A Perfect Fit (4 page)

Delphi came up the stairs as Cami joined the others in the
dining area, though no one sat. A quick headcount told her everyone was
present. When no one spoke up, Lana started things. “Do we want to get our food
first, then chat while we eat?”

There were a few shrugs and people moved to grab plates. “If
this is as good as it smells, I’m going to have to do an extra thirty minutes
on the treadmill in the morning,” Delphi said as she slid a large slice of
lasagna onto her plate.

“At least you don’t have to cook stuff like this every day
and still try to stay the same dress size,” Rosemary lamented. “Anyone else do
Zumba? I have some DVDs.”

“I’m in,” Jonquil said.

“Me too.” Sage piled her plate with greens.

“Not me. I’ve got to be the least coordinated person on the
planet,” Delphi admitted. “Dance is way outside my abilities.”

“I’ll loan you the beginner disc.” Rosemary grabbed a can of
Mountain Dew. “After a few times through you’ll be fine.”

“If only.”

“How about you?” Rosemary asked Cami.

“I hate exercise of every kind.” And she’d rather run in a
snowstorm then spend buddy-buddy time with the others.

Everyone seemed so easy together, casual. Cami wondered if
she was the only one who had knots in her shoulders from worrying about this
moment. Then she noticed the way Delphi’s mouth was drawn in a tight line and
the way Rosemary played with her food instead of making eye contact with anyone
else. The only person who looked open and interested was Sage, whose brown eyes
seemed to take in every detail.

Cami took the last seat on the left, beside Delphi, and
reminded herself she’d been to major fundraising dinners, eaten with senators
and movie producers. There was absolutely no reason for her to be so anxious.

“So, can I have the first question?” Jonquil asked once
everyone had begun eating. She slid a glance at Cami. “What’s up with you and
the hottie lawyer? Is he why Dad made the comment about living here or with a
husband?”

Lana choked, Cami’s brow furrowed. “Hottie lawyer? You don’t
mean Alex?”

“Of
course
I mean Alex. I saw you two cuddling after
the reading of the will.”

“We weren’t cuddling. I was upset, he was comforting me. He’s
my
cousin
.” The thought of someone thinking she was dating Alex disturbed
Cami more than she could say. He was a handsome guy, but he’d been raised
almost as her brother.

A smile teased Jonquil’s mouth. “Is he
our
cousin, or
just
your
cousin?”

“He’s mine and Lana’s on our mother’s side.” Was she
serious? Cami tried to imagine Alex and Jonquil together. They would make a beautiful
couple, but she didn’t know nearly enough about Jonquil to decide if they would
mesh at all—and she didn’t think she liked the idea.

Jonquil’s brows lifted. “Better and better. Is he seeing
anyone?” 

“Not that I know of. You’d do better to keep your distance
though.”

Jonquil pointed her blue eyes at Cami and her tone cooled. “Why,
you think I’m not good enough? Maybe I’m tainted by my illegitimacy. I could
corrupt him.” Anger blazed from her.

“No.” Cami closed her eyes, took a second to figure out what
it was that had made her instantly upset at the idea of Jonquil putting the
moves on Alex. She decided there was too much truth in the accusations for her
comfort. She had to live with these women for over a year, so starting off with
honesty was her best bet. “Okay, maybe it is, a little. Look, I’m trying to
deal with this, but it’s a lot to take in. I’m not happy about any of it.”

“And so you’re going to hate us all and think we’re all
vamps, because obviously Dad was
seduced
and
tricked
into
sleeping with each of our mothers,” Delphi suggested. Her voice was light,
steady as she took a sip of her soda. “The poor man didn’t have a chance—they
may have drugged him. For months. I know he was seeing my mom for nearly six
months, but it must be all
her
fault, and she taught me everything she
knows.”

Cami put her elbows on the table as she massaged her temples
with her fingertips. “I know it wasn’t like that. If there had only been one
affair, I might be able to trick myself into believing he had a weak moment,
but Dad was not a weak man. He knew what he was doing.” She took a sip of her
soda to give her time to yank back the emotions riding high and swirling
together inside her. “I’m going to try not to be unreasonable about this, but I
can’t promise I’ll always succeed. I’ll get through it.” If Delphi was going to
call her on every misstep, though it was going to be a long year.

