Ailana’s Journal—2026-05-17 (And Island Kids) (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING

One thing led to another and, Jason, Jasmine, Sasha, and I ended up in the AGI/SwimFit office. Church is still a few hours away, and we’re already planning for Tuesday!

When I turned off “Do Not Disturb” on my phone, I saw a message from Naomi that had come in last night. I texted her back immediately.

Naomi: “I’ve got a thing. Want me to tell you or connect with Sasha or Jasmine?”

Me: “What’s up?”

Naomi: “Three dresses for three models. Half-day compensation? Probably two hours max, not counting makeup and hair. Tuesday?”

Me: “We can do two hours. What’s up with makeup and hair?”

Naomi: “I’ll send an artist down from San Antonio. Call it an hour in the chair for each model.”

Me: “Okay. And the dresses?”

Naomi: “I’ll get them to the studio by midday Tuesday. I’ll share a shot list on Google Drive. Thanks!”

I texted Jason, Jasmine, and Sasha to meet before church just to make sure all our calendars aligned—Jasmine is going to book Kaylee.

After church today, Jason and I are taking Grammy over to a nature park in Brownsville. Dad thought getting her out to see the spring blooms and birds would be nice, but he got called into work at the Coast Guard Station.

If you’re interested, check out Sabal Palm Sanctuary! I’m not sure how it will go, but I’ll definitely have a goodnight post for you!

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The final chapter of "Growing Up Jason" will appear tomorrow.

ALWAYS GRINDING by Mateo Alvarez

One week of school left, and I’m ready. I think my teachers are ready, too!

I’m not trying to fill every waking hour this summer with work, but sometimes an opportunity just falls in your lap. Yesterday, I saw a moving van here on E. Huisache Street. Someone was moving in.

Most people coming and going around here are vacationers, so someone moving in stands out. I went to the early church service with Mom and Dad, then stayed for Bible study. They headed home, and I decided to check and see if, maybe, I could pick up one more customer for the summer.

I parked my truck and did a double take. The house doesn’t have a front door. I was trying to decide how to knock when a girl came out through the gate with a bag of trash. She saw me and I waved.

“Hi… Can I talk to you a second?” I said.

She stopped and shrugged, so I approached.

Side note—not my normal business thoughts, but she was so cute. She was just naturally dressed like the world could wait, and she didn’t have time to worry about what it expected. Moving on…

“My name is Mateo, and I do yard work around the island. Is your mom or dad around? I’d like to see if they are interested. I’m good and I don’t charge a lot.”

She had a little bit of a worried look, but she didn’t run away or anything.

“We just moved in. Dad’s going to be right back. He’s a chief in the Coast Guard and had to meet someone.”

“I saw the truck yesterday,” I said. “That’s why I came by.”

She put the trash bag into the can. “I should get back inside. Nice to meet you…”

Then I had a crazy idea…

The rest of this chapter is exclusive to Patreon.

“How about this? I’ll cut, edge, and blow the front for free… I don’t think anyone’s touched it in a while. Let me do it as a welcome gift to your mom and dad, and if they like it, they can call me?”

She smiled and took a breath like she was clearing her thoughts. “It’s just me and Dad. My mom died in a car wreck ten years ago when I was six.”

She didn’t seem too upset—more just clearing the air, so I replied. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’m probably used to it.”

I felt like I was out of business mode by then. “Do you know anyone here in South Padre?”

She smiled. “Yesterday, I met a girl that works at Whataburger named Brooklyn. She was really friendly.”

I smiled, too. “I know Brooks… We’ve ridden the same bus for two years, and we’ve gone to the same church for a while… She invited me to start going to youth group on Wednesday nights, and I’ve really liked it.”

“You know Brooks?”

“Most folks on The Island are tourists. There’s only like two buses of us that go to the high school, so we kinda recognize each other. Brooks and me sort of introduced ourselves on prom night.”

“You met her at prom?”

I shook my head. “No, at Whataburger. She was working, and I had just finished some yards, but I knew her from the bus. She’s friendly.”

“I noticed.”

Naturally, I had to ask. “What grade are you in?”

