A Christmas Rendezvous

by Karen Booth

  “I can’t believe you never moved in here,” Isabel said. “It’s incredible. Completely gorgeous.” She wandered over to a set of French doors that led out to a stone balcony, admiring the wintry scene. Mother Nature had already gone big this December.

  “I knew that no matter what I did, Sophie would criticize my choices unless I left everything exactly as it was. And I do not want to live in a museum.”

  “That’s not really fair to you, is it? So you just leave this sitting here because of your sister?”

  Mindy shrugged. “I have no business complaining. Emma never knew our grandmother very well, so she enjoys coming up here and poking around, looking at old photos. Sophie likes it for the same reason, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy it, too. It’s comforting to be here. I can feel our grandmother’s presence when I’m here and we all miss it. I can’t fault anyone for wanting to put the world on pause.”

  Isabel nodded, appreciating the whole sad story. She knew very well what it was like to miss someone so desperately. She still felt that same way about her parents, especially her mom. “If only we could do that. It would be nice every now and then.”

  Mindy gathered her glorious red tresses in her hands and draped them over one shoulder. “It’s only been a year since Gram died, and so much has happened. Just when we thought we were getting the store back on a more profitable path, this happens. I’m honestly wondering if we’re not better off just selling, paying off Mr. Summers and moving on. I know Sophie and Emma want to keep Eden’s alive at any cost, but sometimes, things just don’t work out.”

  Isabel carefully considered Mindy’s words. She loved that her future sister-in-law was both savvy and sweet. She could make shrewd business moves and still take everyone’s feelings into account. “Have I told you how happy I am that my brother found a woman who is not only smart, but also incredibly thoughtful?”

  Mindy smiled. “That’s not what you thought of me the first time we met.”

  “I know. And I fully admit that you changed my mind.”

  Mindy reached out and rubbed Isabel’s arm. “I’m excited to have you for a sister-in-law. Although, honestly, I have a feeling that I should probably just call you my sister. You and I are a lot more alike than Sophie or Emma and I.”

  Isabel felt like her heart was growing to twice its normal size. She and Sam were impossibly close, but that was such a small circle of family. Here was Mindy, forging a connection of her own with Isabel. She was so thankful for it. “That sounds amazing. I’ve always wanted a sister.”

  “Consider it done.” Mindy grinned and placed her arm around Isabel’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Come on. Let’s go dig through my grandmother’s office.”

  The pair trekked through the living room to what appeared to be Victoria Eden’s private quarters, with a large master bedroom, elegant bathroom with its own view of the park, dressing room and, finally, a generous home office. Like the rest of the house, a neutral backdrop of white and cream made room for the more over-the-top elements, like a crimson velvet club chair. Mindy stepped behind her grandmother’s grand desk and opened the closet to reveal six large filing cabinets.

  “I’m guessing we start here?” Mindy asked.

  Isabel didn’t have a better suggestion. “It’s as good a place as any.”

  They quickly set up a system, methodically going through one drawer at a time, file folder after file folder, page after page of surprisingly meaningless paperwork. For a woman who had been considered a business tycoon, Victoria Eden had been keenly focused on the smallest of things.

  Mindy shook her head and closed one folder. “She kept nearly thirty years of electric bills. Who does that?”

  “Someone who’s watching every penny? Maybe that’s part of why she was so successful.”

  Mindy’s shoulders dropped in exasperation. “I hope this doesn’t end up being a big waste of time.”

  “I don’t know. Compared to most things I do, this is pretty fun. Plus, we get to spend time together.”

  “There you go. Good job looking on the bright side. I need to do more of that.”

  “Actually, if anything, I’d take all of this mundane stuff as a good sign. Anyone who kept electric bills likely also kept far more important things.”

  “Even superpersonal things?”

  Isabel closed up the folder she’d been sifting through and handed it over to Mindy. “Especially that.”

