Maybe he had been, he did think about Zoe quite a lot since that night and had nearly called her over a dozen times just to see how she was. He was trying his hardest to be respectful of her wishes and stayed away from her. The more days that passed, the harder than was becoming. Especially when the image of that asshole kissing and groping her repeated over and over in his head; it really bothered him that Zoe had let another man kiss her. Not that Colton had any claims on her like that. He knew it was unfair to think that way, but he couldn’t help it.
It was fate that put Colton and Cara only a block away from the Four Seasons having dinner when Preston called from his cab. Preston said was following Zoe in a cab and just wanted to give Colton a heads up on the situation before he interfered. Colton actually ran from the restaurant and up the block determined to stop Zoe from making a mistake.
He didn’t think twice about his actions either, he simply got up and left Cara at the table with the bill and no explanation of why he was leaving. Colton then sprinted to the Four Seasons, saw that buffoon kissing Zoe, and grabbed her away before he could even think about it.
He decided later, after spending an hour calming Cara down, that nothing could have stopped him from going to the hotel. Sure it had caused him a great deal of headache as far as Cara was concerned—she was sure that he really wasn’t trying to accept her apology and became absolutely hysterical about it. Despite the tears that had spilled down Cara’s cheeks for two hours that night, Colton knew he would rescue Zoe again in a heart beat. Especially when Minnie, who hadn’t talked to him since he decided to give Cara a second chance, called him later to thank him for stepping in.
Colton hadn’t talked to his sister since and she had yet to show up for the barbecue. He wasn’t sure that she would since Cara was there with him.
“I saw your little friend again last night,” Preston said as he lowered himself into the chair beside Colton’s. Colton watched his brother twist the cap off his beer and slurp off the foam that bubbled up.
“Who?” Colton asked casually.
“Zoe,” Preston answered. Colton’s stomach fluttered. He studied his brother’s face, but Preston gave no insight into what he was thinking. He took a few swigs of his beer before looking over at Colton. “Do you think it’s possible for me to be her divine protector? Last night was the third time I’ve run into her since the Four Seasons episode. It’s a little weird to see her everywhere, I feel like a stalker. But you’ll be happy to know she was with some ass-wipe and didn’t look entertained at all. So she’s still free.”
“And why would I care that she’s still free?” Colton asked. He couldn’t deny the lift of tension from his shoulders, he did care. He just didn’t want other people to know that he cared.
Preston rolled his eyes sighed, “And you know something else… I totally underestimated her she’s pretty cute, beautiful even. She was wearing this blue wrap dress last night and her hair was down—she’s got a cute little body, I suppose. Curvy—probably great to hold onto.”
Colton frowned at nothing in particular. It did seem remarkable that Preston would run into Zoe so frequently when he never had in the past. The two didn’t travel in the same circles often.
“Are you just making this up?”
“Of course not,” Preston laughed. “Ask Pen—we run into her everywhere.” Colton glanced over at his brother who was watching his girlfriend struggle to help Cara and Mallory with the food. Cara spoke to Penelope, but it wasn’t with any real desire to know anything about the other woman. Mallory also seemed to entertain Penelope’s presence as well, but made no effort to know her better. Preston’s girlfriends had never lasted more than a week, so it was common to keep things basic and not become too attached. But for some reason, Penelope was special; she’d been around for at least ten days so far. She was typical of the women Preston dated—very slim, beautiful, and fashionable—and yet different also. She seemed smart. Colton blushed, embarrassed that he’d consider any of Preston’s girlfriends to be dumb, but they usually were a bit spacey.
Penelope didn’t say a lot, but when she did, it was remarkably brilliant in Colton’s opinion.
“Is Minnie coming to dinner?”
“Yeah, dad guilted her into it,” Preston answered. “I think she’s bringing…” Colton’s stomach clenched as he looked at Preston eagerly. His brother’s eyes slowly narrowed, one more than the other, and his head tilted to the side as he considered Colton’s face. Looking away was all Colton could do to feel somewhat comfortable under Preston’s intense glare. Finally he finished what he had planned on saying: “…a friend.”
