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“Oh, honey, you’re miserable, aren’t you?”

“Oh, my ears are acting up again, but what do
you do?”

“For one thing, you stay out of the wind,” she
said pointedly.

“Yeah, going down on that beach wasn’t my
brightest move, but on a positive note, I filled a coffee cup full of
beautiful, colorful shells.”

“Aren’t the shells here pretty?” Liz enthused. 
“We don’t have shells like these on our beaches.”

“I know,” Amanda concurred.  “It makes you
wonder why.”

“I do wonder why,” Liz said, nodding.  “I don’t
think we have any salties either.”

“They’d freeze to death,” Amanda said.

“Probably.”  Liz furrowed her brow.  “We’ve gone
off on a tangent.  What were we talking about originally?”  She cocked her head
in thought.  “Or, was that
who
?”

***

Brady accepted the ice cream cone his
grandfather passed him.  It was getting late and they had stopped by one of the
national food chains for a vanilla soft cone.

“So, how was your day, son?” Ike asked him. 
“Did you have an enjoyable day with Amanda?”

He nodded.  “Yep.  Other than, she made her ears
worse, and ended up sleeping half the day away.”

“Poor kid,” Ike sympathized.

“Yeah, it’s too bad.  Here we are in Cocoa Beach
and can’t really enjoy it.”

Ike gave a confused shake of his head.  “Why
can’t you enjoy Cocoa Beach, son?  You’re not sick.”

Brady opened his mouth to speak, but something
about the way his granddad was watching him, with that smug expression, told
him he had some theories of his own as to why Brady was sticking close to
Amanda. 

“Well?” Ike prompted.

Brady gave him a dirty look.  “You know it
wouldn’t be right for me to go off and leave her…”

“Why’d you come to Cocoa Beach?”

“You know very well why.  We came to find you
and Liz.”

Ike gave a shrug of his shoulders.  “You found
us.  What’s keeping you here?”

Brady glanced around the restaurant and gave a
beleaguered sigh.  He finally turned back to his granddad.  “What are you
trying to say?”

He gave a triumphant laugh.  “You care about
that girl.”

“Well, sure.  I care enough not to leave her
stranded in Cocoa Beach, sick and alone.”

“We’re here,” he said crisply.  “She’s not
alone.  We’ll take care of her.”

“Oh, really, before or after you go searching
for crocs and gators?”

Ike laughed.  “Okay.  Okay.  You never were much
for talking about your love life.”

“My love life?  We’re not talking about my love
life.  Who’s talking about love here?”

Ike very nearly confided in him about asking Liz
to marry him, but pulled back.  Liz hadn’t said yes yet, though he was
confident she would.  Eventually.

He sat quietly for a moment, almost pensive. 
Finally, he spoke again.  “You know, back home, when Liz and I sent the two of
you on…”

“A wild goose chase?  Yeah, I remember,” Brady
said drolly.

“Was that an exercise in futility, or did we get
through to you at all?”

“What do you mean?” Brady asked, lifting his
cone and taking the curl off the top of his vanilla ice cream.

“Did you take anything away from the
experience?”

Brady met his earnest eyes.  “Yeah.  I realized
I haven’t been spending enough time with you, or my folks.  I realized I’ve
been too focused on work, and that all work and no play make Brady a dull boy. 
So, I guess your plan was a success.”

Ike laughed.  “You’re not dull.”

“Thanks.”

“What
do
you think of Amanda?”

Brady smiled.  “I…  I don’t know what you’re
asking.  Are you asking if there’s any chemistry between us?  Because I know
you and Liz were intent on setting us up.”

“Okay, yeah.  Is there chemistry?  Are you
attracted to her?”

Brady shifted nervously.  “Talk about an awkward
conversation to be having with my granddad.  Hey, let’s talk about you.  Is
there any chemistry between you and Liz?”

“Do you have to ask?” he bellowed, and then
cocked his head, as if recalling a fond memory.  “I love her.”

“Wow,” Brady said.  “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he replied, without hesitation.  “I fell
for her the first time I laid eyes on her.”

