If The Shoe Fits (23 page)

Probably not the time to remind Mother that
she had, in fact, gone after Sal when she’d read about the car
accident.

“
But, no. Again, I’m thwarted by
the lust of a man. This time for a dead woman.” She pointed one of
her long fingernails at Staci. “But you, Anastasia, you will learn
from my mistakes, from my experiences. I don’t ever want you to be
at the mercy of some fickle man, to be used and cast aside as the
mood suits him.” She picked up Bella’s phone and held it out.
“Which is why you are going to end whatever this little fling is
with this Luke person. We need to keep an eye on Reese, and, so
help me, Staci, I will send
you
away with Sophia if you ruin
this. I need you to keep tabs on that man and make sure Bella is
never alone with him.”

“
Why, Mother? What good will that
do any of us?”

Mother yanked Staci to her until they were
nose-to-nose. “Because his mother is the woman vying for my place
on the Board and I’m counting on you to ensure that she doesn’t get
it.”

“
And just how do you plan for me
to ensure that, Mother? No one on the Board is going to listen to
me.” Mother was putting a lot of confidence in her. A first. And it
made Staci suspicious.

“
Please, Anastasia. We both know
you are not cut out for this time of work. It’s bound to turn into
a fiasco. And if by some grace of God it runs smoothly, you’ll be
on board to turn it around in our favor. His mother won’t want her
son’s name dragged through the mud if she gets
appointed.”

“
You want me to
sabotage
the auction?” Staci didn’t know whether to be insulted or appalled.
Though the fact that Mother
expected
her to fail, had meant
for her to work with Bella so that she
would
fail, was a
pretty compelling reason to go with insulted.

“
Sabotage is such a harsh word,
Anastasia. I want you to make sure that Reese’s sterling reputation
is tarnished just enough to reflect poorly on his name.”

“
But that will do the same thing
to Casteleoni’s.”

“
Not if you play your cards right.
And with me dealing your hand, you will. You just have to do what I
say.”

So nothing had changed. Mother still thought
so little of her that she thought she could insult her with no
repercussions.

But she wasn’t the brainless idiot Mother
obviously thought she was. She had her own plan for her life and
just because Mother hadn’t found a man to stand by her didn’t mean
Staci couldn’t. And, yes, Luke was a long shot, but he’d come
around. He would. If she stood her ground and didn’t give in to him
until he realized that she wasn’t like anyone he’d ever known, he’d
come around. Oh, she knew all about what his ex-wife was trying to
do; it was in all the magazines, but she was the best thing for him
and he’d figure it out and then they’d have their own happily ever
after. Just like she deserved.

Just like Bella and Reese and little Sophia
deserved. And Staci was in the position to make it
happen.

“
All right, Mother. I’ll see what
I can do.”

***

Oh no she would
not.

Jonathan almost fell out of the hanging basket
on the front porch. True, it might have something to do with the
yellow jacket that decided to give him a sniff, but Staci’s
agreement bowled him over as well. This would not do. He’d had such
high hopes for the girl.

Jonathan adjusted his fedora, shook his head
one more time at Staci’s duplicity and Madeleine’s utter lack of
compassion, and whisked himself back to Home Base. He was going to
have to get other Guardians involved.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

“
Look, Bella, there’s Aunt Staci.”
Sophia ran across the crowded cobblestone plaza near the primate
enclosure by the zoo’s entrance gates. “Hi, Aunt Staci!”

Staci had managed, yet again, to surprise her
because Bella would have bet that the only time her stepsister had
been this close to a monkey was on a date with the gangly and
extremely hairy Mark Kurter in tenth grade.

Bella caught up to Sophia just as Staci handed
her a few dollars she’d fished out of her teeny tiny candy apple
red clutch. Madeleine might have toned down the clothing and hair
color, but she still had her work cut out for her with the
accessories.

“
Thanks.” Sophia turned those
Casteleoni blues that could melt glaciers Bella’s way. “Can I feed
the baby monkeys?”

“
Sure thing, Sprite. Just be
careful, okay?”

“ ‘
Kay!” Sophia skipped over to
the vendor to buy the approved treats.

Bella let Staci follow her to a bench that was
close enough to keep an eye on Sophia, but far enough that her
sister wouldn’t overhear their conversation.

“
Why are you here,
Staci?”

“
I was hoping to run into you. Or
Reese.”

“
Reese?” Bella refused to notice
the little leap her heart made. It was probably that cold soft
pretzel she’d eaten.

“
He called your phone. I saw it
was him and told him you’d brought Sophia here.”

Staci held out Bella’s phone, the one Bella
had purposely left behind so Madeleine couldn’t track her down.
She’d never imagined Reese would try to.

“
So if you told him where to find
me, what are you doing here?”

“
Well, Mother happened to overhear
that conversation and she—”

“
Sent you to run
interference.”

“
Something like that.” Staci
looked at her fingernails. It was a nice manicure, but Staci was
more prone to showing them off than studying them.

“
What aren’t you telling
me?”

Staci grimaced. “She doesn’t want you to be
alone with Reese.”

“
Why on earth not? Please don’t
tell me she wants him for herself.”

Staci laughed. “No, I can safely say that that
is definitely not what she wants.” She looked at Bella. “She’s
counting on me to ruin the auction.”

“
How?”

“
Sabotage.”

“
That makes no sense.”

‘
It does if you’re
Mother.”

Bella pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t
understand any of this. Why would she want to sabotage the
auction?”

