CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After the party ended and the last guest walked out the door, Annabelle joined her sisters as they filed into the small office lent to them by the manager. The cold furnishings didn’t bode well for the discussion to follow, Annabelle thought, because Lola wouldn’t insist on a family meeting unless something was very wrong. Something beyond her being just ticked at Uncle Yank. And after what she’d overheard at the house, Annabelle knew that something might send her packing for good.
Fear like icy shards of glass spread up Annabelle’s spine. “Well that was a fun party,” she said, breaking the silence that had surrounded them.
Micki raised an eyebrow. “For you, maybe. You had your super hunk to hang all over and Sophie had Randy the jerk to fawn over her.”
“Something wrong, Micki?” Sophie asked, concern in her voice. “Man trouble?”
Their youngest sister shook her head. “No trouble. Everyone likes me,” Micki muttered, her tone full of sarcasm and pain. “I’m good old Micki. Ever reliable Micki.”
“You sound like a commercial for insurance.”
“Or watches. Micki takes a licking and keeps on ticking,” Micki said, trying to make a joke.
Annabelle wasn’t buying and from the quirk of Sophie’s eyebrow, neither was she. “Talk to us, Mick.”
Lola stepped forward. “Come on, sweetheart. You need to unload.”
Micki eyed the pitcher of water on the side table. “Anyone want a cold one?”
“Stop changing the subject,” Sophie said.
“What do you want me to say? I’m more like everyone’s best friend than anyone’s potential lover and I don’t see that changing. Ever.”
Though her sister looked pretty in a long, ruffled skirt and tank, in her eyes, Annabelle saw frustration and pain.
“You just haven’t met the right man to appreciate all you have to offer,” Lola said in her calming, motherly voice. “But you will. Which actually brings me to my point for calling this meeting.”
Annabelle held her breath.
“As you girls know, I’ve made myself indispensable to Yank over the years. Always at his beck and call, always there to think so he doesn’t have to, and always there to be taken for granted.” She met each sister’s gaze in succession, as if giving them an opportunity to speak or contradict her opinion.
No one did.
“So what are you saying?” Micki asked, her eyes wide.
“The time has come for me to take a stand. I’m leaving.”
Sophie stepped forward, while Annabelle, even though she’d had warning that this was coming, felt paralyzed by Lola’s words.
“Leaving how?” Sophie asked, her I’m smart and therefore untouchable facade shakier than Annabelle ever remembered seeing it.
Lola placed a comforting touch on Sophie’s hand. “I’m leaving The Hot Zone, and in doing so I’m leaving Yank.”
“But—” Sophie said, shocked by the news.
“But—” Micki yelped at the same time, also clearly upset. “You can’t!”
Only Annabelle knew not to attempt to change Lola’s mind. Her stubborn uncle had been given plenty of warning. Dancing with the young wives of his clients today hadn’t shown Lola she meant a damn thing in his life. Annabelle swallowed hard, then did the most difficult thing ever, second only to acting strong for her sisters when her parents died.
She walked toward Lola and set the proper example. “I wish you luck,” she said, then gave the woman, the closest thing she had to a mother, a long, tight hug. Her light perfumed scent was as comforting as an embrace and Annabelle knew in that moment more than ever that she would miss seeing her every day.
Then one by one her sisters came forward and did the same.
As Lola embraced each girl she loved desperately, she sniffed and her eyes filled with tears. “You’re all the best. And I want you to remember that. Also remember this doesn’t mean I’m leaving you. I’ll always be just a phone call away,” she promised them.
Lola never wanted to lose touch with these wonderful young women, even if seeing them would arouse painful memories and thoughts of things she should have done differently. And she suspected that it wouldn’t be easy to see the girls and avoid the subject of their uncle. Still she intended to stick by her decision.
Now she had one other thing to address with them. “I know I’m leaving The Hot Zone in capable hands, but there’s something you girls need to know. About your uncle.” She eyed each of them, wondering how they’d take the news.
She wished she could protect them the way she had when they were little, monitoring their choice of television shows and playmates, bandaging their cuts and kissing away their pain. Adult reality wasn’t as simple.
She’d struggled with this revelation. Perhaps it was Yank’s information to divulge, but darned if she’d leave the girls in the dark. The Hot Zone was their business and Yank was their only real family. They deserved to make informed choices.
Each would react in their own way, of course. Sophie would analyze but hold her feelings inside. Micki would hover and try to make things better. And Annabelle would internalize the situation, equate Lola’s leaving with her parents’ deaths, and do everything she could to make peace within their little unit.
