Then I remembered, I wouldn’t have to. Tomorrow I was leaving the Vineyard. In time Don would only be a memory. My life was with the man on my arm.
“Hey, Dad, can I have some cheese?”
Casey nodded to his son, who ran off as if he was part of a relay team. Joel wasn’t the standard sweets-eating child. He liked cheese and vegetables and ate them first. He also liked chocolate cake, so he wasn’t totally unusual.
“What are you thinking?” Casey asked.
I hoped there was nothing on my face showing him what I was thinking. My mind was on what life would be like after I left the Vineyard. I smiled and looked over the yard. “Just that my friends are moving away from me. We’ll all have different lives in just a matter of weeks.”
He patted my hand. “It won’t be a bad life.”
I looked at him. “I know. It’s just that everything is changing. I’ll have to get used to it.”
He kissed my cheek. “I’ll be there to help you with the changes.”
His words should have been comforting. I should have felt his strength, wanted him to be there to fill the gap left by my departing friends.
But I didn’t. I felt alone and unsure of what was to come.
In the morning I told myself I was glad to be leaving, that I would not look back at the Vineyard as the ferry moved away. That I would not remember the times I’d had there, memories that would sustain me for life. I’d keep them safe in a small sector of my heart, pulling them out to touch and remember only in rare moments. Yet I stood at the railing watching the land recede.
It had been a memorable summer. Jack and Lila were still there, married and happily honeymooning. A single tear rolled down my cheek. Had I known that I would board this ferry at the end of the season with a ring on my finger and a pain in my heart, I’m not sure I would have come. But Lila and Jack wouldn’t be insanely happy if not for my bright idea to find a rich husband.
I glanced at the door to the small restaurant where Casey and Joel had gone. The two came out as I looked. Joel ran over to me. I caught him as his small arms encircled me.
“Are you going home with us?” he asked.
I looked down at him and smiled. “Not this time. I have to go back to work.”
He looked disappointed.
“But it will be soon,” Casey said and Joel brightened.
“Did you have fun on the Vineyard?” I asked the child.
“Yeah, I wish we could stay there all the time.”
So do I, I thought. With Don. But there was no Don. Don was an illusion, an apparition, a ghost I’d conjured up to act as a conscious to my scheme. The real man was Sheldon. Sheldon St. Romaine, playboy, race-car driver, bungee jumper, and the deliverer of electronic keys.
“Maybe we can come back another summer,” Casey said, putting his arm around my waist. I leaned my head against his shoulder, as if I was remembering my days in the sun and regretting the fact that I had to leave.
All of that was true.
The hotel staff took the news in silence. For a long moment after I stopped speaking no one said anything.
“Nothing changes,” I said. “The hotel will run as usual.”
“You mean you’re really not Don Randall?” Betty Miller, the head of housekeeping, asked. “You’re Mr. St. Romaine’s son?”
“And the man and woman in your bungalow are your father and sister?” This question came from one of the maids.
I nodded. “My father and sister have only good things to say about the running of the place. And he didn’t send me here to spy on anyone. But if I had been, you all passed with flying colors. The jobs you do are exemplary.”
A nervous laugh filtered through the group.
“Why did you come under an assumed name?” Frank, from security, stood near the door as if guarding the place against a terrorist attack.
“The reasons would take too long to explain. The short answer is, if I’d come as the owner’s son, you’d all be uncomfortable around me, explaining yourselves each time I walked in the room. Some of you might have resented me.” I scanned the crowd and saw a few heads bobbing. “I promised my father I could make a go of the hotel and I wanted to do that with your support.”
“When are you leaving?” a reservationist asked.
“The plan is at the end of next month. But that depends on all of you.” I paused, seeing the confused faces. “The place runs like a well-oiled machine. I could leave tomorrow confident that I was not leaving a void behind. But there are some personal things I need to clear up.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m taking over a small hotel in northern France. I hope to make it the place that people think of when the lights of Paris have dimmed. Or when they want a quiet place to relax.”
Betty Miller spoke again. “Who’s taking your place?”
I looked over at Adrienne, opening my arms in invitation. Adrienne stepped forward. A moment after she joined me in front of the group, applause broke out. When it died down, I said, “I’d like to thank you all for a wonderful year, for your friendship and dedication. And for being open to both accepting and suggesting new ideas. I know you’ll all continue to be the best and no matter what anyone tells you.” I stopped and pointed both fingers at the floor. “This is the best hotel in the chain. I know I’m leaving the place in good hands.”
Strong applause accompanied the end of the speech. A few questions were directed toward Adrienne, and with many handshakes and hugs, the group returned to their duties.
I returned to my office, where Tasha and my father waited. Tasha turned from the window and my father stood up from a chair in front of my desk.
“How’d it go?” Tasha asked.
“Good. The place is going to be fine.”
My father came forward and patted my shoulder. “I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I had to leave my first hotel.”
I said nothing. Many people said they understood when they didn’t. It was just something to say. Even though he was my father and I appreciated his sympathy, I didn’t think he had any idea what was going through my mind.
