Playing the Part

by Kimberly Van Meter

  “You don’t enjoy school? I loved school,” he said.

  “Times change. The teachers are mean and the kids are jerks. I hate my school. Well, I don’t hate everything about my school but it’s such a drag because the teachers are always in your business and I’m like, whatever.”

  “Teachers who care should be in your business,” he reminded her. “I had an economics teacher I was sure hated me because he made me work hard. He made my life miserable my senior year but I passed the class with an A, and it sparked an interest that would propel me to the right classes in college so I could start my own company. So sometimes the classes you have the hardest time with are the ones you learn the most in.”

  “Maybe. But I’m pretty sure I’m not going to go into any field involving algebra.”

  He laughed. “I know math’s not your favorite subject. But someday that might change. Don’t give up just yet.”

  Carys grinned. “Now you sound like Mom.”

  “Yeah?” He smiled. Maybe he was headed in the right direction. “Well, your mom was a smart lady so if she said it, it must be pretty good advice.”

  “Dad, tell me how you two met.”

  Gabe sighed and rubbed his forehead with a rueful smile. “Well, it was in college and I was on a water polo scholarship and your mom was pursuing a degree in art history. But as it happened, I needed a tutor in this art appreciation class that I was totally failing and she agreed to help me out.”

  “Was it love at first sight?” she asked.

  “Yeah...it was,” Gabe answered, smiling in memory. “She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen with the most perfect smile that lit up her whole face. And, of course, she was wowed by my perfect physique—”

  “Eww, Dad,” Carys groaned, giggling. “You can skip that part. I just like hearing the nondisgusting parts, okay?”

  “Okay,” he agreed with a grin. “Only nondisgusting parts of the story will be told. How about the romantic parts? Such as when I hired a limousine to pick up your mom for her birthday because she’d never ridden in a limo before.”

  “Actually, Mom told me that story. She said you guys went to the beach and had a picnic dinner on a blanket on the sand because you’d spent all your money on the limo and couldn’t afford to take her to a restaurant.” She cracked a yawn and peered blearily at Gabe.

  He chuckled, his cheeks heating at the memory of that night. “Yeah, that’s true. But it was one heck of a picnic, though. Top shelf all the way.”

  “I know. Mom said it was the most romantic thing you’d ever done. She also told me that’s how I’ll know if it’s love or just a crush because someone who loves you will get to know you and go out of their way to make something ordinary in your world special. She said you always managed to do that for her. That’s how she knew.”

  Stunned, Gabe stared at his daughter, momentarily knocked speechless by the revelation. He’d never known that about Charlotte. A sweet pain unfolded in his heart and he pressed a soft kiss to Carys’s crown. “It’s getting late, sweetheart. We’d better call it a day.”

  Carys agreed and slid from her chair. Gabe smiled as she walked down the hall and disappeared into her room.

  He’d been reluctant to talk about his life with Charlotte because he didn’t want to prolong the pain of her loss, but even though it hurt, it felt good, too, to share those special memories with Carys. Maybe Lindy had been right—talking about a loved one when they were gone helped.

  Maybe.

  The pain was there, but the sparkle in Carys’s eyes as he’d shared those special moments had been worth it.

  * * *

  LINDY BOOKED IT back to the main house, intent on bypassing the business meeting and going straight to her room, but Lora intercepted her.

  “Lindy, did you forget we have a family meeting?”

  “No,” Lindy answered with a grimace. “I have a headache. I think I’ll sit this one out.”

  “Take some aspirin,” Lora countered, not giving her an inch. “We need you. This is important.”

  “It can’t wait one night?” Lindy snapped, not in the mood to go over business plans and strategy for the resort. It wasn’t that she didn’t care; she just didn’t think she’d be of much use tonight. Her head was a mess and she had that blasted therapist in her mind, going on about her self-destructive patterns. Argh! “Lora, I’m really not feeling up to it, okay?”

  “Lindy, suck it up,” Lora said, starting to get irritated. “This is serious. You agreed to the meeting tonight and everyone else is ready to start. Celly has Pops occupied and we need to take advantage of the window.”

