Don't Let Go

by Sheryl Wright

  “So are pickles when you’re pregnant. That’s not what I asked.”

  Tyler let out a long frustrated breath. “There’s nothing going on between me and Zoe. I mean, we’ve been out a few times but she’s just too…young. Anyway I told her that last week and she was cool. Then I had this weird conversation with the big boss. Turns out everybody in the place thinks Zoe and I are hot and heavy. Oh and I didn’t tell you the best part. When Zoe and I hit the bar, we weren’t the only ones there. Turns out Georgie was there along with Marnie, and Lori, their cousin from the boatyard.”

  “Oh-oh!”

  “Oh-oh is right,” she said, pushing her hair back.

  It was her stress tell and Kira had seen her do it a thousand times. “I can’t believe there would be fallout! Your boss seemed so cool when she was over on Christmas. I know you said she had to work really hard to keep up the conversation but we all understood her. She seemed so nice. I can’t believe she would be upset with you.”

  “I guess that’s the part I’m a little bit mixed up about.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me what the big boss said, as close as you can to her exact words and let my lawyerly brain sort it out for you?”

  Tyler nodded. “Okay. Evidently, Zoe and I were on the dance floor when they arrived. Georgie hadn’t noticed we were there until Lori, wait, I told you about Lori?”

  “Hot sexy bitch?”

  Smiling she corrected, “Hot sexy butch! Anyway, Lori had spotted us and in the most graphic nature, described for the world what she would do with Zoe’s date, given half the chance.”

  “God, it warms my heart to know that women can be as bad as men!”

  “I know!”

  “Okay, so what happened then?”

  “Georgie started a fight!”

  “What?” Kira seemed confused. “With who, Zoe?”

  Tyler shook her head. “No with Lori. They even got kicked out!”

  “Kicked out of that dump! Holy crap, pumpkin. That must’ve been some fight!”

  “I know. When Marnie told me, I convinced myself Georgie was just protecting my honor or some such bullshit, then Marnie drops the bomb. She says, ‘Don’t worry, my sister will never make a pass at you no matter what she feels.’”

  They were both silent for a minute contemplating that bit of news. “Does it bother you? I mean, I know she’s a few years older and she’s a bit whacked, but she’d have to be to fit in our family.” When Tyler didn’t answer, Kira wrapped her arm around her shoulders. “Is that why you’re so scared of looking hot? Thinking the boss may corner you and put you in a bad position?”

  “Georgie? No not for a minute. I’ve been going over everything Marnie said. I think what she was really trying to tell me was that regardless of her feelings, Georgie would never say a word. After that I had to face Georgie. That was weird. Evidently, she was so upset all weekend, she worked from the time she walked out of the bar to a few hours before I walked in on Monday morning. So I get called up to her apartment, she’s in the library and she’s got all these forms for me and a copy of the employee policy on fraternization. And the worst part was, seeing how hurt she was to think that I was involved with Zoe.”

  “Did you straighten her out?”

  “Of course.” Leaning into her sister, Tyler rested her head on Kira shoulder, “The worst part was realizing how much I hurt, knowing I hurt her.”

  “Oh boy pumpkin. What are you going to do?”

  “Not a clue sis. Not a clue.”

  * * *

  Stella stuck her head in Marnie’s office. “Is the coast clear?”

  Marnie waved her in, motioning for her to take a seat on the couch where Lori was already waiting. “We’re good. I have Zoe driving Henry and Georgie home.”

  “Good call. And you’re right about the dress thing. It never occurred to her to take up Georgie’s offer for clothing expenses.”

  “Did you send her over to Jo-Jo’s?” Lori asked, referring to their cousin’s dress shop.

  “She did,” Stella answered, adding, “she was texting her sister when she was leaving. So I think she’ll have help making a selection.”

  Marnie got up from her desk, grabbing her ever-present coffee cup and making her way to the sitting area. She slapped Lori’s feet off the coffee table and sat down with a thud. “I can’t believe it’s already New Year’s. Boat season is next and we hardly have any time to get Georgie ready.”

