Crown Jewel

by Fern Michaels

  He wiggled on the chair until he found the hip pocket of his khakis and withdrew the list he’d found in Roxy’s office yesterday. It was four pages of handwritten sentences simply titled: Remember When…

  Mom was at home when the kids got home from school.

  When nobody owned a purebred dog.

  When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a huge bonus.

  When you’d reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.

  When all your male teachers wore neckties and the female teachers had their hair done and wore high heels.

  When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.

  When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms, flunk a test, or chew gum.

  When a Chevy was everyone’s dream car…to cruise, to peel out, lay rubber, or watch the submarine races, and people went steady and a girl would wear a class ring with an inch of wrapped yarn so it would fit her finger.

  And no one ever asked where the car keys were ’cause they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked. And you got in big trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at home since no one ever had a key.

  Remember lying on your back on the grass with your friends, and saying things like, “That cloud looks like…”

  Remember jumping waves at the ocean for hours in that cold water. And playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game. Back then, baseball was not a psychological group-learning experience—it was a game.

  Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals ’cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.

  And with all our progress…don’t you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace…and share it with the children of today…

  Remember when being sent to the principal’s office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.

  Basically, we were in fear of our lives, but it wasn’t because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc….

  Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we all survived because their love was greater than the threat.

  Go back with me for a minute…

  Before the internet or the Mac.

  Before semiautomatics and crack.

  Before SEGA or Super Nintendo…Way back…

  I’m talkin’ about hide-and-seek at dusk.

  Red light, green light.

  Kick the can.

  Playing kickball and dodge ball until the streetlight came on.

  Mother, May I?

  Red Rover.

  Hula hoops.

  Roller skating to music.

  Running through the sprinkler.

  Catchin’ lightning bugs in a jar.

  Christmas morning.

  Your first day of school.

  Bedtime prayers and good-night kisses.

  Climbing trees.

  Getting ice cream off the ice-cream truck.

  A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers.

  Jumpin’ on the bed.

  Pillow fights.

  Runnin’ till you were out of breath.

  Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.

  Being tired from playing.

  Your first crush. Remember that?

  Kool-Aid was the drink of summer.

  Toting your friends on your handlebars.

  Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school.

  Decisions were made by going, “eeny-meeny-miney-mo.”

  Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, “Do it over.”

  Race issue meant arguing about who ran the fastest.

  Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in Monopoly.

  Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.

  It wasn’t odd to have three “best” friends.

  Being old meant anybody over twenty.

  Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.

  Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was a cause for giggles.

  The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.

  Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.

  If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!

  I double dog dare ya!

  A huge grin on his face, Ricky folded up the papers and returned them to his hip pocket. Then he laughed. Out loud. So hard, he doubled over, and still he kept on laughing.

  A moment later he was on his feet and out of the room.

  He had to come up with a use for his brother’s office. A use that made sense.

  Sooner or later something would come to him. It was called moving on.

  Ricky stood on the periphery and watched the staff’s reaction to Roxy’s arrival. She looks different, Ricky thought. Everything about Roxy looked new. A new hair color, a brownish red with gold highlights and a new softer hairstyle that went with her island clothing—a flowered shift with generous slits on each side showing off well-tanned legs. Her straw hat, bag, and sandals were what all the guests seemed to be wearing. He also noticed she wore very little makeup. A new Roxy. He decided it was a good thing.

  He noticed that the staff did everything but stand on their heads and salute her. She, in turn, waved and smiled. He wasn’t surprised when she called a staff meeting within minutes of settling into her old office.

  He caught up with her at the end of the meeting. Her eyes were wary as she walked by his side back to her office. Her stride was purposeful as she moved along, smiling and waving to several guests.

  Inside the pleasant office with the door closed, Roxy called the dining room to order coffee. “Sit down, Ricky. Why?” Her eyes were still wary. “Why did you invite me back here?” For the first time, he noticed a slight tremor to her hands.

  “Good business move, Roxy. I know squat about running a resort. I’m willing to learn, but that’s going to take a long time. Without proper management, these resorts can go downhill fast. Even I know that. In just the few weeks that you were gone, things went to hell. I understand your reluctance about training me, for want of a better word. A contract makes it a formal business arrangement, which affords you certain protections. All kinds of ‘built-ins,’ as they call them. I don’t think I’m ready to take on a partner at this stage of the game. We can keep our options open in that regard; three years is a long way off.”

  Ricky pointed to the calendar on the bulletin board. “You need to explain that to me, Roxy. If my calculations are right, at best you got four, maybe five hours sleep a night. What kind of life was that? Where was Philly while you were doing all this?” he asked, waving his arms at their surroundings.

  Roxy made a funny noise in her throat. The coffee arrived, she poured. “It was my life. This place, the work, it was all I had. I’m sorry I didn’t thank you for offering me my old job back. I haven’t been thinking very clearly of late. Like I said, I started drinking, didn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. Philly promised…he led me to believe…I can’t change anything. I just want you to know I’m grateful. Don’t take that to mean you can walk all over me like your brother did.”