  “You’re such a jerk,” Lindy muttered, glowering at her sister. Her fictitious headache was beginning to manifest in real pain that throbbed at the center of her forehead. “And a dictator.”

  “Yeah, yeah, flattery will get you nowhere, now c’mon.” Lora turned and expected Lindy to follow, which she did with no grace at all.

  They entered Pops’s office and saw Lilah and Heath waiting for them. Pops was absent. The fact that they were talking about the resort without Pops seemed wrong, but Lindy knew it was probably best.

  She dropped into the high-backed chair with oversize cushions and tried not to scowl at everyone. But she was in a foul mood so she doubted she was successful.

  Lora began, pulling a chart she’d no doubt created with no small amount of glee to aid in her presentation and Lindy wanted to sink in her chair and disappear. “Larimar is about thirty thousand in the hole. We were able to knock down half the amount owed by liquidating some assets we found Pops owned in and around the island that he’d never miss. Both Lindy and I were able to pool our resources and make a substantial payment, as well, which staved off the immediate seizure of the resort by the IRS but it was just a Band-Aid fix. Bottom line, we need more income and we need it now.”

  “It’s hurricane season. Not exactly the busy tourist time,” Lilah said, worried. No doubt her stomach was grumbling with anxiety. Lindy sent a smile Lilah’s way to let her know it was going to be okay. Lindy wasn’t sure how it was going to work out, but she had to believe that it was. “How are we supposed to drum up guests when there aren’t any?”

  “Well, Heath and I have been thinking and although Lilah is doing a good job re-creating his designs, we both agree that we need to do a lot more to recruit to the area. I think we need to market ourselves to corporations as a business retreat. Executives with deep company pockets would love Larimar, with a few adjustments, of course.”

  “Adjustments?” Lindy asked, hooking onto the word with distrust. She didn’t want Larimar to change at all. It was perfect just the way it was and if a bunch of stuffed shirts thought otherwise, they could pound sand. “Larimar doesn’t need any adjustments.”

  “You need to stop thinking about this with nostalgic attachments,” Lora warned, immediately ticking Lindy off with her admonishment.

  “Why not? Isn’t that why we’re trying to save Larimar? We all have nostalgic attachments to this place,” Lindy retorted. “And I know Pops would flip his lid if you tried to fill this place with a bunch of necktie-

  wearing idiots. It’s not Larimar’s style.”

  “Larimar needs a new style, then,” Lora suggested, her gaze narrowing. Lilah shifted in her chair, uncomfortable with the sparks flying between her sisters. For the sake of Lilah’s persnickety tummy, Lindy dialed back her next comment and instead focused on throwing out an idea of her own.

  “Listen, I know Larimar needs money. We ought to start marketing to the movie and commercial business. That’s quick money for not a lot of time.”

  “Aren’t movie shoots hard to come by?” Lilah asked, confused. “And they take months, sometimes years, to coordinate. I don’t think Larimar has that kind of time.”

  “True, but a producer friend of mine
is shooting over in St. Thomas. I might be able to persuade him to lodge some of his above-the-line people here at Larimar instead of in St. Thomas. We could fill the resort during the off-season when typically we’re empty. That should give us an influx of cash, at least for now.”

  Lora contemplated this suggestion. “Well, that would be great but it’s a twenty-minute ferry ride to and from St. Thomas. Wouldn’t that be a bit inconvenient for the crew?”

  “Well, the above-the-line folks are the executives and whatnot and they like luxury. I think it would appeal to their sense of entitlement.”

  Lora chewed her lip. “It’s a long shot but we might as well try everything. Can you call your producer friend tomorrow?”

  “Sure,” Lindy said, cracking a yawn. “Is that it? I’m beat.”

  “We should have a plan B,” Lora said and Lindy groaned.

  “Can’t we just see if plan A works before assuming it will fail? Sheesh.”

  “Putting all our eggs in one basket is never a good business plan,” Lora said. “In the meantime, I’m going to continue to market to the top-level corporations. In fact, I think Sears Holdings Corporation is in the market for a new corporate retreat location. It would be a coup to land that account.”

