Cami heard people coming and going over the next couple of hours, and could smell the food Mrs. Grady mentioned she was making for dinner. Though she knew she ought to go out and greet everyone, she didn’t want to face them yet.
When the knock came to her bedroom door, Lana’s voice floated to her. “Cami, dinner’s on. Come on down.”
I am not a wuss. I’m a strong, independent, capable woman. I can be nice to these other women, even if I don’t like them. She glanced in the mirror see if her clothes were wrinkled, then crossed to open the door. She smiled at Lana. “Sorry I’ve been hibernating. I’ve been so busy the past few weeks I’ve gotten way behind on my email.” True, though it was more excuse than anything.
“Rosemary’s getting everyone from downstairs. We thought we could use a family meeting before we meet as coworkers tomorrow.”
What an odd relationship tangle they would all have to deal with, Cami thought as she followed Lana down to the dining area. Two large trays of lasagna, a huge green salad and a loaf of garlic bread were laid out on the enormous kitchen island. An assortment of sodas and water bottles sat nearby.
Delphi came up the stairs as Cami joined the others in the dining area, though no one sat. A quick headcount told her everyone was present. When no one spoke up, Lana started things. “Do we want to get our food first, then chat while we eat?”
There were a few shrugs and people moved to grab plates. “If this is as good as it smells, I’m going to have to do an extra thirty minutes on the treadmill in the morning,” Delphi said as she slid a large slice of lasagna onto her plate.
“At least you don’t have to cook stuff like this every day and still try to stay the same dress size,” Rosemary lamented. “Anyone else do Zumba? I have some DVDs.”
“I’m in,” Jonquil said.
“Me too.” Sage piled her plate with greens.
“Not me. I’ve got to be the least coordinated person on the planet,” Delphi admitted. “Dance is way outside my abilities.”
“I’ll loan you the beginner disc.” Rosemary grabbed a can of Mountain Dew. “After a few times through you’ll be fine.”
“If only.”
“How about you?” Rosemary asked Cami.
“I hate exercise of every kind.” And she’d rather run in a snowstorm then spend buddy-buddy time with the others.
Everyone seemed so easy together, casual. Cami wondered if she was the only one who had knots in her shoulders from worrying about this moment. Then she noticed the way Delphi’s mouth was drawn in a tight line and the way Rosemary played with her food instead of making eye contact with anyone else. The only person who looked open and interested was Sage, whose brown eyes seemed to take in every detail.
Cami took the last seat on the left, beside Delphi, and reminded herself she’d been to major fundraising dinners, eaten with senators and movie producers. There was absolutely no reason for her to be so anxious.
“So, can I have the first question?” Jonquil asked once everyone had begun eating. She slid a glance at Cami. “What’s up with you and the hottie lawyer? Is he why Dad made the comment about living here or with a husband?”
Lana choked, Cami’s brow furrowed. “Hottie lawyer? You don’t mean Alex?” “Of course I mean Alex. I saw you two cuddling after the reading of the will.”
“We weren’t cuddling. I was upset, he was comforting me. He’s my cousin.” The thought of someone thinking she was dating Alex disturbed Cami more than she could say. He was a handsome guy, but he’d been raised almost as her brother.
A smile teased Jonquil’s mouth. “Is he our cousin, or just your cousin?”
“He’s mine and Lana’s on our mother’s side.” Was she serious? Cami tried to imagine Alex and Jonquil together. They would make a beautiful couple, but she didn’t know nearly enough about Jonquil to decide if they would mesh at all—and she didn’t think she liked the idea.
Jonquil’s brows lifted. “Better and better. Is he seeing anyone?” “Not that I know of. You’d do better to keep your distance though.”
Jonquil pointed her blue eyes at Cami and her tone cooled. “Why, you think I’m not good enough? Maybe I’m tainted by my illegitimacy. I could corrupt him.” Anger blazed from her.
“No.” Cami closed her eyes, took a second to figure out what it was that had made her instantly upset at the idea of Jonquil putting the moves on Alex. She decided there was too much truth in the accusations for her comfort. She had to live with these women for over a year, so starting off with honesty was her best bet. “Okay, maybe it is, a little. Look, I’m trying to deal with this, but it’s a lot to take in. I’m not happy about any of it.”