“I had to get out early so Dad can start work tomorrow. I just finished tenth grade.”

“I’ll be a senior in the fall,” I said. “Brooks is in your grade.”

“She told me. She really seems nice.”

“We’ve not really hung out,” I said. “I guess at Youth Group… you might count that, but otherwise, no.”

And that’s where the conversation hit the wall. I guess we’d done all the normal just-met things, so I went back to my yardwork idea.

"So what about me cutting the front for free… as a welcome-to-the-island gift?"

She took out her phone and called her dad, and I could tell he had some questions. But really, the yard was so bad, I couldn’t make it worse, and he’s going to be busy for the rest of the week.

Turns out he’s the guy in charge of their 45-foot boat. He’s a chief and a coxswain, so he gave in and said I could do the whole yard today, and we’d work out if and what for the future.

That was about it, except at some point she told me her name was Jenna Mercer, and her dad’s name was Dan.

So, I’m going to change clothes and get back over here and do my best work. One more customer would be great.

Not to mention how cute Jenna is… I’m not even going there. She also seemed pretty nice, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her and Brooks hanging out eventually.

Any kid moving to the island is going to be surprised by how many retired people and tourists they meet. There aren’t many of us and we live all around, so you sort of have to know where to look.

Honestly, I’m really glad Jenna ran into Brooks when she did.

Also, I’m not complaining about running into either one of them, either.

NEW CHIEF, OLD DESK by Allen Geven

On Friday, my boss, Chief Hale, the XPO, told me I needed to come in today to meet a new chief who’s taking over the RB-M, a 45-foot Response Boat–Medium used for search and rescue and law enforcement.

“Mr. Geven, if you can come in Sunday for a few hours, you can leave early any day you need to for your new business.”

Two quick comments…first, Chief Hale always calls me “Mr.” like he’s not my boss. It’s a kind of respect that maintenance guys like me didn’t see much. Second, I think he’s as excited about the new business I started with Isaac—First Call Property Services—as I am.

Today, I’m meeting the new chief, Dan Mercer, who starts duty tomorrow. Chief Hale thought me meeting him today to help him set up his desk would be a good idea.

Chief Mercer seemed really relaxed and easy to deal with. Until his sixteen-year-old daughter called.

I could tell she was asking permission for something, and his comments were not very specific, but I flashed back to Indiana with Ailana, just picking up the vibe.

“You just stood there and let a stranger walk up to the gate? Did you have your spray?”

“Say that again. I don’t understand?”

“Jenna, under no circumstances let him inside. Do you understand?”

“I guess you can give him a bottle of water when he comes back. Text me his name and contact information. Did he show you his ID?”

Chief Mercer looked at me and rolled his eyes, whispering. “Of course he didn’t. Dumb dad question.”

He got off the phone. “Allen, do you have kids?”

“A twenty-nine-year-old, about-to-be-married daughter.”

“You survived her being a teen?”

I smiled. “Barely. Tough times for us. Her mom bailed out when she was in 6th grade, so it was just us.”

“So you raised her alone?”

The rest of this chapter is exclusive to Patreon.

I nodded. “Or she raised herself while I worked in the steel mills. I did my best but I never feel like it was good enough.”

Chief Mercer looked away and nodded, then after a long pause, he said, “My wife… Mari… died in a car wreck in 2016. Jenna was six. Will it ever feel like it’s good enough?”

I smiled and looked down. “Ailana says it was.”

He nodded and I ventured a question. “Is everything back at the house okay? We can meet later if you need to go.”

He took a deep breath. “No, some boy came by wanting to cut the yard for free. He says he has a lawn service business… But, she got caught outside by the trashcan and a stranger walked up on her. She’s not supposed to go anywhere without her pepper spray, not even into the driveway. I probably worry too much…"

“You probably worry just the right amount,” I said.

“I don’t know. She insisted that I let the kid cut the yard. He wants it to be a welcome-to-the-island gift, and maybe I’ll like it enough to hire him for the summer.”