  “Account,” repeated Lindy, amused. “Boy, you are in your element, aren’t you?”

  Heath chuckled at the black look Lora shot Lindy and stepped in, saying, “Listen, both ideas have merit. Let’s see what shakes out and go from there. Okay? In the meantime, Lilah will continue to man the front desk with Celly, which will save us money in overhead, and we should consider letting a few of the maids go and doing the work ourselves.”

  “Make beds and stuff?” Lindy asked, not liking that idea at all but not wanting to sound like a prima donna. When Heath nodded in answer she shrugged as if it was no big deal. “Fine by me. I know how to make a bed.”

  “Really?” Lora quipped drily. “You’d never know it by your own bed. Grams was always getting after you to do it. In fact, your room was always a pigsty.”

  “Oh, shut up,” Lindy muttered, no longer interested in being in this meeting. Her head was in a jumble; the last thing she wanted to discuss was marketing strategy and business plans. Frankly, she never wanted to discuss those things. “Are we done yet?”

  Lora opened her mouth but Heath stepped in again, likely saving them both from a nasty verbal spat. “I think so,” he said, shooting Lora a warning look before she said something to the contrary. She didn’t look happy about it, after all, she’d made a flowchart using poster board and hand-drawn tables, but she must’ve trusted Heath enough to follow his lead.

  A smirk threatened as Lindy mused, my, how things have changed. Love really did a number on a person. However, in this case, it was a positive thing. “I’ll work up a maid schedule, if that’s all right with everyone,” Lindy offered.

  “We should also discuss the possibility of letting Celly go,” Lora suggested, but Lilah looked appalled at that idea.

  “Just because you don’t like her doesn’t mean we should let her go. Besides, Pops loves her.”

  “I’m just saying, if we’re trying to save money, there’s no reason to keep Celly on when Lilah can take over her duties.”

  “Why is it automatically assumed that I don’t have a life?” Lilah asked, clearly annoyed. “I don’t mind helping out but I like to have some time off, too. Celly has been here, she understands about Pops and she doesn’t take any of your crap. I say she stays.”

  “I agree with Lilah,” Lindy said, happy to agree with anything that put Lora’s teeth on edge. “Celly is cool. And she makes kick-ass boiled bananas.”

  Lora clamped her mouth shut, her blue eyes flashing, and Lindy was tempted to stick her tongue out. So much for maturity. She smiled instead. “Are we done yet?”

  “If you’re not going to be helpful,” Lora answered, clearly angry, but Lindy didn’t care. At this moment, she didn’t much care about anything. She was in a piss-poor mood and it wasn’t doing much for her spirit of generosity. Lora made a sound of disgust and waved Lindy away, dismissing her. “Fine. Go. I don’t know why I thought you’d bring more to the table. You and Lilah are two sides of the same coin.”

  “Okay,” Heath said, trying to stop the train that was barreling toward them. “We’re all tired. It’s been a long night. We’ve made some good progress. Let’s just call it a day.”

  Lora shook her head and muttered, “Whatever.” And stalked from the room.

  Heath didn’t try to stop Lora but the expression on his face was one of disappointment when he turned to face Lindy. “You picked a fight with her,” he said.

  “No. She picked a fight with me,” Lindy said.

  “Really, Lindy?” Heath challenged, not buying her defense in the least. “You know, she’s under a lot of pressure. She doesn’t sleep well she’s so busy worrying about how she’s going to save this resort. The least you could do is be helpful, instead of a pain in the ass.”

  Lindy blinked in surprise at Heath’s rebuke. Heath never spoke to her like that. “Wow. That was harsh,” she said.

  “And deserved,” he replied, scowling. “I expected better of you. In case you haven’t noticed, your sister has worked really hard to change and be more accommodating but you haven’t budged an inch. In this respect, you’re being a hypocrite and I never thought I’d see that in you.”

