“True,” Halo said with a sigh.
Rosalie glanced at her. Her head was resting on the seat, eyes closed, and one of her hands clutched the other as they sat on her lap.
“Are you okay?” Rosalie asked, looking at Halo’s shaking hands.
“Not yet.”
Rosalie pressed her lips together. For some reason, she didn’t want to step on Halo’s toes. But she certainly wasn’t the sort of person who ignored an elephant in the room, regardless of who sat on top of the beast.
“Need a drink?” Rosalie asked.
“Yep.”
She nodded as she made a right turn. “I’m on Main Street.”
“Start looking for a parking spot.”
Rosalie got lucky that a car was pulling out just as she approached a spot. It was hardly ever so easy to park in Los Angeles. She parallel-parked and turned off the engine once the car was in position.
“Voilà,” Rosalie said.
Halo took a deep breath then another. “Food will help.” She opened her eyes and faced Rosalie. “And it’s good food.”
Rosalie shrugged her eyebrows. “Well, I’m starving, so let’s get to it.”
The smile she had come to like so much returned to Halo’s face.
Halo nodded. “Sorry about this. I’m going to take care of me very soon.”
“So you’re serious about rehab?”
“One hundred percent.”
Rosalie rubbed Halo’s shoulder. “Good for you.”
They smiled at each other one last time before getting out of the car.
The name of the restaurant was Glory, and it specialized in modern American cuisine. The rustic atmosphere was pleasant, down to the fresh bouquets of yellow and white roses, which were placed in the center of each pale oak table. The lighting was a perfect blend of yellow and orange, giving the atmosphere that morning-glory aura. Rosalie had been to Napa a number of times and wondered how she had missed the restaurant.
“It smells good in here,” she said as the hostess showed them to their table on the second floor near the big windows.
Rosalie smiled at the view of the Napa River then turned her expression to Halo.
“Nice call?” Halo asked before her face collapsed into a frown. She hugged herself while pressing her lips into a hard line.
A waitress, who looked barely twenty, showed up at the side of their table. “Would you like anything to drink?”
Halo looked at Rosalie like a deer trapped in headlights.
Rosalie shook her head and mouthed, “No judgment.”
Halo smiled mildly. “I’ll have a vodka and cranberry juice with seventy percent juice and the rest vodka.”
“Okay.” The waitress turned her attention to Rosalie.
“I’ll have the same, and two glasses of water for the both of us.”
“Thank you.” The waitress sauntered away to have their order made.
They sat in silence for a moment.
“Thank you,” Halo said.
Rosalie smirked. “You’re only welcome if you let me call you Halo.”
She laughed. “I’ll see how I feel about your request when I’m out of rehab.”
Rosalie grunted curiously. “So you’ve picked out your program?”
“New Eyes Treatment Center in Palm Springs.”
“Ah, the desert.”
“Yep.”
“Hey!” a voice called.
The two women looked toward the opposite end of the room. Rosalie felt as if a beautiful apparition was walking in her direction.
“Chance? What are you doing here?” Halo asked, all smiles.
It took a moment for Rosalie to realize that the reason she was staring so deeply into Chance’s eyes was because he was doing the same to her. Then she noticed the familiar person walking beside him. It was William, Edna’s youngest son, but he looked different than she remembered, except for the frown.
“We’re out for lunch.” Chance turned to his uncle. “Do you mind?”
Rosalie noticed how Halo frowned at William while he pondered joining them. There was a clear lack of warmth coming from her, and him too.
Halo patted the seat of the empty chair to her right. “Just sit, Chance. Jeez.”
That was enough to convince Chance. He turned to the hostess. “We’re going to sit here.”
“Okay, well, Lacey will be over to take your order,” she said.
William hesitated before sitting. The fact that he would have rather sat elsewhere was conveyed in the expression on his face and the energy he emitted.
“Grandmother put you on to this place?” Halo asked Chance.
“It’s one of her favorite restaurants,” Chance said.
