Simon despised Gary, but it was obvious that the little boy missed his father desperately. If Simon could shake some sense into Finn’s father, he would, but there didn’t seem to be any way to get sense into the man. In the few minutes he had spent with Finn, Simon was already starting to like the kid. How could Gary continue to disappoint his own son over and over again? It was bad enough he was trying to get full custody of the kid, but he didn’t even have the decency to spend time with his son.
“You know, buddy, sometimes adults get scared,” Simon said gently. “They avoid things because they’re scared they’ll make a mistake.”
“A mistake? Like what?” Finn asked.
“Your dad might be scared that he wouldn’t be doing a good job, so sometimes he misses things with you.”
“Because he doesn’t want to make a mistake,” Finn said.
“Right.”
He didn’t exactly smile, but some of the life came back into Finn’s eyes. “So, where are we going for vacation?”
“Sunny Florida,” Simon answered. “Your mom and I thought it would be fun to go to some amusement parks, hang out by the beach, maybe see some wildlife—”
“Will there be sharks?” Finn cut him off, so excited he could hardly contain himself.
Simon nodded and then smiled. He didn’t know how he was going to get them to see sharks, but he was now determined to fulfill Finn’s wish. “Yes, there will be sharks.”
“What? You promise?” Finn squealed, tossed his dinosaur aside, and threw his pudgy arms around Simon. “Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”
A strange warmth filled Simon’s heart. “You’re welcome.”
Finn pulled away, grabbed his dinosaur, and raced out of the living room. “Let’s go play outside!”
It was then that Simon understood some of Finn’s enthusiasm. The kid was an only child, with an absent father. He probably needed a little friendship.
Heather got to her feet. “Okay, slow down sweetie. We’re coming.”
“I think that went pretty well,” Simon said, standing up.
“That was the easy part,” Heather warned. “Have you ever spent the day at the beach with a child?”
“Uh, no.”
She chuckled to herself and headed out of the living room. “Oh Simon. You poor thing.”
That was when Finn let out a shout so loud it seemed to shake the house off its foundations. “This is going to be the best vacation ever!”
Chapter 4
She couldn’t believe they were taking his private jet.
“How am I ever going to get used to this?” she asked from her seat across from him.
Simon smiled, a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. “You and Finn deserve to fly in style.”
Heather shook her head and then glanced out the airplane window. They were flying at thirty-five- thousand-feet, cruising over a carpet of white clouds. Just looking out at the clouds made her feel all tingly inside.
“It does beat flying in coach,” she said dreamily.
Right after his first visit with Finn, Simon had convinced her to fly to Florida in his private jet instead of flying commercial. He had managed to set up everything for their trip to Florida within a matter of days. Well, not him personally. Simon never handled such mundane things on his own. One of the executive assistants at Dover had organized their vacation and Simon had made it clear that money wasn’t going to be an issue.
Finn was now fast asleep in one of the jet’s tiny private bedrooms. The excitement of his first plane trip had totally knocked him out.
“I rarely use this thing, so I figured it would be a good idea to use it now,” he said.
“But I don’t want Finn to get used to something like this,” she said. “He’s just a kid. He needs to learn that most people aren’t wealthy like you are.”
“Heather, he’s a good kid,” he said. “I can’t imagine him getting spoiled by one plane trip.”
“Yes, but this whole trip is going to be different for him,” she said. “For him, a family vacation is us piling into the car and taking a camping trip. Not flying in a jet to a luxury resort.”