Chapter Seven
“Okay, now I’ve got you trapped in a small tin can flying thirty thousand feet above the ocean,”
Ivy says as she settles in across from me, “we’re going to talk.”
Damn. I was hoping to avoid this but then I should have flown commercial and not taken CeCe up on her offer to fly us all back to New York. But at the time I didn’t realize I would want to avoid my best friend so I didn’t have to talk about how spectacularly I made a fool of myself the night before. I even took the seat next to Darnell, who will not care about my awful taste in men in any way. Unfortunately, he and Heath are now sitting together arguing about hobbits or something.
Flight Attendant came by to take our lunch orders. Ugh. I have to stop thinking like that. “What’s her name?”
Ivy’s lips curl up like she knows exactly what I’m thinking. “Jane. I know. I make sure to ask because it’s way too easy to fall into the whole CeCe, call-everyone-by-their-place-in-your-life thing. She can get away with it.”
That’s what happens when you’re an outrageously wealthy older woman. Which I’m not. “Thanks, Jane,”
I call out as she goes to get our lunch. “She seems nice. I hope Anika’s flight is even better.”
“Well, it’s CeCe’s smaller jet.”
Ivy frowns. “Does she need two? How many private jets can one person own?”
“Three, darling.”
CeCe turns in her chair. This particular jet’s cabin is something of an elegant living room, complete with chairs that swivel so the occupants can configure the space into conversational settings. She’s sitting with Heath’s grandmother, Lydia, and Ivy’s mom, Diane. We call them the moms, though CeCe’s only child is a series of overly privileged Maltese dogs she always names Lady something. “I have them for different occasions, of course. This is the large jet. I call her Big Bertha. She gets the job done when I have to fly a group of obnoxious hedge fund managers places. I like to leave out a single parachute to let them know I can eject them at any time.”
“I prefer Jackie,”
Lydia offers. “That’s the small jet we use when we go on our adventures.”
“It’s got a big screen we watch movies on, and I even managed to talk Stick Up Her Ass to put in a microwave so we can make popcorn.”
Diane looks so different than she did when we were growing up. She’s…smiling. Joking. I suppose I never saw her before she’d gotten lost in grief and depression. She is in therapy now and has a much better relationship with, well, everyone.
“I do not look this good by eating carbs,”
CeCe shoots back.
“No, she does it by drinking the blood of the innocent,”
Lydia says with a grin.
CeCe waves them off with an indulgent shake of her head as she pets the dog in her lap. “Angelica is my love jet. I purchased it when I thought I should join the mile high club.”
She wrinkles her nose. “It turns out I prefer my physical relationships without the turbulence. But I’m glad I kept her because I think Anika and the king are going to have a lovely time.”
Ivy’s grin lights up the room. “I’m glad she kept it because it’s, like, tricked out. I still don’t know what half those things are for, but Heath and I tried them all.”
Diane’s hands cover her ears and she hums.
“I’m the one with a stick up my butt.”
CeCe’s eyes roll but then they’re laser focused on me. “I’m not the only one today, Harper.”
Shit. She used my name. Like my actual, real name. I’m usually something like Girl with the Tool Kit or Ivy’s Friend who Needs a Manicure. She’s serious if she’s using my name.
Up until now I wasn’t sure she knew my name.
They’re all looking at me. All the moms and Ivy.
“Hey, do we have some Sprite hidden…”
Darnell begins, and then all eyes turn his way. His hands come up like he knows he’s walked into a potential danger zone. “I’m good. I’ll just…”
He backs up. “Return to my assigned seat. I didn’t realize this was a meeting of the moms. Good luck, Harper.”
Crap. There’s an actual name for it? “I can go grab that Sprite for him.”
“Sit down, Harper,”
CeCe commands.
And I do. Which is proof the woman has some witchy talents because I don’t tend to blindly obey.
“What happened last night?”
Ivy asks. “I would have had this conversation in private and kept the moms off your back, but you skipped on breakfast this morning and then ignored me when I tried to talk to you after Ani’s send-off. You ignored my texts.”
“I did not. I answered them.”
She frowns my way. “You replied to hey, are you okay with a thumbs-up emoji. And to what happened with Reid last night with a pukey face. That is not an answer, Harper.”
I sigh. There’s probably no getting out of this. I would argue if I thought they were simply trying to get gossip, but these women are my family. Even more than my own mom who I would never go to for advice because somehow it would get turned around on me and whatever I was worrying about would be my fault. Still, I can try. “We were both tired and decided to go to bed.”
