Hannah had handled getting them passports and they would be leaving on the McDaniel’s private jet at five AM which meant getting up even earlier than she usually would have. So that meant an early night for her and her brothers. After she packed her things for the trip, she climbed into her bed exhausted it had been a long eventful day.
When she woke up the next morning she showered and dressed quickly. She wouldn’t have time to get in a workout today. She got her bags and brought them all down to the Foyer; her brother’s bags were already waiting there. Grant drove them all to the airport; he wasn’t coming with them because her father wanted them to be as low key about who they were as possible because Angel needed the time away. She supposed she was going to have to get used to flying now, but to her it was still an odd concept. The flight took a long time, which allowed for them to nap on the jet ride.
They had to stop to refuel so they had two layovers which allowed for them to stretch their legs a bit before heading off again. They would arrive in the early morning hours the next morning. The long ride allowed for them to get work done on their laptops. Jackson was using a program she had bought that Dirk suggested to design what he wanted his Camaro to look like. While Kaleb played in his photography program editing different photographs he’d taken during the party. It was five the next morning when they arrived at the resort. The villa they would be renting was beautiful and right on the water. It was amazing, the beauty of this place.
But she was already restless from inactivity, so she quickly changed into her yoga shorts and a tank top before pulling on her running shoes. Her brothers must have had the same idea because they met her in the living room as she was coming down the stairs. A run on the beach would be good, and she’d be able to stretch her muscles, though she knew her brothers would never keep up with her. After two miles she waved them away and told them to run back to the villa and she’d finish her run and then be back. She was at mile five when she saw the first sign of life other than her brothers on the beach. There was a lone runner ahead of her a bit; apparently, she hadn’t been the only one with the idea.
With her ear buds in and her music blaring she focused on her run and didn’t even really notice when she passed the runner. At mile six she turned around and headed back, this time she didn’t miss the odd look the other runner threw her as she ran past him.
When she reached the villa, she quickly showered; her brothers had already ordered up breakfast from room service. When she returned, she was dressed in her bikini with a light summer dress over it. She’d paired it with some sandals; she figured they would do the touristy thing while her father and grandmother caught up on their much needed, sleep.
Jackson and Kaleb were all about the beach, after all it’s where you see half naked girls and they’d never seen one until this morning in person. When she learned their ideal itinerary, she decided she’d go throw on her sarong and follow them out to the beach for a bit. When she came out dressed for the beach both of her brothers groaned loudly. At her arched brow, Jackson said “We’re going to be too busy keeping the guys away from you to flirt with any island girls.”
Angel laughed and said “I can handle myself you worry about handling yourself. And no hanky-panky boys, we don’t want any nine-month surprises.” Her brother’s blushed bright red at that comment, but they followed her out to the beach, the beach was just starting to wake up apparently. There were people around now, it was sparse but there were a few. She got settled on the chaise and told her brothers to go have fun. They of course didn’t go far but they were having fun.
She was deep into watching their antics when a voice she didn’t recognize asked “Aren’t they a little young for you?” When she looked up, she recognized the man from the beach, at her arched brow he nodded towards her brothers. Angel replied evenly “That depends on what you think I’m doing with them, but since I’m their guardian no they are not too young.” She didn’t miss the shocked look on his face. She caught her brothers eyeing him speculatively and waved them off. The man hadn’t missed the move either; he said, “Their protective of you.” When Angel didn’t respond he continued saying “Your very fast when you run.” When she still gave no response, he laughed and said, “Do you always play this hard to get?” Angel responded honestly “I wasn’t aware we were playing at all. Furthermore, I’m not hard to get. I’m impossible to get.” Which made the man smile as he said, “No one is impossible everyone has a price.” She was shocked to hear her father say, “She doesn’t.”
The man literally jumped out of his skin before saying “Jesus Hunter, a little warning next time. I didn’t realize you were here on vacation. Where’s Gwen?” Angel was the one to answer as she said, “He’s here with his mother and his daughter, as for his ex-mistress, she’s probably scraping from the bottom which is where she belongs.” That said she stood and removed her sarong to go join her brothers.
Hunter shook his head slowly and said, “That kid is going to be the death of me.” The man he’d been talking to said “Wait a minute, since when do you have a kid?” Hunter briefly explained it to him, and then said, “I’d appreciate you not hitting on my nineteen-yr. old daughter if you don’t mind Garrett.” Garrett looked at him as if he’d lost his mind and asked “How do you plan on keeping guys from not hitting on her? Have you taken, a look at your daughter lately? My God Hunter she’s every guy’s wet dream come to life.” Hunter sighed heavily and responded “Yes, but she’s real Garrett, not some fake plastic bimbo who wants everything she sees. Angel spends most of her time helping everyone she meets. She’s the genuine article, she’s that one in a million girl and when men finally realize that, and there will be no stopping them.” Garrett shook his head “She said she is those boys’ guardian?”
