A Perfect Fit (17 page)

“He always made time to do what interested me and he
nurtured my dreams, encouraged me to do what made me happy, even if it wasn’t
what he valued.” Delphi grimaced. “There were lots of times I felt second place
to you two, but that was because he didn’t acknowledge me in public rather than
because he didn’t make a real effort to keep up on what was going on in my
life.”

 “If I wanted to talk, needed to vent, whatever, he always
made time, even if it wasn’t our scheduled talk time,” Rosemary added. “And if
he was in a meeting, he always called back within a few hours. He never forgot
or blew me off. But I’m seriously ticked he didn’t tell me he was sick so I
could visit him before he died.”

“Get in line,” Jonquil said. “There’s no question we all
wish he’d been around more. But considering how many of us there are, and the
geographical problems, I’m impressed he managed so well. But I guess he always
had the excuse of checking in on the resorts where we lived.”

Tears started pouring down Cami’s cheeks and she brushed
them away. He really had loved them all, and made sure they felt it. Knowing
this only confused her more as she tried to piece together the man she’d
thought she knew with these new facets of his personality. “Thank you. This has
been a lot to take in, and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“You’re not the only one who feels that way,” Jonquil
pointed out. “Even though we knew about you, we didn’t know about each other,
and Dad had an amazing ability to maneuver everyone around him to do his
bidding.” Her jaw set at a surly angle.

“You’re not kidding. I still can’t believe Delphi and I were
on the same floor of the dorm and never had a real conversation.” Cami asked
Delphi, “Did you know then?”

Delphi nodded. “Yeah. And I recognized you the first day I
moved in. I was curious about you, even while I resented you for being the one
he acknowledged. Did you notice he never came to the campus or dorms that year?”

Cami paused and thought back, then snorted in disgust. “You’re
right. I never thought about it, though. He didn’t want to run into one of us
while he was with the other one.” She called him a harsh name.

Rosemary laughed, but Sage gave Cami an admonishing glare.

Cami debated mentioning more, and decided to come clean. “He
put a bug in Vince’s ear about me while they were planning the landscaping. He
had Vince thinking I must have been a wallflower or something for Dad to be so
pushy about how I was perfect for him, but it got him to step up and learn more
about me.” She swore. “I actually thought I was making my own moves on this
relationship, and then it turned out he’d manipulated that, as well.”

“He didn’t manipulate you into accepting a date, though,”
Jonquil pointed out. “You did it on your own. And weren’t you dating someone
pretty recently?”

“Ah, yes, Trent. The sludge of humanity. I split with him in
January when I realized he was searching for a cash infusion. He kept popping
back up, trying to convince me to give him another chance after Dad died. I
guess our relationship
was
pretty well known. Too bad his financial need
wasn’t quite as clear when we started dating.” She still couldn’t believe she’d
been so gullible.

“So you split with him because he wasn’t as rich as you?”
Rosemary asked.

“No.” Cami infused ice into her voice at the suggestion. “I
dumped him because he cared more about the money than about me. I’m not giving
a fortune hunter the time of day.”

“But did you care about him?” Jonquil asked.

Cami set her water to the side and shifted in her spot. “Not
as much as I thought at the time.” She waved a hand. “Oh, I felt betrayed, but
mostly I was embarrassed I let myself be taken in. Letting him go was
ridiculously easy.”

“That’s almost harder,” Jonquil said with a nod. “I split
with my boyfriend of two years, just realized it wasn’t going anywhere. I think
I was more upset it took me so long to realize there wasn’t anything between us
and we’d wasted our time than I was at the split.” She smiled. “Dad always said
he was too bland for me. It’s irritating when you find out he’s right.”

“Isn’t it, though?” Rosemary asked. “Well, if Dad was in the
matchmaking business for us before he died, no way am I going to start up anything
with a guy he knew. Better yet, I’ll be far too busy running my kitchen to get
involved with any guy at all for the next year, at least.”

Cami decided it was time for a change of subject. “Any
interesting applicants in the pile I brought home?”