Lola shook her head sadly, knowing Annabelle would probably hurt the most. No, that was wrong. All the girls would be in pain. Only Annabelle would also suffer the accompanying fear.
“Lola?” Micki asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Tell us,” Sophie encouraged her.
Annabelle remained strangely silent.
Lola drew a deep breath. “Your uncle’s been keeping some important information from you and I’ve decided it’s time to come clean.”
“The hell you will,” Yank bellowed from the doorway.
Lola tensed. She hadn’t counted on him joining them but she should have anticipated it anyway.
“Who let you in, you old coot? You have no right to sneak around and listen to other people’s conversations.” Lola forced herself to meet his gaze. “Why don’t you just turn around and take your gyrating hips out the door?” With that, she pivoted around, turning her back on him.
He deserved her cold shoulder. His actions today had merely cemented her resolve to leave and she didn’t mind telling him off now. She certainly wasn’t worried about holding on to her pride. In an hour, she’d be gone and Yank wouldn’t care whether she’d bared her soul or not. But at least she’d leave with the knowledge that she’d done all she could to be up-front and honest and to try to save the life she loved.
“I’m talking to my family,” she added for good measure.
“Family?” Yank snorted. “This is my family.”
His words cut deep, but she held on to her resolve. “Well, these girls are mine, too, and I can have a private talk with them if I choose. Unless you’d like to be the one to tell them everything?” Lola challenged him.
Yank Morgan could bluster and storm around. He could resist her charms and her body if he wanted, but no way could he ever resist a challenge.
Silence reigned. The girls had stepped back toward the wall, giving them their own private arena to play this out. Even Brandon, who’d come in behind Yank, stayed in the shadows. But he met her gaze and gave her a silent nod of encouragement. Brandon was such a good, decent man.
But he’d never known trust and understanding. Would he ever realize Yank considered him family? Always had and always would. And then there was Vaughn and Annabelle. What a couple they could be. Lola shook her head, knowing she didn’t have time to dwell on them now.
She faced Yank, possibly for the last time. “You’re as scared to tell them the news as you are to face the truth,” Lola goaded him. “And you’re just as scared to make a commitment and I’ve had enough. Of everything.” All the frustration she’d held inside, all her fear for him, all the love he’d never let her show—she’d kept everything bottled up inside and now the cork came loose and her emotions spilled out in mean-spirited accusations.
She hated how she’d been reduced to this level, and that was yet another reason she was finished with this man who didn’t love her back.
“Girls,” she began, “your uncle—”
“Is going blind,” Yank said, rising to the occasion as she’d predicted. “I’m gonna be blind as a bat one day and there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”
Stunned silence filled the air around them as the girls digested Yank’s version of his situation. Which wasn’t completely accurate, but that had been Yank’s attitude since they’d gotten the diagnosis. Defiant and angry. And hopeless. Unwilling to do anything the doctor suggested to help his situation.
“He’s exaggerating, as usual,” Lola explained to the girls. “But there are issues that will need to be dealt with, and since I won’t be here, you all need to know everything.”
“Harrumph.”
“The diagnosis?” Annabelle was the one to ask, ignoring her uncle’s grumblings.
“Macular degeneration,” Lola said.
Sophie narrowed her gaze. “It’s the leading cause of blindness in people over age fifty-five, right? I watched a segment on T.V.”
“That’s right. But there is help when it’s caught early. The reason you girls need to know this is to make sure the business doesn’t suffer.” And she’d taken steps to make sure The Hot Zone stayed as strong as ever. Lola might be leaving physically, but her heart would always be here. “I have a plan.”
Annabelle stepped in closer, as did Micki and Sophie. Yank merely continued to scowl. He probably still didn’t believe she was going anywhere. But he’d know as soon as he returned to the office and saw her empty desk.
“What do you have in mind, Lola?” Annabelle asked.
“A merger with Spencer Atkins and Associates. Spencer’s already agreed.”
“Over my dead body,” Yank shouted and stormed out the door without looking back.
* * *
Vaughn slipped out of the office where Annabelle’s family was arguing like crazy. He’d listened to their dynamics with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he recognized the sounds of arguing. Lola and Yank’s bluster resembled the fights he’d had with his father every year. The reason never mattered. The lack of harmony did. His own family never quite connected and the bickering was something he could relate to.
But on a stronger, deeper level, Vaughn felt Annabelle and her sisters’ pain on hearing about their uncle’s illness. He felt for Lola and understood the hurt she was suffering by being excluded from a family she considered her own. He could empathize so well. Even more, he envied their closeness and caring despite Yank’s gruff, obstinate exterior. Even when they weren’t getting along, Vaughn knew their love overrode everything else.
