I loved my father. Despite our previous relationship when I was rebelling against everything and living the fast, hard life, I respected his experience and his wisdom. I wanted him to be proud of me and to understand that I could do not just a good job, but a great one in the business.
He took a risk on me when he challenged me to take on the St. Romaine on the Vineyard. I knew he thought of me as a hothead, as the globetrotting, carefree man of my generation. He might not have understood my need to wander, my need to see the world and understand where I fit in it. But I thought, somewhere deep inside him, he envied me the freedom of choice, the courage to fly off into the unknown and find what was there. And in that prodigal experience, to find my way home. I wanted to change his opinion. Though I told myself, and even flung the words at him, that I didn’t care what he thought, I knew I cared. I wanted him to approve of the man I’d become.
I ordered the crab cakes and handed the waiter my menu.
“Well, I’m impressed,” my sister said, pushing her charger plate away and folding her arms along the white tablecloth. “Dad is, too, but he won’t say it.” She smiled at our father.
“I’ll say it,” Dad said. “When I’m ready.” There was a lift to the corners of his mouth, but he was holding back a smile.
“Dad, you’ve looked at the books, seen the facility, observed the staff, even talked to the maids about Sheldon—”
“Don,” I corrected her. “I don’t want you to mistakenly call me that at the wrong time.”
“Sorry, I’ll remember. I think this incognito thing is silly, but that’s you and Dad.”
“The hotel is running smoothly. I am impressed,” Dad said.
Emotion stretched my heart.
“You’ve proved it, Don.” There was the slightest hesitation before he said my name. I’d been Sheldon most of my life. Early on they called me Shelly, but I put a stop to that in the second grade when a little girl named Shelley McGowan transferred into my class. All the kids teased me that I had a girl’s name. Rebellious even then, I insisted everyone call me Sheldon. In college Sheldon had been shortened to Don. I could live with that. And then there was the line name my fraternity brothers gave me when I pledged, but I won’t go into that. Until a year ago, when I became Don Randall, hotel manager, I’d been mainly known as Sheldon.
“I guess that means you get that hotel in France you’re so keen on,” Dad said.
I should have been happy. Living in France was my goal, something I wanted to do, and I’d agreed to turn the Vineyard property around in a year to get it. I’d loved living on the Continent, doing what I wanted. I loved the fast cars and the traffic, the small nightclubs and the pace of the people. I thought I could combine my days and nights if I had the hotel as income.
But I hadn’t counted on Amber. I didn’t want to be six thousand miles away from her. I wanted to be here or in New York with her.
I knew France would be the best thing for me. Distance had a way of changing perspective. When I knew she was inaccessible, it would be easier to forget her. Although I didn’t think I could ever truly forget her. She’d ingrained her DNA into mine. Even surgery couldn’t separate us now.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I said, hoping my voice showed the right amount of enthusiasm.
“Are you sure?” Tasha asked.
“Of course. Why do you ask?”
“The reason,” my father broke in, “is that I thought you might like to take over the Paris property.”
The waiter brought our drinks and salads at the same time. I waited for him to leave, taking the time to plan what I was going to say.
As soon as he left, my father seized the moment to pitch the hotel in Paris. “The property in the French capital is in better financial condition,” he said. “You won’t have the problem of attracting guests. It’s centrally located with a seasoned staff. The place is practically booked to capacity thanks to you. However, your workload will be much lighter even though the facility is larger.”
It sounded like a sales pitch. Three months ago, I wouldn’t have needed convincing. I’d have jumped at the chance to live and work in Paris. But three months ago Amber Nash’s leg hadn’t slid out of a limousine, and a week ago I knew I was in love with her.
The small hotel would give me a lot to do. It needed repair, marketing, and advertising plans to attract guests. I was good at that. Even though Martha’s Vineyard attracted its own clientele, France also had an appeal. However, few people made the side trip to the Atlantic shore to visit the town of Les Pieux. I had plans to change that. With its strategic location to both London and Paris, the small seaport town was ideal for my purposes.
And despite my reluctance, I knew I needed distance between myself and Amber.
“Well, the option is still open,” my father said. “You don’t leave here for another month. If you change your mind, let me know. In the meantime, I take it you haven’t notified the staff.”
I shook my head.
“Anyone in particular you think could replace you?”
“Adrienne English. She’s the assistant manager and fully capable.”
“When are you going to let them know?” Tasha asked.
“I’ll talk to Adrienne tomorrow. Then let the staff know on Monday. I’ll give them a month’s notice.”
“Well.” Tasha lifted her glass. “Congratulations!”
We raised our glasses and the three crystal flutes clinked musically before we drank. Through the curved glass I raised to my lips, I saw her.
“Damn,” I cursed under my breath and shifted in my seat. There she was. And with Casey Edwards. Anger so fierce I had to dampen it by lifting and drinking a full glass of water. She was positively glowing. Her skin had changed to a golden brown and the white dress she wore set it off to perfection. She didn’t see us, and I was thankful for that. Casey had his hand on her back as he guided her toward their table.