Hunter once again gave him the story, this time Garrett said, “You weren’t kidding, were you?” He looked up at where Angel was horse playing with her brothers and he said, “My God Hunter, what are you going to do?” It was Hunter’s mother who broke in saying “He’s going to let that girl live her life how she sees fit. She’s done an awesome job of raising herself so far and she will do a fine job of raising her brothers as well.” Belle glanced around not missing all the men staring at her granddaughter and said, “Perhaps we should have rethought the whole tropical island vacation gone skiing instead.” Which made Garrett laugh whole heartedly as he knew where she was coming from. This was a disaster in the making.
Before the hour was up, Angel was literally inundated with male admirers; she was holding her own though. She didn’t show any partiality to any of them Garrett noted though; it was almost as if she didn’t particularly note their existence. When he asked Hunter about it, he responded “She’s not your typical teenager; she’s had to fight to survive. She’s not all boy crazy and trying to experiment to fit into the world. She knows where she belongs. She’s fine with where she is.” Hunter happened to look up just as Angel turned away from one of her admirers apparently, he wasn’t happy that she didn’t pay him any attention and he grabbed her wrist to stop her, which Hunter knew would only end badly. It ended up with the man on his stomach with his arm up behind his back at an odd angle and Angel saying coldly “Touch me again, and that part of you that you so highly value will need to be permanently removed from the back of your throat, we clear?”
Garrett hadn’t missed that statement, actually he would never tell Hunter, but he figured half the men on the beach found it as hot as he did. This girl was a complete enigma, she had so many layers, that Hunter was right no one would ever get through them. Their days in the sand and sun seemed to fly by, the night of New Year’s had been magical here on the island, she’d been so happy to be spending it with her family.
They were flying home on the second, which was in the morning. It was amazing how you packed for a trip and yet ended up with more going back than you came with. She had been forced to buy another luggage set. The trip home was just as long, as the trip to the Islands, but she had really needed the downtime, they would have to make this a habit every few months taking a trip together.
There was plenty of work waiting when they arrived home. Thankfully, Cody had found and hired ten more stable hands to help around the place. Hannah had four women coming for interviews for the assistant jobs, she had Grant do comprehensive background checks on them all. Even before meeting them, she had her two picks already. She just needed to know what was on paper is who they portrayed themselves to be. After the interviews were over, she had decided that she would hire the two she had initially picked. But she stressed to Hannah neither was to have access to any financial information. One was being hired as an Administrative Assistant and she would handle all projects to do with the ranch itself. The other was being hired as an Administrative Assistant to field all calls and help coordinate all projects to do with the center. Neither had balked when told both jobs would entail long hours most likely, and that their cellular would have to be on them at, all times. They had been surprisingly pleased with their salary, and benefits package that Hannah had put together. They had agreed to start right away, all calls for the ranch were forwarded through to Melanie’s cellular and all calls about the center were forwarded to Kimberly’s cellular.
This opened, up time for her to spend getting to know the horse side of the business. But first things first she had to get Louisa registered for school. Something that hadn’t taken her thirty minutes to accomplish, Louisa would be starting school the next day, she would be brought to school and picked up by Kevin one of Grants guards.
She hunted down Cody when she arrived back to check on Gambler’s Tempest. The little fella seemed a hundred percent better now, and the vet had given Storm a dose of antibiotics too to make sure he didn’t get the same infection. They were both more active now, seemed to have a lot more energy and were visibly happy to see her. Since the twins were already used to their halters now, Cody had begun training them to follow on a lead. The twins were actually enjoying this endeavor, it seemed.
Her brothers had apparently found the time during their vacation to finish the website, which she had to admit was a sight to behold. It had actual videos of some of the horses on the track, as well as videos of the twins themselves. Many comments had already been left about the twin foals. Many had sent stud services request via the internet as well.
The boys were busy trying to setup the schedule, but she and Cody told them a specific number for stud services for both Gambler and Heartbreaker. They weren’t going to have either of them being hurt. So, Cody himself handpicked the ones that would be chosen for stud service. He then dictated a response letter to all those who would have to wait or find another stud.
Cody turned to Angel and said “You know Heartbreaker wants to run, and I am sure Gambler does as well. But they were put in the stud book at the height of their careers. The fact alone that Heartbreaker is getting faster in retirement will bring more wanting to have him cover their mares. I don’t want to overdo it but right now between Gambler and Heartbreaker their stud fees a year are around 7.5 million for Gambler and 12.5 for Heartbreaker. Neither can race again but Jada has agreed to run them to their hearts content. They are going to become restless at some point they don’t like being idle.”
He paused then said “We’ve got a decent shot at the races this year. We Have got Gambler’s oldest son Gambler’s Cross, and he’s going to place, whether that be first or second he will place. We are stepping up his training now. We have got Risky Darlin’ and she will place as well. I am not planning on taking more than three out this year. I’ve spoken to the man who wants to sell Heartbreakers’ colt, the horse is registered but has never raced. He’s just over two years old, the man’s trainer, bailed and it will take some work but, I think he’d be worth the risk.” Angel nodded and replied, “Do it.”
Cody went on to tell her that they would take this year off from the racing circuit and train the horses and their jockey before entering their first race opening day of this year. Angel was thankful for that it would give her time to get everything in order.