  “Marns…are you sure about this one?” Lori asked Marnie but it was Stella who answered.

  “Marnie is the absolute best judge of character I have ever met. It’s why she’s so good at her job and why I have every confidence that she’s found the right girl for our Georgie.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Oh I have every confidence,” Lori explained. “I’m just not sure the girl has the same…How shall I say this, interest, everyone else has?”

  “Don’t worry,” Marnie said, “Tyler may not know how bad she’s got it for my sister yet, but I have a secret weapon. I wasn’t planning on pulling it out quite yet, but I’ve got a good idea now might just be the perfect time.”

  “And Zoe?” Lori asked.

  “You said it yourself. Zoe doesn’t do nice. And Tyler Marsh is way too nice to sacrifice to Zoe’s antics.”

  “For your sake and ours, I sure hope Zoe understands.”

  Marnie groaned. “Me too. Seriously, I worry about her too but it’s too late to undo what we’ve started. Best we can do now is let things play out and pick up the pieces when we’re done.”

  “Don’t worry girls,” Stella reassured them, “I’ve a good feeling about this.”

  Chapter Ten

  Tyler wasn’t surprised when Marnie called her at home to update her. But her long apology did seem a little out of character.

  “I hadn’t planned for all of this to fall on your shoulders. At least not this year. I was hoping Zoe could handle everything, but I’m afraid I simply dropped it in her lap. I should’ve checked in sooner with both of you. Lucky for us Stella’s on the ball.”

  “I understand. I’m not upset. Actually, if I’m anything, I’d say I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

  Marnie sounded unexpectedly patient when she suggested, “Why don’t you grab something to take notes on, and let me go through the agenda in detail? I’m sure you’ll feel a lot better once you have a good lay of the land.”

  Tyler grabbed a notepad and sat down at the kitchen table, setting her phone to speaker. For the next forty minutes they went over all the particulars she should’ve been apprised of weeks ago. Some she knew in detail, like the names on the guest list, and the protocols appropriate for the dignitaries that would be in attendance. Some were a complete surprise. Such as the fact that she was expected to arrive early enough to attend a family supper. Then see to all the pre-party details, before addressing and greeting the arriving guests.

  Finally Marnie hit her with one last curveball. “I need someone to accompany Georgie on New Year’s Day. She’ll be attending the afternoon reception with the Air National Guard. Usually she goes with Henry, but he’s asked to bow out this year. He says he’s too old to stand around, drink in hand, posturing with the other old boys. If you’re not up for it, Tyler, I understand. It’s not like I put it on your schedule.”

  “No. No it’s okay. I might be a little tired but if Georgie can do it then so can I. What time does the company New Year’s Eve party usually break up? Just so I have an idea how fast I need to get back to the house, get cleaned up, and back to get Georgie there in time.”

  “Actually if it’s not too much of an imposition, why don’t you stay at Georgie’s? She has a lovely guest room and you’ll need to use it anyway to get ready before the party. So you might as well stay the night. Unless that makes you uncomfortable.”

  “Georgie won’t mind? Wouldn’t it bother her if I was there?”

  “Georgie wouldn’t notice a herd of buffalo traipsing through the place. Besides
, I can’t remember a single year where there wasn’t somebody sleeping in Georgie’s guest room. You’re lucky you weren’t around for Thanksgiving. She drew the short straw and got saddled with my kids. I swear those three played Halo all Saturday night straight through Thanksgiving Sunday.” Marnie went on to explain the schedule for the evening, including people Georgie might need to be screened from, filling her in on several situations that had come up in the past.

  When Tyler finally got off the phone, all she could say for sure was that the next forty-eight hours would be busy.

  When she arrived at the DiNamico building the next day, she was startled to see both the catering staff and security had already arrived. While she was waiting for the elevator, Skip sauntered out of the Fleet Street Grill and trotted up to join her.

  “Hey Tyler, how’s it going?”

  “Good Skip, you?”

  He took the garment bag from her arms, leaving her free to manage her overnight bag and purse. “Are you staying at Georgie’s? It’s okay if you are. I understand. Aunt Leslie said I can stay at her place if you were.”

