THE 5 SISTERS:
VINA IN VENICE
By
Kimberley Reeves
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events are the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2012 by Kimberley Reeves
All rights reserved
No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanic means, including but not limited to, information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
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Chapter 1
“Drop dead gorgeous,” Vina said as she jotted down the words. “Brooding, but with a killer smile. And he has to be tall, at least six foot two, with dark hair and broad shoulders, and…”
“Gee, you’re not asking for much,” Maria said dryly.
“I thought that was the purpose of this little exercise, to write down the attributes of the perfect man.”
Maria rolled her eyes. “There is no such thing as the perfect man,” her tone was acerbic.
Vina glanced around at her other three sisters, not the least bit surprised to find them suddenly engrossed with completing their own lists. “Cowards,” she muttered, before turning her attention back to Maria. “You have no right to rain on our parade just because your relationship with what’s-his-name fizzled out. Besides, this is supposed to be a list of qualities that I desire in a man, just as your list should consist of qualities you want.”
“This is stupid,” Maria crumpled up the piece of paper Vina had given her. “A tragic waste of my time,” she scoffed, tossing the balled up paper onto the table.
“You haven’t wasted any time,” their oldest sister, Victoriana noted evenly. “Your paper was blank.”
Sophia and Kelsey looked up from their own lists, each of them exchanging worried glances with Vina. They’d all known Maria would balk at doing it. Ever since her break up with the blonde Adonis, she’d been a real stick in the mud. Vina frowned, silently chastising herself for being so waspish. Maria was devastated when her relationship with Harrison fell apart, and even though she covered it well, Vina had seen the haunted look in her eyes on more than one occasion.
Tearing off another piece of paper from her note pad, Vina held it out to Maria. “It was Mom and Daddy’s last wish,” she said softly.
Maria hesitated for a moment before taking the paper. “Why…why do you think they did it?”
It was Victoriana who replied. “I’m sure their reasons will be made clear once we do everything they’ve asked of us.”
“And the Will was very specific,” Sophia added. “If one of us refuses to participate, we all lose. The mansion, the land, the business; everything will be liquidated. Do you really want to forfeit your inheritance…our inheritance just because you don’t want to do this one, simple task?”
“It’s not as if we’d be left destitute,” Maria argued. “Each of us would still inherit a substantial amount of money even without doing these ridiculous drills.”
Vina shook her head. “Substantial, yes, but it would only be a small portion of what their assets are worth. Daddy poured his heart into the company. Do you think he would be happy knowing we allowed it to be sold off?”
“And you know how much Mom loved this house,” Kelsey chimed in. “Whatever their reasons, they must have felt very strongly about it or she never would have taken the gamble on losing it.”
“But this is just the first stipulation,” Maria continued her crusade. “There are four more. And since none of us has any idea what they are, who can say whether we’ll be able to complete them?”
“They wouldn’t set us up to fail,” Vina pointed out, “which means they were confident we would succeed.”
“Look,” Victoriana said, “Mom and Dad didn’t raise us to be quitters. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there are five of us and five tasks.”
Vina’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I think it’s a test of our strength, our ability to survive without them. I’ve been mulling it over since the reading of the Will and believe that each task was chosen for a specific person. All of us relied on them for stability, security, love…and we trusted them implicitly with our deepest secrets. And our darkest fears.”
Maria gaped at Victoriana. “Are you saying they took what we told them in confidence and deliberately chose a task that would target our weakest point?”
“Yes,” Victoriana replied, “but they made sure we had a safety net. Each other. That’s the reason we all have to participate; it was their way of making sure we stuck together. And maybe they hoped it would help ease our grief if our minds were occupied elsewhere.”
“I suppose you think this first test is about me,” Maria said with an indignant lift of her chin.
Victoriana shrugged. “It could be about any one of us. Granted, your recent…experience makes you a more likely candidate. But we’re all guilty of being so involved with running the company that we haven’t dated in ages. Mom and Dad were totally devoted to each other. They shared the kind of love most people can only dream about and wanted us to find that same kind of love.”
Maria snorted, obviously hell bent on proving this was an exercise in futility. “You think making out a list of impossible expectations in our soul-mate is going to accomplish that? Well, I don’t believe it. The only thing that is going to come of this is disillusionment when each of us discovers the truth.”
“And what would that truth be,” Vina challenged, “that all men are lying rats? That they’re incapable of being faithful and giving us the love we deserve? You’re wrong, Maria. Dad wasn’t like that at all, and I refuse to believe there aren’t more men out there like him. Your bitterness is going to turn you into a sour old maid, and I don’t intend to follow you down that path.”
