Christel tossed the remainder of her coffee in the sink and stole another glance at her watch. Evan came up behind her, folded his arms around her and buried his face against her neck. “I’m not opposed to sneaking back to bed. What do you say?”
“I say, I’d love to. Unfortunately, I have a plane to catch.”
He nuzzled her neck with his nose. “Take the next flight. I have an orthoscopic knee replacement, but the surgery doesn’t start until the doc shows up.”
“Ah…so that explains the long wait times in doctors’ offices.”
Evan laughed. “Yes, all the medical professionals are home having wild romantic interludes with their new spouses.”
Christel turned, grinning. “Please tell me I can have a raincheck. My return flight is scheduled to land at 9:30 p.m. If I hurry, I can be home by 10:00.”
He reluctantly released her. “I’ll be undressed and waiting for you beneath the sheets. Don’t be late,” he playfully warned.
Christel smiled. She had forgotten how much she loved being married. It had been so long since another toothbrush had hung next to hers in her bathroom, a man’s slippers lay next to hers in the closet, or she’d felt the warmth of a body against her in bed. She loved reaching over and touching her new husband’s warm chest beside her and listening to him breathe while he slept.
On the outside, she was hardworking, educated, and qualified. No doubt, she could easily take care of herself in every way, especially financially. On the inside, she intimately longed to share this human experience with a lifelong committed partner who adored her. She was meant to be married.
When she got home tonight, she intended to make sure her new husband knew how happy he made her.
Christel arrived at the airport with a well-packed Kate Spade business tote over her shoulder. There was no telling what topic might come up in the meeting and she wanted to be prepared to answer to any questions raised. Her mother said repeatedly that this trip was primarily to cement a good relationship with their short-term lenders, especially since Katie revealed there was a hidden crack in the sidewalk, one they all hoped would not trip up this project.
Despite her mother’s main focus, Christel wanted to make certain that Latham Enterprises had no financial reason to doubt their decision to extend funds for Pali Maui’s golf course renovation. Everything needed to go according to plan in order to finish construction and put permanent financing in place.
Professionals did not allow emotions to dictate the course of business decisions. From what she’d read, Sylvia Latham was someone who was all business, highly respected and known to be a major player in the financial industry. According to the internet, Sylvia had attended the Allen and Company business forum in Sun Valley, Idaho—an invite-only event open to only the top one percent in the business community with attendees like Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet. Yes, Sylvia Latham ran in those circles.
Beyond this project, someone with those resources would be good to have in your back business pocket, so to speak.
“Honey,” her mother’s voice called out. “Over here.”
Christel searched the crowd gathered at boarding. Finally, she spotted her mom standing beside Katie, waving.
“You’re late,” Katie accused as Christel joined them. She shoved a grande Starbuck’s cup into her hand. “A caramel macchiato with extra espresso.”
Christel gratefully accepted. “If this is intended to be a peace offering, don’t think a coffee drink gets you off the hook.”
“Of course not,” Katie conceded. “We all know you intend to keep me dangling from that proverbial hook for at least a few months.”
Ava gave them both a look. “Enough, you two.” She stepped forward in the line, fished out her phone and scrolled to her digital boarding pass.”
Christel glanced around. “Where’s Tom Strobe?”
Her mother waited for the airline steward to swipe her phone. “He’ll meet us over there. He had some business in Honolulu and flew out last night.”
Christel nodded and handed over her phone to be swiped. “Is he aware of the…situation?”
“No, I didn’t think it necessary to widen the circle.” Ava pasted a wide smile on her face. “Besides, everything is going to go just fine. You’ll see.”
Christel wanted to believe her mother. A still small voice reminded how her mom always saw the cup half full, even when the glass had a large crack. It was only in the past few months that Christel had secretly allowed herself to evaluate the situation with her father more closely. Had her mother seen signs of his infidelity and looked the other way? If he hadn’t died in that accident, would they even have known about his affair with Mia?
It would hardly matter now except that she often wondered if that trait in her mother had somehow sifted over into her own life. Is that why she refused to acknowledge how bad Jay’s addiction had become prior to the divorce?
She drew a deep breath and forced herself to let go of those thoughts. At least in this case, her mother’s optimism might have an upside. Christel lifted her chin slightly. While she didn’t want to refuse to see the truth, she couldn’t let others’ actions knock her off course and take her under.
Right now, she only had one focus. She couldn’t let this meeting go badly.
Sylvia Latham stood from her seat at the head of the large granite conference table when they entered her board room. “Welcome!” She greeted each of them with a firm handshake. “It was so good of you to ask for this meeting, Ava.” She paused. “I hope you agree that we can set aside formalities and go with first names?”
“Of course,” Ava said warmly. “And thank you for agreeing to meet.”
A quick glance around the room revealed Greer Latham was not present. Christel could visibly see her sister’s shoulders relax.
Introductions were made. Ava turned to Tom Strobe. “This is the star of the show, our architect.”
Sylvia’s stern features broke into a smile. She fingered the pearls at her neck. “You have an impressive background, Mr. Strobe.”
“Tom. We’re on first name basis in this meeting,” he reminded with his own wide smile.
“Of course,” Sylvia said as she pointed to a coffee cart near the massive glass windows overlooking the Waikiki shoreline. “Can I get any of you something to drink?” She lifted a delicate cup emblazoned with the Latham Enterprises logo.
In unison, they all declined. At Sylvia’s invitation, they took seats around the table.
“I apologize. My son, Greer, has been held up with another matter. He will be joining us shortly.”
Christel kept her face from reacting to the news, as did Katie. Their mother simply nodded. “I’m anxious to meet him.”