“Rosalie and I thought we’d get lucky and run into her, but that hasn’t been the case.”
The waitress was back with Rosalie’s and Halo’s drinks along with stars in her eyes for Chance. “What can I get you?” she asked Chance. Rosalie detected sexual suggestion in her tone.
“Coffee,” Chance said.
“Decaf or caffeinated?” She was now shamelessly flopping her eyelashes. It was as if the girl was on automatic pilot—see a good-looking man, seek attention.
“Regular caffeinated.”
“And you, sir?” The woman’s eyes searched William’s face.
Rosalie noticed that he had clearly lost over a hundred pounds, and that was enough to carve out his good looks, which all the Sterling men had. Edna had given birth to him when she was forty-two, so he wasn’t that old. Rosalie could see the waitress trying to figure out if he was young enough to be option number two if Chance continued to not take the bait.
“Orange juice,” William said.
“Can we also start with four orders of baked crab cakes?” Halo asked, looking at Chance for consensus.
“Sounds good to me,” he said.
Halo turned to Rosalie.
“Sounds good to me too.”
“I don’t eat seafood,” William said.
“But I’ve seen you eat lobster before,” Halo said.
He ignored Halo. “I’ll start with the encrusted meatballs with tomato chili sauce.”
Halo clenched her jaw, and William looked out the window defiantly.
Chance adjusted in his seat. “William said he’s been asked to take over the distribution arm of Sterling Enterprises.” He quickly connected eyes with Rosalie but not long enough for it to be noticed by anyone else but them.
Halo took a swallow of her vodka cranberry. Apparently, she couldn’t care less about William.
“No need to broadcast it,” William said.
“Well, this sort of thing certainly will make Grandmother happy,” Chance said.
“I doubt it.”
Rosalie comprehended that Chance wanted her to know William was put into the position after Edna’s resignation.
Halo snorted. “Well, if she were around, you could ask her.”
William narrowed an eye at her. “I heard you made a friend out of Harvey Keith.”
At first, Halo frowned as if she had no idea who or what he was talking about. “Oh yeah. Him.”
“Him?” William laughed sarcastically. “He’s a hell of a lot more important than that.”
She jerked her head. “The winemaker?”
He chuckled sarcastically as if he didn’t appreciate Halo’s shocked reaction to whatever he was assuming.
“You met with Harvey Keith?” Chance asked her.
She threw her hands up indifferently. “Yeah, but it was a chemistry thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Grandmother wanted to make an economy brand of one of her most popular wines without losing its richness. As you know, soil and climate determine the taste of the grape.” She took another swig of her drink then sat back in her seat. After a moment, she took another drink.
“So what did you tell her?” Chance asked impatiently.
“That’s between us.”
William’s facetious
snort made Halo tilt her head defiantly. “But that’s not all Grandmother was concerned about. She also wanted to know about diversifying product. And I was pretty helpful to her in that regard. Which is why it’s so baffling to me that she would just resign. Can you shed some light on the matter, Bill?”
“Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to me that way?”
“More than you’ll ever be, you sorry-ass loser.”
“Cut it out,” Chance barked.
William shot to his feet. “I’m out of here. Chance, catch a ride home with the girls.”
“Good riddance,” Halo said under her breath.
William scowled at her and stomped across the room.
Rosalie watched in awe. “What in the world just happened?”
Halo smiled as if she really wanted to cry. “I’m hated. No wonder I fucking drink too much.”
“You’re not hated,” Chance said, although his tone was unconvincing. “I love you.” Now that was convincing.
Halo wiped an escaped tear from the side of her face. “I know you do.”
Rosalie wanted to say that she loved Halo too but thought it unwise to infringe on their moment. Soon, Chance’s coffee and the crab cakes came. They decided to share William’s meatballs, which were so delicious they ordered another along with their entrées. It didn’t take long for Halo and Chance to put the incident with William behind them. However, it remained at the back of Rosalie’s mind. Never in her lifetime would she develop such a contentious relationship with any of her uncles. And the way Halo had to accept being hated by her uncle made Rosalie wonder how deep Halo’s pain ran.