The moms all lean in, anticipation clear.
“Not together,”
I clarify.
They all sit back, obviously disappointed.
This is where my own mother would give me advice about cows and free milk and how she made my father wait, and look how that turned out. Unhappy. Unfulfilled. Constantly disappointed in everything around them, including their only child.
“He seemed so into you,”
Ivy muses. “I was even taking bets with his brother about who had to make sure the two of you ate breakfast this morning.”
“Well, no one won that bet since we made the decision to be adults and not let sexual attraction ruin what might be an excellent working relationship,” I reply.
Ivy’s eyes narrow. “Really? You’re going to be friends and have a great working relationship? That’s what you were doing last night when you were dancing with him and looking at him like he was the last man in the world?”
“Like you were a kid who found the world’s biggest candy store,”
Lydia adds.
“Or a very horny young woman who hasn’t gotten any in a long, long time.”
CeCe isn’t good with metaphors. She just puts it out there.
I force a smile on my face. They’re not getting to me so easily. “I had a lovely time with him. He’s a handsome man, but we decided to be mature adults and not complicate the relationship.”
“Mature adults who are planning to be friends reply to each other’s text messages and calls,” Ivy says.
How does she… “Did you look at my phone?”
“I didn’t have to. Reid texted me to see if he had the right number,”
Ivy explains. “He didn’t understand why you wouldn’t reply, and he worried he’d gotten the wrong number since it appears the one he’s been calling has blocked him.”
I probably shouldn’t have done that. “I’ll talk to him when we get home.”
Why am I holding back? These women aren’t looking to make fun of me, but I’m protecting myself like they’re the mean girls from high school. Maybe talking about it will give me perspective and I’ll be able to do what I vowed to do—take the high road. “I went back to his room and things got hot and heavy, and then his brother rushed in and I was hustled out because his fiancée showed up.”
“I’m going to need that popcorn,”
Diane says, leaning in. “He has a fiancée?”
Lydia huffs and holds on to the tea she ordered. “He never once mentioned that in his questionnaires.”
“He had a fiancée. Some Swedish stick figure,”
CeCe says. “But according to the European gossip rags, they broke up.”
CeCe knows something? “Anika didn’t mention it. Neither did Luca.”
“Why would Luca tell you Reid had a girlfriend? He broke up with her before you met him,”
CeCe replies. “Although they do have a history of breaking up and making up. It’s all on the report I did on him and his brother before Anika hired him.”
“You had him investigated?”
It’s a bit shocking to me.
CeCe waves me off. “Of course. What do you think Private Detective does?”
Well, he’s six foot two inches of pure muscle with a movie-star-like smile, so I kind of thought he did CeCe. She’s a mystery. “Why would you look into him?”
“Because Ani is in a position where people can and will try to take advantage of her. I would allow her mother to handle things, but she’s not exactly the ruthless kind,”
CeCe points out.
Lydia nods. “Yeah, we need someone without any ruth to watch out for our girls.”
“I helped Paul,”
Diane admits. “He’s the investigator. Thomas and I did some of the legwork ourselves. He seems to be a fairly solid guy, though I question the talk about his wealth. I think his father left them with less than society thinks.”
I’m super confused. “Okay, so we, and by we I mean the moms, have made it a habit of playing Law and Order with anyone who comes into Anika’s life?”
“Yes,”
Ivy says with an annoyed sigh. “And they left us out. I would say it’s all terrible and invasive, but I kind of wish they were around when I was living with my ex.”
“I was around, love,”
CeCe says with annoyance of her own. “I did send you a report. You were somewhat stubborn.”
“I think we should all take a moment.”
Lydia is always the voice of reason. “I have also done a bit of a study into Mr. Dorsey.”
“You had him fill out forms,”
Diane points out. “He can lie on forms. I’m fairly certain he did.”
“What do you mean he lied?”
I trust Diane’s instincts. She’s worked with lawyers for a very long time.
Diane looks uncomfortable with all the attention on her, but she soldiers on—something she wouldn’t have done before a shit ton of therapy and antidepressants to help her handle her grief. If I didn’t believe meds could help mental disorders before, she’s walking proof that they can help a person get their life back. “I read Lydia’s questionnaires, and I’ve spent some time with the young man. He claims to have no problems with his brother, but I would say there’s quite a bit of tension between the two. I don’t know why. It could be a childhood thing, but something’s going on between them. Didn’t you see him watching Jeremiah like a hawk when we were at the bar the other night?”
