Fortune's Prince Charming

by Nancy Robards Thompson

  It was interesting how Joaquin didn’t seem to be partial to either of them.

  Professionalism was Zoe’s safety net, her comfort zone. She’d gotten her job because of her ability and not simply because her father owned the company.

  Steffi-Anne had made a few passive-aggressive digs about nepotism and, if Zoe were completely honest, it used to bother her, but she’d learned to let her job performance speak for itself.

  That’s why she needed this website to be top-notch. That’s why she’d asked for Joaquin to lend his expertise.

  She’d emailed him the specs and design ideas for the new site, as well as some images she’d procured for the project. Since she’d already turned in her homework and had no idea what all the numbers, letters and symbols he was keying in meant, she knew she would be no help right now.

  What was the harm in making a little small talk?

  “So, you like coffee,” Zoe said. “What else don’t I know about you?”

  “What do you mean?” He kept his gaze trained on the computer monitor as his fingers tapped on the keyboard.

  “I mean, I realized that we’ve been working together for three months and I barely know anything about you.”

  “I’m a private person,” he said.

  “So, does that mean that you won’t even share basics with me? You know, the niceties that people share when they’re getting to know each other? Even if it’s just to make conversation?”

  “Is that what we’re doing? Getting to know each other? Or making conversation?”

  “I’d like to get to know you.”

  When he didn’t protest, she took it a step further.

  “How about if I ask you one question and then you can ask me one after you answer mine?”

  “Why do you get to go first?” he asked drily.

  “If you feel strongly about it, you can go first. By all means. Please.”

  His hands stopped typing and he slanted a glance in her direction. So, he was going to humor her, after all. For the first time since Joaquin had walked through the Robinson Tech doors Zoe felt a glimmer of hope where he was concerned.

  Casually, she shifted her weight to her right elbow and discreetly inhaled another deep breath.

  “Ladies first. By all means.”

  “You’re such a gentleman.”

  There were a million things she wanted to ask him, but she knew if she went right for the juicy, personal stuff, it might send him back into his shell.

  So she opted for something that stayed on neutral territory to warm up the conversation.

  “What did you decide about the Cowboy Country trip?” she asked. “Are you going?”

  “Actually, I think I will.”

  “Really? Are you just trying to get Steffi-Anne off your back? The woman doesn’t like to take no for an answer, does she? You’d think it was her own personal party.”

  “I don’t know about that,” he said. “But I have family in Horseback Hollow and I figured it would be a good chance to visit. But instead of riding the bus with everyone and staying with the group on Thursday, I think I’ll drive down on my own and stay with my dad. I’ll miss the dinner Thursday evening, but I’ll catch up with everyone Friday.”

  “That’s right. You lived in Horseback Hollow before you moved here, didn’t you?”

  “I’m from Miami, originally. I only lived there for a few months to be with my family before I moved here. Horseback Hollow was a little too sleepy for me.”

  He had a point. It probably was dull when compared to Miami. Even Austin had a different feel than South Florida. Granted, there was a lot more going on in Austin than in Horseback Hollow; Austin was edgy while Miami had more of a sultry, sexy feel.

  Yes, sexy, sultry, like Joaquin Mendoza. With those brown bedroom eyes, he could’ve been the poster boy for everything that was exciting about Miami. She was certainly glad he’d brought that excitement into her world.

  Her stomach fluttered.

  Yes, she was very glad he was here now. Maybe if he continued to help with projects like this website, her father would find a permanent position for him after Joaquin had completed his temporary assignment. Then he could move here full-time.

  “How do you like Austin?” she asked.

  He shrugged, but just barely because his full concentration seemed to be focused on the computer screen.

  “So far, so good.”

  Okay, that was a little noncommittal. His expression and body language were a little aloof. And he’d given a closed answer.

  Maybe she should move on to another topic?

  Horseback Hollow was too sleepy for him. He’d gone there to be closer to his family. She liked that. Family was everything to her, even if her siblings could be a little overbearing sometimes.

  Like the way her older brother Ben had been harping on the fact that several members of the illustrious Fortune family lived in Horseback Hollow. He was obsessed with the Fortunes and the absurd notion that their own father was related to them. Between Ben and her sister Rachel who lived in Horseback Hollow, they’d managed to get their sisters and brothers on the bandwagon, too. It was causing a lot of strain with their father, who insisted there wasn’t a drop of Fortune blood in his veins.

  Even though Zoe was firmly on her father’s side and respected his word that he wasn’t related to the distinguished clan, she still thought it would be interesting to see what Joaquin had to say about them.

  “So you know the Fortune family, don’t you?” Zoe asked. “I mean you have a connection to them, right?”

  He looked at her for a moment as if he were trying to read her.

  “It’s a huge clan, but I do know some of them since my brother Cisco is married to Delaney Fortune Jones, and my sister, Gabriella, is married to Jude Fortune Jones. But, honestly, I haven’t spent much time around them. Why do you ask?”

  Her stomach clenched and she suddenly regretted bringing up the subject. Still, she had, so she felt as if she owed him some sort of explanation.