Staci took a deep breath. “Carolyn Charmant is
up for Mother’s position on the stupid Board. Mother thinks that if
the auction’s a fiasco, Reese’s mom will stay on the sidelines
instead of dragging his name through the papers. Or that she’ll be
guilty by association and the Board won’t want her.” Staci held up
her hands. “Hey, it’s my mother’s reasoning, not mine.”

Bella’s mind was reeling. Madeleine wanted to
sabotage Bella’s best chance at making a name for herself and the
restaurant just so she
might
win a Board position? “Why are
you telling me this?”

Staci bit her lip. “I’m sick of Mother’s
manipulations. She doesn’t think of anyone but herself. She never
has. Not really. She can say she’s done what she’s done for me and
Drew, but it’s always been about her. As for her plan, I don’t know
all the specifics. She just dumped the whole thing on me before I
left to come here. Apparently, she was expecting my natural
ineptitude to handle it for her.” She turned on the bench and
looked at Bella with a tear in her eye. “She doesn’t even see how
insulting that is, can you believe it?”

Bella felt sorry for her. At least
she
knew why Madeleine didn’t like her; it must be really tough for
Staci when her own mother had no faith in her.

“
Well now that we know, we can
make sure it doesn’t happen.”

“
Yeah, but she can’t know that we
know or she’ll start with the threats to send Sophia away
again.”

“
So you have to let her think
you’re on her side, then tell me what she’s planning and we’ll make
sure it doesn’t happen. We’re only two weeks’ out. We can do
it.”

Staci sniffed. “How do you do it, Bella? How
do you deal with her like this day after day, year after
year?”

Bella patted Staci’s hand. Finally, someone on
her side. “I keep my eye on the prize, Staci.” She just wasn’t
going to trust Staci with what that prize was at the moment. Sure,
Staci seemed to have had a change of heart, and Bella really hoped
she had, but the custody battle for Sophia had to remain a secret
until she could finance it.

“
Reese!” Sophia’s shriek startled
Bella for a moment until the word registered.

“
I better go.” Staci gathered her
clutch and shot to her feet. “You have a nice time with him, Bella.
Don’t let my mother get in the way of your happiness. I’m not going
to.”

Before Bella could answer, Staci headed off in
the opposite direction.

It was a nice thought, but there was so much
more involved with her happiness than just Reese. If only it were
that easy.

“
Hey, Sophia!” Reese said, looking
really good in a pair of khakis and red golf shirt. “How are you?
How’s Willow?”

“
Fat and happy. That’s what Giac
says.” Sophia dragged Reese by the hand back to the bench. “Look
who I found, Bella.”

“
I see, Sprite.” She looked at
Reese. “What are you doing here?”

“
I needed to see you.”

“
Why?”

To kiss her senseless. It’d been his only
objective on the ride over here after he’d reconciled it with his
no fraternization rule. The problem with Devin had been that they’d
wanted different things. He hadn’t wanted to settle down. But with
Bella, he did. And with her sense of family, she had to want the
same thing.

“
Will you feed the monkeys with
me, Reese?” Sophia tugged on his hand.

“
Hey, Soph.” Bella pulled money
from her shorts pocket. “Reese and I have some business to discuss.
Why don’t you do it and we’ll join you when we’re
finished.”

Sophia pouted. The kid was going to be a
knockout when she grew up. Just like her sister.

Sister.

He still couldn’t get over the flood of relief
at the news. He
wasn’t
a lowlife scum-bucket for wanting
her.

“
Okay, but you better hurry.
They’re going to be full soon.”

He watched her skip away. “Your sister is
adorable.”

“
Yeah, and she knows it. Gets away
with way too much.”

“
I bet you were the same way.” He
shoved his hands into his pockets because they were itching to show
her just how adorable he thought she was.

“
Me? Hardly.”

“
Not true. I’ve seen the way Gus
and Giac dote on you.”

“
Yeah, well, they’re like
family.”

“
What was your family like? Your
parents?”

The effect of his question on her was
stunning. Well,
she
was stunning, but the sheer happiness
that lit up her face at that question made her even more stunning.
Breath-taking, and he was more than willing to let her steal his.
Especially since it proved him right. She loved family as much as
he did.

“
My parents were
wonderful.”

As was the smile on her face.

Oh, hell. He was going to start spouting
Shakespearean sonnets at any moment.

“
They were best friends and
business partners. Everyone loved to be around them. It was like
one big party in our house with neighbors coming and going all the
time. They loved to be with people and wanted a big family. It was
such a disappointment to them to have had only one child for so
many years.”

“
Must have been tough on
you.”

“
No really. I was their only
child. They showered me with attention and love. I wasn’t even
aware of what they were going through. But I do remember how happy
they were when my mother got pregnant with Sophia. Dad threw open
Casteleoni’s for free for a whole weekend and set Mom up in one of
the booths like a queen. He had Giac and Gus run themselves ragged
to keep everyone fed as our friends came to celebrate.” Bella
laughed and Reese could see the scene. “It was even a bigger
celebration when Sophia was born. You might’ve thought no one had
ever given birth before—-my mother included—-with the way Dad
treated her and fussed over her.” She twirled a lock of hair around
her finger. “I’m glad they’re together now. It was really tough for
my dad after Mom died.”

“
But that left you with Madeleine
and her daughters.”

Bella sighed and dropped the hair. “True. But
it could have been worse.”

He glanced at the path Staci had taken as
she’d left. “How?”

“
They could have had another
sister.”

Reese laughed at her make-lemonade take on her
stepsisters, but his mind was replaying what she’d said about her
parents.
Business partners.
It wasn’t a new idea, certainly.
Many people worked with their spouse and had thriving
businesses.

“
Did your parents start
Casteleoni’s?”