Loe raamatut: «Early to Bed?»

1

YOU CAN HAVE whatever you want.

Lily McNeil chanted the phrase silently, just as they’d taught her to do in the week-long success seminar she’d recently attended in Tahiti.

Your past does not have to equal your future.

That was phrase number two in her daily mantra. Somehow, the idea that she could transform herself into someone her family could respect had been easier to believe on a sunny beach with all those bright blue waves pounding on the shore.

Of course, the monsoon presently hammering Manhattan was having a debilitating effect on both her hairdo and her ego. And the fact that the taxi driver had dropped her off across the street from her hotel was a slight problem. Rain and wind lashed at her as she waited on the curb for the traffic to clear.

You live under a black cloud.

No. Tightening her grip on her rolling suitcase and her briefcase, Lily dashed across the street. She’d been ten when her stepbrother Jerry Langford-McNeil had first flung the black cloud taunt at her. For years after that, she’d carried the image around in her mind of a dark, rain-filled mist hovering over her wherever she went.

No more. No way. No how. Black clouds were in her past—and her past did not have to equal her future. In the past, her father had never approved of anything she’d ever done. But she was about to change all that.

True, her confidence had slipped a notch when the company plane had failed to pick her up in Tahiti. But she’d managed to charter another plane to bring her to New York. And she was here. Mission accomplished. Dripping, she pushed through the revolving doors of Henry’s Place. Then she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass.

The old Lily was staring back at her—unfashionable, insecure, and overweight.

No. She was not that person anymore. Stopping short on the worn oriental carpet that ran up the stairs to the lobby, Lily squared her shoulders, drew in a deep breath and pictured herself the way she wanted to be. Visualization was the key to success. That’s what the energetic motivational guru had preached on his island. Her five-hundred-dollar hairstyle might be a little under the weather. She risked a peek in the mirrored wall to her right and felt her stomach plummet. Okay—a lot under the weather. As for her clothes—she closed her eyes and suppressed a shudder. They could be replaced.

She risked another peek, just to make sure that the twenty-five pounds she’d struggled so hard to lose over the past six months hadn’t somehow crept back onto her frame. They hadn’t. Relief streamed through her. She might look like a drowned rat, but at least she was now a slim one.

Your past does not have to equal your future. Squaring her shoulders, Lily opened both eyes and faced herself in the mirror. She’d changed on the inside, and that was what was important. More important, her father, J. R. McNeil of McNeil Enterprises, had given her a job and she had to prove to him that she could do it.

“Beware the Ides of March.”

With a start, Lily whirled to see a tall ethereal-looking woman standing at the top of the short flight of stairs. She wore a gauzy caftan in faded shades of blue, and her slivery white hair flowed down over her shoulders. She might have been a witch sprung right off the pages of a Harry Potter book. But the voice didn’t go with the rest of her. It had an “I don’t take any crap” tone that sounded more like a five-star general’s. The contrast aroused Lily’s curiosity, but then she met the woman’s eyes and felt a chill right through to her bones.

“Beware the Ides of March,” the woman repeated.

Any mention of the Ides of March brought two memories to Lily’s mind. First of all, the fifteenth of March was her birthday, and she’d just celebrated it two weeks ago. And anyone who’d studied Latin in school would recognize the warning that the soothsayer had given to Julius Caesar when he’d marched into Rome. Of course, the soothsayer’s prophecy had been dead on. As if on cue, lightning flashed and a huge clap of thunder rattled the glass doors.

Lily jumped.

“Hurry!” Raising one jeweled hand, the witch beckoned to her. “Disaster is near.”

Lily climbed the short flight of stairs to the lobby. If this was the way the hotel greeted its guests, it was no wonder that Henry’s Place was in dire financial straits. And it had such potential. Its location within walking distance of the theater district as well as Central Park was prime.

Though her father had shown her the file on the hotel the Romano family had been running for almost fifty years, the picture that the lobby presented was worth much more than the thousand words of his report. Decaying was the word that came to mind. Why in the world was Anthony Romano, the family spokesperson, refusing to sell to McNeil Enterprises when they obviously couldn’t take care of the place themselves?