She should have been with me, I thought. But he was who she was looking for. A man with money. I had money, lots of it and a future that promised more, but she didn’t know that.
“If that’s what you really want,” my father was saying when my attention came back to our table.
“I can’t believe you want to give up Paris for that little hole in the wall,” Tasha said. “Especially after the life you used to live.”
“That’s behind me now,” I said. “I’ve grown out of the need to engage in daredevil sports and actions that could get me killed.”
“That’s a relief,” my father commented. “I don’t even think I want to know what your comment really means.”
I knew he didn’t. Sometimes I winced when I thought of racing fast cars and missing a pile-up against a wall by centimeters. Or the time I jumped from a plane and my parachute didn’t open until I was in the kill zone. Yet that didn’t stop me from trying things.
To see me now, I wonder if Amber ever thought that the calm hotel manager who solved the problem of overbooked rooms and rides to the ferry could guzzle wine all night and hang glide over the choppy waters off Costa Rica the next day with a hangover the size of the Atlantic Ocean?
What I was doing now was just as dangerous. The woman only a few yards away had me walking a tightrope. Below me was no net.
And it was about to get tighter.
“Excuse me,” I said and stood up. I walked over to the table where Amber had her back to me. Her dress was low cut and I longed to run my hand down the smooth warmth of her skin, cover it with kisses and smell the unique scent that defined her and her alone.
“Don!” Casey said, standing up and shaking my hand. His smile was wide, as if he’d already drank a bottle of wine. As they had only sat down a moment ago, there hadn’t been time for that.
“Amber,” I acknowledged. She smiled, but lowered her eyes immediately.
“Join us.” Casey offered me a chair.
“I have to return to my party. I only wanted to say hello.”
“Thank you f
or dropping by,” Amber said. It was the first comment she made and I could hear dismissal in her voice.
“Before you leave, let me tell you our good news.”
“Casey …” Amber said as if to stop him.
“I want the world to know,” Casey told her. “Amber has consented to be my wife.”
The news shocked me. My heart stopped. I wished I hadn’t joined them, since I was fighting to remain upright. Marriage was the last thing I expected to hear. My heart pumped as if it would burst. I looked at Amber. She stared at me, challenge in her eyes. This was why she came here. Why was I surprised? She’d been out with Casey more than any other guest. Her two friends were getting married. I knew from experience that marriage was contagious. And not just in women. Many of my friends had gotten engaged and married within short periods of previous weddings. Once one guy fell, the others were like dominos taking the leap to follow their hearts.
It hadn’t happened to me, since I had no particular woman holding my heart at the time. But now I did. I was looking at her, the one woman who could have filled that space in my heart reserved for no other.
“Congratulations,” I said, giving her a sardonic smile. I looked up at Casey and offered my hand. He took it. “You’re the first couple to get engaged during my watch. “I smiled, looked back at Amber. “I hope you’ll be happy.”
Then I turned and, without looking back, I returned to my father and sister.
“What was that all about?” Tasha said the moment I was in my chair. Both she and my father looked at me curiously.
“Guests at the hotel.”
“Is that all?” Tasha asked. She glanced at the table where Amber and her new fiancé sat, then back at me. She’d gotten what she wanted. I felt like a fool.
I looked at my sister. “That’s all,” I said. But I was sure she didn’t believe me.
Hell, even I didn’t believe me.
Apparently my father didn’t either. We returned to the hotel immediately after the meal. I’d wanted to get out of the restaurant the moment Amber came in; after learning of her engagement, nothing else seemed real. I went through the motions of eating. The food had no taste. I engaged in conversation but had no idea what we talked about. My eyes kept going to her table.
“I’ll be in soon,” I said when we stood at the path that forked toward the hotel and my bungalow. Since Mrs. Brooks and her baby were still in the owner’s bungalow, Tasha and my father were staying in mine. The place only had two bedrooms. I’d moved into a single guest cottage. There was no room in the hotel anyway. All possible space was occupied. Something that pleased my father.
I usually made the rounds before turning in, checking to see that everything was all right and going over the details of the next day.
“She’s very pretty,” my father said after my sister announced she was going for a swim and started down the path to change clothes. Tasha reminded me a little of Amber. She loved to swim, too.
My relationship with my dad had improved in the last year. We hadn’t been confidants since I was eight years old, but the regular meetings we’d had about the hotel had spilled over into father-son outings and long talks over good meals and bottles of fine wine. I felt like I was getting to know my father for the first time and he was getting to know me.
I looked around as if I expected to find Amber standing behind me.
“The woman in the restaurant. Is it serious?” he asked.
I didn’t pretend that I didn’t know what or who he meant. “Only on my side.” I’d promised her I’d keep her secret, and even though she was now engaged to another man, I wouldn’t tell my father that she thought my net worth too low for her purposes. I also wouldn’t tell him that she drove me crazy in and out of bed. Or that the thought of her marrying another man made me angrier than I thought was possible without exploding. Especially since I was trying to hide it from the one person who’d been able to read my moods since birth.
