappointed that it wasn't going to work out. However, there was still a not-so-small part of her that felt relief because she wasn't going to have to face her fears quite yet.
“Ethan, thank you so much for understanding,” she said. “You're the best.”
He smiled and shrugged like it was nothing. To Laura, it was anything but. He cared. This meant almost more than him making the offer for the trip.
“I've got to make a quick call,” Ethan said, as he stood up and pulled his cell phone from the front pocket of his slacks. “But I've got a question for you kids first. What do you think about heading to the movie theater in a bit and going to see that new superhero movie we were talking about?”
The kids sniffled, but slowly pulled their faces away from Laura's neck. They didn't release their kung-fu grip from her, though. They weren't quite ready for that.
“Superhero movie?” Dallas asked, in the cutest voice Laura had ever heard in her life.
“Yeah, remember the one about the guy in the cape?” Ethan asked. “I'm going to take all of us to see that tonight. Sound good?”
Dallas looked over to Ivy, and it was as though they had a quick conversation with just their eyes. Finally, they both nodded.
“Yeah, let's go see the superhero movie,” Dallas said, then sniffled again.
“Alright,” Ethan said. “Sounds like a deal. Oh, one more thing, I need all three of you to be ready for the beach tomorrow morning.”
Laura frowned. “Ethan, we just talked about this.”
“I didn't say anything about a plane, did I?” he said, with a playful grin. “All I said is be ready for
the beach. I'll be here at ten in the morning to pick you three up. Have everything ready. Everyone needs swimsuits, sunscreen, and beach towels.”
Laura was beyond confused and so were the kids but based on Ethan's smile. He once again had something fun planned up his sleeve. Before anybody could say a word, Ethan turned and began to walk toward the front of the house.