“A few, and a few others I’ll check into for servers and
stuff. The applications better keep pouring in, because no way could we staff
the entire hotel from what we’ve seen, and there were definitely a few I wouldn’t
consider interviewing, never mind hiring.”

Cami grinned. “I’ve been in touch with a concierge from the
Four Seasons in Denver. She thinks she might like a change of scene, and she’d
be a great resource as we’re starting out. I’ve known her for a few years. She’s
very
good.” If she managed to get Lorna, it would make her life so much
easier.

“That would be a coup,” Lana agreed.

“Yes it would.”

They took turns discussing hiring possibilities, then directed
the subject elsewhere. Cami mostly sat back and listened to the banter as it
flowed from one woman to the next. She hadn’t considered the others might be
struggling as much with current events as she was, or that they might be angry
and confused about why their dad had kept so many secrets. They’d all lost something
when their father died. But maybe, just maybe, the note he’d left her, his
words about wanting her to have her sisters there to love and support her,
would be fulfilled after all. Eventually.

Vince smiled when he found Cami gathered around the island
with her sisters, putting together sandwiches for dinner. “Hey, a room full of
beautiful women, what more could a man want?”

“Join us for dinner.” Cami accepted his peck on the lips,
warming him with her smile.

“I think I will.” He pulled her into a hug and leaned
against the counter, enjoying the babble of women’s voices, and more
importantly, the feel of Cami in his arms after a long day of slogging through
paperwork at the nursery.

The door to the garage opened and Delphi came through in one
of her sleek suits. She pointed at Vince, irritation on her face. “Your friend
is the most arrogant ass I’ve ever met.”

“Things didn’t go well with Jeremy?” Cami asked.

“Wait, Jeremy’s the ass? What did he do?” Jeremy was usually
so good with women, and Delphi so professional, he must have really done
something out of character to get her fuming.

She dumped her attaché in a chair in the great room and
stormed back to him on three-inch heels. “I’d known him all of thirty seconds
when he made some arrogant statement about how he wasn’t interested in marriage
no matter how much I was worth. As if I were some wannabe contestant for The
Bachelor or something. As if I didn’t already have a boyfriend and actually
cared what the jerk wanted.”

Vince tried to choke back a laugh, but couldn’t manage it. “He’s
usually very smooth with beautiful women. I don’t know what he was thinking.”
Vince
did
know what Jeremy had been thinking, but obviously George hadn’t
shared his grand plans for his daughters’ marriages with the ladies. “What did
you say?”

She told them about Jeremy insisting she’d been checking him
out, and her rebuttal that it was the bike she was interested in. When she said
she’d told Jeremy his bike was way hotter than he was, Vince barely managed to
hold back the guffaw that ached to explode.

“Is it true?” Jonquil asked. “Is the bike way hotter?”

Delphi eyed Vince. “You ever repeat what I’m about to say,
and I’ll make sure you pay for a long, long time.” When he held up his hands in
defense, she grinned at Jonquil. “Oh, the bike is super-hot, and the guy is a
pretty good match. Too bad his personality hotness quotient dropped like fifty
points when he opened his mouth.”

“Too bad.” Jonquil piled a handful of chips on the side of
her plate. “What did you think of his work?”

“Top notch. I guess I’ll deal with the arrogance.” She
looked at Sage. “I don’t know how you put up with him on the Fourth of July.”

“He had a girl with him, and I wasn’t checking out
his…equipment, so apparently he didn’t see a point in going on the offense,”
Sage said with a teasing smile. “Besides, you might change your mind about him
later.”

Delphi snorted. “Not likely.”

Wishing he hadn’t promised to keep this exchange to himself,
Vince decided having the sisters around could be very entertaining.  

~*~

“Joel, don’t think you’re getting out of this,” Sage called
out as the sisters collected in the entrance to the hotel.

Cami laughed when he pulled a face. The entire executive
staff was getting their pictures taken and Joel had done nothing but scowl and
complain since the announcement was made. The sisters were all in professional
outfits of one kind or another—though Rosemary wore a chef’s uniform, and Sage
wore the polo and dress pants that were her typical spa uniform.

