A Perfect Fit (16 page)

“No.” He reached over and wrapped her fist in his hand. “You
weren’t doing it. You didn’t know, did you?”

“No. I didn’t know. I sent him a text message telling him
not to bother me again. He only made a token attempt to convince me to keep
seeing him. I’ve only run into him once or twice at social events since, but he
took me at my word and has never done more than greet me in passing. I’ve seen
him with other women he’s dated, and yet he’s never divorced his wife.”

“You don’t understand that.” He understood better how deep
her rage and confusion went.

“She never left him, and she probably never will.” She
lifted wet eyes to his. “Did my mom know? Did she put up with it all those
years, knowing there were legions of other women? Why would she do that?”

He took her hand, flipping it over to rub his thumb across
her palm. “Maybe things changed by the time you were old enough to remember.
There are only what, four, five years between you and Jonquil?”

Her eyes closed in pain. “Barely four. But he didn’t change.
Lana told me tonight, she saw him with another woman a couple of years before
my mom died. When Lana confronted him, he said it was none of her business. Yet
he still acted so devoted to Mom, put everything aside to be with her when she
was sick.” She shook her head. “I just can’t figure out how to fit all of the
puzzle pieces back together in a way that makes sense.”

He wished he could take away her pain, and was left feeling
powerless. “How do your sisters feel about it?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Lana feels the same pull between
loving him and not wanting to forgive him.”

Seeing she wasn’t going to volunteer more, he prodded her. “And
the others?”

Cami pulled her hand out of his and took a bite of her
hamburger, seeming to mull the thought over while she chewed and swallowed. “I
haven’t asked. It’s too hard to be around them. Lana said I blame them for
knowing Dad was . . . playing the field before I knew. That’s not it, though.
It’s the anger and despair, the sadness and loss of trust in my own ability to
make good decisions that I felt when I learned Lance was married.

“Their mothers had to have gone through the same thing. Most
of his other daughters probably had their own period of disillusionment, and if
I’m going to be close to them, I have to accept it. It’s hard knowing he hurt
so many people. And if those women knew he was married and saw him anyway, it
only makes it worse.”

Unable to help himself, Vince leaned over, slid his fingers
behind her neck and pulled her close so he could touch his lips to her forehead.
“It’s never easy, is it?”

“No.” She lifted her gaze to his. “I keep thinking it ought
to be easy, but it’s not. What kind of father could he have been to them, scattered
across the country, when he spent so much time in Chicago?”

“Maybe you should ask.”

~*~

Cami smiled in greeting as they filed into Blake’s office
the next morning. All six sisters surrounded the conference table he’d squeezed
into the room.

“Sorry, this table will eventually end up in the room next
door, but the room’s not ready, so you’ll have to deal with the tight quarters
today. Once this place opens, I know Lana intends to hold her daily staff
meetings around it, so we’ll have plenty of opportunity to grow familiar with
it.” He smiled easily at the group, which included Joel, who had arrived before
the ladies.

Blake focused on Lana, who sat around the corner from him on
the long table. “My apologies for usurping your place. That seems to happen
when we meet in my office, a problem that will soon be rectified. Please, go
ahead.” He slid into his seat.

Lana’s face tightened and she met his gaze directly, her
hands folded primly on the table top. “You’re the regional manager. It’s in
your purview to lead the meeting when you’re around.”

“But I’ll be available for a great deal more of these
meetings than I would if my office were located elsewhere, so I’d prefer to let
you run the meeting. Just leave me a spot on the timetable in case I have
anything to discuss. Go ahead.” There was challenge in his eyes.

Cami watched for and saw the answering challenge in Lana as
her back grew even straighter, though Cami wouldn’t have thought it possible.

“Thank you. We’ll get on with it. Today’s company message
first.” She imparted the daily corporate message shared at staff meeting at all
of the hotels every morning. She had Blake give the updates on the construction
and orders that had been submitted, asking for information from others at the
table, starting with Rosemary on her left.

