Secrets & Chance (The Sterlings Book 1)

by Lynn Hastings

  Rosalie glanced at Claire, who was asking Chance questions in the vein of “how did he like living in San Francisco” and “had he been here or there,” then offering to experience her favorite places with him. Chance’s answers were short, his tone was curt, and he hadn’t accepted one of her invitations, but nevertheless, she kept trying to keep him engaged in conversation.

  A server stepped up to Rosalie. “Would you like to move over?” he asked, pointing a hand at the seat abandoned by Ruby.

  Rosalie hadn’t noticed the empty space between her and Claire. After a moment of deliberation, she realized that she felt some comfort in the distance.

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  The server nodded and continued clearing the unfinished glass of wine and soiled napkins.

  Getting through the rest of dinner was grueling. Susan found it beneficial to continue monopolizing Edna’s attention. Rosalie worked hard not to look in Peter’s direction because she could feel his eyes on her. The minutes dragged by even after Rosalie finished her prime rib, which was flavored perfectly. She sipped on a premium red wine until the servers finally entered to collect their plates.

  As soon as the table was cleared, Edna stood. “There will be no dessert. Good night. And please do not disturb me from this moment forward.” She walked out of the dining room without looking back.

  Everyone’s mouth was left hanging open, even Rosalie’s. Edna had never made such an exit from the table. She must have been very disappointed with everyone’s behavior, including her own. Rosalie had let Peter antagonize her, and that had made her lose some manners.

  “What the hell is going on with Grandmother?” Peter asked.

  Chance replied by deepening his frown. Rosalie had never met someone who frowned more than him. He must have been a very bitter and miserable guy.

  Susan huffed. “Is there any dessert in the kitchen?”

  Rosalie rolled her eyes before rising to her feet. “Well, that’s my cue.” She walked fast. The last words she heard were Claire asking, “Is she leaving?”

  When Rosalie’s foot first hit the stairs, she felt free. Her mind was clear about one thing—tomorrow, after meeting with Frederick Holland, she was going to pack her things and go straight home. She was so over the Sterlings. Edna was the last of them that she ever wanted to deal with.

  FIVE

  CHANCE STERLING

  3 Hours Ago

  Chance studied Rosalie’s figure as she strolled out of the sitting room. He had pissed her off, and admittedly, he had behaved like a dick. He had a propensity to lash out when things went awry.

  “Are the two of you here together?” Susan asked.

  For a second, he had forgotten his cousin’s wife was in the room.

  “No,” he said in a barely audible voice.

  Susan narrowed an eye as if she didn’t believe him, but he didn’t give a damn what she thought.

  “So how are you, Chance? It’s been a long time.”

  He turned toward the doorway. Damn, he really wanted to apologize to Rosalie for being a dick. “I’m fine.”

  “Well, you look fantastic.” She flapped her eyebrows and watched him with googly eyes. His cousin’s wife flirting with him wasn’t surprising.

  He figured the way she was standing there staring at him meant she had an angle. So he watched and waited for her to get to it.

  “Then you’ve heard?” she asked.

  “Heard what?”

  She tilted her head. “Why do you frown so much?”

  That question came out of the blue. “What?”

  Susan shook her head. “Never mind.”

  “Have I heard what?”

  “It’s nothing. Forget it.” She smashed her hands on her hips. “So, Chance, are you still with that girl? Jeez, I can’t remember her name.”

  He had no idea who she was referring to, but he had a suspicion she was fishing.

  Susan cleared her throat. “All right then… Do you still live in San Francisco?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow, I have a friend who lives there.”

  His frown intensified as he wondered in what direction she was taking their odd conversation.

  “She’s single too, I mean, if you’re actually single.”