“I’d become comfortable at the place,” he went on. “I knew the procedure, knew the staff. We liked each other, worked well together. The place barely eked out enough money to keep the repairs paid for. Yet I loved it. I didn’t want to go, but suddenly my father died and everything dropped on me. I had a wife and a small child.” He looked from me to Tasha, who was younger than me. “And another on the way. If I wanted to give them a better life, make sure you two weren’t scraping and barely making it the way my father had, I had to take a risk and get more people to come to the St. Romaine. I knew I could make it work.”
I gave him a steady look. He knew I understood. The feelings were almost exactly the same. I didn’t have a wife and child, but I’d thought of it, dreamed of it. I’d put Amber in that role. Lady Legs, tall, beautiful and commanding, like a queen. I’d proven I could turn the hotel around. But the woman of my choice was marrying someone else.
“You’ll be fine,” Dad said. “I’m very proud of you.” Then he left the room. He was getting more emotional than I’d ever seen him. Anger was an emotion he understood and knew how to use. Love wasn’t something he was comfortable with.
He loved me. I knew that. He loved everyone in his family. My mother was the only person he openly showed his softer side. With Tasha and me, it was usually tough love, but it had molded us, made us who we were.
“This hotel has been good for you, Sheldon,” Tasha said, no longer needing to be careful about using my real name.
As usual we didn’t stay angry with each other for long. All our lives we’d been each other’s rock. I couldn’t blame her for trying to remember a name she wasn’t used to using. And she hadn’t known how I felt about Amber. Or why I was so angry that she’d told her the truth.
“You’re different, calmer, more in control,” she said. “I’ll be looking at the financials very closely once
you get to Les Pieux.” She said it with a smile. “I know you’ll have people bypassing Paris to come to Les Pieux.”
Tasha had positioned herself to take over the operation of the chain once Dad retired. She was smart and knew the business backward and forward. Even though she was younger, I had no issues with her running the empire.
“What about her?” Tasha asked.
I’d told her about Amber after I returned from seeing her. Tasha quickly put two and two together and understood that Amber showing up at the bungalow with my key had more meaning than just a guest finding a key. I admitted I was in love with her.
“She’s engaged to be married.”
“Engaged is not married,” Tasha said.
At that moment I knew there was more in my sister’s comment than her love for me or her wanting me to be happy.
She nodded, understanding. “I was in love with a man and it didn’t work out.”
“I’m sorry, Tasha.”
She held up her hand to stop me. “It was my fault. I was stubborn and feeling it was my way only. I wasn’t willing to bend or to fight for what I wanted.” She took a step toward me. “But you’ve always been different. You’ve always gone after whatever you wanted. Don’t let this be any different. Go get her, Sheldon. If you love her and she loves you, then she might just need to know that.”
“You don’t understand. She’d take me now because of the money.”
“Money?”
“She found out I’m a St. Romaine. She came to the Vineyard looking for a rich husband. She didn’t think I was in her league. But now things would be different.”
“She didn’t find out until she came to the bungalow.” Tasha spoke as if I should realize something.
“Yeah, so?”
“That was after we saw her in the restaurant.” I nodded, still not understanding where she was going.
“Sheldon, remember I told you I saw the way she looked at you?”
I nodded again.
“I’ve never seen a woman more in love. And she wasn’t in love with the man at her table. But the more important item is she was in love with you before she found out about your money.”
My sister was right. But could I be sure? She’d agreed to marry Casey. Would she do that if she was in love with me?
“Go to her, Sheldon. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
I stood there looking at Tasha. Could she be right? Was Amber just waiting for me to force her to tell me she was as much in love with me as I was with her?
Suddenly, I was all action. Grabbing my sister, I kissed her on the cheek. “I love you,” I said and bolted through the door.
I drove quickly through the crowded streets, impatient for people to hurry across the road or drive faster in front of me. Progress was steady, but slower than my thumping heart.
Nearly jumping out of the car when I got there, I sprang onto the porch, having little use for stairs. I was a man in love and I could fly if I wanted to. I’d convince Amber. I loved her and she loved me. I was the best man.
And she was going to know it.
Jack answered the door. She was laughing, but the smile on her face faded when she saw me.
“Where is she? I want to talk to her.”
Jack said nothing for a moment. She swallowed hard.
“She’s gone.”
“Gone?” The word didn’t register for a moment. I stared at Jack, waiting for her to explain, for her to take the word back and tell me the truth. A moment later my brain processed the word. Amber wasn’t just away from the house. She was gone from the Vineyard, disappeared from my presence and my world. My heart sank like a ship hitting buried rocks.
“She left yesterday,” Jack whispered, reverently, as if they were in a church.
“Where did she go?”
“She’s going home.” Jack hesitated and I knew what she was going to say. “With Casey and Joel.”
The words drove a knife all the way to the hilt into my chest. I was too late. Amber had made her choice. Jack had said it all in one word.
Gone.