“She’s right,” Kelsey interjected. “You’re letting one bad relationship poison your heart. Besides, no one said you had to go out and actively look for a man with all the qualities on your list. The only thing they asked was that we write it down so we would know what kind of man will make us happy, and be able to recognize him…if or when he comes along.”
“Fine,” Maria said tersely, “I’ll do it, but unlike the rest of you starry-eyed dreamers, I’m going to keep my expectations low. That way, I won’t have so far to fall when he tries to tromp on my heart.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Vina warned.
“I’m not wishing for anything, that’s the point.”
With a collective sigh, Vina and her other three sisters went back to working on their lists. Maria stared at the paper for a long time before reluctantly picking up her pen and scribbling a few lines. Vina’s heart ached for her. Only a few short months ago, her sister practically glowed with happiness. Now it seemed Maria wore a permanent scowl, although Vina suspected the hardened shell had been constructed to mask the broken heart she was still nursing.
Reining in her rambling thoughts, Vina refocused on her list. Her taste in men tended to lean more towards the rugged, outdoors type rather than executives in Armani suits. She was a nature freak at heart and didn’t care much for dressing to the nines to dine at some fancy restaurant or, heaven forbid, sit through an opera. She would much rather take a stroll through a park or around the lake. How romantic, to sit at the end of a pier with someone who knew how to appreciate the simpli
city of dangling your feet in the water as you watched the sun go down.
He would have to be intelligent too. Brawn without brains held no appeal for Vina. And it was fine for him to be all macho male on the outside as long as he tempered that masculine swagger with a kind heart. Their Dad had been like that; hard as nails when it related to business, but an absolute marshmallow where his wife and girls were concerned. Family always came first, and that was just as important to her as it was to her parents.
The perfect mate. Did he even exist? Or was Maria right about their expectations being unrealistic? Still…if you’re going to dream, you might as well dream big. Not afraid of commitment, she wrote down, then added, great kisser and passionate lover. Why not? If Maria or any of the others chose to be pragmatic about the whole thing, that was their business. As her mother used to say; Don’t wish for the stars if it’s really the moon you want.
Vina wanted it all. The stars, the moon, and everything in between.
***
Vina stood in front of the fireplace mantle, a wistful smile on her face as her gaze lingered on their last family portrait. Her mother, Lucinda, was only twenty when she was swept off her feet by the dashing Real Estate Investor, Victor Moore. They were married two months later, and Victoriana was conceived before their first anniversary. They made a handsome pair; Victor, with his dark hair and eyes, while Lucinda had a glorious mane of flaming red hair and eyes the color of emeralds.
Vina’s twin sister, Sophia, had been the only one of the five siblings to inherit their mother’s hair color, although Vina’s rich, brown hair had glimmers of red in it. She and Sophia also inherited their father’s brown eyes; the other three seemed to have gotten a mixture of the two because their eyes were brown with flecks of green. Her parents were proud of their beautiful daughters, and not once had either of them expressed any regret that there had been no sons.
Daggers shot through Vina’s heart when she recalled how happy her mother had been when she told them about the second honeymoon their father had surprised her with. Although Lucinda Moore regularly accompanied her husband on business trips all around the world, it had been quite some time since they’d gone on a proper vacation. Not that her parent’s love life needed rekindling; they were like hormonal teenagers, but the girls accepted the kissing and hand holding simply because it had always been that way.
The private jet carrying her parents, the pilot, and one flight attendant had gone down in the North Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff. They were still within sight of the Barbados coast when the pilot contacted air traffic control and advised them there was engine trouble and that he needed clearance to return. That was the last anyone heard from him. The plane dropped below radar and it was presumed the crash occurred only moments later, though no wreckage was found, nor were any bodies recovered.
Vina squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back the enormous wave of grief that assailed her. For two solid weeks, she and her sisters shared a suite at one of the hotels on Barbados. Reluctant to be separated from one another, they’d remained in the room, endlessly pacing and praying for a miracle while search planes and coast guard boats scoured a fifty mile radius. When that proved fruitless, the sisters demanded the search be expanded to seventy-five miles, although it was highly unlikely the private jet had made it that far with engine failure.
Another week passed with no better results, and they’d finally had to acknowledge their parents were gone forever. The search had been called off and they’d returned to the mansion, their lives shattered by the tragic loss of their beloved parents. Friends and relatives rallied around them, but it was Sheldon Davis, their father’s attorney and good friend, who took over the legalities. Death in absentia, he’d called it. Presumption of death.