And that’s when Vaughn had suddenly experienced a sharp, knifelike pain that made him feel like an outsider, much as he did in his own family.
So he slipped back into the hall.
He caught up with Mara and Nick just as Nick was placing his cell phone back into his pocket.
Vaughn knew at first glance something was wrong. “What is it?”
Nick glanced at Mara. Mara looked at Nick. Neither met Vaughn’s gaze.
“Fire,” Nick said at last, his face pale. He didn’t have to say it was at the lodge.
The implication was obvious and Vaughn’s stomach plummeted. “How bad?”
“The firefighters are working now, but it doesn’t look good for the north end. We need to get back right away,” Nick said.
Vaughn’s gaze shot to the closed office door where Annabelle remained with her sisters and Lola. Yank, he noticed, had found the nearest bar and was nursing a drink. “Yeah. Let me just leave a message and we’re out of here.” He headed for the old man.
“Don’t you want to tell Annabelle yourself?” Mara asked.
Vaughn shook his head. “I’ll let Yank know.” He couldn’t allow himself to see her right now. Because as far as Vaughn was concerned, his obsession with Annabelle had caused him to leave the lodge at a crucial time. With dire consequences.
He’d abandoned his lodge when he knew somebody was out to get him and destroy his dream. And he’d left for a goddamn party to be with a woman who represented everything he wanted but would never have. No. He couldn’t let her stand in the way of the one dream that just might come true.
Mara followed him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You couldn’t have prevented the fire, you know,” she said, reading his mind.
“But I could have been there when it happened.”
And he should have been.
* * *
Since Annabelle had had private time with Lola while she’d stayed at Vaughn’s house, Annabelle let her sisters talk with her now while Annabelle headed straight for her bullheaded uncle.
She found him at the bar, talking to the same bartender who’d served at their party. She glanced at his half empty glass. “Scotch?” she asked.
“Is there anything else?” He downed the glass and pounded it on the table.
The bartender complied by pouring him more. “Miss?” he asked Annabelle.
“Club soda with a wedge of lime, please.”
“Sissy drink,” Uncle Yank muttered.
“Yeah, well, I’m a girl so what do you expect?”
He shrugged. “I raised you girls to have balls.”
“And thanks to Lola we have feminine sides, too. And because of you both we have big hearts. So what happened to yours?” she asked, not disguising her real feelings.
He slid the unfinished drink across the bar, then turned to face her. “It takes more heart to let someone go than to make them stick around and suffer.”
She pursed her lips in thought. It was probably best not to remind him he’d strung Lola along for years without giving her hope of anything permanent. After all, it had been Lola’s choice to remain at The Hot Zone despite her unrequited feelings. Apparently, now Yank was finally taking into account how his self-centered attitude might affect Lola, too late to do any good.
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Annabelle finally said. “If you love someone and they love you, nothing else matters.” Wasn’t that the reason wedding vows contained the words, for better or for worse?
“I’ll always be here for you,” she assured him. “And if you let her, Lola would be here too.” Annabelle rose to her feet and hugged her uncle tight.
“Where are you going? We have Lola’s dumbass business proposition to discuss.”
Annabelle recognized the subject change. Her uncle’s eyes were moist. Maybe on some level, she’d gotten him to think. But she wasn’t about to discuss The Hot Zone’s future when they were all so emotional or her uncle was on his way toward getting drunk.
“I’m going to find Vaughn.” He’d promised he’d be there for her after the family fallout and she needed him now.
“He’s gone,” Uncle Yank said.
Annabelle turned around fast, certain she’d heard him wrong. “What did you say?”
“Vaughn’s gone. He asked me to relay the message.” Uncle Yank stared at his drink once more.
“What message?” she prodded.
“Something about having to leave because there was a fire at the lodge.” Yank took a solid gulp. “Guess everyone’s having a crappy day,” he muttered.
He didn’t know the half of it.
* * *
Annabelle headed back to her apartment, Micki alongside her. No sooner had she unlocked the door and stepped inside than Boris attacked, jumping up and down on his hind legs, his tail wagging like crazy.
“There’s nothing like a doggie greeting,” Annabelle said as she scooped the white ball of fluff into her arms.
Micki laughed. “I hear you. Find me a man who’ll lick my face and breathe in my ear and I’ll die a happy woman.”
“It’s good to know you want so much out of life.” Annabelle’s grin dimmed. “What’s bothering you, anyway? You seemed uncharacteristically grumpy back there.”
Micki was the happy-go-lucky sister who rarely complained. It was unusual to hear her gripe, especially after a party.