  “The Fortune name has been bandied about quite a bit these days among my family.”

  “Really? How come?”

  Zoe sighed. “It’s a long, complicated story.”

  Joaquin turned his attention back to the computer. “If you’d rather not say, that’s fine. I really don’t know them that well. If you think about it, my brother is married to your sister. So, really, there’s as much of a connection between us as there is between the Fortunes and me.”

  She might have taken offense to that remark if he hadn’t raised his brows and smiled at her in a way that sent ribbons of awareness fluttering in her stomach.

  Zoe remembered the first time she’d met Joaquin. It was last year at Rachel’s wedding. She’d been the maid of honor and Joaquin had been Matteo’s best man. She guessed the special honor had been bestowed upon him because he was the oldest of his siblings. She wondered how he felt being the eldest and having three of his four younger siblings married before him. She knew about his family because she’d pumped her own sister for information. Then again, the order in which siblings married didn’t seem to bother guys.

  All she knew was that she was glad she was one of the youngest of her clan because there seemed to be something in the water in Austin, too. In addition to Rachel getting married last year, her brothers Ben and Wes had meet their soul mates this year and were living their very own happily-ever-afters.

  At the rate she was going she might end up being the spinster sister, or at least the last one married. Her gaze swept over Joaquin’s perfect profile and her stomach performed that somersault that was becoming all too familiar when she saw him.

  “Were there any Fortunes in Miami?”

  He shook his head.

  “Not to my knowledge. It seems like
this is bothering you a bit more than you’re admitting. Sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

  As she looked into his eyes all she could think of was how much she’d love to talk to him about anything. Shoot, she’d even be happy sitting there discussing the complicated gibberish on the computer screen. Then again, she’d do more listening than talking since she knew so little about it.

  “Can you keep a secret?” she asked.

  He looked at her warily. “If this is something you shouldn’t be telling me, then maybe you shouldn’t.”

  “No, it’s not really a secret. I mean, not one that shouldn’t be told. If it was, I wouldn’t talk about it. I guess what I was trying to ask is that you keep it between you and me. Of course, it’s not as if you’d tell anyone here. You don’t seem the type to engage in office gossip.”

  He chuckled. “No, gossip isn’t really my thing.”

  He had turned his full attention on her now. As he sipped his coffee, watching her over the cup, her mouth went a little dry.

  She followed suit and took a sip of her coffee before speaking. “All right. So, get this. My siblings have latched on to the absurd notion that my father is somehow related to the Fortunes.”

  Joaquin squinted at her, looking as confused as Zoe had felt when she’d first heard the news.

  “Is he?” Joaquin asked. “It’s a huge family. There are branches all over the place. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were Fortunes in Austin.”

  “There aren’t. I mean, at least there aren’t any Fortune bloodlines tied to the Robinson family. My father has made that perfectly clear. I don’t completely understand where my brothers and sisters got this notion, but I think they should drop the issue since our father has asked them to.”

  “But they keep pushing?”

  “Right. My brother Ben went as far as tracking down a woman named Jacqueline Fortune. He’s convinced that she is our long-lost grandmother. But get this. She had one son named Jerome—Jerome, not Gerald, mind you—and when Ben asked her about him, she told him that her son, Jerome, was dead. She said he died decades ago. But do you think that stopped Ben from moving ahead with this weird crusade? No, he just keeps pushing and pushing and hitting dead end after dead end. He thinks Jacqueline Fortune is mistaken.”

  Not only did Joaquin knit his gorgeous brows, he flinched at the notion.

  “What?” he said. “Wouldn’t a mother know if her son died?”

  “I know, right? Apparently, Ben located Jacqueline in a memory-care unit of a nursing home. I think she is suffering from some form of dementia.”

  Joaquin was a good listener and Zoe appreciated it. He drew in a breath the way people do when they’re weighing whether or not to say something.

  When he didn’t speak, Zoe asked, “What?”

  “I can see that you are one hundred percent convinced that your father is telling the truth. But I still don’t understand why you are asking me about the Fortunes.”

  “I’m not trying to dig up more evidence, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

  “No, of course not.”

  Zoe shrugged. “I guess I’m just curious. But, you know, let’s just say even on the very far-flung chance my father was related to the Fortunes and for some reason he wanted to keep it from us... A—why would he hire you with your connection to that family? And, B—I mean, he’s clearly made a new life for himself and he’s asked his kids to drop it. I don’t see why they’re going against his wishes, continuing to doubt him and trying to dig up new evidence that proves he’s lying. If he says he’s not a Fortune, I think the family should respect that and leave the past in the past. What difference does it make who he used to be?”

  As Joaquin sat back in his chair, his eyes darkened a shade.

  “Are you asking my opinion or are those rhetorical questions?” he said.

  “I’d love to hear your opinion,” Zoe said.

  Joaquin took in a breath and let it out slowly, as if weighing his words. “Personally, I believe a family has a right to know their roots and where they came from, even if one person thinks he has a good reason for hiding the information. I think it’s better to get everything out into the open.”

