“Was there some talk about punishment if you tried to call your father?” he asked Courtney. “Er, that would be stepfather?” he corrected, peering at Courtney.

“He took my phone,” Courtney said. “I was supposed to call my dad every day so he knew I was okay, but Stu took my phone away. And he said if I called my dad, I’d never get to live with him again, not even on weekends.”

“We’re on vacation, Officer. I thought we should have some vacation rules, like no texting, that sort of thing…” Stu attempted.

And then here were Sherry, Ann and Dick, wondering what was going on. “Is there a problem, Officer?”

“I don’t think so, sir. These your children?”

“The little ones, yes,” Ann said. “And Courtney is our au pair!”

“I am not! I don’t know anything about being an au pair and I didn’t ask to be!” Then the older boys were there, panting, smelling gamey from running on the beach, crowding in, curious. “Those are Stu’s boys,” Courtney said. “My half brothers.”

“And you’re watching the four of them?”

She nodded. “Mostly the little ones. From wake-up to at least midnight.”

Sherry laughed cheerfully. “Officer, she’s being paid!”

The police officer frowned. “How old are you, miss?”

“Fourteen,” she said. “Look, all I wanted to do was call my dad! That’s all.”

“Call your dad? Stu’s your dad!” Dick said.

“Yes, but I haven’t lived with him in a long time, like forever. He hasn’t called me or sent me a postcard since he threw me out last year. He said he wanted to take me on a fancy Disney vacation but what he wanted was someone to babysit so he could do a deal with you. Now can I please just have my phone back?”

“Officer,” Stu laughed. Off-His-Ster-er-er. “Obviously we have a disgruntled teen here and I assure you I can make it right in no time. She needs a break, some fun in the sun, a little—”

“Sounds like she needs to call her dad. The one she lives with.”

“We’ll definitely take care of that, but right now we’re getting ready for a big meeting with a very important actress.” He cleared his throat importantly. “Ever hear of Muriel St. Claire? She’s meeting us here today as soon as the studio jet can get her here. Now I’ll take care of Courtney, I promise you, and—”

“Courtney!”

She pushed aside the police officer and saw Lief jogging down the walking path, lugging his baggage. He dropped his bags and ran toward her.

“Dad!” she yelled, and she bolted for him.

He grabbed her up in his arms, and for the first time in so long she couldn’t remember, she cried. She sobbed. She buried her face in his neck and let go. She hung on to him so fiercely, she was amazed he could breathe.

“Oh, honey,” he said, holding her tightly. “It’s okay. I’m here. It’s okay.”

Lief lifted his head. One police officer was talking to an older couple and simultaneously writing on his pad. The other was watching Lief and Courtney, hands on his hips. The couple with Stu and Sherry were staring with open mouths. Sherry was frowning and Stu was tapping his foot.

He put Courtney on her feet. “Court, what happened? Why are there police?”

“That couple with the gray hair? I borrowed their phone to leave you a voice mail. I guess they called the police.”

“Are you okay?”

She nodded and wiped her tears. “He brought me here to babysit this director’s kids so they could make a deal. He said if I didn’t, I’d have to live with him forever. That I’d never even get weekends with you.”

“Is that so?” Lief said. “Not if I have anything to say about it!”

Holding Courtney’s hand, they walked toward the gathering.

“Well, your timing couldn’t be worse,” Stu said. “There’s a lot going on today and none of it concerns you, Holbrook. So if you would kindly—”

“Officer, I have a joint custody agreement with this man. I have a copy in my suitcase. He brought my daughter to Maui without my permission. Without my knowledge.”

“You can go to the station and file a complaint and we can certainly direct you to family court,” the police officer said. “I don’t think you’re going to get that settled right before Christmas. Lots of domestic issues right around the holidays. I’m not going to write a citation for this unless we have some abuse situation. Why don’t we try to settle this amicably so we can all just have a nice holiday?”

“I’d love to, Officer,” Stu said. “But I have a meeting with—”

“Dick, that’s Lief Holbrook. He won the Oscar for Deerslayer,” Ann said in a stage whisper.

“Oscar?” Sherry said. “He did? For what? He’s just a writer!”

Courtney rolled her eyes. Sherry—not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Dick’s hand shot out. “Lief, Dick Paget. We met Oscar night, I believe. Great to see you again.”

Lief was scowling. He didn’t take the hand. Courtney tugged on his shirtsleeve, and he bent down slightly. “They think I’m their au pair,” she said.

“Is that a fact?”

“Well, not exactly,” Dick said, taking back his rejected hand. “We thought she wanted to babysit, that’s what Stu said. We were paying her for her help, of course.”

“Look,” Stu said, “do whatever you want. You want to take her home? Take her home. I’m not going to argue about this. All I wanted to do was bring my own daughter on the family vacation to Maui—a treat! If that’s not okay, sue me! Do what you want, but right now I have to set up for a meeting with Muriel St. Claire. I don’t have the time or patience to discuss whether Courtney’s in the mood to help out with the kids!”