They each took their turns discussing their plans and ideas,
mentioning any difficulties they were having. Joel discussed security issues
before Lana brought up another issue. “I don’t suppose any of you have seen the
latest on the Star Gazing website, since it hasn’t been mentioned yet.” She named
a gossip publication notorious for making up things when they didn’t have truth
to publish.

“What are you talking about?” Cami asked as her stomach
twisted.

Lana’s gaze slid over everyone in the room. “They’ve taken
their jabs at me. I’m not sure if it could have been worse or not.”

Cami asked, “What about you? What could they have possibly
found on you? You’re like Mrs. Clean.”

Lana’s eyes slid to Blake’s, and he lifted a brow, almost
appearing amused. Her mouth twisted for a moment before she explained. “They
found pictures of me drunk the day I turned twenty-one. It was part
celebration, part drowning my sorrows as I had learned only a few days earlier
that Dad was cheating on my mom. Photos can be doctored, but the ones in the
article are the way I remember it. Fuzzy.”

Blake frowned, but lifted a hand to her shoulder, giving it
a squeeze. She shrugged it off and kept her face unreadable. “Most everyone has
had a moment of weakness where they made mistakes,” he soothed. “This is hardly
news. I’d say a drinking binge on the twenty-first birthday is pretty common.”

“The problem,” Cami pointed out, “since you’re so young,
people will question the soundness of having you in charge. I’m sorry to say
it, because you know I think Dad was right to put you where you are, but people
like to talk.”

“So no wine for you at dinner if we’re in public. No
problem,” Rosemary said airily.

“I don’t know that we need to go that far, she is almost
thirty,” Blake said, but asked Lana, “I’m assuming you got a cab, or used a
designated driver?”

“Of course. My boyfriend at the time chose to stay sober to
make sure I got home okay.” Her voice turned almost sickly sweet. “
He
was so thoughtful.”

Blake’s eyes shuttered. “Then you should be fine. Drinking
responsibly and everything.”

“There are only pictures of me with a margarita, so nothing
particularly damning.” Lana glanced back at the room. “Is there anything else we
need to discuss, or do we adjourn the meeting?”

When no one said anything, Cami moved to adjourn and they
all agreed. When they stood to leave, however, Blake kept Lana back, shutting
them into his office while the rest tromped downstairs.

That evening while the sisters sat around the table enjoying
one of Mrs. Grady’s fabulous dinners, Cami was surprised when Lana brought up
the issue of the opening party.

“Why didn’t we discuss this during our earlier meeting?”
Cami asked.

Lana’s eyes narrowed. “While Dad had plans in place for the
grand opening gala, and Blake’s been finalizing them, he asked me this
afternoon to get your feedback on the big promotional thing they’re going to
announce next week.” She pulled out some papers. “He’s on the plane to
California now, so I’ll send him a report with our thoughts, and copy the
corporate PR people, but I thought we could toss around some ideas tonight.”

Delphi sat back, her usual skinny latte cupped between her
hands. “So what do they have planned so far?”

“PR is already working on a campaign to give away some stays
the weekend of the gala, starting with two four-night, major packages. It’ll be
for one of the nicer suites, with meals and spa treatments—”

Cami interrupted. “Throw in a hot air balloon ride. If we
can’t get the ski resort to donate it, I should at least be able to broker a
discount, since they’ll get extra publicity in the campaign. It’s seriously
incredible.” Vince had promised to take her up again as soon as the hotel had
opened and she had time to breathe again. She couldn’t wait.

 Delphi shivered. “No one is getting me three-thousand feet
off the ground in a wicker basket, thank you very much. Just the thought freaks
me out.”

“We can include those bedtime snack trays for two of the
four nights, or one of those rose petal bed treatments,” Rosemary suggested.

Lana typed more notes. “Great. Any other ideas?”

They threw around thoughts for the packages and discussed
the grand opening gala. Dessert was long gone when the conversation wound down
and Lana turned off her computer.

“So where did you go last night?” Jonquil asked Cami. “You
were gone for hours. I heard you sneak in.”

Cami played with the water bottle she’d switched to after
her dessert coffee. She almost hadn’t stayed for chat after the unofficial
meeting, but her conversation with Vince the previous night had left her with
questions only the other daughters could answer. “I drove around for a while.
Stopped in at a burger place for dinner and Vince walked in. We talked, and he
took me back to his place to eat and stuff.”