“And so you’re going to hate us all and think we’re all vamps, because obviously Dad was seduced and tricked into sleeping with each of our mothers,” Delphi suggested. Her voice was light, steady as she took a sip of her soda. “The poor man didn’t have a chance—they may have drugged him. For months. I know he was seeing my mom for nearly six months, but it must be all her fault, and she taught me everything she knows.”
Cami put her elbows on the table as she massaged her temples with her fingertips. “I know it wasn’t like that. If there had only been one affair, I might be able to trick myself into believing he had a weak moment, but Dad was not a weak man. He knew what he was doing.” She took a sip of her soda to give her time to yank back the emotions riding high and swirling together inside her. “I’m going to try not to be unreasonable about this, but I can’t promise I’ll always succeed. I’ll get through it.” If Delphi was going to call her on every misstep, though it was going to be a long year.
“Done.” Jonquil sliced a bite off of her lasagna with her fork. “So, Alex?”
Laughing despite herself, Cami forced herself to give a socially acceptable answer. “Go for it. You’re not his usual type, but you never know. Sometimes he surprises me.”
She knew there was a little bite in her voice; she couldn’t help it. And from the way Jonquil’s brows lifted, the subtext made it through just fine. Cami didn’t think anything would come of it.
“I have a question,” Sage said when a moment of silence had passed. “Is there anyone here who doesn’t remember meeting everyone else at least once at some point?” When everyone stared at everyone else, Cami nodded. “He maneuvered us all into each other’s lives. He’s been doing it since we were girls. It’s almost as if he wanted to get caught.”
“I always wondered why he insisted on sending me to that particular summer camp, when there were so many closer to home,” Rosemary agreed. “He wanted me to meet you,” she gestured to Cami, “and later you.” Jonquil this time.
“He was lucky we didn’t end up hating each other, considering we were placed in rival cabins,” Jonquil said. “But as our tent outflanked everyone, I won’t hold a grudge.” Several mentions of meetings with others at the table came up before Cami asked her burning question. “I’ve been wondering. How many of you knew Dad was married, and Lana and I existed?” She watched as every hand went up besides Lana’s. She took a deep breath to calm the flash of anger and hurt. “All of you?”
“It’s not like Dad was low profile,” Jonquil said. “I learned when I first started college.”
“High school,” Delphi and Rosemary piped up.
“I’ve always known,” Sage said. “Though I didn’t know your names until a couple years after we met.”
Cami swallowed back the hurt and anger these comment brought up in her, but wasn’t sure if she was glad or not to have been kept in the dark. The relationship with her father had been good, which she was glad about, but now she looked back and felt nothing but betrayal.
“Did any of you know about each other?” Lana asked. Headshakes all around. “That’s something.”
“So why is it we’re all meeting tomorrow for an official business meeting, when we’re all sitting around the table now having a meeting anyway?” Jonquil asked.
Lana fielded this one. “The contractor and new regional director will be at the meeting tomorrow so we can discuss preparations. We’ll take a tour of the building and have a chance to spend time in our sections making sure everything is going as it should. I don’t think we need to discuss any of our private affairs with them, and it’s best to get it out of the way now so we can focus on work tomorrow.”
“I can’t believe Alex didn’t hint at any of this,” Cami said, stabbing at her salad greens. In her head she understood why he’d kept it all a secret, but her heart ached. She’d always thought they were close, and yet he’d kept this from her. It wasn’t like he was protecting her from ever finding out.
Lana set down her fork and studied everyone around the table. “This is going to be an odd, awkward situation as it is. Over there, I’ll be your boss. I don’t want to be that here, so we’re going to have to be very careful about keeping the two separate—if that’s even possible. I don’t have to be happy about how everything happened, and it’s going to be a while before I can forgive Dad for putting us in this situation. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him for cheating on my mom. Still, I want to be your friends, at least.”
“Then we’ll make it work,” Jonquil said. “Because it’s our lives and it’s important to all of us.”
Cami wasn’t sure she could say it was important to her. Right now the rage was so huge all she wanted was to be able to have a decent working relationship with these women and otherwise have them stay out of her way. It wasn’t their fault, but dealing with them made her anger worse.
When everyone else agreed, though, she decided to keep it to herself.