The Dalmatian Dilemma

by Cheryl Harper

  Now she was worn out, dehydrated from crying, mad at her sister and her father, and desperate for Sean’s easy distraction. No matter what happened, she would feel better, stronger, after some time with Sean.

  Halfway out to the pool, Reyna realized how unfair it was to rely so heavily on Sean for this. He’d never volunteered to be tangled up in this mess.

  This should be something she did herself. Indecision slowed her progress. She’d walk a few steps and then slow down as she considered returning to her town house. Something kept pulling her forward.

  When she made it to the pool, her sister was closing the gate. Reyna paused in the shadows. She hadn’t known Brisa had joined the group. But as Sean introduced her around, Reyna realized she was a special guest.

  Apparently she hadn’t hopped a plane to Mexico yet.

  “Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Brisa asked as she hugged Marcus, Peter and Mira. Of course her sister had made friends with all of Sean’s friends. She collected new admirers like seashells at the beach.

  “Let me grab you a chair,” Sean said. Reyna could hear quiet steps as he moved to grab one of the chairs near her hiding spot. Then he stopped and said, “Are you going to join us or spy on us all night?”

  His quiet tone told her the question was for her alone, so she stepped closer to the fence. “How did you know I was here?”

  Sean tapped his nose. “Roses.” Then he crooked his finger. “Come inside.”

  Reyna followed his directions and held up a hand as everyone in the shaded corner of the dark pool area turned to watch her. Everyone shuffled quietly to make room for the chairs Sean brought over. When they were seated, Reyna realized everyone was looking at her as if they were waiting.

  She turned to her sister to ask if she knew what was going on, but Brisa was staring, too.

  “What? I thought this was a group effort.” Reyna had been trying to come up with a way to fix this all afternoon, because she wanted to drive the fire engine every day. And she wanted to love Dottie and go to schools and talk about fire safety and whatever the chief wanted. That was what she wanted. Giving it up hurt.

  But she also wanted to share inside jokes with her sister over boring brunches and fight with her over budgets and stand next to her against Luis Montero.

  And she was so tired. Reyna said, “I need help. I don’t want to quit. I don’t want Brisa to leave. I want what we’ve built the past few weeks to last.” She’d never meant to say it so plainly, but the ache in her chest convinced her that it was no time to be noble or stoic or reserved.

  “I want Brisa to take over the control of Concord Court. Whatever new project it is that she’s working on, I want her to make it a success. I want Sean’s service dog training program to grow until there’s not another dog in a shelter or a vet who worries all night long because the nightmares come and there’s no dog on guard to chase them away and I want Charlie Fox to be happy and the vets who come here to have everything they need. I want my dog.” Reyna covered her mouth and tried to still the words that would not stop. “I want it all. I don’t know how to get it.”

  She gulped for air and took the cold beer Peter Kim held out. He said, “Drink this. Three big swallows, please.”

  Reyna realized everyone was going to watch and wait for her to follow his instructions and all she wanted them to do was not focus on her, so she sipped once, twice and a third time before waving the bottle. “Okay. I’m better.”

  “Sean’s given us the rundown of the situation with your father,” Peter said as he braced his elbows on the table. “Except for the whole ‘building this awesome place for us to live out of his own pocket’ thing, he sounds like the worst. What would it take to get him out of the picture?”

  “Like permanently?” Brisa asked, her voice a squeak. “Nobody wants that. He’s our dad. We love him, even if we wish he was on another planet sometimes.”

  Peter frowned. “Okay. Think smaller than hit man. What I meant was, is there a way to take control of this place? If we could do that, then whatever Luis Montero said would be... Who cares? No one cares, that’s who.”

  “Money. It would take so much money,” Marcus said. “Place runs on money, man. Unless you got a rich uncle who can float us a big loan, I’m guessing Luis Montero holds the keys.”

