Stephanie picked up the phone in her room and dialed the kitchen. She had a scathing headache and desperately needed some ibuprofen. There was no way she was walking past the terrace and risking another conversation with her stepmother. It was bad enough she was going to have to endure an unwanted afternoon of shopping. Two, no three pills, a large glass of water, and a half-hour nap, then she should be ready to take on the world. Well, at least ready to take on one ditzy stepmother.
Practically collapsing on the bed, she draped her arm over her eyes and waited for the maid to come and rescue her. She'd made a date with the enemy. “Oh God,” she mumbled to herself. What had she done now? Things were going so well. She'd found another side to Daniel. Instead of the gruff bear she’d first met at the office or faced this morning at breakfast, he’d been good company. Oh, who was she kidding? He’d been downright fun. She’d felt alive and happy. Fleeting as it might have been, she liked not having a cloud of sadness hanging over her. Ever since her mom’s accident, she felt like Pigpen, only her cloud weighed more heavily on her heart than his dust cloud.
“Señorita?” Marta tapped softly on the door.
“Come in.” There was no way Stephanie was moving off the bed. Following Marta with her eyes, she watched as the young woman brought the tray around to her side of the bed.
“You’re not feeling well?” Marta asked with concern.
“Small headache.” Stephanie poured out three, oh what the hell, four pills and swallowed them in one long gulp of cold water. The shocked look on Marta’s face was almost enough to make Stephanie laugh, almost.
“Thank you, Marta. Would you please make sure someone wakes me in half an hour?”
“Si, Señorita.”
Andres Campo stepped out of the elevator at his penthouse apartment and strolled down the hall, his three friends almost doubled over beside him in laughter.
“All right. I get the point, but there’s no way I’m going to agree that dunking you two in the pool wasn’t worth getting a dinner date with Stephanie.”
“I would never push you into the pool for a date.” Guillermo waved his hands, palms up, in frustration. “Just because she’s attractive—”
“Attractive?” Andres gave Guillermo a duh glare.
“I happen to prefer blondes.”
“I still say it was worth a little soggy embarrassment,” Andres insisted.
“That’s because you’re not the one who wound up in the pool or on his ass,” Francisco interjected, smacking his friend a little more roughly than usual across the back.
“What’s all the commotion?” Guido Campo looked up from his chair in the sitting room as the four friends elbowed past each other.
“Your son has developed a new technique for picking up pretty girls.” Alejandro walked over to greet Mr. Campo.
“Finally, someone with enough taste to admit she’s pretty.” Andres stepped up to his dad and hugged him hello.
Guido smiled at the men’s teasing. Rising to fix another drink, he addressed the group. “Is anyone planning on telling me what this new technique consists of?”
“With the grace and style of Mikhail Baryshnikov, he knocks Alejandro and Guillermo into the pool, knocks me on my ass, but first insures I bump into said pretty young lady, pouring her drink all over her.”
“Hey. I’m not the one who knocked Guillermo into the pool. That was those little urchins,” Andres protested.
“No. You merely knocked Alejandro into the pool and me on my ass.” Francisco shook his head and accepted the drink Señor Campo handed him.
“Unless there’s some critical bit of information missing, I’m inclined to agree with Francisco that your new methodology needs some serious fine tuning.” Grinning, Guido handed drinks to the other two.
“I prefer to think of it as fate stepping in. If it hadn’t been for the mishap, Daniel Hernan would have been back at the table before I noticed her.”
“Daniel?” Guido froze, still mixing the last drink for his son. Contempt erupted in his eyes where humor and amusement had danced only seconds before.
“Yeah, Stephanie was having lunch with him. She was alone when I bumped into her but—”
“Stephanie?” All color drained from Guido’s face. Awkwardly he fumbled with the tongs and dropped an ice cube on the floor. Setting the glass down loudly on the bar, he spun around to look at his son. “Stephanie who? What’s her last name?”
Andres was taken aback by his father’s frantic tone. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. She just told me her name was Stephanie.” Ignoring his father’s growing agitation, Andres cocked his shoulder in an arrogant gesture of self-approval. “It’s not often I get to steal a girl away from him. Daniel was absolutely livid when he saw me talking to her.”
“She was his date?” Guido’s tone softened slightly. “Are you sure? Have you seen her before?”
“I’ve never seen her before. I spotted her accent right off. That’s when she told me she was just visiting from New York.”
Guido’s eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t his date. That was his sister!”
“Sister? He doesn’t have a sister.”
“Stepsister. Same damn thing. Except she’s Eduardo’s blood.”
“Eduardo has a daughter?” Andres slumped back in his chair, completely surprised by this latest revelation.
“What about her mother?” Guido gazed thoughtfully over his son’s shoulder.
“Mother?”
“Was she with her?” Guido turned his attention to Andres, completely ignoring the three friends who sat quietly taking in the unfolding drama.
“No.”
“Did she mention her? Is she back too?”
“I don’t know. It was all I could do to get her to accept my dinner invitation.”
“You’re taking her to dinner?” Guido sank heavily into his chair and mumbled almost inaudibly. “They’re back.”
“There’s nothing like a little shopping to lift the spirits.” Patricia pushed the door open to Silvia Tcherassi.