“Greer has wonderful things to say about your operation,” Sylvia reported. “He is hard to impress, so count that as a compliment.” It was then she looked across at Katie. Her brows drew together slightly. “We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
Katie swallowed. “Yes. We had a meeting a few months back about a manufacturing agreement.”
Sylvia’s face brightened. She nodded as she filled her cup with coffee from a large silver urn. “Oh, yes. I remember. I was saddened to learn you had changed directions.”
Christel’s heart pounded. This was a point when things could sour.
“We still hope to proceed. Unfortunately, the timing was off.” Katie kept her poker face in place. “Especially with the golf course renovation on the horizon.”
Christel knew her sister well enough to know she was barely breathing.
“Ah, that is good to hear.” Sylvia returned to her place at the head of the table. “Then I’m hopeful we can revisit the project, when the timing is better.”
Christel let out the breath she’d been holding. So far, so good.
The conference room door opened and in strode a man with thick, sandy-colored hair, cut to precision. He wore a tailored suit with shoes she knew to be Berlutis. Their eyes met as he eased the door closed.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, pulling on his crisp shirt cuffs. “The delay couldn’t be avoided.” His eyes roamed the people around the table, landing on Katie. “Hello, Ms. Ackerman. Nice to see you again.”
His face broke into a smile as he moved to the empty chair next to her.
Christel frowned. Not good. Not good at all.
His mother made introductions, taking several minutes to again highlight Tom Strobe’s professional accolades.
Greer Lathan barely acknowledged Tom. He simply nodded in his mother’s direction.
Sylvia fingered a silver-haired curl at the back of her neck. “This is our first golf project. We’re very pleased to financially partner with Pali Maui.”
Katie kept her sight trained outside the ceiling-to-floor windows overlooking Waikiki Beach. Christel drew a deep breath and turned her attention to the plush carpet, with its leaf design in shades of teal and cream.
Ava leaned over the table and steepled her fingers. “We feel exactly the same, Sylvia.”
Christel bent to her bag and withdrew sealed manila envelopes. She stood and passed the packages to the meeting participants. “You will see that our forecasts have been updated, much in our favor.”
Tom nodded. “We now believe we will see a considerable reduction in landscaping costs based on our new agreement with a commercial landscaper located on Maui. The local nature will eliminate shipment costs and contractor expenses.”
Christel exchanged glances with her mother. The meeting was going well. Much better than expected.
She felt herself relax when, across the table, Katie’s face grew as stoic as cement. Next to her, a tiny smile nipped at the corners of Greer Latham’s mouth.
Christel couldn’t keep a scowl from forming. She mumbled something about more information and ducked to her tote, pretending to retrieve more envelopes. That’s when she saw it.
That creep had his hand on her sister’s leg.
Christel straightened and glared across the table. Greer Latham took note and smiled ever so slightly more, almost as if he enjoyed the fact that she knew.
She glanced over at her mother who was in deep conversation with Sylvia and Tom, something about the cost of putting greens. She turned and glared at Greer.
Katie remained still. She was electing to not react!
Christel stood and pounded the table with her fist. The action immediately drew everyone’s attention.
“Christel?” her mom questioned.
“That’s it!” Christel marched around the table and gathered the packages, even pulling a schematic right out of Sylvia’s hand. “We’re done!”
Christel watched Sylvia. Nothing on the face of the silver-haired woman gave a clue as to her reaction. That ‘ole witch in her four-thousand-dollar Valentino suit knew…she knew full well her son was a lecherous creep. And she stood by and said nothing.
Well, she would say something!
She motioned to her sister. “C’mon, we’re leaving.”
Katie raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Christel jabbed a finger in the air in Greer Latham’s direction. “You, sir, are a reprobate swine. How dare you put my sister in such an uncomfortable position? Twice! Surely you do not believe Pali Maui needs financing to such a degree that we will all look the other way while you fondle Katie’s leg?”
Greer Latham stood. He looked at his mother. “I believe this partnership might not be in our interests after all.”
She nodded as she stood and grabbed the conference phone on the table. She pursed her lips and pressed a button. “Get legal on the phone.”
Christel huffed. “News flash! You’re looking at Pali Maui’s legal department right now. I’m not certain you want to press me on this issue and hold us to the contract. In addition to enforcing any legal remedies, I will pursue every other means at my disposal. Did you know my mother’s sister was the former lead anchor of a major news station in Seattle? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind making a quick telephone call to her former coworkers. Of course, news like that will quickly spread, especially on social media.”
She stared directly at Greer this time. “Given your son’s wandering hands, we will use everything in our arsenal to make his improprieties public. I’m sure both national and local media would be very interested in another salacious #MeToo story involving one of the biggest financial players in Hawaii.” Christel turned to Sylvia and leaned in close. “Do I need to remind you how that worked out for Charlie Rose? How he was axed from the Allen & Company conference in Sun Valley? It would be a pity if you weren’t included on the invite list next summer.”
That seemed to be the tip that toppled her. Sylvia slowly withdrew her hand from the button. “Katherine, cancel that.”
Christel dared to look over at her mother, who thankfully gave her an affirmative nod. Even Tom Strobe seemed not only surprised by the turn of events, but pleased with Christel’s position.
Most of all, Katie appreciated the support, evidenced by the tears forming in her eyes. Christel quickly moved to her side and placed her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “C’mon, Katie. Let’s get out of here.”
They gathered their things and made their way out of the conference room as quickly as possible, not bothering to look back. It wasn’t until the elevator doors slid shut that Christel turned to the rest of them.
“Well, now what?”