  “Well, he does own the place, no matter what we do, but what if we could raise enough money on our own to keep it open?” Brisa said, looking around the table. “I had to sit through countless meetings while he explained his plans to his terrified accountants. They were convinced this place would take the whole Montero fortune, and then who would keep them in memberships to the Cutler Bay Club?”

  “Hey, I’m a member there. The marina is top notch. Did you know I have a boat?” Peter asked as he leaned closer to Brisa.

  Brisa shook her head.

  Was he flirting with her sister? Now?

  Of course he was.

  “Even if I could get the commitments quickly enough to keep him from firing us,” Brisa said slowly, “it wouldn’t change the fact that this is about control. It’s not a money question. He has a plan for the money, and even if we were to bring him a different one, it wouldn’t change that we’d lied to him or that Reyna is about to ignore his demands.”

  Everyone around the table was silent.

  “What if you told him about your plan for the veterans’ small-business lab to run out of Concord Court?” Marcus asked, his voice excited as if he was certain he’d found the answer. “I mean, ol’ Luis ain’t dreamed that big yet. A concentrated effort to find vets who want to build their own businesses, with mentors and funding and networks of support to nearly guarantee success? That’s you. You did that. I’ll be your witness to that, and I’d be shocked if he can find anyone else who will step in here at Concord Court who can dream like that and back it up.”

  Reyna watched Brisa squirm in her seat. Since Reyna had no clue what Marcus was talking about, it seemed Brisa had been doing more work on her own.

  It was such a good project that Reyna was angry she hadn’t thought of it. She’d wanted to help Marcus when he was planning to buy into his landscaping business, but she didn’t have the tools or the connections. Brisa did. What a huge impact her sister could make here.

  “I told you I had a couple of ideas,” Brisa murmured as she rolled her eyes at Marcus.

  Turning her attention to Reyna, she explained, “I met Marcus that morning I first came to talk to you about working as assistant manager.” She crossed her legs. “He mentioned how glad he was to have this corporate account because he was getting ready to expand his business, and he gave me a business card. I don’t know if it was the heat or if coincidence started simmering in my brain, but I needed more time to develop it. Marcus has been helping me understand some of the city and state requirements, the legal issues he’s had to work through by himself. If we can build this, it will be a program that changes lives and communities.” Brisa lifted her chin. “I want this. So much.”

  “More than a modeling job in Mexico,” Sean drawled. “Does that even exist, Breezy?”

  Brisa groaned. “Of course it doesn’t. I said it because that’s what Reyna expected and it would allow her to get what she wanted. I mean, it should be true—I am a great model—but...it doesn’t change the fact that I need to get out of Miami. I don’t have a job lined up yet, but I’ve got to make a change. We can’t go back to the way we were as kids.” She faced Reyna.

  “You’re a good model, BB. You’re an even better manager, an entrepreneur at heart, and a real chip off the old block.” Reyna draped her arm over her sister’s shoulders. “I admire you, sis. I don’t know if that idea ever would have come to me, and now that you’ve mentioned it, there’s no way we can walk away. We have to fight and we have to win.”

  Everyone was quiet, and Reyna started running through different scenario
s in her mind.

  “She does this. Goes silent when the wheels are turning,” Brisa said to the rest of the group. “I don’t know if explaining to her that we could help if we could take part in the conversation would work but—”

  “Okay.” Reyna stood up to pace in a tight, small line.

  Everyone swiveled to stare at her again.

  “Here’s what we know. We need to cut the financial strings to gain independence.” She waited for everyone to agree and ticked the point off on one finger. “Brisa and I have been summoned to an event and that would be the perfect opportunity to ramp up the donations.” She ticked off the second point. “Everyone there will be Dad’s circle, the Cutler Bay Club types who understand writing checks.” She waved her hand at Peter. “And there might even be some people in the crowd who understand true service to the country, as well.” She ticked off that point. “What if we seized the chance to publicize Brisa’s big idea there with a full range of reporters to document it? Dad won’t risk the public embarrassment of shutting us down. He’ll have to support the project and the new manager of Concord Court or at least keep his mouth shut until it fails.” Reyna stopped pacing and stared hard at the concrete while she thought. “We go loud, we go public and we go together.”

