Sabrina knew Henry was waiting for her to scold him. She said nothing.
“What, don’t you want to tell me it was incredibly stupid to go and talk to Elena before we left last night? I knew you’d think so. That’s why I didn’t mention it before.”
Sabrina looked up from the checklist for the brunch after ticking off three items.
“You already know it was dumb. You don’t need me to tell you that, especially not with six of the waitstaff about to enter the kitchen door.”
She couldn’t help but enjoy this. He had been so adamant about getting the contract for Nirvana, never really listening to her objections. Why had he been so bull-headed? And now their first function, the wedding of the villa owner, a young entrepreneur who was considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the country, was about to tank.
Sabrina knew Henry wanted to show his former fellow employees that he had rebounded from Allied Air’s grossly unfair treatment of him—they had fired him for sexual harassment rather than confront the married pilot who had been pursuing him. Henry Whitman had been humiliated by an airline that he had considered family. His own father had been an Allied pilot and his mother worked as a stewardess, as they were then called, until she had Henry.
Now he had climbed out from under the rubble of disgrace and had created a little gem of a business on his own, rubbing elbows with powerful business executives who would attract media attention. She wondered whether Henry wasn’t secretly trying to show his ex-lover, David, how misguided he’d been not to choose Henry over a wife he didn’t love. Maybe he saw Villa Nirvana as his redemption. Instead, he was going to be associated with one of the biggest social debacles of the year.
“Okay, I’m ready. What are we going to say to people?” Sean returned to the kitchen looking as if he’d just swallowed eight hours of sleep. His deep tan contrasted with a cream-colored silk shirt and khaki shorts. He wore a pair of Sperry boat shoes with just enough scuffs to show he really did own a boat. Sean was the picture of island living. With the help of a pair of Ray Bans, no one would know he’d had a sleepless night.
“You just leave that to me,” Sabrina said, opening the door for the brunch truck crew.
Sabrina led Sean out of the kitchen into an open corridor with arched windows that looked out at the sea, giving the impression that if you jumped out of one of them, you’d cannonball into the Caribbean. The truth was there were jagged cliffs beneath the windows, so steep you could only see them if you approached the edge of the property and peered directly down.
They almost collided with Jack Keating, Sean’s father and the CEO of Keating Construction, the leading parking garage construction firm in the country. Tall and lean, Jack was a wrinkled version of his handsome son, except that his hair was thick silver. Sabrina marveled at how some people just looked rich.
“There you are. Did Elena sign the damn prenup? She should know this isn’t personal. I’m thrilled she’s joining the family, and she’s been a great asset to the business, but we can’t be stupid about things now, can we?”
Sure we can, Sabrina thought, waiting to hear whether Sean would stand up to his father.
“No, she didn’t sign, at least not that I know. And it’s okay, Dad, because I’m going to marry her anyway. We’re not going to get divorced, and even if we do years from now, you know Elena will bring in more money to the business than she could ever cost. Look what’s she’s already done, having us move the company headquarters to St. Thomas,” Sean said.
“Well, yes, but then there’s your brother and Lisa.”
“Lisa chose to sign a prenup fifteen years ago, and she’s never been associated with the business. Elena isn’t going to be a housewife. You know that.”
“Well, what about your mother? She signed one too, you know,” Jack said, but Sabrina could hear his heart wasn’t in the argument.
“Of course she did. She saw how much Gavin’s mother skinned you for in the divorce. She knew how much you had sacrificed to marry her. Mom has never been about money. Isn’t that part of what made you fall for her?”
“You should have gone to law school. You’d have made a helluva courtroom lawyer.”
“What, and not be here to shift the company from building parking garages to luxury residences in the Caribbean? Dad, you are going to love seeing the company grow with the plans Elena and I have. You may even change your mind about retiring in three years.”
Sabrina shifted forward a small step to remind the Keating men she was there.
“Sir, did you happen to see Elena this morning? They’ve moved up her hair appointment and we need to let her know.” She was pleased by how smoothly she fibbed. Henry would be proud.
Jack looked at Sabrina as if he just noticed her.
“Nope. The only person I’ve seen was the backside of my wife slipping out the door of our room at dawn with her easel. Off to capture the Caribbean at dawn en plein air, she said.”
“Okay, well the Triple B brunch truck will be serving brunch shortly. There are lots of Ten Villa servers here to help you if you don’t want to go out to the truck to place your order,” Sabrina said, wanting to move on and search for Elena.