  “I think that’s going a bit far,” Lindy said, feeling immensely uncomfortable with Heath’s judgment. Well, that was her cue to exit. “Right. Whatever, Heath. Just because you’re sleeping with my sister doesn’t give you a pass to start acting like her. I told her I wasn’t in the mood to talk business and suggested we do this tomorrow night but no, she had to push the issue. So, this is what she got. End of story.”

  “No, it’s not the end of the story. Your schedule isn’t the only one she’s working around,” Heath countered hotly. “Do you realize how difficult it is to get your pops out of the house so we can have these types of discussions? No, you don’t,” he answered for her, causing her to glare. “The thing is, we all have to work together to survive and right now, it seems you’re more interested in working your own agenda nitpicking at your sister than being helpful. If that’s the case...go back to L.A.”

  Lilah’s eyes were round as saucers and Lindy’s own eyes stung with moisture. Had Heath just told her to get the hell out of Dodge? She’d never seen him so angry. Stunned, all she could do was stare as Heath left the room in a disgusted huff.

  “What just happened?” Lindy asked Lilah, still reeling from the shock. Heath had been so...mean!

  “I think he’s just frustrated,” Lilah answered hesitantly, clearly choosing her words carefully. Lindy glanced at her twin with open confusion. “It’s just that you haven’t really been...open to helping much since you got back,” Lilah finally admitted with great difficulty.

  “What?”

  “Well...yeah...”

  “Oh, great. Now you, too? It’s a damn conspiracy. If that’s the way you feel, maybe I will just go back to L.A.”

  Lilah jumped up, tears filling her eyes. “No, please don’t go, Lindy,” she pleaded, making Lindy feel like a toad for making the threat. As fragile as Lilah was these days, it was right stupid of Lindy to make those kinds of threats if she didn’t mean to follow through, but her mouth was stuck between pissed off and hurt and she wasn’t in much control of what fell from it.

  “I’m sorry, Li,” she said, trying real hard for Lilah’s sake to dial back the locomotive of anger that’d jumped the tracks. Lilah would never say anything to deliberately hurt Lindy, so knowing that was true Lindy knew that there had to be some truth in what Lilah was saying, which plain sucked. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just frustrated, too.”

  “I know,” Lilah conceded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“But we need to work together.”

  Lindy nodded, drawing a deep breath. “I’ll talk to Lora tomorrow. And Heath.”

  “Thanks,” Lilah said, letting out a relieved exhale as if she’d been afraid to breathe. “I’m beat. That’s about all the excitement I can handle for the night. You going to bed?”

  “Yeah,” Lindy answered, rubbing at the ache in her head. All she wanted was some aspirin and quiet. And maybe some peace of mind. She wasn’t likely to find the latter. Not with the state of her thoughts being the way they were at the moment. Maybe some rum would help. She hugged her twin tightly. “Get some sleep, Li. It’ll all work out.”

  Lilah nodded and they parted, splitting off to their individual rooms.

  Lindy went straight to her room, closed the door and collapsed on her bed, hating how badly the night had ended on all accounts. She’d kissed a man she had no business kissing, and she’d attacked her sister for doing what they all wanted her to do: organize some sort of defense to save the resort. And both Heath and Lilah agreed she was being a selfish brat.

  She sighed. Somewhere in that jumble of cause and effect, the truth lurked and it didn’t look pretty.

  Yeah...right about now, a shot—or two—of rum sounded really good.

  CHAPTER NINE

  GABE COULDN’T SLEEP—big surprise.

  He stifled a groan and rolled to his back. The sound of the tide attempted to lull him to sleep but his mind was moving in too many directions to give in.

  Lindy Bell.

  Somehow she’d sneaked into his brain and awakened a part of him that he would’ve preferred to remain comatose.

  After Charlotte had died, he’d been pretty sure his heart had died with her. The need for female companionship didn’t even register any longer. It was as if the switch had been snapped off and there was no fixing it even if he’d been of a mind to try.

  And that’d been okay.

  His work had kept him occupied enough for two people and then with Carys...well, he’d been grateful he wasn’t trying to find someone else to fill his off-time; the hassle hadn’t seemed worth the reward.