Chapter 24
The world should have returned to normal by now. It had been two weeks since I left the Vineyard, but it was just as upside down as it had been when I boarded that ferry in pursuit of an elusive dream. Casey called regularly. He’d brought a huge diamond ring with him when he returned to the Vineyard for Jack and Lila’s wedding. I looked at my finger. The ring no longer adorned it. It was in my purse, in the velvet case he’d removed it from the night he placed it on my finger.
Several times Casey and Joel had called, inviting me to join them for the weekend. I pleaded work as my reason for staying away. It was a busy period, but I was a writer and none of the budgeting or meetings involved me. I could work from anywhere, yet I’d taken to going into the office just to turn the lie into truth.
I wasn’t working today. I was on a plane, heading south. I was going to see Casey to return his ring. I knew I didn’t love him, at least not the way a woman should love the man she married. I thought I could do it, but I discovered I wasn’t that good an actress. I knew what real love was like. I knew the flames it could create, the need to be with one person. While I liked and respected Casey, he didn’t love me that way either. We both deserved better. I was releasing him from our arrangement.
I was sorry for what I’d done. Sorry that Joel thought I would become a permanent fixture in his life. But it would be worse if we got married and then made each other miserable. Joel would surely know there was tension in the air and he didn’t need that in his young life either.
The Atlanta airport was huge. After the plane, a subway took me to the terminal. Casey stood at the entrance to baggage claim. When he saw me, a big smile split his face. He immediately pulled me into his arms and kissed me. I had expected this and I wasn’t surprised.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
I cringed when he released me. This was going to be harder than I thought. I didn’t want to send him his ring back in the mail. I thought he deserved to see me in person. Now I wished I was someplace else.
“Can we go someplace and get something to drink?” I asked, my throat suddenly dry. And I needed to buy time. Even though I’d practiced what I was going to say in the bathroom mirror and on the plane, the actual execution proved harder than I thought.
“Of course,” Casey said. “You must be hungry, too.”
I wasn’t hungry, but I was thirsty. Casey guided me to a seat in an airport bar. It was standard airport cramped space, but at this hour of the evening it was packed with people who had to fly, but needed to reinforce their constitution to get on a plane. I was there for the same reason. I needed to reinforce mine to say what I had to say.
I wanted a glass of wine or whiskey straight up, but I ordered a diet cola and took a long swig of it. Casey cradled a beer between both hands. For a while we sat looking everywhere but at each other.
“You’ve come to return the ring,” Casey finally stated.
Surprise had me snapping my head up. “How did you know?” My voice was breathy and low.
“You were never very enthusiastic about it. And I could hear it in your voice when we were on the phone. And a moment ago, I said I missed you. The sentiment was not returned.”
“I’m sorry, Casey,” I reached into my purse and pulled out the case. “It’s a beautiful ring.” Sliding it across the table, I said, “The woman who wears this should love you unconditionally.”
“I thought that was you.”
I shook my head. “No, you didn’t. Even though you told me you loved me, it’s not like it was with your wife. And you deserve that, Casey.”
I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I listened to your voice on the phone, too. You believe Joel needs a mother and you thought you could love me, that you should marry me.”
He lowered his eyes, then looked up at me. “Joel had something to do with it. He likes you, but he wasn’t the only one.”
“
Like isn’t enough,” I said. “There was a time when I thought it would be. I was even willing to marry you on that basis. But I know better now.”
“A summer diversion?” Casey’s eyes didn’t show the amount of hurt that should be there if he really loved me. I felt better knowing that.
“You could say that,” I said.
“But we’re back to our real lives now.”
“You don’t seem all broken up about this either,” I said. It was almost as if he’d been expecting it.
Casey waited a long time before speaking. He stared into space for a moment. I wondered if he was going to say something or if he wasn’t going to reply at all.
“When I was about seventeen, I thought there was only one true love in the world. I was lucky. I found that when I was in graduate school. After my wife died, I never expected to feel that way again.”
“But now you do?”
He nodded and took a drink from his glass.
“You don’t feel like that for me?”
“I don’t,” he admitted. “That’s not as bad as it sounds. My feelings for you are stronger than they’ve been for anyone else.”
I smiled. I felt good that he found me a good second.
“You did teach me something this summer,” Casey said. “I learned to live again. I didn’t even realize I’d been hiding, afraid to take any chances. All my effort was channeled into helping Joel deal with his grief. But when I met you, I felt there was a life for me, too.”
I smiled. Casey grasped my hand tighter, then released it.
“Casey, you’re a wonderful man. I’m sure you’ll find a woman who adores you.”
“I wish the same for you. With a man, that is.”
We laughed and it felt good. If he hadn’t added the joke at the end, I knew something would show in my face to alert him to the fact that I’d already found my one true love. And I’d also lost him.
“Will Joel be all right?”
“I’m sure he will. You helped him, too. He’s getting back to his old self. He’s more active, returning to his activities. He even asked for diving lessons.”
“Good,” I said. I was glad to hear about Joel. I truly liked him and wanted the best for him.
Some Like Them Rich Page 26