  “What did Philly promise you? What did he lead you to believe?”

  “That his share of the resorts would come to me. I worked like a dog, Ricky. And right now I feel like a tired old dog that’s been kicked one too many times.” Her voice was so bitter, Ricky flinched. “I built this place, oh, not the stone and mortar, but I did all the rest.” She gulped at the hot coffee. He knew she burned her tongue, but she kept on gulping.

  “Why didn’t you get it in writing? I don’t understand any of this.”

  “He was my husband, for God’s sake. We had an…arrangement. I honored my end of it, he didn’t honor his. It was a business marriage. We never had sex in all the years we were married. If you want my honest opinion, I think Philly was gay but wouldn’t come out of the
closet. It’s only my opinion. I can’t tell you how many of our famous female guests threw themselves at him. He didn’t bite. Nor was he flattered. I didn’t know that about him going in. Look, Philly gave me whatever I wanted. I think I have thirty-two charge cards, tons of costly jewelry, the latest fashions, a high-end car. He never once asked me what I bought. He paid the bills and gave me a salary. He said he was rescinding the prenup. You’re right, I should have gotten it in writing. It was a lousy trade-off, Ricky. He used me, and I used him. I played fair, with the exception of the forged policies, and he didn’t; that’s the bottom line.”

  She had to be lying. This simply wasn’t Philly. A headache started to hammer away behind his eyes.

  “In his wildest dreams, I don’t think Philly ever thought you would ask me to come back here. He had you under his thumb, and don’t deny it, Ricky. Sometimes he was insidious. Here’s another one of my private thoughts. I think he willed everything to you thinking you’d fail. You may not know this, but he was extremely jealous of you. I’ll bet you don’t even know that he never once watched one of your movies. To him, you had it all. Running a place like this twenty-four/seven is a full-time job. You’ve never been known to hunker down and give a hundred percent. Again, that’s my opinion,” Roxy said coldly.

  Ricky felt like he was strangling on her words. She had to be lying, she just had to. “Why? Did he hate me? Did he hate you? Christ Almighty, we’re talking about my brother here, not the damn Devil.”

  “That’s as good a name as any. Now, tell me what you want me to do. You’re the boss.”

  Ricky shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I guess you know I fired a lot of your staff.”

  Roxy shrugged. “No one is indispensable.”

  “You are.”

  Roxy smiled. She was still pretty at forty-three. He knew her age because he’d seen a copy of her driver’s license at the lawyer’s office. Aside from the dark circles under her eyes, she could still hold her own.

  “First things first. Your crazy hours are going to stop. An eight-hour day is sufficient. There might be times when you have to stretch it to nine or ten, but that’s it. I don’t want you turning yourself into a pretzel over this, but my son Max is coming aboard. He’s young, he’s savvy, and he’s good-looking. A definite asset in this kind of business. You’re going to learn how to delegate authority. You’re in charge, make no mistake. If he screws up, you fire him. I’ll make sure he understands the buck stops with you. Give your assistant more authority. She seems knowledgeable as well as nice. On top of that, she adores you. Loyalty is a wonderful thing.

  “Max will be here a week from today. I want you to get to know him. Tell me where he’ll fit. Max is good with money. Andreadis told me he had a chance to go to the London School of Economics. He declined. Let’s see if he can step into Philly’s shoes. Also, Max oozes charm. You’ll get the picture when you meet him.

  “One more thing; I want you with me. Don’t read something into that statement that isn’t there. If we’re going to build the Crown Jewel, we’re going to do it together. That means we’re going to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth. Camellia Island in South Carolina is not around the corner. You with me so far?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right then. I’m going to call Andreadis unless you prefer another attorney.”

  “Actually, I do prefer another attorney. His name is Noel Randal, and his offices are in Los Angeles.”

  “That’s a start. Call him. Tell him what you want. Have him get in touch with Andreadis. As long as you aren’t outrageous or try to throw in something we didn’t agree on, you won’t have a problem with me. Let’s get everything out in the open from the git-go so no misunderstandings happen later on. Whatever came before today belongs in the past, and we aren’t going there. This is a new beginning for both of us. You still with me? You burned your tongue, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, and yes.”

  “Do you have any questions, Roxy?”

  “Not right now. I need to sit here and absorb all of this. I’m trying to figure out what I did to deserve this.”

  “You honored your agreement. Do you mind telling me something? Why did you fight me about Philly’s burial?”

  “I don’t know, Ricky. I guess I wanted to win one. It was wrong. When you saw me at his grave that day, I finally got up the courage to tell him off. I know that probably sounds sick to you, but I wasn’t in a good place. It was a hellish life. This,” she said, waving her arms about, “was my haven. It was the only place I could be me. Ricky, how did it go with your sons?”

