The Secret Diamond Sisters (20 page)

“That’s all?” Courtney sounded surprised. “He didn’t try anything funny?”

“That’s all.” Savannah looked down at her hands and played with her bracelets. She rarely lied to her sisters, but she didn’t want to give Courtney another reason to dislike him. “He’s really nice, and he asked if I would be at Luxe tonight.”

“And you said yes?”

“Obviously.” Savannah rolled her eyes. “Anyway, what do you think about what Oliver told us at Gates? About the reason he thinks we’re here. It sounded shady.”

“I don’t know what to think,” she said. “There must be more to it than what Oliver said, because I doubt Adrian lied about the safety issue. But I do feel like he’s keeping something from us.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” Courtney crossed her legs and balanced her chin on her hand. “It’s just a vibe I get whenever he mentions it. Like there’s more to the story than he let on. A secret he isn’t telling us.”

“Maybe,” Savannah said. “Or maybe not. If you really think so, you should ask him.” But she knew that was easier said than done. Their dad was intimidating. He was comfortable around adults, but around his own teenage daughters? He totally clammed up. She wanted him to warm up to them, so he could get to know them, but she wondered if it would ever happen.

“I’ll think about it,” Courtney said.

“So how do you think Mom’s doing?” Savannah asked, her throat tightening. “When I called Grandma back yesterday, she said the doctors are sticking by their decision that she needs a break from the outside world. I can’t help but worry if it means things are really bad for her there.”

“It’s what they think is best for her.” Courtney’s eyes glassed over, and she joined Savannah on the bed. “Adrian picked the facility, so we have to trust it’s the best.”

“I want to believe Mom will get better.” Savannah swallowed, hating what she had to say next. “But what if she doesn’t? What if she gets out and it gets bad again?”

“We can’t think like that.” Courtney wrapped her in a hug, and the doubt Savannah had been feeling began to melt away. “We have to believe the treatment’s going to work. If we don’t, and she senses that when she gets out, it’s only going to hurt her. All we can do is support her when she’s ready, okay?”

“Okay.” Savannah nodded and blinked away tears. “Thanks for that. I don’t know what came over me. I like being in Vegas and all, but...”

“It’s a big change from home,” Courtney finished. “I understand. I miss her, too. So does Peyton, even if she won’t admit it. But we have each other, and that’s what we have to remember.”

“Thanks.” Savannah’s chest tightened, and she felt guiltier now about not telling Courtney everything that had happened with Damien. It was time to be honest.

She took a breath in preparation to spill the rest of the story, but before she got a chance, Courtney checked her watch and said they had to hurry up or they would be late for dinner. With that reminder, Savannah rushed back to her room to do the final touches on her makeup. She would tell Courtney later.

This was her night to shine, and she wanted to make it perfect.

chapter 18:

The limo ride to the Gates couldn’t have been more awkward. Savannah and Peyton sat in the seat facing backwards, which meant Courtney and Brett sat along the side, since it seemed polite to allow Adrian and Rebecca to face forward. Peyton’s outfit was far from acceptable for a family dinner—the tight black skirt showed every curve of her butt, and the matching tank top was so sheer that her lacy push-up bra was visible underneath. Adrian complimented Courtney and Savannah on their dresses and said nothing to Peyton, but he didn’t make her go change. He must be doing the
she’ll stop rebelling if I pretend not to care
approach. Which probably
was
the best way to handle Peyton.

She wanted to tell everyone about seeing
Phantom
with Brett, but remembering Adrian’s comment at dinner the first night, she stayed silent. It wasn’t hard, since Savannah dominated the conversation by telling Rebecca the details of her grand makeover. Even Adrian complimented her on the changes.

The benefit of Savannah being so talkative was that Courtney never felt pressured to converse in stressful situations. The seating arrangement in the limo counted as one of those. She was trying not to look at Brett, but she couldn’t help it, since he was sitting next to her. Then her arm brushed against his, and neither of them moved away from each other. Courtney froze, not knowing what to do, but then she readjusted in her seat to move her arm away from Brett’s. She didn’t want Adrian or Rebecca noticing whatever was going on between them.

The hardest part was that Courtney had no idea how Brett felt about her. After seeing
Phantom of the Opera
last night, they’d come straight back to the hotel, and Courtney had spent the rest of the night reading, trying to lose herself in fictional worlds and not overthink the real one.

But it was hard to relax after Savannah had asked about her night with him. She was clearly digging for information, and there was no way Courtney could admit her true feelings. She wasn’t
allowed
to have those feelings. She would have to make them disappear.