It took everything in Stephanie to keep her eyes from falling out of their sockets. When she agreed to go shopping, this hadn’t been exactly what she had in mind. Somewhere she was thinking the national version of Bloomingdales, not Prada. Not only was a handkerchief probably out of her price range, but all the high-fashion glitz and fluff were bound to make her look like a mutt with a poodle cut. All she’d need was a rhinestone collar.
“Patricia, I really don’t think this is necessary—”
“Nonsense. You’re Eduardo Cortez’s daughter.”
Stephanie was all set to argue when her voice caught in her throat. The sheer shock of the price tag for a single blouse had her close to apoplexy. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to her stepmother, who was already giving the sales assistant a near armload of garments for her to try on. Lowering her voice in an attempt to be as discreet as possible, Stephanie whispered to Patricia. “I appreciate the help, but this really isn’t in my budget.”
“Dear, you don’t have a budget anymore. You have a father.” Patricia noticed the blouse Stephanie still clutched in her hands. “Ooh, excellent color for you. We’ll add that to the others.”
The next few hours were more of the same. Patricia whizzing through boutique after boutique and Stephanie trying desperately to rein the woman in. As it was, keeping the clothing in line with Stephanie’s conservative taste was challenging enough. She couldn’t even begin to imagine all the money that woman would have spent if she hadn’t put her foot down, and often.
By the time they made it home, Stephanie was ready for more aspirin and another nap, but there’d be no time. She’d take the aspirin and pray the night ended quickly. Very quickly.
Stephanie stepped into the house and turned to Marta by the door. “Where’s my father?”
“In the library.”
“No need for that, dear. You go on to your room. Marta will bring you the rest of your things. After you decide which dress you’re going to wear, you can come show your father.” Patricia turned and waved the maid out to the car where José was already loaded down with their new purchases.
“I’d feel better if I at least told him I was home.” Stephanie shifted her weight. She hadn’t noticed how much her feet hurt.
“I’ll let him know. You go on and get ready for your date.”
A low groan slipped out. She wasn’t totally sure which had her more exasperated, the date, the shopping, or that damn grin always plastered on Patricia’s face. “I am tired. Maybe a long hot shower will help.” Forcing herself to move, she leaned forward and kissed her stepmother on the cheek. “Thank you.”
Stephanie stepped back, and for a just a second her stepmother's plastic smile bore a startling resemblance to a satisfied sneer.
Delighted with herself, Patricia wiped the smile off her face, hunched her shoulders slightly, and strolled into the library. “Eduardo, dear.”
“Patricia.” Eduardo looked over her shoulder.
Patricia struggled to hide the pleasure it gave her to see him searching for his daughter. She would win this battle. She’d had too many years of practice to doubt her own skills. “I am completely exhausted.”
“Is Stephanie home?”
Patricia immediately recognized the disappointment in his eyes. Stephanie should have stopped in a moment herself. It was the polite thing to do, expected. Patricia knew that, and she knew it would grate at Eduardo that she hadn’t.
“Yes. She’s so excited about tonight she rushed to her room to get ready.” Sitting gracefully on the sofa, she crossed her legs and let her sandal dangle loosely as she waved her foot. Rubbing a little salt into the wounds always made for a more seasoned meal. “That girl must have a shopping gene. I swear, Eduardo, her taste may not be good, but you have to know if there was a choice, she always went for the expensive item.”
“Yes. Luis Guillermo called from the bank and said you’d spent almost four thousand dollars in only two hours.” His jaw tightened slightly as the words came out.
Patricia reveled in the controlled displeasure. She could feel his anger with every clink of an ice cube dropping into the glass. She’d made her point. “I did so try to slow her down. You can’t imagine some of the things she wanted to buy.” She rolled her eyes dramatically, knowing she could apply just a little more pressure before needing to back off. “I could barely drag her away from the stores to come home. Thank heavens for tonight’s date, or who knows how much more she would have spent.” She watched Eduardo’s fingers tighten around the glass he handed her. Ka-Ching. Yes, it wouldn’t be long now.
The steaming water felt so good on her back. Stephanie would have preferred to stay and de-stress for the rest of the night, but she had more pressing places to be. Reaching for the handles, her hands stilled as another thought occurred to her. Perhaps this dinner with Campo wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe she could get some answers to what was going on, or at least understand the reason for the feud. Turning the water off, it suddenly struck her she never gave him her last name. What would his reaction be to knowing she was a Cortez? Oh Lord, maybe she’d made a bigger mistake than she realized. Maybe she should just stay home. Or maybe she should stop second guessing herself and get dressed!
No, she wasn’t going to start worrying over nothing. Unzipping the bag hanging from her closet door, she pulled out the navy blue linen dress. It was classic in its design. Simple. She’d liked it more than anything else she’d bought, or rather, her father had bought. The price had been outrageous, but compared to some of the things Patricia tried to shovel at her, this was a virtual bargain.
Sliding the dress over her head, she tugged at the skirt and then maneuvered to raise the zipper. She couldn’t help but smile at her reflection in the mirror. Yes, this was a good choice. Amazing what a little high fashion could do. A pair of earrings, a little lipstick, her new Anne Klein shoes she’d bought before leaving New York, and she’d be all set.
She actually felt pretty. Her whole life, no matter what her mom had said, she’d felt ordinary. Now her headache was gone, and she felt pretty. Taking a second look in the mirror, she nodded her approval. Maybe things were finally going to turn around. Maybe.