“Boyfriend?”
“God no,” Preston laughed. “Min would never bring a boyfriend here. I think she’s bringing some kid.”
Colton looked back at Preston. Again he felt his stomach tighten. “Paige?”
“Maybe,” Preston answered. “Who’s Paige?”
Colton sighed and glanced at Cara. If Paige was coming, she and Minnie together would give Cara hell and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to deal with the aftermath of a Minnie attack, which could be extremely brutal and sometimes bloody. Minnie would want nothing to do with Cara; it would be hard to keep the peace between them with Paige in the middle acting as a silent instigator.
“Paige is Zoe’s little sister—they’re doing the big sister, little sister program. I suppose she’s Minnie’s half sister, spend a lot of time together—too much, actually. Paige is just like Minnie, only… worse.”
Preston laughed, “Someone’s actually worse than Min?”
“Yeah… Paige is sneakier, more subtle,” Colton answered. “She paints a very cute picture but underneath all of that is this intelligent viper ready to strike out.”
“Sounds very interesting,” Preston grinned. “I like spunky girls.” Colton followed his brother’s gaze back to Penelope. “Is Penelope spunky?”
“When she has to be,” Preston nodded. He sighed and rolled the bottom of his beer bottle against his knee. “She’s hot, right?”
“You’ve been dating for a while now—you probably see more to her than her looks,” Colton said with hope. With Preston he’d doubt that his kid brother would see anything beyond the outer shell, but there was always the off chance that Penelope was still around because there was something more to her than a tight, superficial package. Sadly, Preston did little to convince Colton that this girl was any different, especially when he got up, walked to her, and openly grabbed her ass. Penelope had the decency to blush, but that was all.
“UGH!”
At the sudden cry of disgust, Colton twisted in his chair and saw Paige standing on the deck just outside the doorway. She was holding a large yellow bowl covered in tinfoil in one slender arm and was pointing at Cara with the other hand. Minnie came out of the house and pushed Paige’s hand down. Paige’s irritated look turned to Minnie, who Colton supposed hadn’t told Paige that Cara was going to be at the barbecue. Paige gestured at Cara and then glared at Minnie who shrugged and whispered something before walking around Paige. His sister dropped a couple bags of hamburger buns onto the table.
“Hi Mom!”
“Minnie, look who’s come home!” Mallory held open her hands and gestured to Cara like a showgirl trying to sell an expensive handbag. Even his mother’s expression was animated and could be visually interpreted as an oh-look-how-pretty look. Colton could tell that Minnie was irked in not being properly greeted by their mother. Surprisingly, his sister didn’t comment on it or blow a fuse. Instead she turned her back and completely ignored Cara who was walking toward her for a hug or perhaps a handshake. Cara looked taken aback by the snub only momentarily and then busied herself with hamburger fixings.
“Mom, this is Paige Dryer,” Minnie gestured for Paige to come forward, but the twelve-year-old stayed put and sulked. She stood there with both arms wrapped tightly around the serving bowl, hugging it like a life line while her lower lip extended and her eyes narrowed. Minnie gestured a
gain and Paige remained rooted in place. The low-set sun made her hair look twice as red, which made her angry expression seem comical. She looked as if fire were shooting out of her scalp.
“Hello, Paige,” Mallory called, which was enough to bring Paige forward. She wasn’t a disrespectful girl and greeted his mother with a happy smile and a handshake. She did interrupt when Mallory turned to introduce her to Cara.
“We’ve met,” Paige said quickly, “at Colton’s flower shop.” Cara pulled her shoulders back a little and smiled, “Oh that’s right. I didn’t recognize you without the school uniform.”
Paige was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and dirty tennis shoes. She did look remarkably different in casual weekend clothes, but there was no way that Cara could have mistaken her for anyone else. Paige had a very distinct look, especially with those thick glasses she wore. Paige relinquished her bowl to Mallory, put her hands on her hips to look Cara up and down, and then with a sad shake of her head she turned to Minnie who was standing with Preston and Penelope.
