Page 35 of The Last Resort
I’m thirty, I don’t need to have my lovers scrutinized by my family.
“How about I book somewhere for us to go out for dinner tonight? Though I am warning you, it might be a bit more boots and jeans than fancy cocktails. I hope you like steak.”
The disappointment on his face lifted at the mention of meat. “Okay, I’ll pick you up at seven. Oh, actually can we make the booking for closer to eight? I have a bit of work to get through today.”
Her day was also full. “Eight is late, but yeah, I’ve got a lot to do today. See you then. Have a great day.”
After another slow, toe-curling kiss that had her body screaming for him to take her back to bed, Rachel reluctantly headed out the door.
With the planning meeting just over a week away, she had to finalize the rough costings for her proposal to save the ski lodge site. Whatever plans possible buyers for the resort had in mind, it was important that she prepared a viable alternative for the Brock family to put in front of the city council. A plan that could be used to shoot down any proposal that might include demolishing the old lodge. She’d do everything in her power to stop the bulldozers.
Kellie was slumped over the kitchen table when Rachel arrived back at the house, take-out coffees in hand. Stomach dropping, Rachel rushed to her sister’s side.
“If Dan has hurt you,I’ll …”
“It’s not Dan. It’s Dad,” sobbed Kellie.
The mention of their father had bile rising in Rachel’s throat. She hadn’t spoken to Scott Davilla since the end of the trial. His call list from prison didn’t seem to include her. Considering that she’d been forced to testify against him, she wasn’t surprised by his silence. Rachel set the coffees down.
“What happened?”
Kellie wiped at her face with the sleeve of her sweater. “Dad called this morning, just after Dan left for work. Like always, dad’s timing sucks. He would never call when he thought Dan might be around. His first words were to ask if Dan and I had finalized our divorce. He wanted to know when I expected to see the settlement money. He wants toborrowsome.”
Kellie added air quotes to her last remark. They both knew that any money which found its way into Scott Davilla’s greedy hands, would never be seen again. So very typical of their father. He’d never been one for niceties, not even with his family. All he’d ever cared about was money and status. Not that he had either of them these days.
Rachel dropped into the chair next to her sister’s with a tired sigh. “I’m so sorry.”
“When I told him that Dan and I were back together again, he went ballistic. Demanded that I give him the number of my divorce lawyer. He didn’t even bother to ask how I was or how you were. Can you believe that?”
Rachel could. “I don’t think he even knows where I am.”
From talking to their mother, Rachel had been led to believe that if their father got enough money, he would try to appeal the court verdict. Or maybe pay back some of the money he’d embezzled to see if he could get his sentence reduced. With Scott Davilla there was always an angle. His family was more of a hinderance than anything. Or at leastuntil they could serve his self-centered purposes. And money was at the center of his everything.
“I just wish there was something I could do to make it easier for you, Kellie.”
If she were honest about it, she was still trying to get her own head around the whole Kellie and Dan reuniting thing. Before arriving in Aspen she’d been convinced her sister’s marriage was all but over. Kellie was just waiting on the paperwork.
Kellie sniffed back a tear. “Actually there is something you could do. Something that would make my life a darn sight easier.”
“Name it.”
“You could start being nicer to Dan. I know he has a vested interest in the financial outcome of the ski lodge, but he did get you a job when you had no money in the bank. And he’s not the one who you should be pissed at—it’s me.”
Rachel’s brows furrowed. Why should she be angry with her sister?
Silence sat heavy in the room for a moment, during which the hairs on the back of Rachel’s neck prickled. She had no beef with Kellie.
“I made a mistake on a drunken girls weekend in Denver. I did something really stupid. Something unforgiveable,” explained Kellie.
Cold dread filled Rachel. She didn’t want to hear what she knew was going to come next.
“When I eventually confessed my one-night stand to Dan, he was heartbroken. He moved out that night.” She reached across the table and took a hold of Rachel’s hand. “I’ve never seen a man so crushed. I took our dream, and I destroyed it.”
Rachel’s head swam, she gripped tightly to the edge of the table. Her sister had been the one who’d cheated. Not Dan.She’d just assumed it had been him. The truth was a bitter pill, one she was struggling to swallow.
Kellie cheated? Dan came back. And all I’ve done since I got here is, be horrible to him.
Dan had come back. She couldn’t understand how that could have happened. For her infidelity was a hard line. Once crossed, there was no coming back.