“I did,”
CeCe notes. “It seemed like he was worried about Jeremiah for some reason. Have we considered that the tension has to do with the car accident and the subsequent loss of their TV show? Perhaps Jeremiah distracted Reid, and that’s what he’s still angry about.”
I never saw him angry with his brother. “The accident was Reid’s fault. I doubt he would take it out on his brother. And wasn’t there someone else in the car?”
“Yes, her name was Britta something,”
Diane confirms.
Ah, the supermodel. “That’s his fiancée.”
“They broke up,”
Ivy insists.
CeCe sends me a sympathetic look. “They do that quite often, from what I can tell. Their history goes back a few years. They have what can only be described as a tempestuous relationship.”
Passion. He was passionate about Britta Olensoff.
I was probably a way to make the woman he did care about jealous. Or they were on a break and he thought he could play around before they got serious again.
“I don’t think he’s lying about his relationship with another woman,”
Lydia says thoughtfully. “I know it’s a bunch of questionnaires, but you can tell a lot from the answers. If anything, I would say he’s lonely and overwhelmed with responsibility. He’s the type of man who takes the weight of the world on his shoulders. I think he pretty much raised his younger brother. We’re reading too much into it. He’s used to watching out for Jeremiah.”
“His father was a terrible human being,”
CeCe admitted. “Dorian Dorsey—such a terrible name. It brings to mind casual sexism—slept with any woman he could. We were in different circles, but I certainly had my run-ins with him. I remember when his wife walked out and everyone worried about the children being left with him.”
“Did anyone check?”
I ask, and even as the question comes out of my mouth I know it’s na?ve.
“Of course not,”
CeCe admits. “Everyone thought at least they’d be raised by the nanny. Look, I don’t say any of this to get sympathy for Reid. I barely know him. But I did know something of his father, and oftentimes the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He’s got a bit of a reputation when it comes to women. Normally I would say go and have fun, but our Harper isn’t a fun girl. More’s the shame.”
See, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing in her head. “I wasn’t trying to have a relationship with him.”
They all stare at me like I said something ridiculous.
“I wasn’t.”
Ivy’s head shakes. “But you would. Harper, you have never once in your life just had a fling. Jon Keller junior year. You made out with him at the homecoming game and told us it was a one and done thing, and he was still hanging around when we went to prom.”
“Okay. I had issues breaking things off,” I begin.
“The wrestler freshman year of college,”
Ivy continues. “You hooked up at a party and then you suddenly knew things about takedowns and falls and something called a Wheeler Whip.”
It was a weird time. When Ivy starts to talk about the dude I met backstage at a community theater show, I know she’ll end up telling the story of how I played a witch on one episode of a local children’s TV show, and I would like to avoid that. “Okay, I get it. Maybe you’re right.”
“I was all for it because at least this time you’re on the same page,”
Ivy concedes. “You both like all the home stuff. He can pick out wallpaper and you can install it. It’s kind of perfect.”
“That’s what I’m saying,”
Lydia insists. “They’re a great match. I don’t think Reid is a player. If anything, I suspect he could get caught in a relationship he can’t get out of. He doesn’t necessarily think about himself. He needs someone who can have his best interests at heart and be strong enough to make the point that he should do what’s right for him. And by him, I mean for them. He’ll be better at making decisions that forward himself if he truly believes he’s making the decision for his partner.”
That doesn’t sound like the playboy CeCe described. Nor does it make me think of the arrogant ass I first met. I was caught up in the romance of the wedding. That’s what I decided around two a.m. the night before. It wasn’t Reid himself. Any gorgeous, charming guy would have done the same thing for me.
He got rid of me mighty fast the minute Britta showed up.
“It doesn’t matter,”
I tell this found family of mine. “I’m not interested in a relationship with him.”
Ivy shifts, leaning toward me. “Are you sure you’re not interested in him? You laughed more last night than you have in forever.”
I don’t have a choice. Beyond my own self-respect, there are other things to consider. “He’s got a fiancée, and I don’t need to bring a bunch of drama to the set. This is Ani’s first big project, and she’s taking a chance on me.”
I don’t like the thought that Ivy’s right and last night was the first time in forever that I relaxed and enjoyed myself. Right up until the moment I realized he was keeping things from me. Important things.
Ivy nods and sits back. “All right, then. I’ll handle the moms. You concentrate on making Banover Place pretty. I wonder what it’ll sell for when you’re done?”
Millions. Millions that will help Ani’s new country.
I try to relax and think about the good I’ll be doing. Whatever it takes to get my mind off that man.