  “Max seems okay with it, but Tyler doesn’t. I don’t think we’re ever going to be a warm and fuzzy family, but I want to give them a chance at a good life. I’m hoping for some respect along the way. We’ll probably spend the rest of our lives trying to prove things to one another, and we’ll miss the good stuff in between. It is what it is. You must be proud of Reba.”

  “I am. She’s not very proud of me, though. She’s a whole other story, so let’s not go there right now. Every parent wants to be proud of their child and to have that child proud of them. Reba and I were never close, and I regret that. She was very upset when Philly died and she was disturbed, angry even, at not being mentioned more significantly in Philly’s will. I’m just guessing here, but I think she was expecting a huge bequest just as I was expecting to inherit Philip’s share of the resorts. She was exceptionally fond of your brother. It bothered me a little,” Roxy said, looking away to stare at nothing.

  “I called her before I left and she promised to come for a visit. I know better than to hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Reba has two personalities. A good one and a bad one. Mostly I just saw the bad one. She and I never had any Kodak moments. I truly, truly regret that. Among other things, she is not a forgiving person. You know what, Ricky, I don’t want to talk about Reba anymore because I get too upset with myself for allowing her to get under my skin.

  “So, do you think your son Tyler will have a change of heart?”

  Ricky shrugged. “I have this…dream, for want of a better word, that he’s going to be with Max when Max arrives. I see him showing up with a two-by-four on his shoulder, as opposed to a chip. I think he needs to prove something to himself, and if it takes him jabbing at me to prove whatever it is, I’m willing to suffer the blows. This parenthood stuff is all new to me.” He shrugged again before he threw his hands in the air.

  “I appreciate the opportunity you’re giving me, Ricky,” Roxy said. “By the way, I didn’t mail you all the plans for the Crown Jewel. I have them right here if you want to take a look.”

  “Sure. By the way, Ted Lymen came with me. I’d give him the job as head gardener if I were you. He knows his stuff. My housekeeper, Ellie, will be here next week. Use her on your staff. You can depend on both of them. Let’s have dinner in the dining room this evening. Seven o’clock. Don’t be late. This door better be locked no later than six. It’s a business dinner, Roxy.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there.”

  6

  Camellia Island, South Carolina

  Six Months Later

  The damp heat overwhelmed him the minute he stepped onto the tarmac. It was the one thing he’d learned to hate in the month he’d been in South Carolina. Ricky told himself the wicked humidity was only a few months out of the year, and he could live with it. There was no such thing as perfect weather anywhere. The pluses far outweighed the negatives; it stayed green all year, the winters were incredibly mild, and golfers could be on the links basically all twelve months. The tennis buffs and pros had no problem with the weather either. It was only June now; but it was already hot as hell. During July and August, he was told, you could see the fat literally melt out of your body.

  He was waiting for his two sons, who were due to arrive at any minute on a small private jet. He saw the plane in the distance and waited patiently, in a cotton shirt sticking to his sweaty torso.

  Even though his
gaze was on the plane, his thoughts were thousands of miles away on his more immediate problem. They were running wild. Time to take care of business, he thought bitterly. Something I should have done a long time ago.

  Ricky mopped again at his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt, his gaze following his two strapping, handsome sons as they loped across the tarmac to where he was standing. He felt his chest swell with pride. His boys, that’s how he thought of them. He still remembered how shocked he’d been when Tyler had arrived with Max six months ago, with a wicked grin on his face. “I’m willing to give it a whirl for three months, Pop.” The Pop was a slur, and they both knew it. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Tyler was willing to give him a chance.

  There had been no warm, fuzzy moments, no kind, caring words. That was okay, too. Time, he’d thought back then, was on his side. He could be patient. Both boys, according to Roxy, were exceptional. They worked hard and took criticism well. Both, she said, at some point in time, could take over the resorts. He felt proud.

  Now, they had come to Camellia Island for a look-see. “We just want to see what you guys are up to,” was the way Tyler had put it. It was a turnaround visit, with both of them leaving on the late-afternoon flight.

  The handshakes were firm and businesslike. Perhaps one day there would be a hug. If it never happened, that would have to be all right, too.

  Tyler looked at his father and offered up his mantra, “Time is money!”

  “Well, if it isn’t the California Sunshine Boys,” Roxy said, pulling the open-air Jeep alongside them. She wore sneakers, pedal pushers, and a tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a bun. You didn’t dress to the nines when you hung out at a construction site the better part of the day. Still, she looked good. Both young men whistled. “Hop in.”

  They peppered her with questions, wanting to know everything about the progress on the Crown Jewel. “I think I’ll defer to your…to Ricky.”

  “If things go the way they’ve been going, we should be up and running in three, maybe four months. Definitely no later than Christmas. Everything that could go wrong has already gone wrong, so we’re not expecting any more problems. I think we have a pretty good handle on everything if the weather holds. Now, if a hurricane comes along, it could screw everything up. Those damn things are vicious as hell.