Page 21 of Timeless Pages

Chapter eighteen

Dom

I sat at my desk, staring at my computer screen as I thought about Isa.

She hadn't known what she wanted to do next, but I could see the excitement in her eyes.

An enthusiasm that hadn't been there when we met her.

I had an idea, though, one that I didn't think I'd have trouble convincing Nate and Evan of.

Deciding I wasn't going to get any work done until I found out, I went searching for them. I found Evan and Nate in Nate's office.

"What are you guys working on?" I asked as I sat down in the empty chair beside Evan.

"We're discussing the Underwood Mall," Nate replied.

"Everything ok with it?" We had recently purchased the mall. Mall management was a new venture for us, but it was proving to be lucrative.

"The movie theater is pushing back on the increased rent," Evan sighed. "But I don't anticipate them holding out much longer. It's a good location, and if they pull out, it shouldn't take long to have another theater take its place."

"Yeah, but that's a big chunk of revenue we would miss out on if they do.

" I pondered the issue briefly before offering a suggestion.

"Why don't we offer them ten percent off the rent increase for the first year, five percent for the second, and full price for the next three years at the fixed rental rate?

It keeps everyone happy and locks them into five years.

At the end of the five years, we won't be the new owners and we'll have improved the mall enough to support any other rent increases we might issue in the future. "

"That's not a bad idea," Nate responded. "I like it. Evan, if you're on board, make the call."

"I like it, too. I'll go get on the phone with them now," Evan replied, moving to stand.

"Before you do, there was something I wanted to discuss with you both.

" Evan retook his seat, and they both looked at me expectantly.

"As you know, the buildings around Isa's bookstore are ours.

We will need to file claims with our insurance company.

Once that is finished, I think we should give the entire block to Isa. "

"Give the entire block to Isa," Nate repeated. "We had plans for that block. Plans that we've been steadily working toward for almost four years now."

"I'm aware of that." Convening them wasn't going to be as easy as I expected.

"I love the idea," Evan announced.

Nate glared at him and opened his mouth for what I assumed would be a tirade about Evan wanting to preserve the bookstore for Isa from the start, but I quickly interrupted him before he could.

"The way I see it is that Isa can turn that block into something far more productive for the town than we ever could.

We're never going to take the property from her, and our plan won't work without it. "

"Good business isn't throwing away a multi-million-dollar project," Nate replied.

"Good business is knowing when to pivot. It's time to pivot. What's more important to you? The project or Isa's happiness?" I knew it was a lower blow than the situation warranted, but I wanted this. I wanted to do this for Isa.

"I'm going to let that one slide," Nate replied ominously. "Don't suggest I care more about money than Isa's happiness ever again."

I sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. That was out of line. I know you care for Isa, which is why I also know once you get past your unhappiness at not completing the project, you'll see that this is the right thing to do."

Nate spent some time straightening papers on his desk with sharp movements. Once his desk was tidied, his eyes rose to meet first mine, then Evan's. "I think we should give the whole block to Isa."

I pressed my knuckles to my lips to cover my smirk. "I think that's a great idea," Evan replied with a light chuckle. "If that's all you needed, Dom, I'll go call the rep for the theater, and you guys can hash out the details for transferring the properties."

"That was all I had," I said as I stood. Before we could leave the office, there was a knock on the door. My assistant, Allison, opened the door.

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. DeCosta, but you have several packages in the lobby."

"Just have them brought upstairs, Allison," I told her, confused. Receiving packages was part of her responsibilities. I didn't understand why it was difficult for her today.

"I'm sorry, Sir, you don't understand. There are a lot of them. More than one would consider normal," she replied, uncharacteristically timid.

"What the hell did you order?" Nate asked as the three of us made our way to the elevator.

"I really don't—oh, no," I remembered what all the packages had to be. I knew I had gone overboard, but I hadn't thought it had been that bad.

"What did you order?" Evan snickered as he pressed the button to bring us to the lobby.

"Isa said she wanted to have a picnic in the park, so I had ordered picnic things," I replied. "But then I found the camping gear and thought maybe she'd be interested in camping. I might have gone a little overboard.'

"How much is a little?" Nate asked as the elevator doors opened and we stepped out.

We all froze in shock as soon as we stepped out. We didn't have a massive lobby, but it was admirably sized. Taking up a large part of the center of the room, near the reception desk, was a pile of boxes.

"A lot," Evan answered. "A little is a lot."

"Dom, what did you do?" Nate asked.

I stared at the insane number of packages in horror.

"I didn't know. I didn't realize," I stammered.

"Really, this is the company's fault for not packing multiple items in one box.

" It was a lame excuse, but it had some merit.

There had to be nearly twenty-five little bubble mailers alone.

All of which could have fit in one box. "On the plus side, we're now fully equipped for camping! "

Evan started laughing as Nate stared at me, dumbfounded. "When have we ever wanted to go camping?"

"It could be fun," I replied as we gathered the boxes. We took as many boxes as we could and then enlisted the help of the doorman to bring up the rest, and went upstairs to our penthouse.