  Suddenly, Frederick Holland came to mind. Chance needed to talk to him before their meeting tomorrow and get to the bottom of his grandmother’s big secret. Chance didn’t like being blindsided. On the other hand, Fred was pretty trustworthy when it came to his grandmother’s interests. In a short line of connections, Fred was the reason Chance was now working for Lord and Lord Enterprises. Fred had introduced him to Jet, who had gotten him in front of Jack Lord.

  “Susan,” he said sternly.

  She touched her chest as if his tone caught her off guard. “Yes?”

  “Good to see you. I have to go.” He took his cell phone out of his pocket as he walked out of the sitting room, searching through his contacts for Frederick Holland’s phone number. Once he found it, he placed the call. The line rang as he glided up the hallway on his way to the exit at the back of the house.

  The olive groves were planted on the northeast side of the property. Concrete footpaths were laid around perfect lines of vines because his grandmother loved to take long walks on the property. When he got outside, he saw that the sun had gone down. Not only that, but his call had gone to voice mail.

  “You’ve reached Frederick Holland,” a female’s voice said. “Please leave a message, and he will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you.”

  “Damn it,” he mumbled before hearing the ding. “Hey, Fred, this is Chance Sterling. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken. I had a conversation with my grandmother today, and I was wondering if you could shed some light on tomorrow’s meeting. Call me as soon as you get this. Let’s talk.”

  Chance shook his head and ended the call. He inhaled the cold night air and released it. Something told him that Fred wasn’t going to call him back. Fred wasn’t dumb. He would have known exactly what Chance wanted. If Chance’s grandmother had asked him not to ask Fred any questions, then for sure, she’d asked Fred not to answer them. More importantly, Chance had given his word to his grandmother, but there he was, behaving like his father and uncles by not respecting her wishes. So he called Fred again. The line rang three times before connecting him to voice mail. After the female’s voice asked him to leave a message, he said, “Fred, ignore my last message. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Have a good evening.” This time when he ended the call, he felt satisfied.

  Chance went back inside and straight to the room he normally stayed in when visiting the manor. Dinner was scheduled to start in about an hour and a half, so he put on his workout attire and went for a run up the country roads. The darkness made the neighboring vineyards impossible to admire. But the smell of damp soil fed his desire to reconnect with the region he loved. Chance always felt as though he was home when he visited vineyard land.

  His father had counted on him being the one chosen to take the wheel and run the family business. There was no better strategist than old Doug Sterling. Doug had made his family fortune on a vineyard in Washington state. Chance had been required to spend summers with his grandmother in Blushing Green. His father would call daily to ask if he had spent two hours in the field, helping the hands. He also asked for updates on house activities, like who visited, how long they stayed, and if Grandmother was happy or sad after visitors left. Every summer felt as though Chance was being sent off to do the worst job ever, which was keeping tabs on Sterling Manor.

  It was the year he turned twelve that Edna caught him on the phone, telling his father that Baylor had stopped by but he didn’t know why. His father was laying into him about not being proactive. Chance should have anticipated the questions he would be asked and been ready with adequate answers. By the time the call ended, Chance was so down on himself that he wondered what in life he was good for.

  So before he could go
to his room and sulk away the afternoon, Edna called him to her sitting room. She sat against the open window. Sunlight flooded in from behind her.

  “Darling, I’ve known for many years that your father wants you to spy on me.” She sighed and shook her head. “And now it’s finally making you ill.”

  He dropped his face. It had actually made him ill from day one. “Sorry, Grandmother.”

  “Chance?”

  After a few seconds of silence, he lifted his face.

  Grandmother smiled. “That’s better. Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed. You are only a child, and it’s your parents’ responsibility to guide you in the right ways, but that is rarely ever the case in life.”

  He was confused, and his grandmother could see that. She walked over to sit beside him. “Your father didn’t have the best parents.”

  Chance looked up at her. “But Grandmother, you’re Dad’s mother, and you’re the best.”

  Edna smiled slightly. “Darling, I’m flawed.” She adjusted in her seat and looked him in the eyes. “I want you to really listen to me, will you?”