  After two more hours of pulling apart the contents of the filing cabinets, they were down to the last drawer. Mindy pulled the handle, but it only opened partway. “Can you help me with this?” she asked, peering down inside.

  Isabel rushed over and knelt down next to Mindy. Sure enough, there was a large wood box, turned on its side, preventing the drawer from being opened the whole way. Mindy and Isabel quickly pulled out the hanging files in front of it. Mindy grabbed a letter opener from her grandmother’s desk drawer and slipped it under the bottom of the box, twisting and pulling until the box popped free with a clatter of wood against metal.

  Mindy closed the drawer and sat spread-eagled on the floor with the box between her knees. She flipped the small brass latch on the front. She looked up at Isabel, her eyes wide with astonishment. “It’s a bunch of letters.” She examined the first envelope. “The return address says Bradley Summers.”

  Goose bumps popped up on Isabel’s arms. She sensed that another piece of the puzzle was about to fall into place. “Bingo.”

  Isabel and Mindy spent the next several hours devouring the correspondence sent by Bradley Summers to Victoria Eden, which seemed to begin in the spring of 1979, years before the loan would have been made. They arranged the letters in chronological order, which helped them sort out how the affair began: after Bradley and Victoria had a chance meeting at a cocktail party in the Hamptons. Bradley made mention that he was glad their spouses had not been on hand—Bradley’s wife because she’d had one of her “many migraines” and Victoria’s husband because he couldn’t be bothered to stay away from the racetrack. It was an epic love story that sprouted up between two people thrown together by chance, who just happened to fulfill what the other was so desperately looking for. For the senior Mr. Summers, it seemed to be the undivided attention of a woman. My sweet Victoria, he wrote, When we’re together, I feel like I’m the only man in the world. Every moment with you is priceless, worth framing and hanging in a museum.

  “Wow. This is so romantic. They were head over heels for each other,” Isabel said, handing over the letter she was holding to Mindy. She couldn’t help but be astonished by what had been between these two people, sentiments that served as a very plain reminder that Isabel hadn’t come close to finding that kind of passion or affection with a man. She hoped she wasn’t running out of time.

  When Mindy finished reading the final letter in the box, she looked over at Isabel with a tear in her eye. It was a bit incongruous with Mindy’s normally tough exterior. “Their love affair was real.” Mindy’s shoulders dropped. “I don’t know what to think about this. Or how I’m supposed to feel. I really loved my grandfather, but it’s pretty well known in our family that he was not a great husband. This is at least confirmation that my grandmother stayed in a loveless marriage for her entire life.”

  “That part is incredibly sad.” Isabel glanced down at the pile of letters. “It was also pretty clear that your grandfather had a serious gambling problem. Bradley mentions several times that he hated your grandmother living with the burden of his many debts. Do you think that’s where the money could have gone?”

  Mindy shrugged. “I have no idea. I mean, going to the racetrack with our grandfather is one of the only things I ever remember doing with him, but we were kids and it was nothing but fun. We’d drink soda and eat junk food and he’d let us pick our favorite horses so he could place bets. Sophie always picked names like Fancy Frolic, and I al
ways picked ones like Emperor King. My grandfather used to tease me, saying that I needed to learn to like ‘girl things.’” Mindy made air quotes. “As far as I was concerned, I liked what I liked. No big surprise, but he handed those same ideas down to our dad. Even so, those days at the track are some of my fondest memories of my grandfather. He at least wanted to spend time with us, which is more than I can say for my dad.”

  Isabel was struck by how even a family with great wealth and power could have such a bittersweet legacy. “If the money went to gambling debts, it might be harder to track down, especially depending on who he owed money to. And it still doesn’t change the fact that it appears that the loan was real.”

  Mindy again looked down at the letters in her hand, but it was for several moments this time. She brushed her fingers across the envelope at the top of the pile. “This means that the store is really on the line, doesn’t it? We aren’t talking hypotheticals anymore. I mean, chances are that the promissory note is real, and we’re going to have to find a way to pay off the debt.”