  For some reason the question made her panicky. Before she could think of what to say, he picked up where he’d left off, in his unassuming and rambling way. “I mean, I could stay up at Granddad’s but I do that every year and well, it would be kind of cool not to have to share a room with Zoe. I mean like I’m gonna be twenty-one soon. I shouldn’t have to share with my sister. What do you think? Do you still have to share with your sister? Zoe said you’re a twin too. That’s so cool…”

  Stepping off the elevator on the ninth floor, she noticed the doors to each suite were all propped open and several of the catering staff seemed to be congregated in Leslie’s apartment. Zoe had already explained that the empty suite on the eighth floor would serve as the ballroom while Georgie’s main floor living space, directly across the hall, would be the reception area. Henry’s apartment, in his absence, would be used as a VIP lounge to entertain dignitaries and the like, while Leslie’s apartment was completely taken over by the catering staff.

  Skippy, ever the gentleman, gave her completely unnecessary directions to Georgie’s guest bedroom. The guest room, like literally every other room throughout the apartment, was fitted with the same style security locks found throughout the office building. Tyler had to search through her purse to find her employee badge. Trying to help, Skip swiped his hand over the sensor several times without luck. Finally pulling her badge out of the bottom of her purse, she swiped it, worried it too would be rejected. When the door unlocked on the first pass, she was both elated and confused. Had someone taken the time to program her access to the room and bar everyone else? Had it been done when she was hired, or set up specifically for this night? In a way she hoped it was the latter. If it was, at least she would not have to worry about who else had access. She chided herself on that one—she knew the answer. She had a master password to the security program. It would take all of thirty seconds to find out when the access had been changed, who changed it, and who, if, anyone still had access. Setting that aside for now, she hung up her evening gown, retrieved her tablet and followed Skippy downstairs. It was time to find out where she could best help—or, at least, where Georgie was.

  As Marnie had explained it, tonight was the night they would let go of the past for another year and look forward to the future. From what she had gathered, DME was in for another great year. Even in a flagging economy, they had made smart decisions. Decisions like building sailboats instead of cabin cruisers, building for quality instead of quantity, and new cutting-edge engineering technologies had made the company bulletproof. Such long-term success from such a small company would normally have made them a takeover target, if they weren’t privately held. Indeed they had received several offers to take them public. Offers Danny DiNamico and Henry Phipps had rejected outright. As far as they were concerned and as far as she could tell among the key players now, that sentiment hadn’t changed a bit.

  “There you are, gorgeous,” Zoe called, entering from the lower corridor that was opened only for the party.

  The heavy steel door that separated the eighth floor corridor from Georgie’s main floor had been unlocked and pushed open. The empty suite across from Georgie’s was completely open as well. Marnie had explained that the ninth floor elevators would not open for guests this evening. Guests would disembark on the eighth floor, giving them access to the reception in Georgie’s living room and the ballroom. The catering would be managed out of Leslie’s apartment on the ninth floor, with them stuck using the service stairs to move up and down. Guests could access the ninth floor but only by the circular staircase in Georgie’s apartment. And with all the upstairs rooms locked off to guests, there wasn’t much point in going there except maybe for the view.

  “Hey you,” she said to Zoe. “I was looking for Marnie or Georgie. I’m not sure where to start.”

  “No worries love, the old girls will be here soon enough. Let’s you and me take a walk-through just to make sure everything’s up to snuff before they arrive.”

  Tyler headed up the circular staircase again, ruminating over Zoe’s description of Georgie and Marnie as old. Something else occurred to her. Skippy had said he was turning twenty-one. It had never occurred to her to ask Zoe how old she was. The fact that her twin brother had just outed them as minors almost stalled her in her tracks. She had to wonder what Zoe thought of her. At thirty-three she was a hell of a lot closer in age to her aunts and father than she was to the young woman. It wasn’t the only difference she’d been chewing on. While she still enjoyed hitting the bars and dancing all night, partying for the sake of partying no longer held any appeal and hadn’t for years.

  “Let’s start at the top shall we?” Zoe suggested from the landing at the top of the circular staircase.