Still, it hadn’t stopped her from texting Brett when they were walking downstairs to clue him in that Savannah suspected something was going on. Courtney wasn’t normally gossipy, but she didn’t want to get in trouble her first week here, so it made sense for Brett to know that they might be overstepping their bounds. She’d wished she could take back the text message—Brett might think she was being dramatic—but she couldn’t change it now.

Feeling Brett move beside her, Courtney checked out what he was doing. His iPhone was out, and he was typing something onto the keypad. She couldn’t see who he was texting, but his fingers moved swiftly across the screen, as fast as Courtney could type on a computer.

He put his phone back in his pocket, and Courtney’s purse vibrated. She itched to see what the text said. But instead of checking it, she crossed her legs away from Brett’s and pulled her hand away from her bag.

It felt like forever until they reached the Gates Hotel, even though it couldn’t have been more than five minutes. Courtney reached inside her purse when she got out of the limo, anxious to check her phone.

Happiness flooded her body when she confirmed the text message was from Brett. Then she read what it said, and the elation disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

What’s there to worry about? There’s nothing going on between us that they wouldn’t approve of. We both know that can’t happen.

She read it over again to make sure she’d seen it right. She had. A lump formed in her throat, and she refused to look at Brett. Why had she been clueless enough to send the message in the first place?

She zipped her phone back into her purse without bothering to respond. What could she say? She didn’t want to agree, but she didn’t want to disagree, either. And she and Brett weren’t going to argue via text message while they were around the rest of the family. It would be rude, and she didn’t want Adrian or Rebecca to know how close they had grown after two days.

Realizing she had been so out of it that she was dragging behind the group, she hurried to catch up and followed them inside the hotel.

“Honey,” Rebecca said to Adrian. “The girls really need new phones. The ones they have now look practically ancient.”

“You’re right.” Adrian took his phone out of his pocket, typed something into it, and put it away. “I just told Bernard to send a staff member out to get them iPhones. They should be at the condo when we get back.”

“iPhones?” Savannah bounced with excitement. “I’ve always wanted an iPhone. Thank you so much.”

“I don’t want one,” Peyton said. “The phone I have now works fine.”

“And you can continue to use it.” Adrian didn’t miss a beat. “But if you decide to switch to the iPhone, it’ll be there waiting for you.”

Courtney was still in a daze from Brett’s text message, and while she’d never felt a need to have an iPhone, she thanked Adrian as well. If he was getting the phones for them no matter what, she might as well use it. It was most likely more reliable than the old flip phone she had now.

To distract herself from the sinking feeling in her stomach, she tried to look interested in the Gates Hotel, despite seeing it yesterday with Peyton and Savannah. It had a tropical country-club theme, with greenery all around—palm trees, flowers and huge leafy plants. She even heard birds chirping above.

She followed Adrian and Rebecca through the casino in silence, which was easy since casinos were so loud. Finally they arrived at a restaurant called Aqua. Like most everything in Vegas, the entrance to the restaurant was flashy. Light reflected off the marble tiles, and obsidian columns flanked the glass double-door entrance. They reached the hostess stand—which was, no surprise, lit up—and Courtney scanned the menu on display.

It was a Chinese seafood restaurant. They should have good vegetarian options. Like all the restaurants she’d seen in Vegas so far, the food was ridiculously expensive, but at least she wasn’t being dragged to another steakhouse.

She made an extra effort to avoid Brett as they walked inside. The hurtful text message kept repeating in her mind:
There’s nothing going on between us.

On one level that was what she wanted—for nothing to be going on between them, so she wouldn’t get in trouble. But the thought of Brett saying it, and thinking it, made her want to vanish into a corner. Why were her feelings so irrational? She wanted to scream, or cry, or...throw her phone against a wall. Instead she looked around the restaurant to focus on something else; the tan marble floors, wooden tables and matching contemporary chairs in calming shades of brown. She blinked and took a few deep breaths, glad when the water that had pooled in her eyes disappeared. Hopefully no one had noticed her temporary loss of control.

The hostess told them they were the first in their party to arrive, and led them to a rectangular table in the back with nine empty chairs. Then Adrian began telling them all where to sit.

“Logan Prescott will be at the head of the table,” he instructed. “I will sit next to him. Rebecca will sit next to me, then Oliver, and then Savannah. On the other side Logan’s wife, Ellen, will sit next to him, Brett next to her, Courtney next to Brett, and Peyton next to Courtney.” With that, he took his place at the table. The seating arrangements were not up for debate.

Next to Brett.
The words echoed in Courtney’s mind. She didn’t look over at him as she took her seat, instead focusing straight ahead at where Oliver would sit across from her. She didn’t know much about Oliver, but he’d seemed full of himself when they’d met at the casino yesterday. At least her sisters were near her, so she could talk with them if Oliver annoyed her and the conversation got awkward with Brett.