“You sound so certain…”

“Oh, I am.  I’m certain I love her.  I’m also
certain I’m old.  And I’m certain I’m not going to waste anymore time being
alone—or lonely.  She’s everything I could ever want in a woman, and I’m going
to…”  His words trailed off.  Something told him to hold off on divulging his
plans.

If he did confide in Brady that he’d proposed to
Liz, he might call his kids.  He wasn’t sure how they would feel about him
remarrying.  They might try to intercede and he wasn’t going to give them the
opportunity.  If Liz did say yes to his proposal, and was agreeable to his
idea, he planned to fly her to Las Vegas for a quickie wedding.  Soon.

“You’re going to what, Granddad?” Brady asked,
and polished off his cone.  He leaned back and folded his arms across his
chest.  He watched Ike suspiciously.

“I was going to say that Liz and I are going to
enjoy every minute we have together in this beautiful place.  I wish you and Amanda
were able to, as well.”

“Yeah,” Brady agreed with a sigh.  “You and me
both.”

“Are you feeling any better, Amanda?” Liz asked
the next morning, as the two readied for the day.

“Yes, I think so,” she said, tilting her head
and seeming to assess if she was feeling any pain anywhere.  “Yes, I do feel
better.”  She pinned her with a look.  “Hey, by the way, I saw you slip out of
this room earlier.  Where’d you go?”

“Oh, uh, to talk to Ike.  He asked if we’d join
him and Brady for breakfast.” 

Liz bit back a smile as she remembered that
meeting with Ike.  She had told him ‘yes,’ she would marry him.  She’d lain
awake half the night thinking, and had finally concluded, she wanted to marry
him more than she wanted anything else in the world.

“Uh, sure, we can join him for breakfast. 
Where?” Amanda asked. 

“In the courtyard,” she said.  “There are
several tables for guests.”

Suddenly, Amanda noticed that her grandmother
had packed up her carry on bag, and had made the bed.  “Grandma, why did you
pack your bag?”

“Oh, I’ll fill you in later,” she said.  “We
don’t have the time to talk right now.  I think the men are probably waiting on
us.”

“Okaaay.”  She eyed Liz suspiciously, wondering what
outdoor adventure she and Ike intended to embark upon today.  She half-expected
her to tell them they were chartering a boat for some deep sea fishing. 

Why would she pack up her bag, however?  She
hadn’t mentioned anything about leaving Cocoa Beach.  But then, she and Ike
could hardly stay in one place for ten minutes without getting antsy.  They
definitely seemed to have the wanderlust.  Maybe they’d signed up for another
cruise.

“Are you ready, hon?” Liz asked, and to Amanda’s
surprise, grabbed a hold of her carry on.

“You’re taking it with you?” she asked, puzzled.

“Yes.  Let’s go meet the men, and we’ll fill you
in on our plans.”

Amanda checked her face in the mirror, grabbed
her antibiotic pill to take with her meal, and accompanied Liz outside, to what
turned out to be a table by the pool, decked out in a red checkerboard cloth
and laden with a delicious spread of breakfast items.

Both Ike and Brady, who were already seated,
rose when they approached.  Amanda noted that Ike also had his rolling carryon
luggage with him.  Curious.

Brady pulled a chair for her, while Ike did the
same for Liz.  When he tried to make eye contact with her, she averted her
gaze. 
Stuck with her
?  The nerve!

She was still seething from that remark.  Who
asked him to stay with her?  Certainly not her.

He must have read the fury in her eyes, since he
whispered into her ear, “What’s wrong?”

She chose not to answer, but turned to Ike
instead.  “How are you, Ike?”

“Fine.  Are you feeling better?”

“Yes.  I am.”  Her eyes lit on his luggage,
beside her grandmother’s.  “What’s with the luggage, guys?” she asked.

Ike glanced at Liz, Liz glanced at him, and they
both glanced at her, and then Brady.  Ike was first to speak, “Liz and I have
something to tell you both.”  He took her hand, and then smiled broadly.  “Liz
and I are getting married,” he announced.