  Now there was a faraway look in Joaquin’s eyes. His expression and his words hinted that there might be something personal going on there.

  “You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” she ventured.

  “Me?” He shook his head. “We’re not talking about me. I’m just saying I believe it’s not right to withhold important information like that.”

  For a moment he looked as if he was going to add something, but the moment came and went. Instead he said, “I also think it’s nice the way you look out for your father. Everything else aside, your dad must have done something very right to raise a daughter like you.”

  Her heart did a strange little cha-cha-cha in her chest. Had Joaquin just complimented her? Maybe this thing she felt for him wasn’t hopeless, after all.

  * * *

  Friday morning Joaquin arrived at Cowboy Country USA, a Western-themed amusement park that had opened a year ago in Horseback Hollow, ready to meet his coworkers at the Sagebrush Pavilion inside the park.

  He’d made the six-hour trip from Austin to Horseback Hollow after work yesterday evening. He’d arrived at his father, Orlando Mendoza’s, house around eleven o’clock, spent the night and had made it to the team-building retreat as everyone was finishing breakfast.

  His coworkers had boarded a bus at the office just after noon the day before and had spent the night in Cowboy Country’s Cowboy Condos. Joaquin had been relieved when Steffi-Anne hadn’t hassled him about skipping the overnight portion of the trip. Sometimes the woman could be bossy and just this side of relentless, but at least she seemed to know when to back off and recognize that he was meeting her in the middle.

  Inside the park’s gates, he made his way down Cowboy Country’s Main Street, past the old-fashioned restaurants and themed refreshment stands and gift shops. As he approached a rough-hewn wooden gate indicated on the map that Steffi-Anne had provided with the invitation, he heard gunshots and a loud round of whooping and hollering. About twenty yards down Main Street, a couple of cowboys, one dressed in white from his hat to his boots, the other clad in all black, tumbled out of the saloon, the doors swinging behind them.

  “That’s the Main Street Shootout show,” said a park attendant who was dressed like a cowgirl and standing at the gates. “Right on schedule. Feel free to get closer if you’d like, but I must warn you, partner, they take innocent bystanders hostage from time to time.”

  He wondered if everyone who worked here had to stay in character day in and day out.

  “Actually, I’m here for the Robinson Tech event. According to this map, I’m supposed to meet someone here who will point me in the direction of the Sagebrush Pavilion. Am I in the right place? Are you the person?”

  “You certainly are and I certainly am. May I see your invitation, please? And I will direct you the rest of the way.”

  He scrolled up on his smartphone to the invite page and handed it to the woman. Finding it satisfactory, she handed him a map of the park that had his route sketched out with arrows. She opened the gate and ushered him through.

  “Just follow the map and it will take you where you need to go. The Sagebrush Pavilion is right behind the executive office buildings. You can’t miss it.”

  She shut the gate behind him and he was transported from the nineteenth-century cowboy town to the more modern backstage area. There, people not in costume went in and out of flat-roofed white buildings that looked like the portables that had served as extra classrooms when he was in elementary school.

  In the distance he could still see the top of a huge roller coaster and hear the delighted screams of revelers as it turned a cart
full of people upside down on a loop-de-loop.

  Better them than me, he thought.

  Then again, even though he hated roller coasters, maybe he would rather be upended on a theme-park ride than jump through the hoops of team-building exercises.

  He hated rah-rah sessions like this. The forced proximity to coworkers with whom he had nothing in common had him grinding his teeth. Did retreats like this really work? Did people really grow closer after being strong-armed into mandatory fun and games?

  Steffi-Anne had organized a full day of obligatory amusement for the Robinson Tech crew. She’d provided him with a schedule when he’d changed his RSVP to yes on the condition that he was released from the bus ride and overnight portion of the program. Actually, she’d thrown him a bonus when she’d told him he could arrive after breakfast because it was only provided to those who were staying in the Cowboy Condos. He certainly hadn’t argued.

  His dad had been glad to see him, even if it had been late when Joaquin had rolled in. They’d chatted for a few minutes before making plans to meet for dinner tonight at the Coyote Steak House just outside the Cowboy Country main gates. By that time, his coworkers would be on the bus and headed for home.

  Cowboy Country was probably a fun place, but it was quite a haul from Austin. He wondered why Gerald had chosen it for the retreat.

  He thought about what Zoe had told him about her father’s possible Fortune connection. Since Horseback Hollow was full of Fortune family members, it really didn’t make sense that Gerald would agree to have the event here if he had anything to hide. Then again, the boss probably hadn’t coordinated the event, and if the Fortune connection bothered Gerald, he probably wouldn’t have hired him, either, given his own ties to the family. In addition to Cisco marrying into the family, his father was involved with Josephine Fortune Chesterfield. In fact, she would be joining them for dinner this evening. She was a wonderful woman and since his father seemed pretty serious about her, Joaquin was eager to get to know her.

  However he also had some things he wanted to discuss with his father. Matters he had pushed under the rug for far too long. Funny, Zoe’s confiding in him had actually brought his own family issues to the forefront.