The Desert Flowers--Rose, page 4
The women murmured a polite “hello” to one another as Alec eased himself into an overstuffed chair that sat at the end of and between the couches.
He nodded to Willow. “Please have a seat.”
Willow lowered herself onto the couch beside Rose, wondering what Alec had in mind. There was a self-satisfied look on his face that worried her.
Alec cleared his throat and smiled at them. “Ah, my lovely desert flowers—Rose, Lily, and Willow—three beautiful, talented women whom I’m asking to help me.”
Like Rose and Lily, Willow stared at him with uncertainty.
“Alec, darling,” said Rose, “What are you talking about?”
“I have some time left, probably a couple of months or so. Maybe even longer. When I die, the inn will be sold to new owners based on its fair market value, which is yet to be determined. I believe they think with my illness, the inn will not do as well as it has recently, and they can pick it up for a price that would be entirely unfair after all the work I’ve done to make it a success.”
“You’re selling the hotel?” said Willow.
“Yes. The basic terms of the eventual sale, other than the final price, have been negotiated. Meanwhile, the buyers, The Blaise Hotel Group from Atlanta, have three months to complete their due diligence to familiarize themselves with all aspects of the inn’s operation and to prepare their marketing and operating plans for the future. Current management will continue to operate the inn during this process, but with the Blaise people looking over their shoulders, so to speak. I’m asking you, my dears, to represent my interests for the next several months to ensure the unique characteristics that make the Desert Sage Inn the special place it is are not swept aside.”
“How are we going to help?” Lily said.
“You each have different skills you bring to the table.” Alec grinned at them, bringing a sparkle to his eyes. “We’re going to show these greedy bastards who’s smarter.” He chuckled softly and then grew serious.
“I know I’m asking a lot of you, but each of you is very special to me. Your presence in my life has meant a lot. Looking back, I remember not only your business talents, but your very natures, and I want you here with me. I believe you can make a tremendous difference going forward. You will, of course, be well-paid for your help, but more than that, I hope your time here will re-energize each of you going forward into an even brighter future.”
He went to each woman, kissed her on the cheek, and stepped back.” My beautiful flowers—Rose, Lily, and Willow.”
“What exactly are you asking us to do?” said Rose.
“I’m pairing you up with people the new company will bring into the operation of the inn. You, not they, will be in charge of the ongoing work of the inn. The outcome is important to me because most of the profit from the sale of the inn, following the usual expenses and deductions, will be used to set up a charitable foundation in my wife’s name.”
Willow noticed the other two women dart glances at one another. She knew from family gossip that both of them had thought at one time they’d be married to him. It was for that very reason Alec had broken the relationships, though there was still obvious affection between Rose and Alec. Lily was much harder to read because of her shyness, but there was a definite look of adoration when she looked at him.
“What are our jobs specifically?” Willow asked. She was trying to tell herself she was qualified for whatever he might have in mind, but the truth was, she didn’t have enough information to know if she was up for the task. She had a degree in hotel management, but she’d been teaching business writing and accounting specifically geared to the industry. Did that count?
Alec beamed at her. “You, my dear, are going to be working with their assistant manager who, according to the paperwork I was given, is considered a hotshot in the industry, destined to do big things.”
He turned to Lily. “You were an excellent assistant to me, keeping track of details in many areas. You’ll work in my office as my new assistant overseeing the conversion team they have appointed.”
“What about me?” said Rose.
Alec rubbed his hands together. “You’ll be working with their social media guy. Or perhaps, I should say against their social media guy who will want to advertise the new company coming in and how they plan to change the image and marketing focus of this resort. Your job will be to see that the conversation about the hotel sticks to the Desert Sage Inn, not the one they’re trying to create from it. There are other issues as well.”
Rose let out a laugh. “I get it. A battle of words as well as wits. You’ve got it.” Rose projected flamboyance compared to Lily and her; Willow couldn’t help smiling.
Rose glanced at her and studied Lily. “We’ll beat them at their own game. Right, flowers?”
Willow raised her fisted hand. “You bet!”