However, Halo seemed to be in a full state of happiness as she talked about the last trip she’d made to Napa with Edna. They had visited the same antique place, and Kitty had sold Edna everything but the kitchen sink.
“Have you been to the storage unit?” she asked.
“The one on Route 39?” Chance asked.
Halo snapped her fingers. “That’s the one.”
“It’s a fire hazard, that place.”
They all laughed, and then it was Chance’s turn to share about a trip he had taken with Edna. He mentioned a strip club across from a hotel in the French Quarter.
“Oh, then you know Cindy, Riley, and Shauna?” Rosalie asked, wondering if any of them had given him a complimentary lap dance or had taken him back to one of those rooms in which patrons paid for sex.
“Yes,” he said without squirming in his seat. “You met them?”
“Yeah, I have.”
“It seems as though Grandmother has introduced all of us to her stripper friends,” Halo said.
“And she made me promise not to talk about it,” Rosalie said.
“Me too,” Chance said.
Halo raised a finger. “Me three.”
They laughed.
“So which skank tried to lure you to her sex den, Chance?” Halo asked with a shrewd smirk. “I know Cindy did for sure.” She tilted her head in the opposite direction. “Or did you even notice? I bet you didn’t even notice she was coming on to you, did you?”
“Why would they come on to me? They’re strippers.”
Halo let out a loud laugh. “You’re smart in every way of the world except women, Chance. And you know what? I think it’s by choice.”
Chance chuckled. “Maybe.”
Halo smiled at him. “But the woman who lands you will be a lucky one for sure.” She winked at Rosalie, who quickly looked away, hoping Chance didn’t see that.
The conversation turned to the time Chance had visited Paris and how women had come on to him from all angles, and he hadn’t noticed any of them.
“He could’ve gotten laid on every corner of every avenue,” Halo said.
Chance’s chin dipped down as his skin turned red. “I’m well aware that personalities are attached to pussies.”
Rosalie laughed, mainly because what he said was so funny and so true. “I feel the same way about penises.”
Halo slapped the tabletop with both hands. “All this talk about penises is making me crave the molten lava cake. I think it’s time we have some dessert.”
Rosalie and Chance agreed.
She learned a lot about Chance as the minutes turned into four hours. He was shy when it came to women, which was probably why a guy as beautiful as him was still single. She also learned that his last girlfriend was a nut job who tried to shrink him into marrying her.
“There was one thing she was right about. My mother did scare me away from intimacy.”
“Hell, so did my dad,” Halo exclaimed. “He still can’t stop sticking his dick in places it shouldn’t go. To him, every woman is a groupie with her legs wide open, inviting him for a thrust. He was so busy trolling for vagina that he couldn’t…” She turned her face toward the window.
It was as if time had stopped, waiting for Halo to face them again. Finally she turned, wearing her perfected smile.
A veil lowered over Chance’s expression. Rosalie could tell he wanted to say something comforting, but instead, he flagged down the very willing waitress.
“What can I get you?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“Lava cakes all around,” he said.
She glanced over at Rosalie and Halo. “Three of them?”
“Yes,” he said.
Her eyes were as bright as the moon. “Great, and please let me know if you need anything else.”
Rosalie and Halo looked at each other and rolled their eyes at the situation. The waitress was shameless. She had already come to the table eleven times and asked Chance if she could get him anything.
Soon, the next topic of discussion began. But this time, Halo pelted Rosalie with a barrage of questions.
“So you’ve never lived anywhere but Blushing Green and LA.?” she asked.
“Nope, but I’ve traveled, and a lot with Edna.”
Halo tilted her head curiously. “Oh yeah, like to where?”
“New Orleans, of course. We’ve also gone to Portugal, toured the Amalfi Coast—”
“Has she taken you to Rome?” Halo asked. “Grandmother loves Rome.”