“Done.” Jonquil sliced a bite off of her lasagna with her
fork. “So, Alex?”

Laughing despite herself, Cami forced herself to give a
socially acceptable answer. “Go for it. You’re not his usual type, but you
never know. Sometimes he surprises me.” She knew there was a little bite in her
voice; she couldn’t help it. And from the way Jonquil’s brows lifted, the
subtext made it through just fine. Cami didn’t think anything would come of it.

“I have a question,” Sage said when a moment of silence had
passed. “Is there anyone here who doesn’t remember meeting everyone else at
least once at some point?”

When everyone stared at everyone else, Cami nodded. “He
maneuvered us all into each other’s lives. He’s been doing it since we were
girls. It’s almost as if he
wanted
to get caught.”

“I always wondered why he insisted on sending me to that
particular summer camp, when there were so many closer to home,” Rosemary
agreed. “He wanted me to meet you,” she gestured to Cami, “and later you.” Jonquil
this time.

“He was lucky we didn’t end up hating each other,
considering we were placed in rival cabins,” Jonquil said. “But as our tent
outflanked everyone, I won’t hold a grudge.”

Several mentions of meetings with others at the table came
up before Cami asked her burning question. “I’ve been wondering. How many of
you knew Dad was married, and Lana and I existed?” She watched as every hand
went up besides Lana’s. She took a deep breath to calm the flash of anger and
hurt. “All of you?”

“It’s not like Dad was low profile,” Jonquil said. “I
learned when I first started college.”

“High school,” Delphi and Rosemary piped up.

“I’ve always known,” Sage said. “Though I didn’t know your
names until a couple years after we met.”

Cami swallowed back the hurt and anger these comment brought
up in her, but wasn’t sure if she was glad or not to have been kept in the dark.
The relationship with her father had been good, which she was glad about, but
now she looked back and felt nothing but betrayal.

“Did any of you know about each other?” Lana asked.
Headshakes all around. “That’s something.”

“So why is it we’re all meeting tomorrow for an official
business meeting, when we’re all sitting around the table now having a meeting
anyway?” Jonquil asked.

Lana fielded this one. “The contractor and new regional
director will be at the meeting tomorrow so we can discuss preparations. We’ll
take a tour of the building and have a chance to spend time in our sections
making sure everything is going as it should. I don’t think we need to discuss
any of our private affairs with them, and it’s best to get it out of the way
now so we can focus on work tomorrow.”

“I can’t believe Alex didn’t hint at any of this,” Cami
said, stabbing at her salad greens. In her head she understood why he’d kept it
all a secret, but her heart ached. She’d always thought they were close, and
yet he’d kept this from her. It wasn’t like he was protecting her from ever
finding out.

Lana set down her fork and studied everyone around the
table. “This is going to be an odd, awkward situation as it is. Over there, I’ll
be your boss. I don’t want to be that here, so we’re going to have to be very
careful about keeping the two separate—if that’s even possible. I don’t have to
be happy about how everything happened, and it’s going to be a while before I
can forgive Dad for putting us in this situation. I don’t know if I’ll ever
forgive him for cheating on my mom. Still, I want to be your friends, at least.”

“Then we’ll make it work,” Jonquil said. “Because it’s our
lives and it’s important to all of us.”

Cami wasn’t sure she could say it was important to her.
Right now the rage was so huge all she wanted was to be able to have a decent
working relationship with these women and otherwise have them stay out of her
way. It wasn’t their fault, but dealing with them made her anger worse.

When everyone else agreed, though, she decided to keep it to
herself.

Vince watched the women pull up in three cars and file into
the hotel. He rubbed his forearm across his sweaty head and paused in his
movements after maneuvering the front loader to set the boulder where it
belonged on the landscape.

They were some incredible women, an interesting mix of hair
colors and clothing styles from business formal on Lana and Cami to more casual
chic attire on Rosemary and Delphi. Sage wore a billowy, eccentric skirt, and Jonquil’s
sleek pantsuit seemed somehow tomboyish, even while it reeked of
professionalism. A tall, muscular, bald guy pulled in right behind them,
following them into the building.