“Truck food? I love it. I’m an old construction worker. Great idea. For once, I think I am really going to enjoy a wedding.”
Sabrina suggested that they check with Sean’s half brother, Gavin, next. She knocked on the door, stepping aside so Sean would take the stage. Gavin opened the door with a jerk.
“I hope you’re here to tell me you’ve got that woman under control and she signed the goddamn prenup,” Gavin Keating said.
Sabrina noticed Gavin was already up, dressed in slacks and a golf shirt, and had CNN on the forty-eight-inch flat-screen television that each of the bedrooms was equipped with.
“We’re just here to remind you that Triple B will begin serving brunch at eight, but there are beverages available in the great room right now,” Sabrina said.
Gavin looked at Sabrina and ignored her. Sabrina felt her jaw tighten as Gavin silently dismissed her. She’d had plenty of men at the television station where she had been a meteorologist treat her as if she were invisible. Sexism in the television industry had been rampant, but Gavin Keating’s condescending attitude went beyond that. Sabrina smelled a misogynist.
“Well, did she?”
Sean said nothing. Sabrina watched him stare directly into the pale-blue eyes of his half brother, who was equally handsome but in a fair, Scandinavian way. Gavin had gelled the front of his hair in what she guessed was an effort to seem hipper and younger than his actual midforties. That was usually a sign that a guy had or was about to stray, something she’d come to realize too late after her own husband had started slicking his hair into a greasy tuft. Men were just so obvious.
“Are you kidding me? You need to get control over that woman or your marriage is going to feel like a life sentence without parole. She can’t become a part of this family and stay in this company without a friggin’ prenup.” Gavin sounded more authoritative and angry than his father had.
“Sure she can. Watch,” Sean said, turning away.
“Is your wife around or shall I go find her to make sure she knows brunch is about to be served?” Sabrina asked.
“What? Oh, she must be in the girls’ room.”
But Lisa Keating wasn’t. The girls—Gavin and Lisa’s daughters—refused to open their door until Sean explained he was just telling them about breakfast.
Emma, the oldest, finally opened the door partway. She was a nine-year-old version of her lovely mother—blue-eyed with silky, straight blonde hair. She explained that they hadn’t seen their mother and couldn’t go to breakfast until they did because she had made them promise not to leave the room without her.
“And I need her ’cause I’m scared,” said a little voice behind Emma.
“Zoey, is that you, honey? It’s Uncle Sean.”
Zoey scooted out from behind Emma and ran to Sean, who picked her up into his arms.
“Why are you scared?” Sabrina asked, afraid that something else might be wrong but figuring she’d better find out.
“I heard screaming. First, I thought it was Mommy fighting with Daddy, but then I could hear it outside the window. It woked me up.”
“It woked me up, too,” said a third blonde beauty, who seemed to be older than Zoey but younger than Emma.
“Oh Victoria, you poor thing. Let Uncle Sean give you a big hug.”
Sabrina suggested that the girls go and get dressed while she and Uncle Sean find their mom.
“She probably went for a run. Hey, maybe Elena went with her,” Sean said, turning to Sabrina.
“Do you think that’s where she is?” she asked once the girls had closed the door, picturing a runaway bride in her gown wearing running shoes.
“Could be. Lisa’s kind of an exercise fanatic, really conscious about her weight. Gavin has a thing about fat women.”
“Well, maybe they’re together. Are they good friends?” Sabrina began opening the doors of the unoccupied guest rooms, which were reserved for guests staying over after the wedding. From the little Sabrina had seen of both women, Lisa was as warm and natural as Elena was cold and superficial. But Elena had been so passionate about not signing the prenup that Sabrina wondered if she had misjudged her. There was a reason Sabrina didn’t have a lot of female friends. She didn’t trust herself to be able to reliably distinguish the Lisas from the Elenas. That was why Henry had given her a chocolate lab puppy named Girlfriend. He’d told her that she had to start somewhere.
“They’re cordial, but basically have nothing in common. Lisa’s a wife and mother but hasn’t worked since Emma was born. Gavin can be pretty demanding and makes sure she keeps the home front running as efficiently as he likes to think he runs the business. But I suppose they could have struck up a conversation if Elena was looking for another woman to talk to,” Sean said, pulling the last of the empty doors shut with no sign of either woman.
Sabrina suggested that Sean check the bridal suite once more to see if Elena had returned. She doubted it but needed to find Henry to regroup. What she no longer doubted was that an eleventh villa had been a very bad idea.