In the end, the answer to that question wouldn’t matter. During her week’s stay at the hotel, her job, as her father described it, was to gather all the information she could to ensure that McNeil Enterprises’ next offer would not be refused. Find the weaknesses so we can exploit them.

“Leave your bags here.” The witch waved a hand at the mahogany reception desk that formed an L against one of the walls.

Lily immediately set down her suitcase and briefcase and followed the woman. She would have felt a lot better about the job her father had given her if she hadn’t had to lie about why she’d really come to Henry’s Place. She’d told Anthony Romano that she was heading up a new department at McNeil Enterprises that offered consulting services. She could provide him with an analysis that would allow him to revitalize the hotel. She was even supposed to offer him a financing plan. Of course, it would be a fake. Her real job was to ferret out information that would allow her father to force the sale.

The old Lily would have balked at the deception, and she would have described the job as spying. But the new Lily had to prove to her father and her stepfamily that she was fully capable of assuming a leadership position at McNeil Enterprises.

On the bright side, she might actually be doing the Romano family a favor. Their hotel looked as if it might not survive much longer in its present condition. As she followed the witch/soothsayer to a far corner of the lobby, she couldn’t help noting the marble floors were chipped in some places, gouged in others. The carpets covering them, though they must have been charming in their heyday fifty years ago, were badly in need of repair. As for the furniture—the tiny, exquisitely carved settee creaked ominously when her soothsayer sank down on it.

It was only then that Lily noticed the white pillar candles and the crystal ball on the small table in front of the settee.

“Sit.” The woman waved her to a chair across from her.

Still wondering how the five-star general’s voice could come out of that fragile body, Lily did as she was told.

“Give me your hand.”

Lily hesitated.

“Hurry. You don’t have any time to waste. The future is yours to shape.”

Lily stared at the woman. The words were such a close paraphrase of her motivational guru’s words that she found herself extending her hand. As soon as the long slender fingers closed over hers and turned her palm up, she felt another chill move through her. For a moment, the lobby became so still that Lily could hear the wind whistling outside the doors as if it were searching for a way in.

“Right here is the problem.” The woman traced a finger along her palm. “A line of deception. Today you begin a web of lies that could lead to great unhappiness for you and others.”

For the second time in as many minutes, Lily felt her stomach sink. How could this woman know that she had come to Henry’s Place on a spy mission? Had she failed before she’d even begun? Oh, that would make her stepmother and her stepbrother very happy.

“Why are you doing this?”

Why? That was a question she’d asked herself every day on that island retreat. But the answer always came back to the same thing. This was her one chance to win her father’s approval.

“Look at how short the line is.” The woman glanced up for a moment and met Lily’s eyes. “You’re not very good at deception.”

Maybe not. The problem was that she hadn’t been good at anything in her life. She hadn’t been the son her father would have preferred. Two years ago, she hadn’t been able to go through with a marriage that would have merged McNeil Enterprises with Fortescue Investments.

“Ah,” the woman said. “This other line—right here—is your love line. You have a lover in your future—tall, dark, handsome.”

Right. For the first time since she’d entered the hotel, Lily felt her tension ease. Finding a lover was standard patter for fortunetellers. The woman was obviously a hoax.

“Lovers from different worlds never have it easy. But if you have the courage to give yourself to him, he will love you for who you are,” the woman said.

A fantasy, Lily thought, but she couldn’t drag her gaze away from the older woman’s. How could a stranger—someone she’d just met—know that having someone love her for herself was her deepest, most secret fantasy?

“Dame Vera, here you are. Sir Alistair and I were so worried when we couldn’t find you.”

Lily felt a little as if she were wrenching herself out of a trance, but she managed to tear her gaze away from the older woman’s and shift it to the two people who were approaching. The young woman had dark hair, nearly black, that fell in a straight line to her shoulders. The name tag on her crisply ironed white shirt read Lucy. The man she’d called Sir Alistair was tall with finely chiseled aristocratic features that went with the wine-colored smoking jacket. Lily guessed his age to be somewhere between sixty and one hundred. He looked vaguely familiar—like an old friend she hadn’t run into in years.

“You could hardly expect me to remain in my rooms. The bathroom was flooding.” Turning to Lily, she murmured in a stage whisper, “Think Titanic an hour and a half into the movie.”