  “No matter what I’m able to negotiate, chances are that it’ll still be a huge chunk of money, and from everything I’ve seen of Mr. Summers, he’s serious about wanting it in one lump sum, right away. Early January, right after New Year’s.”

  “It’s just hard to come up with that kind of cash without a loan. And the most valuable thing we have to use as collateral is Eden’s. It’s all Sophie has, aside from her apartment and Eden House, our family’s vacation home, which she would never let go of in a million years.”

  “What about selling this apartment?”

  Mindy nodded, looking around the room. “Yeah. I could definitely do that, but we’re talking maybe fifty million, and that’s if we get top dollar from the right buyer, which could easily take a year to happen. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what we have to come up with.”

  “Can Sam help?”

  “He’s looking into selling some bigger properties, but like I said, that all takes time, and it all costs money, too. Real estate agents need to get paid. It sort of feels like we’re throwing money into a big black hole.” Surprisingly, a smile crossed Mindy’s face.

  “And you’re happy about that?”

  “No. No. I was just thinking about Sam and his reaction to this whole situation. He wants to fix everything. He gets so worked up about it, wanting to hold everything together. It’s just so damn sweet. Every time he gets upset about it, I fall a little more in love with him.”

  Now Isabel was the one having to fight back tears. The struggles she and Sam had been through when they were young had been much harder on him, and Isabel still had a good deal of guilt over having been away at college when it happened. “You really love him, don’t you?”

  “It might sound corny, and I’m not a super sentimental person, but he is my soul mate. We work together in every way. I can’t imagine my life without him.” Mindy gathered the letters in her hands and squared the edges on the floor. “And I nearly lost him. I pushed him away so many times.”

  Isabel had never pushed anyone away, but she’d had many men shutter her out of their lives. It hurt an unimaginable amount, which was a big part of the reason Isabel had not initially liked Mindy. She hated the thought of her brother having his heart broken. “I feel like everything happens for a reason. Maybe you had to go through those early tests to know for sure that you’re right for each other.”

  “That sounds a lot nicer than my version, which is basically just me being an idiot.” Mindy shifted to her knees and got up from the floor. “So what do you think is going to happen with Eden’s?”

  “I think we’re going to have to count on Mr. Summers’s good graces and hope that they’ll agree to a reduced settlement and a payment plan.”

  “Do you think these letters might help?” Mindy asked. “What if we showed them to him? Showed him how much his father really loved my grandmother? It might make him see that the loan really was made out of love. It’s not our fault his parents couldn’t make their marriage work.”

  Isabel shook her head. “No. Absolutely not. I think you should put those letters back where you found them, and for the time being, I wouldn’t tell anyone about them other than Sam and your sisters.”

  “Okay, then. What’s next?”

  “I’m guessing that I’m going to get a phone call from Jeremy Sharp tomorrow morning saying that the note was authenticated. And that’s when we start negotiating from a disadvantage.”

  “You don’t think you’re better than him?”

  Now it was Isabel’s turn to smile at an inopportune time. “It’s not a matter of better. Jeremy is plenty skilled. He’s a shrewd attorney.”

  Mindy narrowed her sights, and Isabel immediately worried that her future sister-in-law was onto something. “Is it just me or is he superhot, too? I mean, I know Sam thinks he’s a weasel, but there’s no accounting for his taste. Especially not when it comes to hotness.”

  Isabel’s cheeks flushed with warmth. There had been many times at dinner the other night when she’d caught herself holding her breath in awe of Jeremy’s appeal. “He’s extremely handsome. There’s no doubt about that.”

  “It was sexy the way you two were arguing at that first meeting. It felt like there were sparks flying. Or is that stupid of me to say?”