“Yeah, she has.”
“Hot damn,” Halo said, shaking her head. “I wonder why she never mentioned the two of you were so close.”
“I had the same question,” Chance said.
Rosalie felt as if she’d been put on the spot. However, their question was valid. It seemed as if Edna had kept her relationship with each of them compartmentalized. It was a strange choice to have made. And after getting to know Chance and Halo, Rosalie was beginning to wonder if she knew Edna as well as she had thought.
Another hour passed. At a few minutes before eight, Chance asked for the bill, refusing to let either woman chip in. The waitress took the opportunity to write her number on the back of the customer’s receipt, along with a message that read, “if she or she isn’t your girlfriend, then call me.”
Halo got a kick out of it. Rosalie would’ve been surprised if the waitress’s tactic had worked. She was beginning to realize that turning Chance Sterling’s head was no easy feat.
On the way back to the manor, they talked about Edna and where she might be.
“My guess is New Orleans,” Halo said.
Chance was sitting in the backseat.
“Why New Orleans?” he asked.
“It’s the place where Grandmother’s secrets live.”
“What secrets?” Rosalie asked.
“Don’t you think it’s strange for Grandmother to befriend strippers?”
“No,” Rosalie and Chance said, both sounding pretty sure of themselves.
“I’m only saying that I’ve never known Grandmother to do much without a clear purpose in mind.”
They let silence prevail during the rest of the drive back to the manor. Rosalie tried to sneak peeks at Chance in her rearview mirror, but he was sitting too far to the left. When they made it back, it was strange to learn that Edna had not retur
ned. However, the house was full of guests, who were all having dinner in the main dining room.
“Will you join them?” Teresa asked as they headed inside.
“Thankfully, no.” Halo rubbed her stomach. “I’ve eaten enough for the day.”
“I won’t be joining them, either,” Rosalie said.
“I’ll be in for the rest of the night,” Chance said.
They all walked up the stairs, lost in their own thoughts. The word “midnight” repeated in Rosalie’s mind. That was the time she and Chance were supposed to meet Kathy.
Halo said good night to them both and walked down the hallway nearer to the stairway, which led to rooms that also faced west.
Rosalie and Chance didn’t speak as they made their way down the hallway that led to their rooms. Rosalie found herself wanting to be as bold as the waitress and ask Chance into her room for a roll in the hay before hitting the road later that night. But she quickly banished the yearning that washed over her. Plus, come Monday morning, she was sure she would be completely over him, especially by the time she hit the send button on the résumé she was going to email him.
They made it to their respective doors.
She smiled tightly at him and waved her hand. “Good night.”
“Later.” He winked, opened his door, and disappeared behind it.
ELEVEN
CHANCE STERLING
Chance had to hurry and get inside of his room. The longer he was in Rosalie’s presence, the more he wanted her. Dinner was enjoyable. The way the lighting had fallen over her soft skin gave him the incessant desire to reach out and touch her, which had lasted from the moment he’d sat down until they left.
He sat on the edge of his bed and took one deep breath after another. Never had a woman had this effect on him, but then he remembered the first time he had seen Rosalie. He’d wanted her then too.
One by one, Chance kicked off his shoes then took off his jacket. Do not think of Rosalie, he repeated to himself. Instead, he focused on tonight. Grandmother was obviously not returning home anytime soon. He recalled what William had revealed at the restaurant earlier. He’d wanted to know more about the time Halo had spent with Harvey Keith.
What in the world was his grandmother planning? The fact that she had resigned made less sense now than it had when she pretended to be thrilled by her decision to quit last night at dinner. Then there was the fact that Baylor thought he had enough control to tell her that she must accept the construction on the southwest grounds. Chance sniffed facetiously. Talk about cojones. Nothing was adding up. Nothing made sense.
Secrets & Chance (The Sterlings Book 1) Page 14