“I fixed the leak temporarily,” Lucy said. “Tony will see to it first thing in the morning. And of course, we’ll have a cleaning crew in.” Pausing, she sent an apologetic smile at Lily. “Dame Vera is one of our permanent residents, and she loves to tell fortunes.”

Vera rose from the settee. “I don’t tell fortunes. I see into the future. It’s a gift that carries with it a great deal of responsibility. Disaster is near and the fate of Henry’s Place hangs in the balance.”

Dame Vera? The name had a memory tickling at the edge of her mind.

“You don’t have to worry. You’ll always have a home here,” Lucy said in a soothing tone.

“A new owner might not see it that way.”

Lily shifted her gaze away from Dame Vera’s piercing stare in time to see shock appear on Lucy’s face.

“Tony would never sell this place. He promised Uncle Henry that he would keep it. It’s our family home—and yours, too.”

“Time will tell,” Dame Vera said, slipping back into her booming soothsayer voice. “In any case, it wasn’t necessary to bother Sir Alistair.”

“She didn’t bother me, my dear,” the man said. “I came over to see if—”

“You came over to check on me.” Vera glared at him. “I don’t need a keeper.”

Sir Alistair. The name along with the British accent finally rang a little bell in the back of Lily’s mind. Sir Alistair Brooks was a British film star she’d seen in a number of late-night movies. And Dame Vera? Lily peered more closely at her soothsayer.

“The day I get so forgetful that I can’t find my way back to the rooms I’ve been leasing for more than half my life, you can book me a suite at Bellevue,” Vera continued.

“I knocked on your door because one of your old movies is on the late show,” Alistair said. “Blithe Spirit. Elvira was one of your greatest roles, and I have a nice bottle of Merlot.”

Vera snorted. “What you have is a lecherous mind. And you know I prefer champagne.”

“One of these days, you’re going to agree to let me educate your palate.”

Vera slipped a hand through his crooked arm. “I’ve been drinking champagne since—”

“I know, I know—since Sir Richard Harris drank it out of your slipper. Well, he’s gone, but I’m still here. And I don’t believe they have suites at Bellevue,” he said as he led her toward the elevator.

“If that’s your way of suggesting that I move in permanently with you, you can dream on.”

“Always, my dear,” Alistair replied.

Lily had to suppress the urge to applaud as the elevator doors slid shut on the couple.

“I hope she didn’t bother you,” Lucy said as she leaned down to pinch out the candles. “There was quite a leak in her suite, and I’m the only one on duty tonight.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lily said. “That’s Sir Alistair Brooks, isn’t it? The British film star?” Growing up in boarding schools, she’d clocked a lot of hours watching old movies while other kids were home for the holidays.

“Yes,” Lucy answered, giving her a surprised look.

“And Dame Vera Darnel. I didn’t put it all together until I saw them walk away. They appeared together in film versions of Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I must have seen both of those at least twenty times. And about ten years ago they did a stint together on Day by Day.” The daytime soap had been a favorite in the boarding school she’d gone to.

Lucy smiled at her. “Not many people recognize them anymore.”

“They’re guests here?”

“Permanent ones. Their suites occupy the eighth floor—right above the family suites on the seventh floor. They were my Uncle Henry’s first guests, and the fact that they signed a ten-year lease fifty years ago gave him the financial security to open the hotel. They’ve been leasing here ever since.”

“Is the leak a bad one?” Lily asked.

For the first time, worry replaced the smile in Lucy’s eyes. “I’m sure that Tony can handle it. The plumbing has been acting up a bit more than usual lately. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here to welcome you when you arrived.”

“No problem,” Lily said. But it occurred to her that she would have to include the incident with Dame Vera and the problem with the plumbing in her report to her father. Feeling guilty, she rose and followed the younger girl to the reception desk.

Once she was behind the counter, Lucy beamed a smile at Lily. “Why don’t we start over? This is where I say, I’m Lucy Romano. Welcome to Henry’s Place.”

“I’m Lily McNeil and you must be Anthony Romano’s sister?”

“Cousin,” Lucy said. “But he’s really more like a brother. I’ve lived here in the hotel all my life. Usually, I work in the kitchen, but all the men in the family are out tonight. My cousin Sam got married a month ago, and they’re playing poker at his new place.”