  Chance nodded.

  “I let your grandfather make our sons competitive and unloving. It took me a long time to find my voice, and when I did discover it, I was not allowed to say what I wanted. Grown-ups put so much pressure on us, don’t they?”

  All Chance could picture was his grandmother with tape on her mouth. As far as he knew, she was the smartest person in the world—smarter than his grandfather, who was rarely home, his mother, who rarely spoke, and his father, who showed no mercy. Envisioning his grandmother like that made his heart hurt, and tears rushed to his eyes as he nodded.

  She cupped his chin gently in her hand. “If I had let my boys become who God made them to be instead of what their father required them to become, then you wouldn’t be in such misery.” She let go of his face and sat up straight. “So, here’s what we’re going to do about your father.”

  Grandmother came up with a plan that made him feel better about himself. He continued spending two hours a day in the vineyards simply to experience the things he enjoyed—being among the vines and the orchards. What he liked most was the smell of fruit percolating under the sun during the hot months.

  She also said that she would speak to his father about his “little phone calls.” At first, Chance was worried about ratting out his dad, but the phone calls stopped abruptly. When Chance returned home at the end of summer, his father never questioned him about anything regarding the time he had spent at the manor nor did he chastise Chance about whatever Grandmother had said to end his interrogating phone calls.

  Chance breathed in deeply through his nostrils. He savored his favorite scent all the way back to the house. Even though he was sweaty and not smelling too great, he hoped to run into Rosalie in the hallway. Damn, she was a pretty woman. Actually, he had never expected to see her again. After she had divorced Pete, he figured she had moved on to a new situation. Women like her found lucrative marriages. With her dark hair and eyes, luscious red lips, and sexy body, she was definitely something to behold and probably a woman to beware of.

  Chance wasn’t in the business of using his money and stature to acquire beautiful women. Pita, his last girlfriend, was a psychologist. Along with her natural elegance and stunning beauty, Pita’s brain had turned him on, but he’d tired of her relentless need to psychoanalyze him. He knew he had a cracked, anxiety-ridden childhood, so there had been no need for her to keep reminding him of that.

  Then one day while they were having dinner, Pita had wanted to discuss why quitting the family business was a decision his inner-child had made and not necessarily his adult self. That was when it had finally clicked. Like the women who used their looks to nab their financially secure Prince Charming, Pita had been using her intellect to manipulate him into securing her happily ever after. She’d made it even more difficult for him to trust any woman other than his grandmother and cousin Halo.

  Sure, he owed Rosalie an apology for acting like a dick, but he still wanted to know what her endgame was. Was she out for a piece of the Sterling pie? Or did she truly care for his grandmother to the extent that she would risk facing off with Peter and the rest of the sordid clan after she had successfully divorced the Sterling name and all the mayhem that came with it?

  After divorcing Chance’s father, one thing his mother had had to let go of was the money, and boy, was that hard for her to do. But her peace of mind had required her to do it.

  When Chance got back to the house, he went to the kitchen, and a chef, who the family called Cook, gave him a bottle of water. Afterward, he was disappointed not to have encountered Rosalie on the way to his room. It was almost time for dinner, so he took a quick shower. Now that he was clean, he put on a pair of dark pants and a navy sweater. He sort of cared how he presented himself tonight, and that was different.

  As he made his way to the dining room, he tried to deny the fact that Rosalie was behind his new drive to look extra appealing. Chance expected to see her sexy dark eyes looking at him when he walked into the dining room. Oh, what a surprise it was to see Pete, Susan, his bitter uncle Baylor, Baylor’s wife Ruby, and another woman he didn’t recognize already seated at the table along with Grandmother. He didn’t know they were invited. If he had known, he would’ve still joined the dinner, but he would’ve been better prepared for their bullshit, because Baylor and Pete were the king and prince of bullshit.