Vince had managed to meet all of the women the previous day,
intentionally putting off work in their yard until the day they were to arrive,
if only to catch a glimpse of them. Or rather, because he was highly curious
about one woman in particular.

George had mentioned all of his daughters at one time or
another, but spoke particularly of Camellia. Vince had gone out of his way to
track down pictures of her on the Internet when George had made it clear he
felt Vince would be a nice match for her. Vince wasn’t one to let others guide
him when it came to women, but he’d been curious.

And then he’d seen her picture and thought if she was half
as nice on the inside as the outside, he might be willing to get to know her
after all. Yesterday he’d learned she was far better looking in person than in
the grainy newsprint pictures. And those long legs—they could make a grown man
weep in appreciation.

Now she flicked the sunglasses off her face, shook out the
mop of red curls, and put on an expression of determination before stepping
into the building. She had seemed so confident the previous day, he was
surprised to see the signs of nerves.

Turning his mind back to his work, Vince backed up the front
loader to get the next boulder.

~*~

There must have been nerves all around, because after the
women’s various morning routines, they settled down to breakfasts of eggs, cold
cereal, or in Rosemary’s case, three cups of espresso, black. They car pooled
to the hotel, which was only a couple of blocks away, a nice convenience on
mornings when a walk would be a welcome change. Checking out the blue skies as
she got out of the car, Cami thought she might indulge in the activity often. Juniper
Ridge might be the back of beyond, but it was lovely.

Half a dozen men worked in the yard, putting in landscaping.
Dozens of construction vehicles created a maze the ladies had to pick their way
through to reach the front door. When the women walked from the finished
exterior to the inside, the sound of hammers and drills was apparent, though
the entrance was mostly finished, if lacking furniture.

Alex greeted them as they crossed into the building. “Hey,
ladies, I’m glad to see you all came together. Welcome to DiCarlo Resort and
Spa of Juniper Ridge, Colorado. As you’ll notice, there’s still a great deal of
work to be done before you open September first. We’ll do a full tour with the
regional director after the meeting. Over the next few days, each of you will
have a chance to discuss your departments and goals.”

“Me first, right? I have to get back to Boston for a wedding
in two days,” Delphi reminded him. “This meeting is causing me a major
headache.”

“Yes, you first. How are things coming with that, anyway?”
He turned and walked beside her as he led them to the meeting.

“Good, great. If this bride hadn’t called me at three a.m.
in tears and terror that something was going to go wrong, it would be better.”

Alex stopped at an open door and gestured for the women to
go on through. “Every job has its perks.” His smile was wry.

“Don’t they just,” Lana said as she breezed into the room
ahead of Cami, then stopped two steps in, causing Cami to run into her, and
nearly knock her down. “What are you doing here?”

Cami righted herself and took a step back to find Lana
staring at Blake Bahlmann, formerly hotel manager at the Chicago resort. Only a
couple of seconds passed before she regained her self-possession and continued
into the room.

“I was just appointed the new regional director and I took
over opening the hotel after your father got too sick to finish. Didn’t Alex
mention I would be here?” The tall blond man slid his hands into the pockets of
his blue suit pants and gave Lana a steady stare. “You’re looking well, as
always.”

Her face was a mask, her words clipped. “Thank you. Did you
fly in this morning?” She took a chair and pulled out the binder she’d been
organizing for the past two weeks, flipping it open.

“Last night. I stayed at a charming little B&B down the
road.”

“Soon there’ll be a room here when you drop in to check on
us. I’m sure it’ll be more to your liking.” She smiled woodenly at her sisters,
but her usually steady hands fumbled with a pen as she slid it out of the
sleeve of her binder—the only sign of her discomfort.

“It seems there were a number of things Alex failed to bring
to your attention.” He turned his gaze on the other man before glancing around
at the women with his usual ease and grace. “Since you’re all seated, I’ll
introduce myself and then turn things over to Lana. It is her meeting, after
all. The contractor should be up here in a few minutes to discuss how things
are coming along. In the meantime, for those who don’t know, my name is Blake
Bahlmann and I’m the regional director for DiCarlo Hotels. When I was put into
my position, the contract stipulated I would move my office to this location
when it was completed enough for residency. I’ll be taking an office in the
same area as Lana’s, and the quarters usually assigned to the hotel manager.”