Colton watched Paige’s face as Minnie made the introductions. It was obvious that Minnie had filled Paige in on the particulars of his family, especially Preston’s way with women. There was something about the twinkle in Paige’s eyes that gave her away. She was pleasant and charming though and made no rude comments or embarrassing comments to anyone. Colton really didn’t expect her to either, but he hadn’t been entirely sure. Minnie introduced her to Edward Philips who was charmed by Paige and Paige him.
They formed and instant connection and as Paige helped him with the grill, his father laughed several times. Colton watched Paige and his father for a moment and then looked over at Minnie. She glanced in his direction and then turned her back and went to help Cara and his mother.
That Minnie would willingly help Cara with something was a pretty open slap in the face.
Preston noticed and began laughing. Colton sighed heavily and pondered the idea of going to Minnie and breaking the ice, but then remembered how she’d decked Preston a few weeks ago and changed his mind. He’d let Minnie come to him when she was calmer. You don’t touch a riled up cat unless you want to get scratched.
Colton realized an hour later that Minnie might never calm down. She was working overly hard to ignore him, which was hard when they were seated across from each other.
Everyone noticed the tension but said nothing. Colton was very aware of his father’s curious glances back and forth and his mother’s attempt to start conversation, but nothing worked. Soon they stopped trying all together. Paige, on the other hand wouldn’t stop staring at him. It wasn’t an accusatory or hateful stare, it was one of curiosity—and it was driving Colton insane.
Finally, unable to take her astute eyes, Colton sighed heavily. “Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Well,” Paige said after a long, unblinking stare, “I was just wondering why you cut off all your hair. It was really nice long and shaggy—sorta sexy.” Colton’s face heated. “You’re twelve. You’re not supposed to think men twenty years older than you are sexy.”
“Who said that I thought that?” Paige asked as she filled her fork with potato salad and gobbled it down.
Colton’s heart began racing. He stared at Paige for a while, waiting—and hoping—that she’d elaborate, but she didn’t. Colton reached up to touch his recently trimmed hair.
He’d gone back to the barber a few days ago and took off another inch and a half. Why?
He was still trying to figure that out.
“We’ve had important meetings with important people,” Cara explained. “It’s necessary to look your best and to look professional. That’s something you’ll learn eventually.”
“Look, you stupid—bit” Minnie shut her mouth the moment Paige’s little fingers covered Minnie’s clenched fist. Colton had never seen anyone calm an irate Minnie in the heat of the moment. He couldn’t help but look upon Paige with more appreciative eyes. He wasn’t the only one who noticed either; Preston was highly impressed too and leaned closer to Colton to whisper:
“Did you see that?”
Colton smiled and turned his attention to Paige who was regarding Cara with calm eyes.
“It’s something I understand now,” Paige said evenly, “and I don’t really understand why anyone would change themselves to match some superficial, fake expectation of another person. It’s like I told you before about wearing expensive, pointless clothes. You’re only trying to please others. Stay true to yourself, that’s what my sister Zoe says. Zoe’s great.” Paige beamed. “She’d never make me change just to impress some guy in a suit.” Cara shifted uncomfortably beside Colton, “I didn’t ask him to change or cut his hair,” she stammered.
“No, but you probably implied,” Paige said.
Cara sighed heavily and pushed her hair over her shoulder, “You’re just a child, Paige, I don’t expect you to understand what it means to dress to impress.”
“Who are you trying to impress?” Minnie asked him. Colton sat up straight and held his sister’s gaze; he was thrilled that she was talking to him finally. He opened his mouth to tell her, but Cara interrupted.
“We’ve had meetings with builders all over the island and in the Hamptons,” Cara said proudly. “It’s a great way to expand the business and bring in more high-dollar clients.
You have to network in this position, you really do. Landscaping is competitive and lucrative—we could expand nationally if some of these new contacts.
“You just can’t show up at a meeting in dirty coveralls with greasy hair.”
