“Who’s behind this, a competitor?” Alex asked when Cami got him on the phone the next day.
“I don’t have any reason to believe it is, but it feels too targeted to be run-of-the-mill gossip.” Cami sat back in her chair and stretched her aching back.
“I agree. Is there anything else we should be ready to deal with?”
“Who knows? Most of what’s been printed was only loosely based on reality. You know how these scandal sheets are.” Cami pushed her auburn curls back from her face and thought again of the treadmill downstairs. She ought to have been on it two hours ago, but had spent every moment since she’d woken trying to do damage control. The other inhabitants of the house had already emailed her their bios, and Lana said Delphi would send hers before day’s end.
“Normally I wouldn’t worry about it, but with all of the negatives blasting back at the hotel, we could be in for some trouble. The reviews of the hotel in the first month and how we handle this will be paramount.” A rhythm came through the phone, indicating Alex was tapping his pencil on a notebook—as she’d often seen him do.
“Then we’ll make it work, better than work. We’ll make it shine.”
“I know you will. You ladies make your plans and I’ll see if we can figure out where the trouble is coming from.”
“Thanks, Alex.” Cami said goodbye. She snatched her curls back into a loose ponytail so she could head down to the exercise room. She didn’t exercise often, but when her mind was really turning she liked a brisk walk. Some of the others had already done their Zumba DVD and hit the showers, so she should have the space to herself.
She clicked on the news and started walking, letting her mind wander as she moved. Thoughts of her date with Vince the previous night wove in and out of her professional plans, distracting her.
When Cami came out of her room an hour and a half later, fresh from the shower, she heard the doorbell ring and hurried to answer it. Joel stood on the porch, biceps bulging as he crossed his arms. “Hey, I got a call from Alex. He wanted me to stop in and check out your system, make sure everything’s extra secure here after the latest news reports.”
“Great.” Cami used the hand towel to mop at her damp curls. “Go ahead and poke around. I’m not sure how many people are still here, and who’s gone down to the hotel, but the recording equipment for the cameras and other security stuff is in the closet off the kitchen.” She pointed to the door.
“Perfect. I’ll get to it, then.” He headed that way and Cami took the stairs to her room.
When she came down again, she found Jonquil sitting at the table, her laptop open. Sage was at the other end of the table reading a book and munching on a bowl of something resembling twigs, with dried cranberries for interest. The woman seriously needed to broaden her food choices.
Cami grimaced and headed for the bag of bagels she’d purchased the previous day. She thought nothing of the crinkling sound behind her until Sage spoke up.
“How can you eat that? Don’t you know it’s loaded with preservatives and stuff?” Cami turned toward them.
“Leave my Ho Hos alone,” Jonquil shot back, her mouth already full.
“Rosemary, side with me on this one,” Sage said as the chef came down the open staircase.
“Ho Hos are the food of the gods,” Jonquil stated, stubbornly eating the other half of the first snack cake.
Rosemary came to a stop at the side of the table. “I can’t believe we share DNA. You’re such a philistine.” She grabbed the remaining cake, moved to the sink, and shoved it down the garbage disposal drowning out Jonquil’s vibrant arguments. “You’ll kill yourself eating those nasty things. It amazes me you can gag them down.” She searched through the cupboards.
“I can’t believe you did that. Those are mine. And I’m not hoarding a box of them anywhere, so you don’t have to go on a search-and-destroy mission. No need for an intervention.” The mutinous look on Jonquil’s face said she’d like to fight about it. Cami wondered if the memory of Rosemary mentioning her self-defense training held her back.
Rosemary peeked over her shoulder. “That’s what you think.” She plunked some ingredients onto the cupboard and continued digging. “I have nothing against desserts— I studied with a pastry chef, didn’t I? But if you’re going to eat them, they should at least taste like actual food. There’s no cake flour in this house!” She rooted around some more and moved to the next cupboard.
“Ho Hos do taste like actual food. Millions of people eat them every day.”
“Yes, and millions of people fill their bodies with illegal drugs, but you wouldn’t do it just because they think it’s okay.” She set a couple more things on the counter and moved to the fridge.
“These aren’t illegal.”
“They should be,” Sage said. “Chemical preservatives have so many drawbacks.” Cami watched in amusement at the byplay. Sometimes living with them reminded her of college dorm life—minus the hunky guys dropping by. She glanced outside and saw Vince’s truck pull up, she thought of Joel poking at the security system, and amended her thought. No, this was almost exactly like the dorms.
“No butter? All we have is margarine?” Rosemary turned to Sage. “I thought you were a health nut. How can you put this crap in your body? I thought you were all about natural ingredients.”
Sage grinned from where she leaned against the counter on the other side of the island. “I’ve been getting by with cooking in olive oil, but real butter would be nice.”
Rosemary looked at both Sage and Jonquil. “Get your purses and shoes. We’re going shopping.”
“Busy here,” Jonquil crossed her arms over her chest. “And as long as you’re going shopping, you can replace my Ho Hos.”
“Tough. I’m going to teach you a thing or two about buying food. And we’ll let Sage tag along, because she probably knows more about the stores and can back me up.” Rosemary’s blue eyes flashed. “When we get back, I’ll show you how pathetic your snack cakes are.”
“Actually, Cami’s the resident expert about stores and local food sources,” Sage said, turning to Cami. “She’s been making the rounds.”
“I’ll pull up the file and print a page for you while you grab your things.” Cami checked again and realized it wasn’t Vince outside, but one of his employees there to mow the lawn. Disappointment filled her. “I was going to pass it along anyway. I thought you could use some of the local growers to supply the restaurant.”
“You betcha. Thanks.” Rosemary moved for the staircase ahead of Cami. She shot back over her shoulder to Jonquil, “You’re coming with us whether you have shoes on or not. I suggest you find a pair.”
Jonquil must have believed the threat since she headed toward her bedroom.
Cami printed her list and handed it to Rosemary as she dragged Jonquil out the door behind her. When Jonquil turned and winked, Cami had to struggle to hold back a laugh at the feigned reluctance until they were out of earshot. She was still grinning when the three of them pulled onto the road in Sage’s Ford Fusion.
Looping her purse strap over her shoulder, Cami grabbed her bagel and a bottled orange juice, and headed for her own car. Maybe she’d run into Vince at the hotel.