Courtney went to put her napkin in her lap, since that was the first thing Adrian and Rebecca did upon sitting down, but she stopped when she saw two napkins in front of her—one white and one black. Was she supposed to use one for the appetizer and one for the main course? Or one for dark foods and the other for light foods? She glanced at Adrian and Rebecca to follow their lead, but Adrian was using the black napkin and Rebecca was using the white. Not helpful.

“Why do I have two napkins?” she whispered to Brett.

“So you can pick which one matches your outfit better,” he explained.

“Seriously?” The strange things rich people did astounded her.

“Yeah,” he said. “You should go with the black one.”

“Okay.” She picked up the black napkin and placed it on her lap, leaving the white one where it was.

Adrian rose from his seat before Courtney could say anything more to Brett. “There you are,” he said, smiling widely at someone behind her. He was back into Congenial Hotel Owner Mode, as opposed to Awkward Father Mode.

Courtney wondered if she should rise as well, but since no one else made an effort to stand, she turned to see who he was talking to. A short, dark-haired man wearing a gray suit was walking in their direction. Behind him was Oliver, more casual in a blue striped dress shirt with dark jeans. Next to Oliver was a woman who Courtney assumed was his mom, Ellen Prescott. She looked like the perfect high-society mother in an off-white pencil dress that hit her knees, her highlighted hair sprayed into a neat bob.

Once they’d finished with introductions, Logan Prescott ordered a bottle of champagne—with four glasses. Courtney was surprised. She hadn’t expected to drink at a restaurant, or would even have done so if given the choice, but Adrian had made it clear he didn’t mind if they had a glass of wine or champagne with dinner.

Apparently the rules were different with Logan around.

“How are you girls liking Vegas so far?” Logan asked, leaning forward in anticipation of their responses.

“It’s nice,” Courtney said. “Although it’s very different from where we grew up in California.”

“It’s amazing!” Savannah gushed.

“It’s okay.” Peyton glanced at Logan’s glass of champagne, as if she was jealous he had some and she didn’t.

Logan continued asking them questions—what their hobbies were, what grades they were going into, et cetera, before the waiter took their order. Courtney settled on the vegetarian hot-and-sour soup and vegetable lo mein. She hadn’t eaten meat since third grade when her class had gone on a field trip to a nearby farm to see how milk was produced. Once she’d looked into the cow’s big brown eyes and realized eating red meat meant she was eating a dead cow, she’d decided she would never eat an animal again.

“You shouldn’t have hidden your daughters away all these years,” Logan said to Adrian once the waiter had left. “It’s so nice to finally meet them.”

“And I couldn’t be happier that they’ve chosen to live with me,” Adrian said. “Northern California was a wonderful place for them to grow up, but as mature young ladies I’m confident they can handle living here now.”

Mature young ladies? Courtney bit the inside of her cheek to stop from laughing. Plenty of adults had called Courtney mature for her age, but never Peyton or Savannah. Peyton was still rebelling after the jerk boyfriend she’d had in ninth grade had ripped her heart out, and Savannah was... She didn’t want to say oblivious, because Savannah was loving and sweet, but she had been a lot more sheltered than Peyton and Courtney.

“You made a smart choice.” Ellen sighed. “Perhaps if we had done something similar...”

“It’s all right.” Logan placed his hand over his wife’s. “We’re all friends here. We can be honest with one another.”

“Well,” Ellen said, looking at Courtney and her sisters. “Oliver hasn’t been as lucky as the three of you. Vegas has gotten to his head. Logan and I believe you will be a good influence on him.”

It was strange how Ellen talked about Oliver like he wasn’t there. That must make Oliver feel so belittled. And was it Courtney’s imagination, or had Ellen focused on
her
when she’d said that last part about being a good influence?

Curious about his reaction, she looked at Oliver. His dark eyes were glazed over, as if he wasn’t fully present. Courtney didn’t blame him. She would hate it if anyone discussed her like she wasn’t in the room.

“You don’t have a date to the charity dinner I’m holding tomorrow night, do you?” Ellen asked Oliver. The tight skin over her cheekbones made it obvious she’d had a face-lift. Or two.

“Nope.” He gave her an annoyed look that said she already knew the answer. Courtney was surprised at his response. She got the impression that Oliver was the type of guy who never had trouble finding a date.

“It would be wonderful if you invited one of the girls,” Ellen said brightly, looking pointedly at Courtney. “You’re going to be a junior next year, right? The same year as Oliver.”

“I am,” Courtney said slowly, keeping her voice level. Was Ellen trying to set her up on a date with Oliver? Did parents even
do
that? This was real life—not a Jane Austen novel. But she had a sinking feeling that this was exactly what Ellen was doing, right here, at the dinner table. And there was no way to stop her.