Lief just shook his head. “You moron,” he said to Stu. “How do you think I finally found you, since you wouldn’t take my calls? I called Muriel, asked her to track you down, tell you she wanted a meeting for a film.” He laughed. He looked down at Courtney. “Where’s your luggage?”

“In the condo. Stu’s.”

“Do you have a key so we can get it?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s get out of here…”

Stu reached out and snatched at Lief’s shirtsleeve. “Wait. What about Muriel?”

Lief couldn’t believe this guy. “She’s a good friend of mine. I asked for her help in finding you. She was all too happy to help. She asked what kind of a bastard would do something like take a child like that. And then she said she thinks you’re an ass. I guess that means the meeting’s off.” Lief looked at the police officer. “Are we free to go?”

“Is everyone in agreement? There’s no further issue with who is the parent in charge?”

All heads shook, even those bystanders who had nothing to do with Courtney’s custody.

“Thank you,” Lief said. Then he turned with Courtney, and they walked away from all the commotion.

It was very late in Honolulu when Lief called his house in Virgin River. A very sleepy Kelly picked up, and he said, “Hey, babe. Mission accomplished. I have Courtney back. We got to Honolulu and she’s asleep. I’m out on the patio. Can you hear the surf?”

“I think I can. What time is it there?” she asked with a yawn.

“Midnight. It’s been a very long couple of days. Stu nabbed her, manipulated her and tried to strike a deal with her to act as babysitter to another couples’ preschoolers so he could work a movie deal. This is why so many of his deals don’t work out very well—he’s an idiot.” He explained how Muriel had helped him flush Stu out. “His biggest concern was that we get our issues handled so he could have his meeting with Muriel. You should have seen the look on his face when I broke it to him that she’d set him up.”

She laughed into the phone. “Oh, sorry. It was probably inappropriate to laugh.”

“I’ll tell you what, if Stu gives me any trouble about keeping Courtney with me after what he tried to pull, I’m going to fight dirty. I don’t know exactly how, so I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I’m tired, relieved, and I miss you like crazy. I’ve got the hotel’s travel agent working on flights back to anywhere in California, but it’s a bad time of year for this last-minute travel. I fed Courtney, tucked her in and came outside with a drink.” He sighed deeply. “What a circus.”

“Thank God you’re back in the driver’s seat!”

“Kelly, we might not get back by Christmas… The chances of getting a seat on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day…”

“I understand… I wasn’t expecting you until January second,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t miss you…”

“You want to know how much I miss you, honey?” he asked. “The only thing missing from my life right now is holding you. Once we get home, maybe life can get a little normal.”

She laughed a little. “You think so, huh?”

“Okay, I admit, we have some adjustments ahead. Courtney has been through a lot of emotional turmoil, thanks to Stu. I’m going to get her in to the counselor before school starts up again. But surely there’s sanity in the future. The near future.”

“Boy, aren’t you an optimist,” she said sarcastically, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

They talked until Lief finished his drink and could barely hold his eyes open. He recharged his phone. It was ringing first thing in the morning. The travel agent got them on a flight into San Francisco on Christmas Eve. Perfect—that’s where he’d left his truck in the first place.

Tired as they were, emotionally worn out as this whole adventure had left them, a little laugh at the airport was the last thing either of them expected. While they were waiting to board, who should arrive in the boarding area but Ann and Dick Paget and the little kids. They wouldn’t even have noticed Lief and Courtney if Alison and Michael hadn’t run up to Courtney, so happy to see her.

“Well, hello,” Courtney said. “Going for a plane ride?”

“Going home,” Michael said.

“Children!” Ann called. “Over here! Now!”

Ann was looking a little frazzled. Haggard. She kept pushing a lock of limp hair back out of her eyes, and she didn’t seem to be wearing her “nice suit” today. She seemed very irritable. Maybe chasing a couple of kids around the beach wasn’t really working for her. And Dick was harassing the gate agent about upgrading, though she repeatedly told him there was nothing available in first-class.

Lief had taken the only seats available—they were first-class. He exchanged glances with Courtney and they both tried very hard not to laugh.

Moments later, they started boarding—first were special-needs passengers, then first-class. Ann glowered at them as she and her family passed through the first-class cabin to find their coach seats.

When the gear was up on that flight, Courtney leaned over to Lief and said, for the hundredth time, “I’m never going back to Stu’s house. Never.”

“Okay,” Lief said.

“Seriously. I don’t care if the Supreme Court says I have to.”

“You won’t have to.”

“What if they do? What if some judge says—”

“No,” Lief said. “First of all, I don’t think there’s going to be a problem. Second, if by some weird twist of fate there is, I’ll find a way to deal with Stu. Maybe I’ll get him a meeting with Muriel St. Claire or something.” Then he grinned at her. “Anything else worrying you?”