Brady’s jaw dropped, as did Amanda’s, though she
was first to find her voice.  “Uh, wow.  When did this … happen?”

Liz smiled.  “Ike asked me yesterday morning.”

“And you said … yes?”

“Well, not at first,” Ike admitted, “but by this
morning, she’d decided she’d have me.”  He met his fiancée’s gaze and smiled
warmly.  “We’ve decided to catch a plane…”

“Oh…?” Brady said, snaring Amanda’s gaze before
turning back to the happy couple.  “So, you’re leaving today to go to…?”

“To Las Vegas,” Liz informed, and giggled with
delight.

Brady appeared taken aback.  He began shaking
his head briskly.  “No, you are
not
going to Vegas…”  Suddenly, his
phone rang.  He glanced at the screen, clearly agitated by the disruption. 
“Shoot,” he muttered.  “It’s Matt.  I have to take this.”  He caught his
granddad’s eyes.  “Don’t go anywhere.”

He rose and walked off, to take the call.  When
he stepped into the hotel room he’d shared with his granddad last night, Ike
and Liz abruptly rose and grabbed their luggage.

“Bye, Amanda!” Liz said, giving her a quick hug.

“Bye, Amanda,” Ike said, patting her on the
back.  “Get better soon.”

To her surprise, the older couple booked it
across the lawn and headed for the parking lot.  “Wait!” Amanda cried, finally
registering what they were doing.  They were leaving now!

She rose rapidly from her seat, felt a wave of
vertigo hit her, and dropped back into the chair like a rock.  She sat briefly,
as she attempted to center herself.  Finally, with a shoring breath, she rose
to give chase.  To her horror, those senior citizens outpaced her.  She saw
them duck into the car and then she saw Ike back out of the space, hit the
accelerator, and speed out of the lot.

Amanda came to a stop on the lawn and ran a hand
through her hair.  She was out of breath and panting. 

Why had the grandparents taken off like that? 
Her eyes narrowed.  It was Brady’s fault.  He had told them they couldn’t go to
Vegas.  Who did he think he was anyway?  Trying to tell the couple what they
could and could not do.  No wonder they took off.

With a sigh, she turned and walked back to the
table.  Brady came walking out of his room and crossed the distance to her. 
“Where’d they go?” he asked with a perplexed shrug.

She simply glared at him.

“Amanda.  Where’d they go?”

“Where do you think they went?” she demanded,
giving him an even dirtier look.

He shrugged.  “I have no idea.”

“I presume they went to catch a plane, Brady! 
When you told them they couldn’t get married, they…”

“I didn’t tell them they couldn’t get married!”
he interrupted.  “Ah, hells bells,” he muttered, glancing around helplessly. 
“Shoot.  We have to catch them.”

“Oh, so you can rain on their parade again?” she
said angrily.

He gave her a perplexed glance and then a
dismissive wave.  He snatched her hand and tugged her up.  “Come on!”

She pulled her hand away.  “I’m not going
anywhere.”

“
Oh, yes, you are.” 
He practically
carried her to the car, which actually was the only way she could have gotten
there so quickly.  Her vertigo was so severe, she was actually feeling
nauseous.

He dashed around the hood of the car and climbed
in.  “I hope we can catch them,” he muttered worriedly, and then glanced at
her.  “What’s up with you, Amanda?  You’ve been surly since yesterday.”

“Surly?” she repeated with a frown.  “I have
not.”  Despite her protests, she folded her arms over her chest and fumed as
Brady drove through Cocoa Beach and toward the airport in Orlando.

“Oh, I hope we can catch them,” he said,
checking his watch.  “Did they happen to mention what airline they’re flying,
or their departure time?”

“No,” she snapped.  “Why would they?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” he asked, seemingly
genuinely confused.

As they left Cocoa Beach and sped along the road
to Orlando, Brady glanced nervously around, searching for cops along the road. 
He hated to speed, but he had to catch the grandparents.  He couldn’t let them
get on that plane without talking to them first.