The Color of Love

Chapter 15

"Lill! Are you coming, or not?" James yelled towards the house from where he leaned against their black SUV. His truck had gotten traded in halfway through Lillian's pregnancy with the twins in favor of a more family-friendly car.

"Coming!" She shouted back as she came out of the house while zipping up her backpack. After ten years, it was different from the one she wore when she first met James, but she still found carrying a backpack to be practical. She locked the door and continued speaking as she walked towards the vehicle. "You got my easel?"

"Yes," he said slowly as he nodded. They had been through this list five times. And he was the organized one, so he wasn't sure why he was under questioning.

"And my paint kit?"

"Of course."

"And my suitcase?"

"Yes."

"And the kids' suitcases?"

"I'm the one that packed them, of course I got them."

Lillian smirked at her husband. "Did we remember the kids?"

From inside the car, Lizzie yelled out. "We're here! Can we please just go!?"

Lillian smiled as she looked at her husband sitting in the car, waiting as patiently as possible for her. She really should know better than to be stressed about this. Her husband was the most organized and detailed person she knew, and had their vehicle packed in the optimum layout as to fit all their luggage. He had been working for weeks on a checklist of everything they would need, and had insisted on packing the children's luggage.

The only thing Lillian was allowed to be responsible for was her own suitcase, and even that he had checked over. She was sure it would have irritated some, but that someone wasn't married to James McMillan, and those people also probably forgot something on every trip they made. But not James, he had not once forgotten anything before they left to go anywhere, whether it was out to dinner or on a week long vacation. So, just as he had learned to sometimes deal with her more artsy, flighty ways, she had learned to deal with his obsessive need to be prepared for any situation.

**—**—**

As they pulled up in the large circular driveway of The Mansion at Seaside, Lillian was practically bouncing in excitement. The kids were excited too, but James was fairly certain his wife was even more so.

"Oh, look! Mr. Landry is out front waiting for us!" Lillian said excitedly.

Mr. Landry, now in his eighties, sat in his wheelchair, legs covered in a blanket, awaiting his favorite visitors. His son, Gerald Landry, stood behind his father. The older man raised his arm and waved as much as he could to the oncoming car.

James had barely gotten the SUV into park before Lillian was jumping out of it and running up to the man. "Mr. Landry!"

"Oh, dear girl, what a sight for sore eyes you are!" Mr. Landry said as she bent down and hugged him. By that time, James was out of the car and helped Lewis out first, then Lizzie. "And here comes that husband of yours! And oh my goodness, look at the children! They've grown up so much!" The older man said, a twinkle in his eyes as he shook James' hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Landry," James said, then nodded at the younger Mr. Landry who was ten years his senior. "Gerald, thank you so much for taking care of all the arrangements."

James and Lillian had first met Gerald five years prior, when they brought their then two-year-old twins on their fifth anniversary trip. Gerald had started working with his father, learning the ropes of managing the resort. Now that the senior Mr. Landry was getting weaker, it was up to the son to maintain the resort.