“That sounds nice.” I had a thought…

I was trying to figure out the chances that some kid with a lawn-cutting business on the island besides Mateo Alvarez was offering to cut yards for free. There aren’t that many teens, to start with. How many could have lawn-service businesses?

“You happen to know a boy named Mateo with a lawn-service business?”

I laughed. “I was just about to make that guess. He caught me on the driveway a while ago and offered to do my yard. He’s the kind of kid that’s going to make something of himself. Manners…sir, please, thank you…”

“Really?”

“Small island. He does good work, too. I got him doing my yard and Ailana’s.”

“Please and thank you?”

I nodded.

He seemed relieved. He put down the box he’d been holding on the desk that would be his. He looked around the work area, then back at me.

“She still should have had her pepper spray before she unlocked the front door. Right?”

I borrowed a phrase I’d heard Mateo use. “Well, you’re not wrong about that.”

CHAPTER TWO: HOW TO BE A CHUD by Jenna Mercer

I’m so embarrassed. I go out to the trash can looking like a total chud, and, naturally, that’s when I run into a cute boy for the first time.

Dad had to go to the Coast Guard Station to meet some people and get ready to start duty tomorrow, so I rolled out of bed, ponytailed my hair, and put on whatever was on top of the unpacked box of clothes. I was planning on spending the day slowly unpacking and doomscrolling IG and TikTok.

As many times as I’ve moved, I have Snap friends all over the U.S. I thought I’d post a story at some point about the newest town I live in.

Long before I even bothered to shower, I thought I’d take a bag of trash to the can. It’s like two steps from the gate, which is like two steps from the door, so I just did it.

I look up. Boom! Cute guy, dressed nice, waving.

“Hi… Can I talk to you a second?” he said.

We talked a lot longer than a second. Two days in SPI, and I’ve met two nice kids—Brooks yesterday and Mateo today.

Mateo wanted Dad to hire him to do the yard for the summer. To make a long story short, I called Dad and worked it out. Mateo said he’d go put on his work clothes and be right back to cut the yard.

I decided to go put on something not cringe before he got back. I low-key wanted to make a good impression, so I showered. I didn’t want to overdo the makeover, so I kept the ponytail.

I know—like, I just met this guy, but he seems nice, and he talked about the same youth group Brooks mentioned. Let’s not move too fast, but I’ve been the new girl in town enough to know spending the summer looking at TikToks isn’t what I want to do.

So, when he got back and was unloading his mower, I put on some flip-flops that matched my top and took him a bottle of water.

Maybe you do get a second chance to make a first impression.

GOOD NIGHT

I hope you all had a great day. I can honestly say it’s nice to be home and ready for bed.

The visit to Sabal Palm Sanctuary was actually nice. Grammy complained less than usual about fewer things than usual, so I’ll call that a win. We did see a lot of beautiful flowers and birds, and that always makes her happy.

When we took Grammy home, Dad shared an interesting story about a new chief at the station.

“He has a daughter who’s a teen,” Dad said. “We talked about how many times he’s pulled up roots and made her move and how hard it was always being the new kid.”

“He’s probably right,” Jason said.

Dad nodded. “I got to thinking about Josh and Geoni… They’re adopting a teen… School’s out… How will their child make friends?”

I hadn’t thought about that. “Well, obviously, the new guy at work has a teen who hasn’t met anyone either. And you know the yard guy. He seems nice. That’s two, right?”

Dad was nodding. “I was thinking exactly that. It’s early to make a plan, but we should keep something like that in mind. I didn’t tell Chief Mercer about the adoption, but I was thinking about it. Even if they don’t become friends, it would be a starting place, right?”

I started thinking out loud. “When the adoption is final, after the wedding, we could have a cookout or something to welcome the chief and his daughter to the island. It would be fairly obvious we’re up to something, but… break the ice and stand back to see what happens?”

“Well,” Jason said, wrapping up the topic, “let’s see how things play out for Josh and Geoni, and… Allen, you can talk to Chief Mercer and see if he’s interested. No strings attached… all that.”

So we left Dad and Grammy with the seed of an idea and a fully grown realization. Finding peers and friends for the teen Josh and Geoni adopt will take a little work.

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