“Does she know who you really are?”
I shook my head. “Telling her would have been a violation of our agreement.”
“Well, I’d make an exception if necessary.”
“Why is that?” I asked, wondering what he’d seen that I had not.
“I know you think I’m an old man, but I recognize a nose ring when I see one. And yours is apparent.” He punctuated his statement by tapping his index finger against his own nose. “If you’re really in love with her, and I can see you are, you’d better be the one to tell her who you are. You wouldn’t want her to find out from some other source.”
“Like who? No one here knows who I really am.”
“You were quite the man about town just over a year ago. She might have thoughts about that.”
“I told you the feelings are not mutual.” At least out of bed they’re not, I thought. If she found out I was Sheldon St Romaine, it would make a great deal of difference, and while I really wanted to tell her the truth, I didn’t want her to look at me as just another bank account.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” I said. “You saw the man she was with tonight.”
My father nodded, apparently remembering Casey Edwards.
“She’s engaged to him.”
For several moments we stood staring at each other. My father appeared as stunned as I had been when Casey made the announcement.
“What do you plan to do about it?”
“Do?” Here was another question I had not expected. “Nothing. The lady has made her choice.”
“Are you sure?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that while you returned to your seat at our table, I could see the way she looked at you.” He paused. “She didn’t look at him the same way.” Dad half smiled. Only the corners of his mouth rose. Without another word, he turned down the path and started for the bungalow, leaving me with a plate of confusing food for thought.
* * *
What had he thought? I asked myself that question for the hundredth time. When Casey kissed me good night, I was still thinking about Don. He and his party left the restaurant soon after we arrived. Relieved to see them go, I relaxed enough for Casey and I to finish our meal in relatively good spirits. Before that I’d been nervous and edgy, wound as tight as a new spring.
Casey and I took a walk along the beach and joined the continuously in-progress party. Dancing finally allowed me to stop thinking about Don for a while. The music was hot and fast and it obliterated everything else.
I’d been avoiding Don, hoping to get through the final weeks on the Vineyard without encountering him. But I’d learned this was a small island and it was hard to avoid anyone. All my free time had been spent with Casey and Joel. They were leaving this morning to return home. My non-free time had me running errands for Jack and Lila. When I’d agreed to Casey’s proposal, I thought of calling Don. I wanted to tell him about my engagement first. Knowing I didn’t owe him a preview announcement, I still felt he deserved the courtesy of hearing it from me. Casey took that away.
And now I wondered what he was thinking. I didn’t go the beach and write or wait for Don to appear. I overslept and had to rush to the pier to see Casey and Joel off. I hugged Joel and kissed Casey. The kiss was chaste, evoking none of the fiery explosions that Don’s mere touch could pull from me.
On my way back to the house, Don was still on my mind. I drove slowly through town, hoping I wouldn’t see him along the street. After a moment, I shook thoughts of him aside and parked the car near a shop I’d seen earlier.
Spending a few minutes inside didn’t take my mind off him and I only bought a couple of books to take home. Leaving the store, I was lost in thought, which was why I didn’t see Don and ran smack into him. His arms came out to steady me and keep us from falling to the ground.
I wiggled myself free even though his hands seemed to sear into my skin. “Excuse me,” I said and attempted to walk around him. He stepped in front of me, blocking my escape. I had several bags in my h
ands as I’d just come out of a shop on the main street.
“I didn’t get to fully congratulate you last night,” Don said. “I see you’ve achieved your goal.”
Shifting the bags to one hand, I removed my sunglasses and looked him squarely in the eye. Although I shook inside, my voice was calm and steady when I spoke. “I am not ashamed of what I’ve done. Casey is a good man. We’ll be very happy together.”
“But you’re not in love with him.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Your words, not mine,” I replied.
“I see you didn’t contradict me,” Don said.
“What does it matter to you? I see you have a beautiful woman on your arm.” I remembered the woman who’d kissed him at the ferry, and he’d been quite attentive to her last night. “It must be nice to be you, able to choose another woman with each turnover of hotel guests.”
He nodded, also not contradicting me. “There are certain perks to the business.”
Anger heated my face. I knew my newly acquired suntan wouldn’t cover the darkening of the blood that flowed there.
“So who is the lovely lady?” I couldn’t help asking. I wanted to know who had replaced me.
“I’m sure you don’t know her.”
Understanding that this conversation had nowhere to go, I again tried to excuse myself. And again Don blocked my escape.
“I see Mr. Edwards and son left the Vineyard this morning. Is there to be no engagement party?”
“It’ll happen later when we’re back in the real world.”
“You mean when you’re back in that world where you can understand the full impact of a life without love?”
“You like to throw that word around, don’t you?”
“People who are in love usually do. Casey used it freely last night. I haven’t heard you use it once.”
“Is that what it would take to have you move aside and let me pass? For me to tell you that I love Casey?”
His nod was nearly imperceptible. “I don’t want mere words. I want the truth.”
“And you deserve that? I suppose you think you are entitled to it?”
Some Like Them Rich Page 24
