When the food was in the microwave, Vince opened the back door and his two dogs shot into the room, barking like mad, running in circles, and jumping up on Cami in delight. He gave each of them a firm patting, then yanked them back onto all fours when they nosed at the milkshakes on the counter. The monsters were big as horses and ate twice as much—each. “All right, get down and I’ll get you two some food.”
He crossed to the closet and pulled out a huge scoop to ladle kibble into the metal doggie bowls. Then he grabbed a gallon pitcher and topped off their water bowls inside and out. When he came back, Cami was seated at the table, both dogs quivering at her feet, their eyes filled with hope as she unwrapped her burger.
“Don’t turn your back on them,” he warned her, “or your food will disappear in one gulp.”
“You just fed them.”
“Doesn’t matter. They’re bottomless pits.” Still, he gave each of their heads an affectionate rub, then washed his hands before he sat with his food.
They ate in silence for a few minutes before he broached the subject he’d been turning over in his mind. “So what’s the big problem here? Is it that your father managed to manipulate your life, even from the grave? Is it the pressure you’re getting from the media?” She eyed him and he shrugged. “I’ve been paying attention.”
She was thoughtful as she chewed and swallowed. “I’ve never told anyone this before.” She dipped her fry in her shake, swirled it around, and ate it while the suspense increased. “About four years ago I dated a guy named Lance. We went out for several months. I was starting to think maybe there was a future for us. I thought we fit so well and had so much in common. Then one day I was working at the hotel, doing paperwork from the front desk when a woman came to speak with me.” Cami paused as she picked out a pickle hanging from the burger. “She asked me to stop seeing her husband.”
Vince’s throat closed up on him as he watched the emotions flit through her face, so many, too fast to capture.
“I was the other woman, Vince. We weren’t sleeping together, but I was still keeping him from his family.”
“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.