She shrugged. “I’m just getting tired of being alone, you know? Maybe it’s an early midlife crisis. It’ll pass, I’m sure.”
“Well I’m here for you no matter what.”
“And I’m grateful for it,” Micki said.
“Speaking of grateful, I don’t think I’ve thanked you for taking care of the apartment for me while I was gone.”
Micki swung her lithe body onto the comfy couch Annabelle had ordered online. “Not a problem, sis. What’s a little plant watering, right?” she said with a touch of sarcasm as she gestured around the living room, her sweeping arm encompassing Annabelle’s vast collection of beloved plants. “Anyone ever tell you this place looks like the Garden of Eden?”
“Hah, hah. Is that your way of saying I owe you?”
“Just a little.” She squeezed her fingers together. “Next time you might want to consider getting a live-in plant-sitter.”
“Is there really such a thing?”
Micki rolled her eyes. “I was joking.”
“I know.” Annabelle joined her sister on the couch and released Boris so he could jump into Micki’s lap. “And it looks like I’m going to owe you some more. I might have to go back to Vaughn’s.”
“Annie,” Micki groaned, leaning back against the couch. “Do you realize how many times I have to refill the watering can to feed these thirsty monsters?”
“Did you try talking to them? They’re usually much more pleasant if you sing ‘You Are My Sunshine’ while you’re pouring water and misting their little leaves.”
“Misting?” The color drained from Micki’s cheeks. “You never said anything about misting!”
“Joke,” Annabelle said, chuckling. She’d missed spending time with Micki while she was away. Nothing beat hanging out with her sisters. Unless she counted hanging out with Vaughn.
She thought about the fire at his lodge and she shivered.
“Whew.” Micki wiped a hand over her forehead. “You’re really in love, aren’t you?”
What had they been talking about? Annabelle tried to remember. Oh, yeah. Her plants. “I love all living things,” she said to her sister. “I can even tell you where I got each one of these babies and how long I’ve had them.”
“Impressive,” Micki muttered. “But I was talking about Brandon Vaughn. The big, sexy guy in the tan chinos and black collared shirt today. Remember him?”
“Vividly.” Annabelle sighed. From the moment she’d realized Vaughn had not only received more horrible news about the lodge, but that he’d chosen to leave for home without her, she’d been torn up inside.
On the one hand, she told herself that by letting her handle her crisis while he took off to handle his, he’d done the only practical thing. On the other hand, he could have told her in person if for no other reason than he was paying her to handle public relations. And a damaging fire would desperately need PR. Yet he hadn’t come to her.
And her gut told her that his reasons had nothing to do with business or with allowing her personal space. His avoiding her had everything to do with creating distance between them.
“Hello?” Micki tapped on Annabelle’s head with her knuckles. “Where did you go?”
Annabelle kicked her feet up on the table. “No place pleasant.”
“Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?” Micki suggested.
Annabelle nodded. “Might as well.”
“You love him?”
She nodded, refusing to meet her sister’s knowing gaze. “And before you say a word, it’s not the same as the other times.” She knew her sisters thought she gave her heart too easily and too fast, and maybe in the past, she had. This time was different.
“How do you know?”
“I could name a bunch of reasons,” Annabelle said.
“Like?” Micki scooted closer. “I really want to know.”
Annabelle let her thoughts drift to Vaughn and how he made her feel. “Like how when I’m with him I know I’m safe. I’m not so focused on the past and what I don’t have in my life. And it isn’t all about sex.” Even though that was incredible. “It’s so much more than that. But there’s one more reason I know this is more real than ever before.”
“You’ve got me hooked.”
Annabelle forced herself to meet her sister’s gaze. “Because I care more about what he needs than what I want. How else would you explain the fact that when I should be in Greenlawn doing my job, I’m home debating with myself whether or not he wants me there?”
Micki nodded. “Like I said, you’re in love with him. So, are you going to sit home and feel sorry for yourself or are you going to go after the one person who actually completes you in this damn, lonely world?” Micki asked as she absently scratched Boris’s scruffy head.
Annabelle rolled her eyes. “Someone’s been watching sappy movies again.”
“And a certain someone else seems to be too afraid of abandonment even to try and tell a certain sexy ex-football player how she feels.” Micki raised an eyebrow, subtly daring Annabelle to face her deepest fears.
Annabelle had risen to every obstacle life had thrown her way. Micki was right to challenge her now.
Annabelle scooped Boris out of her sister’s arms and stood. “We’re going back upstate,” she told the squirming dog. “And Micki’s going to plant-sit while we’re gone.”