“I spoke with Anthony on the phone.” Lily drew a credit card out of her purse. “I have an appointment to talk with him in the morning about renovating the hotel, and he made a reservation for me to stay here tonight as a guest.”

Lucy’s fingers flew over the keys of the computer. “I’m so glad you have a reservation. We’re booked solid. Thanks to the plumbing problem, there isn’t a room to be had. Now…” Lucy leaned back in her chair. “All we have to do is wait for the slowest computer in the world. I keep telling Tony that he has to get a new system. All he says is that he’s got it on the list.”

While Lucy chattered away, Lily glanced around the lobby again. In her mind, she pictured it as it had been in its prime. It was really a crime to have let it deteriorate this way. At least when her father took it over, the lobby would be returned to its original beauty.

“Uh-oh,” Lucy said with a frown.

“What?”

“I’ve pulled up your reservation, but there’s a notation on it that it’s been canceled.”

“That’s impossible,” Lily said as she pushed away a vision of a little black cloud forming over her head. First a monsoon and now a canceled reservation. This was the kind of luck the old Lily had, and she was no longer that person. “Your cousin made it for me himself.”

Lucy’s frown deepened as she studied the screen in front of her. “He’s also the one who canceled it. There’s a notation that someone at McNeil Enterprises called this afternoon and said that your plans had changed.”

Thoughts whirled through Lily’s mind. Who would have called? Had her father changed his mind about the job he’d given her? Surely, he would have called her first to let her know. “There must have been some mix-up at the office. Why don’t you just give me another room?”

Lucy met her eyes. “I don’t have another room. I can find you something at one of the other hotels in the city.”

“Surely, you must have something.” One thing Lily knew about the hotel business was that there were always rooms held back for just such an emergency. “Your cousin Anthony and I talked about how important it was that I stay here at Henry’s Place. It’s the only way that I can really get a feel for the place.”

Lucy’s brow knit. “I would have a room if it weren’t for the plumbing. Dame Vera’s wasn’t the only room affected.”

“I’ll take anything,” Lily said.

“Tell you what,” Lucy said. “I do have a suite on the roof. My Uncle Henry lived there while he was alive, and it’s only used by family.” She swung out from behind the counter, picked up Lily’s suitcase, and led the way to the elevator. “I’m sure that Tony would want me to put you up there. I know that he was looking forward to meeting with you.”

As she followed the young girl, Lily let out the breath she was holding. In spite of Dame Vera’s dire predictions, her past was not going to become her future.

“I’LL TAKE THREE.” Tony placed his cards face down on the table and wished fervently that he could have discarded his entire hand. The grinning look that passed between his brothers as Sam dealt him new cards added salt to the wound.

“Don’t get too smug,” he warned his brothers. “My luck is going to turn. Dame Vera read my palm just before I left this evening.”

“Did she give you a date on the turnaround?” Drew asked.

“Tonight sometime,” Tony said. At least, he hoped it would be tonight.

Drew and Sam exchanged another look.

“I don’t think we have anything to worry about yet,” Sam said. “You haven’t won a hand all night.”

Though he wouldn’t have said that he had a pessimistic nature, Tony viewed his current cards as symbolic of his luck in general lately. The hotel, his family’s home, was threatening to fall down on his head. Literally. So far, he’d managed to keep the severity of the situation from his brothers. They didn’t need the grief. They certainly didn’t need to know that two big hotel conglomerates, McNeil Enterprises and Fortescue Investments were pressuring him to sell out. Not that he ever would—and certainly not to McNeil Enterprises. His father and J. R. McNeil had a history. That was all Tony knew, but it was bad enough for his dad to warn him never to trust anyone from the company.

Still, Tony would have liked to discuss the hotel’s problems with someone. But Sam was a newlywed, and Drew had been working some tough undercover assignments at the precinct lately. The one person he might have confided in, his cousin Nick, was adjusting to fatherhood in Boston. He didn’t need anything raining on his parade, either. Besides, running the hotel was Tony’s job—the one his father had left him.

“I only need one,” Drew said as he tossed his card on the table.

“And I’m good,” Sam said.

That figured, Tony thought. Truth told, Sam’s luck was on a roll. He was not only winning at poker tonight, but ever since he’d met and married A.J., his whole life had been on an upswing. The security company he worked for had made him a VP, and A.J. was expecting a baby in early summer.