  CHANCE GREETED his grandmother with a kiss, then Susan guided him to an empty chair, which was between Peter and Baylor. Feeling trapped, along with the desire to escape the entire situation, he loosened his shoulders and tugged at his collar.

  Susan turned to Tony, the server, who was pouring wine in Grandmother’s glass. “Could you serve a bottle of the Merlot 1980? Thanks.”

  Tony stopped pouring and looked at Grandmother for consensus.

  Grandmother tapped the bottle of wine. “This will be fine. It’s a Mes Fleur Premium, and it’s just as good as our brand.”

  Tony nodded and continued pouring. Susan rolled her eyes. Chance could see that she still hated to be defied. He’d seen her go postal when she didn’t get what she wanted, even when it came to the little things, like the choice of wine being served with dinner.

  “Oh, and Claire, my guest, is vegan,” she added. “No meat for her.”

  The woman sitting to the left of Ruby raised a finger. “That includes no dairy or fish.” She chuckled. “I’ll eat whatever naturally grows from the ground.”

  Chance had taken a moment to notice that Claire was smiling and watching him closely. He smelled a rotten, stinking setup on Susan’s behalf and wanted to dart his finger toward her and yell, it’s not going to work.

  Instead, Chance settled into his seat and said, “Grandmother, you didn’t tell me we were having company.”

  She winked at him. “I’m just as surprised as you are.”

  Baylor grunted before taking a drink of wine.

  Chance knew he should’ve been the bigger person in the situation and greeted his bitter uncle, but he wasn’t in the mood to placate the man. So instead, he looked around the table then at Edna. “Someone’s missing.”

  “Yes, Rosalie overslept. Maria went to wake her.”

  Chance nodded. He didn’t want to seem too eager to see her.

  “So, Chance, did you drive out of your way just to have dinner with my mother tonight?” Baylor asked.

  “Oh, Chance, this is Claire,” Susan said at the same time.

  “Hello, Claire,” Chance said, using the opportunity to purposely ignore Baylor.

  Claire wiggled her fingers flirtatiously. “Hi.”

  He pressed his lips into a hard line. This wasn’t the first time Susan had tried to set him up with a random woman who was a tragic carbon copy of herself.

  Edna rang the crystal dinner bell. All eyes fell on her.

  “Okay, let’s get this show on the road.” She dropped the bell back on the table. “
The first course will be kale, apple, and bacon salad with a sweet and tangy balsamic vinaigrette.” Edna looked at Claire. “No bacon for you, darling.”

  Claire smiled then flapped her eyelashes at Chance, who immediately looked down at the glass of wine in front of him. He didn’t want to lead her on. Her chances of landing him were a number way below zero percent.

  “For our second course, we’ll have a beet soup. And our main course will be prime rib, roasted new potatoes, and sweet tomato over dill asparagus.”

  Claire raised her hand timidly. “That’s no prime rib for me?”

  “That’s right,” Edna said.

  Tony and Rod, the two servers, placed a plate of salad in front of each person.

  “So, Mother, are you planning any more trips during your free time?” Baylor asked.

  “Well, if I do, I’ll remember that I do not owe you a copy of my itinerary.”

  Baylor’s face turned red. “I didn’t say you did. I asked a question. That’s all.” He shoved a fork full of salad into his mouth.

  “And I merely provided you with an answer. Chance, when was the last time you visited New Orleans?” she asked.

  Chance finished swallowing the salad in his mouth. “Um, not since we went together.”

  “Oh, you travel with your grandmother?” Claire asked.

  Chance frowned at her, wondering what in the world she had gleaned from that.

  “Mom has gone a number of times without you,” Baylor said.

  “Then you had me followed?” Grandmother asked.

  “No, Mother,” he said, too emphatically for it to be true.

  “That’s okay, darling, because I’m smarter than you.”

  “That’s true.” Chance felt good about helping to get the better of Baylor. But deep down, he had to admit that his grandmother and uncle’s exchange of words was strange.