  Back in the hall, their first stop was Henry’s apartment. It was decorated traditionally in masculine shades and appeared to be the work of a decorator. Still, much like her own father’s office, one wall had been plastered with photographs of his entire family, both Phipps and DiNamico. It made her smile to see so many happy faces. Spotting a baby grand piano in one corner of the living room, and remembering Marnie’s briefing, she knew someone had been laid on to play and now she knew where.

  “That was my gran’s,” Zoe explained. “Georgie made a big fuss about bringing it out here for him but,” she conceded, “it did make him happy.” Then, with a wicked smile, she added, “But wait until you get a look at the lovely thing we’ve hired to play for the VIPs. Not sure if she’s family yet. Guess we’ll have to find out!”

  She ignored Zoe’s wolfish comment about the musician in favor of viewing the photographs assembled on top of the piano. Picking up the first of two book-hinged framesets, she considered the three jointly framed photographs. The first she recognized right away. It was the same picture used in the company biography. Old Luigi stood proudly in front of the first of the Dynamic Marine sailing yachts with his three children by his side: Danny, Henry, and Georgina Senior. The second photograph was much newer but also taken at the boatyard, with a sleek DynaCraft ’59 in the background and Henry and his entire extended family gathered around him. The last, and the one that truly caught her interest, appeared to have been taken at the same time. In it, Danny and Henry stood much as they had in the photograph taken forty years earlier. The only difference, this time their companion and cohort was little Georgie. “When was this taken?”

  Looking over her shoulder, Zoe remarked, “The things you notice! Let’s see, I think that was the summer before Uncle Danny passed. That,” she said. pointing to the sailboat in the background, “was our first fifty-niner. It was quite a day, I must say. We had one right royal blast. My hat’s off to Aunt Lori for that. She may be old but she can still throw a party.”

  Again with the old! “What’s with you today? You make it sound like your aunts are a million years old. How old do you think I am?”

  “Oh age d
oesn’t matter.” Zoe fluffed off the question. “I just think the older they get, the more complicated they make this night!” Dragging Tyler back into the upper level of Georgie’s apartment, she explained, “Once the caterer’s set up, you’ll see how having the buffet up here sort of creates a dividing line. This way the VIP guests can slip out of Henry’s without being accosted by the great unwashed.”

  “I would hardly describe tonight’s guests as the great unwashed!”

  Back to her upbeat self, Zoe playfully trailed fingernails down her arm. “You haven’t seen Lori’s bunch at their best yet! Just wait,” she promised.

  “Well, that’s something to look forward to. What about Georgie?” At Zoe’s raised eyebrow, she explained, “Marnie was quite firm in her command that I not let Georgie out of my sight.”

  “Of course!” The sarcasm was clear. “Another night where we all must cater to Georgie’s peculiarities,” she added, leading them back down the stairs.

  That remark caught Tyler by surprise.

  “Expect her to spend most of her time in here. It’s not like she can be trusted to chat with VIPs. She might slip into the ballroom for a wee bit but usually that’s at Marnie or Lori’s insistence. They like to trot her round the dance floor every year. I guess the effort is to let everyone know she’s still got it.”

  “Okay, I’m starting to get the impression that you’re not happy about something.”

  “What’s not to be happy about?” Zoe said with a grin before moving close, running both hands down Tyler’s arms. In an ardent tone, and just above a whisper, she added, “I just think it’s a shame to waste good music, fine champagne and the company of a beautiful woman.”

  Tyler wasn’t sure which confused her more, Zoe’s tender gesture, or her overt flirtation.

  Behind them, someone cleared her throat. Swiveling around and out of Zoe’s loose embrace, she stood face-to-face with Lori Phipps. Admitting she was intimidated was easy. Knowing what to do about it was another thing, and judging by the look on Lori’s face, any chance she had to earn this woman’s respect was pretty much blown. There was no point reiterating that she and Zoe were just friends. Zoe had seen to that with her quasi embrace. Or was it her fault? She thought she had been clear with Zoe but now she wasn’t so sure.