“And stuff?” Rosemary’s voice was infused with meaning.

Though she tried to keep her expression cool, her lips
quirked when she shot Rosemary what was supposed to be a quelling glance. Talking
about her relationship was new to her and made her uncomfortable, though
thoughts of Vince made her insides tingle. “It was talk. And some kissing.” She
grinned. “Okay, a lot of kissing, and some crying on his shoulder. The man’s a
saint for putting up with me. And for sticking my shake in the freezer so I
didn’t come back to Oreo crumbs drowning in chocolate cream.”

“You cried on him? What did he do?” Sage asked. “My brother
can’t stand it when I cry. He ends up giving me anything I want.” She frowned
into her herbal tea. “Of course, not every guy is like that. I can’t see muscle
man security expert Joel giving anyone what they want, for any reason. I swear
the man’s a robot.”

Cami thought the description of Joel was very apt. “Vince
was sweet, very sweet, and we hashed out a lot of the stuff that’s been
bothering me.” She shot an apologetic look at Lana, feeling guilty. “Sorry I
didn’t talk it over with you. You’re just so mixed up in all of this, I needed
an impartial listener.”

“And it didn’t help when I dropped my own bombshell on you,”
Lana agreed.

“Oh? Do tell,” Rosemary set aside her espresso cup. The
woman lived on the potent brew—and way later into the night than Cami would
ever consider.

Lana pushed her fiery locks back from her face, glanced
around the group. “I caught Dad cheating about eight years ago, when I was
still in hotel management school. When I confronted him, it wasn’t pretty. Then
I went to work at Ritz-Carlton for a while. I’m glad to have the experiences I
had with them, but I didn’t do it to broaden my horizons—I did it because I was
angry and needed some space. I never said anything to Cami, and she wasn’t very
happy about it.” Her gaze centered back on Cami. “I’m sorry I unloaded on you
last night.”

It still hurt, but she was starting to get a handle on it. “It
was time you told me, and you had a good point, or three.” Cami sipped at the
water and considered the discussion she’d had with Vince. She hesitated, then
plunged ahead. “I have a question for the rest of you. You were spread out all
over the place, and Dad was home close to half the time. I know he traveled a
lot, but what kind of father was he to you? You couldn’t have seen much of him.”

Jonquil was the first to answer. “We spoke on the phone at
least twice a week—every week—for as long as I can remember, and though I never
saw him on holidays, there was always a special gift, an extra phone call. He
made it to my birthday dinners a few times over the years. I saw him at least every
other month. I always wished it could be more, but it was still better than
lots of my friends who had divorced parents.”

“Same here,” Rosemary stated. “Except for my time abroad, when
we cut back on visits, but he still called, kept in touch.”

“He always called,” Sage agreed. “But there was a long
stretch when I wouldn’t talk to him.” She looked at Lana, then Cami. “Right
after I found out about you guys, that I was between you in age, I stopped
taking his calls. He’d been my hero, and I didn’t like learning he had feet of
clay.” She wore a wistful smile. “When he came for his scheduled visit, I
yelled and screamed at him, I pounded on his chest, and told him what I thought
of the way he used my mom, the way he neglected his wife and kids because of me.

“He held me and told me he loved me until I calmed down.
Finding out our moms weren’t isolated incidents hasn’t been all butterflies and
cotton candy for us either.” She said this last straight out to Cami, making
her feel ashamed that she’d been acting as if she were the only injured party.

Sage wet her lips and brushed the dark curls behind her ear.
“Dad and my mom had no relationship besides sharing me since shortly after I
was conceived, but he was around as much as he could be. He always made sure I
had money for special extras, even when Mom married a few years later. He didn’t
want me to go without things he thought I should have, and he treated my
brother Harrison the same way, though without the special phone calls and
daddy-daughter dinners.”

“That would have been a stretch for him and Harris to do the
daddy-daughter thing. Funny, though.” Rosemary’s grin didn’t dim when Sage
threw a decorative pillow at her.