“I can’t believe you’re wearing that, and I’m in a dress
suit,” Jonquil complained. “I should never have let Delphi help me pick
something.”

“Blue is your color and the pictures are going to be
awesome,” Delphi said, adjusting the collar on her blouse.

 Jeremy stood by in jeans, a tight white tee and his
signature sunglasses. His camera, a tripod and a long pole were all strapped to
him as he watched the group of women with thinly disguised irritation. “Are we
about ready?”

“I’m not wearing a suit coat,” Joel stated as he came to
join the group.

“You’re fine the way you are.” Rosemary smoothed a wrinkle
in the green polo he wore that had the company logo and his name embroidered on
it.  “You just need to seem tough and intimidating. See there, you’ve already
got it down.”

Cami held in a chuckle. Joel hadn’t changed his usual expression
one iota.

When she realized he was staring at someone walking into the
building, Cami turned to the man approaching them. He grinned broadly and
offered her his hand. “Hi, you’d be Camellia, right?”

“Yes, have we met?”

“I’m Larry Clonger, a reporter with—”

That was as far as he got before Joel stepped in and started
herding the man back to the outside door. “If you want interviews, you’ll have
to go through proper channels,” he said.

“But I wanted to ask the ladies about the rumors that have
been cropping up,” the reporter protested.

“Then call and set something up. Now isn’t a good time.”
Joel lifted his radio and called for backup before he got out of hearing.
“They’re very busy getting ready for the resort opening.”

“That was interesting,” Rosemary said, straightening her
uniform.

“They’re coming out of the woodwork. Joel and the other
security guys are already working overtime to keep the reporters at bay and
screen incoming calls,” Lana said with a sigh.

“It’ll blow over soon. We’re really not that big of news,”
Jonquil said.

“Yeah, until someone finds or makes up something spectacular
enough to print again.” Lana frowned.

“You have something to hide?” Rosemary asked, her brows
lifting suggestively.

Blake came down the stairs and joined them “Sorry I’m late.
Where do you want us?” he asked Jeremy.

They went out to a nice spot in the landscaping with rocks
and trees and Jeremy started ordering people around. Delphi kept things moving
along, not letting time lapse between pictures, while Lana ensured everyone’s
clothes were smooth and hair perfect for each shot.

Jeremy had all of the sisters get together for a group
picture. “Don’t you want everyone in this?” Cami asked.

“We’ll take one in a minute, but for this picture we’re
going to focus on the idea of family running the hotel, a family you trust and
believe in,” Jeremy said. “That’s what the PR person said.”

“So what am I doing here?” Joel asked.

Sage gave him a saucy smile. “You’ll live.”

“Jeremy, is the picture balanced? Maybe I should switch with
Jonquil,” Delphi said as she touched her hair.

“It’s fine. This is my job. You can trust me to do it right,
your majesty.”

Delphi sent him a quelling look, then put on a smile and
posed for the shot.

The sisters came and went over the next weeks as their
schedules demanded, but by August first everyone was in residence fulltime.
Cami forced herself to join the others for after-dinner conversations, movie
nights and even did a few Zumba sessions with them—in which she learned that
yes, Delphi was every bit as uncoordinated as she claimed.

Most of the rooms in the hotel had been completed. Furniture
and supplies were arriving by the trailer load—which had them all working long
hours training new employees and seeing everything put in place.

Then one evening Lana came out of her bedroom, stood at the
top of the stairs, and yelled out that there was an emergency meeting, and
everyone better get their tails in the great room pronto.

Cami grabbed her laptop and joined the ladies in the comfy
seats around the coffee table, which Jonquil loaded up with sodas, a hot pot of
coffee and munchies.

“What is that all for?” Delphi asked.

“Brain food. If this is an emergency meeting, I thought
snacks might be in order.” Jonquil pulled out a package of Godiva chocolates
and arranged them alongside the rest.

“Now you’re talking,” Rosemary said as she grabbed one.

Lana was grim faced. “Now that we don’t have to worry about
starving, can we get down to business?”

“If this is a business meeting, shouldn’t we be holding it
at the hotel?” Delphi asked.