"What on earth is all of this?" Isa exclaimed when we arrived.

"Dom. This is all Dom," Evan replied, still chuckling. If the fucker kept it up, I was going to have to pound on him a little... or a lot.

I set the packages I was carrying down and looked at Isa sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"After you told us you wanted to have a picnic in the park at lunch, I came back to the office and ordered some things.

But in the process of ordering picnic items, I stumbled onto the camping category and went a little overboard.

I don't know if you're interested in camping or not, but if you are, we're equipped. "

"That's so sweet," Isa cooed, wrapping her arms around my waist and standing on her tiptoes to reward me with a kiss. Suddenly, I didn't feel so foolish and smirked at Nate and Evan over Isa's head. "I've never been camping either, but I always thought it looked fun."

"You want to go?" I asked, looking down at her.

"Do you have time? I don't want to keep you from your work," Isa replied.

I looked at Evan and Nate. Evan nodded, and Nate looked resigned to his fate.

"We have the time," I responded. "Why don't you pack some clothes while we unbox this mess and get organized?

Do you have a bathing suit?" Isa shook her head.

"We'll stop at the store and grab you one when we stop for groceries. "

It took longer than I anticipated to sort through everything and pack the Range Rover. The morning was over by the time we got to the store. "Why don't you three go pick out the food, and I'll run and grab a bathing suit for Isa," I suggested as we walked inside.

"Shouldn't I pick out my suit?" Isa asked.

"Don't worry, Beauty," I winked, "I've got you covered."

"That's what I'm worried about," Isa groaned. "Please, Dom, don't make it too skimpy."

"You realize this whole camping thing is going to be a colossal shit show, right?" Nate asked as Evan dragged Isa away toward the grocery section of the store.

"Where's your adventurous spirit?" I asked Nate as I clapped him on the shoulders and headed toward the women's clothing section.

"We aren't outdoors people, Dom!" Nate shouted as I walked away.

He was being a big baby about this. We'd be fine.

How hard could camping really be? It would do us all good to become one with nature and slow down.

I reached the swimsuit section and immediately found a sexy little string bikini that Isa would look smoking hot in.

I was already fantasizing about taking it off of her.

I grabbed what I thought would be her size, and then, because I ultimately wanted her to be comfortable and have a good time, I went to look at the more modest one-piece suits.

It never hurts to have options. I purchased the suits and ran the bag out to the car, then went back inside to catch up with them.

I found Nate and Evan in the snack aisle arguing over whether to get the regular marshmallows or the square ones, but Isa was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Isa?"

"Very funny," Evan replied, turning to where he thought Isa was. They both spun in a circle, horror creeping into their expressions.

"She was just here two seconds ago!" Nate exclaimed.

My heart thundered in my chest as we tore out of the aisle to search for her.

She couldn't have gone far, and there was no way Morris could have made it out of the store with her because they would have had to go past me.

I reached the end of the aisle and scanned the cold area for her.

I nearly collapsed with relief when I saw her deliberating over hot dogs.

"She's over here," I shouted, catching her attention.

Isa looked over at me and smiled as I approached. She was utterly oblivious to the scare she just gave us. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and held her tightly as I willed my heart to stop pounding. Isa was here, and she was safe. She hadn't been in any danger.

"There you are," Isa said, leaning into me, holding two packages of hot dogs. "What kind of hot dogs do you guys like? Or do you prefer cheeseburgers?"

Evan and Nate rushed over to us, and as Nate opened his mouth to lecture Isa about wandering off, I shook my head in caution.

There was no point in yelling at her when she had no idea she had made us panic.

Especially since it had been their job to keep an eye on her to begin with.

In my opinion, the blame for the scare was entirely on Evan and Nate's shoulders.

Nate, of course, didn't heed my warning. "Isa! You scared us half to death. You can't just run off without saying anything. It isn't safe."

I felt Isa stiffen in my arms as she slowly turned toward Nate. "I'm sorry," she said softly, "what?"

"I said—"

"I know what you said," Isa snapped, cutting him off. "I told you both that I was going to go get hot dogs when you were arguing over marshmallows. You both responded. You knew where I was."

"None of this would have happened if the two of you hadn't been fighting over marshmallows," I stated, "so why don't we let it go?

" I snatched the pack of non-beef hot dogs from Isa's hand and tossed them back into the case.

"All beef, Beauty. Always all beef. And no rule says we can't have hot dogs and cheeseburgers.

Why choose? Am I right?" I kissed her neck and linked my fingers through hers, tugging her toward the frozen section and leaving Evan and Nate to follow us or continue their monumental debate over fluffy confections.

The rest of the shopping trip went off without a hitch, and I didn't want to attribute it to the fact that I didn't leave Isa's side, but who was I to say whether it was a coincidence or not?

While we were unboxing the gear, Evan had gone online and found an open campground up the mountain near the lake.

The grassy clearing, nestled among the trees with the sparkling lake in the background, was the perfect setting for our first camping trip.