  Isabel already felt bad about not coming clean about Jeremy with her own brother the day of that meeting. She wasn’t sure she could keep it from Mindy, too, especially when they were becoming so close. “I have to tell you something. But you have to promise not to breathe a word of it to Sam. At least not until the case is settled.” She bit down on her lip, waiting for Mindy’s response, hoping like hell that she could truly be trusted.

  “I don’t like the idea of secrets. But I also don’t like the idea of you feeling like you can’t tell me anything. Because you can.” Mindy nodded eagerly. “So, yes. My lips are zipped. I won’t say a peep to Sam.”

  Isabel took in a deep breath for confidence. “I slept with Jeremy.”

  Mindy slugged her in the arm playfully. “Shut up. Are you serious?” Her eyes bugged out. “Wait. When?”

  “It was actually a few days before the first meeting. I had no idea who he was, and he had no idea who I was. It was pure coincidence.” Isabel went on to share the most general of details from their night together, sparing Mindy the part about Jeremy’s quick departure.

  “So, how was it?”

  “It was fantastic, but it was a one-night thing. You don’t have anything to worry about. There will be no conflict of interest there. Jeremy’s all business and he’s devoted to his client. That goes much further than you might imagine.”

  “I trust your judgment, Isabel. Completely. I know you’re an amazing lawyer and I’m sure you won’t have a problem keeping it all aboveboard. So, how do you like our odds of saving the store?”

  Isabel didn’t want to sugarcoat anything, but she didn’t want to set her future sister-in-law up for disappointment, either. “The optimist in me is thinking fifty-fifty.”

  “Really?” Mindy asked. “That bad?”

  Isabel reached out and caressed Mindy’s arm, wanting to be at least a little reassuring. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep you from losing.”

  “Everything?” Mindy asked with two perfectly arched eyebrows.

  Isabel was now second-guessing the decision to spill the beans about Jeremy. She really hoped she didn’t end up regretting it. “Nearly everything.”

  Mindy and Isabel put away the letters, tidied up the office, and went their separate ways. It was a chilly day, but the sun had come out, so Isabel decided to walk back to the Bacharach. When she arrived, there was a sign on the door: All guests: Please see the front desk for information regarding your stay. There will be no new check-ins until further notice.

  Isabel strode inside to investigate,
but there was a sizable line of seemingly upset guests at the front desk. “What’s going on?” she asked a woman who was waiting for the elevator.

  “The fire department has ordered the hotel to replace the alarm system. They start the work on Friday. Everyone has to be out by then.” The elevator dinged. “It doesn’t affect me, so I’m not too worried about it.”

  Isabel decided she wasn’t going to wait with the angry mob in the lobby and instead took the elevator up with the woman. “Did they happen to say if they’re sending guests to another hotel?”

  “It’s Christmas in Manhattan. There are no other hotel rooms. That’s why everyone is so mad.”

  Isabel wasn’t sure how things could get much worse. She’d just have to move in with Sam and Mindy for a few days until she could find something more permanent. If nothing else, she needed to get back to looking for an apartment in earnest.

  The woman got off on her floor and Isabel rode up another two to her own. She’d hardly keyed her way into her room when her phone rang. It was Jeremy.

  “Hello?” she asked, plopping down on the bed.

  “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  Isabel disliked the way her body reacted to his voice, like a puppy that’s just been told it’s time for a treat. “No. It’s fine. What’s up?”

  “We got the authentication of the note. I just wanted to tell you as soon as I knew.”

  Isabel reclined back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. This was not surprising news, but it was certainly not what they wanted. “Okay, then. I’ll notify my client. And I guess we need to get together to hammer out these negotiations.”

  “Yeah. About that. I talked to Mr. Summers and in light of the authentication, he has changed his terms. He wants an even billion or the store. By January 1.”

  She shot straight up in bed, her heart hammering. She could hardly believe what he had just said. “It’s Christmas. Is he really that cold and heartless? I’m sorry, but your client is behaving like Ebenezer Scrooge.”

  “From where I’m sitting, he has an ironclad case.”