“I’m in for twenty,” Drew said, pushing chips into the center of the table.

“Big talk.” Sam set a neat stack next to Drew’s. “I’ll see that and raise you thirty.”

Drew added chips and the two men looked expectantly at Tony.

“You can always fold now,” Sam said. “That way you can hold on to that pitiful pile of chips in front of you.”

Tony turned to Drew. “That sounds like a bluff to me. I’ll bet he’s got squat.”

“How much?” Drew asked.

“Ten bucks,” Tony said.

Drew grinned. “You’re on.”

Sam shook his head sadly. “This is like taking money from a baby. You guys are no challenge at all.”

Tony’s smile spread slowly. “Those three cards you just dealt me could make me a full house.”

Drew snorted. “Not with the string of luck you’ve been having.”

“I told you. It’s about to change,” Tony said as he placed his hand over the cards and rubbed them gently against the table. They wouldn’t give him a full house since he had an eight and nine in his hand. But they had to give him something. If there was one thing he believed in it was that a person’s luck could change as quickly as the weather.

And Dame Vera’s prediction had only reinforced his own personal feeling that his was certainly due for a change. The feeling had started a week ago on the day that Lily McNeil had contacted him to offer her consulting services.

She’d been the third person to contact him from McNeil Enterprises. First there’d been the invitation to lunch with J.R. Then there’d been the personal visit from the well-dressed and well-manicured Jerry Langford-McNeil. Not only had Lily been number three—Tony’s lucky number—but he sensed something about her that was…different. Her father and stepbrother were smooth-talking sharks. His impression of Lily was that she was more of a goldfish. He gave the three cards on the table a rub.

Of course, he hadn’t believed one word of the line of baloney she’d fed him over the phone. She claimed she was starting a new department for her company, and she wanted to help him get an affordable loan to make the improvements that he’d always wanted to make. Plus, she would offer him a free analysis and a plan to increase profits so that he could pay off the loan in record time.

Yeah, right. And then she’d probably have a bridge she’d want to sell him, too. No, it wasn’t her too-good-to-be-true offer that had intrigued him. Her voice had caught his attention. Throaty and sexy, it had contrasted sharply with her brisk and businesslike presentation of her offer. And for some reason, it had made him think of hot, sweaty, all-night sex—the kind he’d fantasized about as an adolescent.

“Are you going to pick up those cards or not?” Sam asked.

“In a second.” Tony continued to rub them gently against the table. He’d been looking forward to meeting Lily McNeil. Contrasts had always intrigued him. And when she’d laughed—

Hell, he’d really wanted to meet her—and not just to discuss business. He wanted to make her laugh again. And he wanted to watch her eyes light up when she did. He’d lost track of how long it had been since a woman had aroused his interest the way Lily McNeil had during their one phone conversation.

Then today, her office had called to cancel. She’d changed her mind about helping him, and she hadn’t even had the courtesy to call in person. Tony drew the cards closer to him. “I’m definitely due for a change of luck.”

“You could certainly use some at the hotel,” Drew said. “Lucy was hauling buckets up to the eighth floor when I stopped in for a quick shower. The latest leak started there and flooded Dame Vera’s apartment. When are you going to break down and get the plumbing replaced?”

“It’s on the list,” Tony said as he drew the first card toward him. Of course, the list was huge—a new computer system for reservations, a new stove in the kitchen, new carpeting for the lobby. But a leak on the top floor would have to be the priority. If it was allowed to continue, all the guestrooms below would be in danger. He managed a quick look at his watch. Eleven-thirty. Another half an hour and he’d make an excuse to leave.

“Now you’ve done it,” Sam said to Drew. “He’s going to make some excuse to leave now so he can check on that leak.”

“Not until I win this hand, and the ten bucks that Drew will owe me when you turn over the squat you’re holding.” Tony pushed chips into the center of the table.

“You haven’t even looked at your cards,” Sam pointed out.

“Don’t have to. Dame Vera told me my luck is about to change.” He picked up the first card and bit back a grin. The queen of hearts was a good start. An omen, perhaps. Then he picked up the last two cards and filled in his straight. Leaning back in his chair, he kept his face blank and let his brothers up the bet.