Since the circumstances surrounding Victor and Lucinda’s disappearance overwhelmingly supported the belief they were dead, he was able to obtain a court order to have certificates of death issued. This allowed him to proceed with the reading and execution of their last Will and Testament, relieving the girls of the financial burden they most certainly would have endured if the process had run its normal course. As Executer of the Will, Sheldon advised them to let their father’s capable employees manage the company for a while.
“Victor was an exceptional judge of character,” he’d told them. “His management team will keep things running smoothly until you’re ready to take the helm. Providing…” he eyed each of them in turn, “you follow the stipulations of the Will.”
“Stipulations?” Victoriana sounded as dazed as Vina felt.
Sheldon held up several sealed envelopes, all of them numbered. “There are five…tasks your parents want you to complete before control of the company, assets, and finances are turned over to you equally. They are to be performed one at a time. Only after each of you has accomplished, or made an earnest effort to accomplish the task, will the next one be assigned.”
Vina glanced around at the confused faces of her sisters. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we don’t understand. What kind of tasks, and who determines whether any or all of us have made an earnest effort?”
“I’m afraid I can only divulge what is in the first envelope. The others will only be revealed upon successfully completing the one before it. It seems I also have the dubious honor of determining whether each of you has given it your best shot.”
“Daddy trusted you implicitly,” Vina said. “Naturally, we feel the same the way. But…should you decide one or more of us has failed what does that mean as far as the company and other assets are concerned?”
Sheldon’s eyes lingered on Victoriana for a moment before addressing them all. “I want you to know that I tried to persuade Victor not to make it so cut and dried, but he was adamant. If even one of you fails…the company and assets will be sold off. All proceeds will be added to your parents’ cash and liquid assets, and then divided in half. Fifty percent will be shared equally by you ladies, and the other fifty is to be distributed to various charities.”
Victoriana was the first to recoup from the blow. “Sell the company,” her voice shook with anger, “has you lost your mind? You’re the hot shot lawyer, Mr. Davis. It’s your responsibility to steer your clients towards sound decisions.”
“Steer them, yes,” Sheldon replied gently, “but I can’t bully them. You and I both know there was no way to talk Victor out of something once he made up his mind.”
“Mother could have done it,” Victoriana countered. “Did you even bother to ask her to talk him out of it?”
“No, but it wouldn’t have accomplished anything. Lucinda’s Will is identical to Victor’s. I met with them at the same time, and she agreed with his decisions wholeheartedly. You’ve all been apprised of the value of your parent’s estates. Even at fifty percent, you will be independently wealthy for the rest of your lives…as long as you’re not frivolous with the money.”
“We are Victor Moore’s daughters,” Victoriana declared with an indignant huff. “We have never been, nor will we ever be, frivolous with money.”
The corner of Sheldon’s mouth twitched as if he was trying not to smile. “My apologies, Miss Moore, I didn’t mean to infer that you were. Now, shall I leave you alone to discuss it, or will you need a few days to think it over?”
A dead silence fell over the room as Vina and her sisters bounced a non-verbal conversation off each other. There wasn’t really anything to consider. They weren’t worried about losing half the estates to charity; their parents had always been extremely generous when it came to a worthwhile cause. But to lose the company their father had built an empire out of, the company where each of them was held in high regard because of their hard work and dedication…it was inconceivable. More importantly, how could they refuse the last request their parent’s would ever ask of them?
“We are in agreement,” Victoriana informed him. “Please open the first envelope.”
“You…all agree?” Sheldon looked bewildered. “Wouldn’
t you like to discuss it first?”
Victoriana’s smile was indulgent. “We did discuss it, Mr. Davis, and we agreed to comply with our parents’ wishes.”
“Amazing,” he mumbled as he plucked the envelope with the number one written on it.
Vina had listened intently while Sheldon read the instructions. Apparently, the first task was a two-parter. They were to take a couple of days to consider the qualities they desired in a husband, then write them down. Only after all of them were finished, were they to open the second envelope. It seemed an odd request, but one that required little effort on their part, so they were still in agreement about going through with it. Maria did not voice her reluctance at the time, but they were all aware of it just the same.
“I have a question,” Kelsey said, after Sheldon finished reading. “You said Daddy’s management team will run the company until we complete the tasks, but you didn’t mention anything about a time frame. Are we to understand that we can’t go back to work until then?”
VINA IN VENICE (THE 5 SISTERS) Page 1