“His hair wasn’t greasy,” Paige said her eyes narrowed. Suddenly her expression became innocent and dreamy. “It was soft and flowy—nice to run your fingers through, or so I heard.”
Colton blushed again and this time he smiled at Paige, who grinned back. He felt Cara withdraw from his side; she sat rigidly beside him and poked at her fruit salad. He saw tears forming on her eyelashes and knew he was in for a long talk when they got home.
“Why are you networking?” Minnie asked. “You haven’t talked about expanding the business—you’ve actually said that you have too much business for one landscaper.
Wouldn’t expanding things stretch you out even more? The only good thing is that you wouldn’t have time for pointless relationships, but then what? Are you going to hire new people? Take on a… a partner?” Minnie’s eyes flickered to Cara.
“We’d work together on this, Minnie,” Cara said evenly. “Colton and I. Together we’d tackle these big projects and expand our business.
“W-wait, are you… is she buying back her half?” Minnie demanded; her voice was borderline shouting.
Cara continued as if Minnie has said nothing, “As much as you dislike me….”
“What I feel for you goes much deeper than dislike,” Minnie said in a growly voice. “The fact that I even have to sit here with….”
“Minnie,” Colton glanced at his father who had just used his no-nonsense tone, “enough.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy, but no!” Minnie cried. “How can we all sit here and pretend that the bitch didn’t—”
“Minerva!” Mallory shouted.
Colton glanced at Minnie and then at Cara, who was the only one at the table who was unaware of Minnie’s real name. He saw the corner of Cara’s mouth turn up, something she tried to hide with her glass of tea. She didn’t succeed. Both Minnie and Paige saw the smile; Minnie’s eyes darkened with rage and Paige’s entire face turned beat red. Mallory didn’t notice her daughter’s growing ire because she continued to chastise her.
“You know better than that—we all make mistakes, Minerva, and we all try our hardest to put past ills behind us and make up for them. Your brother and Cara are in love.” Colton’s chest squeezed again, he looked at Cara who was wiping away her tears and then at Paige; she was watching him again.
Mallory continued her scolding, though she looked more flustered now that all eyes were on her. “You should be su
pportive of him… you should…”
“I will not support a relationship I don’t believe in,” Minnie snapped. “I don’t see how you can either—she left him at the damn altar, she didn’t care enough to handle her issues privately. She humiliated him. I’m sick to death of pretending that it didn’t happen!”
“Minnie,” Paige whispered. This time Paige didn’t have an effect on Minnie’s rage—his sister was gone in her anger and turned it up full force.
“You are a bitch, Cara.” Minnie hissed as she clutched her fork like a dagger. “The very fact that I have to sit anywhere near you makes me want to barf! You don’t deserve my brother—you don’t deserve to be in this family.”
Cara sat back a little, as if the force of Minnie’s words were pushing her out of her seat.
“I can understand that you’re upset, but…”
“Don’t speak to me!” Minnie raged. “I don’t care what you have to say! If I had my way you wouldn’t be anywhere near Colton. You’d be back in Paris where you couldn’t pollute and confuse him like you do. You come in and make him drop everything for you! You pretend that you’re sorry for hurting him, but you’re not. You’re using him because you know that he’ll always love you and want to make you happy.” Colton looked away from his sister. It was hard hearing the truth from other people; hard to hear how weak they saw you. It was harder to accept that you were weak in the first place.
“You’re a fake bimbo, Cara Imoora,” Minnie’s voice shook and her eyes filled with tears.
“You were probably screwing around in France weren’t you—spreading your legs for any man who smiled at you, right?”
“Min,” Colton began.
She pointed a shaking finger at him. “You’d shut you mouth if you knew what was good for you Colton Philips.”
Colton pressed his lips together and sighed. Movement at the end of the table brought his gaze from his plate to their father who had slowly risen from his chair. Edward calmly walked behind Minnie’s chair and pulled it back from the table. He took Minnie by the arm and easily drew her out of her chair.
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