  Brisa clamped her hands together as if she was prepared to cheer or clap. “I’ll follow you anywhere, but I’m going to need a few more directions.”

  “Do you remember my Sweet Sixteen party? It was on the club’s yacht.” Reyna braced her hands on the back of the chair she’d been seated in, the cool, heavy metal the perfect anchor to help her think.

  “Yeah, I was there. It was terrible.” Brisa winced. “For me, that yacht was high school graduation and it wasn’t much better, but that was mostly because you weren’t there.” She wrinkled her nose. “And I was making plans to run away with my boyfriend, and a voice in my head was shouting it was a bad idea. I was too silly to understand that the urge to vomit with nerves while ignoring that voice was a terrible sign.”

  Reyna squeezed her sister’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, BB. From now on, we’re in this together. What I meant about my party was that it was all for show, for Dad’s friends to see how awesome he was and how beautiful his daughters were—so what if, instead of letting this cocktail party be the same, where we smile at all the right spots and stick to the script he writes, we turn it upside down.” She could picture it in her head. “I’ll tell Dad I’d like to make an announcement at his party, make him think it’ll be all about my role at Concord Court, which will continue. He’ll hope his clients eat that up. And I sort of do that, but I turn it into an introduction of the new head of Concord Court.” She fought the urge to jump up and down. “I’ll be right there beside you, but you will address the budget needs for the new year, talk about the past year’s programs and announce exciting plans for this small-business development. You’ll allow a few questions from the reporters you invite—you’ll have to get them there without letting Dad know somehow—and we’ll take some photos, with Dad, of course.” Reyna clamped her hands together. This would work. She knew it would. “What do you think? Can you get reporters to show up for this?”

  Brisa made an obvious show of pretending to consider the notion. “For a Montero event on the rooftop of one of Miami’s most luxurious hotels? Uh, yes, but let me tell you I’m not the only one with a bit of Luis Montero running through her veins. You want us to take the battle to him, head-on, with an audience, trusting that his own ego will be the fatal blow. It’s brilliant. It’s inspired. It’s diabolical and I want us to always be on the same side because I do not have the guts to go there alone, but with you and your shield, I’m in.”

  Reyna clapped her hands and immediately made fists when Sean shushed her. He added, “Would you keep it down? It’s against the rules to be out here and my boss is a real stickler for those rules.”

  She’d run them out before for making much less noise, so Sean was absolutely right.

  But the urge to celebrate was too strong. Instead of a war cry, she bent and pressed a hard, quick kiss to his lips. “Thanks for the reminder.”

  When he didn’t answer, she said, “I’m going for all of it. One way or another, I am not going to be your boss here at Concord Court. We are going to come to terms with the rest of this stuff between us. I want my dog and my sister and you and I can get it.”

  She waited for him to answer.

  He tipped his head to the side and nodded.

  Which was less than she’d hoped for but good enough for the minute.

  The stunned silence around the table was awkward, so Reyna made the “gimme” motion with both hands. “What else? This is a chance to brainstorm.”

  Mira recovered first. “If you want a grand slam, something to open checkbooks, bring in people that Concord Court is helping. We can show up, work the crowd. We could bring the dogs, if that’s helpful.”

  Brisa straightened. “I like it, but we need to make that a surprise, too, since Dad will absolutely know something is up if he finds out ahead of time.”

  “Can you get us in?” Peter asked seriously, as if they were planning a heist to steal the crown jewels instead of sneaking into a cocktail party.

  “Of course.” Brisa waved her hand. “Security will take my word even if you aren’t on the list. I’ll get you in.”

  “Sean needs to be there, too,” Mira said, “because he deserves the credit for the service animal program.”

  “And so much more,” Reyna added. It was true. He’d held this group together at that pool. He’d assisted Brisa in the earliest days of Concord Court, and he’d saved Reyna over and over. If they were going to celebrate Brisa, then Sean definitely deserved his own applause.

  “And I have a plus-one in mind.” Reyna tapped her lips. There was something there at the back of her mind, but it was only an itch. “Do I have to add him to the list?”

  Brisa frowned but shook her head. “Nah, security will let him through on your say-so. Who is it?”

  She wasn’t sure it would work, so Reyna said, “Let me make sure I can get a commitment, because this is a big fish to convince Dad we’ve got the clout we need, but there is one more piece.”

  Brisa raised an eyebrow.

  “Can you find a dress for me?” Reyna asked. “If I choose, it’ll be understated.”

  “Drab. Dull. Boring. Serious? Is that what you mean?” Brisa asked.

  “Exactly.” Reyna blinked slowly. “And if there’s ever been a time to draw attention to us, it’s this party. This is it, turning the tide. It deserves a standout dress.”

  Brisa shook her hand. “Count on me, big sister.”

  Reyna high-fived everyone at the table and ended up face-to-face with Sean. “Thank you. Again.”

  He would have waved it off, but she caught both his hands. “Listen, you may not see how important you are, but I would have walked away. Brisa would have, too, and we would have both been convinced we were doing the right thing, but if you don’t see that Concord Court, Brisa, and I are going to be so much better now that you’ve glued us back together, I can’t help you.”

  He tipped his head back. “I’m listening, but there’s one thing you need to remember.”

  Reyna crossed her arms and waited.

  “Your father knows. Your concerns have been addressed, and you still haven’t asked me to step up beside you at his big party and that’s fine. But we both still have things to work through, boss.”

  Reyna watched him stroll away with his group and turned to her sister. “One more item on your to-do list.”

  “Name it,” Brisa said. “I’m not afraid of anything anymore. I can do it.”

  “Sean thinks you’re going to find me the perfect guy and that you’re sure he’s not the one. He told me so at the dog park.” Reyna had replayed that argument and the kiss over and over until something clicked.
Sean had some help coming to the conclusion that they were a mismatch. “Whatever you said to Sean to make him think I’m too good for him or that I think I am anyway...” Reyna pointed at her sister. “Fix it.”

  Brisa huffed. “Wish you’d filled me in on this development sooner because now it means I have another problem to unravel, thanks to your secret whatever with Sean, but I will give it my best.”

  Reyna stared hard at her sister and waited for Brisa’s nod. She’d done the same thing whenever they’d fought over the remote control as kids. Brisa’s nod was the only agreement Reyna required. They had a lot to do before the cocktail party, but her sister understood how important this final item was.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ON SATURDAY EVENING, the light sounds of a string quartet floated through the air on the rooftop deck of the South Beach Hotel. Pink lit up the clouds on the horizon as the sun set, and the ocean was gently rolling in. All in all, Luis Montero couldn’t have picked a better time or place to make an impact on his collection of business associates. Even Sean understood that building this one-of-a-kind atmosphere was important to drawing these men and women back every time Luis wanted to ask for their business.

  In a setting like this, it was easy to have faith in peace and prosperity.

  Sean stared at the biggest shrimp he’d ever seen in his life and reminded himself not to pull on the tie that was slowly strangling him. It had taken three different tries to get the thing knotted in the first place. As he moved down the fancy buffet line, he carefully checked out the people around him. His tie and suitcoat were fine, not the best and not the worst in the crowd. That had been his worry. He didn’t move in circles like this, and Mimi had told him to go with a Hawaiian shirt.

  At least he had enough sense to know that was bad advice. Mimi had finally listened to the salesman in the men’s shop she’d chosen in Coconut Grove. Bud had gotten his last suit there, which had made Sean nervous—his grandfather died in 2007. But the place had felt right when he walked in. If he ever needed to escort Reyna to one of her father’s events, he’d be prepared.