“Count me in,” said Lily, giving them a thumbs up
Alec smiled. “Okay, my desert flowers, let’s show them. I’m going to leave you now. Rose, you’re in charge of pulling this group together. Enjoy yourselves. Cocktails and dinner will be served anytime you want them. To be clear, Pedro and Juanita are here to help you as family members of mine.”
He stood, gave each of them a gentle hug, and left the room.
CHAPTER FOUR
ROSE
Rose sighed as she watched Alec leave the room. Full of mixed emotions, she faced the other two women. Lily was quiet, but a look of determination had crossed her face when she’d said to count her in. Willow Sanchez’s dark eyes had shown with excitement. Interesting that Alec had made her a protégé. A stunning girl with long, straight, dark hair and skin the color of wheat.
“Are either of you as ready for a glass of wine as I am?” Rose asked.
“Yes. A glass of pinot noir sounds lovely,” Willow said.
“I’d appreciate that more than you know,” said Lily. “Later, I’m going to call my boss and tell him I’m not only taking all my vacation owed me, but I’m quitting.” The smile she gave them brightened her features, making her beautiful.
“What kind of work have you been doing?” Rose asked, remembering how Alec had complimented her.
“Working for a law firm. Lots of sticky details to keep track of, with long hours and a lot of overtime because they were too cheap to hire extra help. But why should they? I did it all.” She shrugged. “I guess it was as much my fault as theirs that they wouldn’t cooperate.”
“Doesn’t sound that way to me,” said Willow, giving Lily a look of concern.
“Nowadays, so many companies rely on their employees to work from dawn to dusk and beyond. And for what?” said Rose. “I run my own company, so I can choose when and how and why I want to do things. Don’t get me wrong; I’m busy. Very busy. But I run my life, nobody else.” She turned to Willow. “What have you been up to?”
“ As you know, Alec was a big supporter of mine as I grew up. And when I became fascinated with the hotel business, he trained me as much as he could and helped me get into the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. After I graduated, he told me to get different experiences. For the last year, I’ve been teaching business writing and accounting specifically designed for the hotel industry. I’d always planned, as he wanted, to eventually come to work here with him at the hotel.” Her vision blurred, and she took a moment. “But that’s obviously not going to happen.”
“Except for doing this now,” Rose said firmly. “Right?”
Willow’s eyes widened. “Oh, yes. I’m on board. I don’t want anyone taking advantage of his being sick when it comes time for someone else to take over the hotel.”
“I believe his dedication to the hotel has always had something to do with the memory of his wife and child,” said Lily, her voice soft with regret.
“And that’s why we’re going to help him,” said Rose. She was well aware of Lily’s love for Alec. It was written all over her face. “Now, let’s see about that wine. I’ll go check with Juanita unless you want to do it, Willow.”
Willow shook her head. “No, you go ahead.”
“No problem.” Good girl. She’d wanted to make sure Willow wouldn’t think that she, as the youngest of the group, had to wait on them.
###
As they sat sipping wine, Rose was able to get Lily and Willow to talk about themselves. It was an old trick of hers that she’d used as social director for the years she lived and worked here at the hotel. The truth was she liked people, was interested in their stories, and loved making others comfortable. She may not have gone through a professional hospitality program at a school, but she didn’t need to because she was born to be in the business.
She thought back to when she first came to the hotel in 1998, an eager young woman ready to help acquaint people with the amenities at the hotel and the growing community of Palm Desert. Though many men had wanted to date her, Rose was always careful about who she spent time with. From the beginning, she was attracted to Alec. She saw him as a wounded man, someone who gave all he could to others and his hotel project. She knew the reason why, of course. Everyone had heard about the horrible fire that had taken the lives of his wife and unborn child. For that reason, she’d kept an emotional distance from him even as she stood in for that woman, acting as co-host at events, making it less awkward for him socially as he grew his business. Her thoughts skipped ahead to the time he told her their relationship couldn’t continue. She’d known it was coming, had felt him inch away from their intimacy. He’d told her from the beginning that he would end it if they were in too deep. What neither of them understood was the damage it would do to her. He was the person she’d relied on to make herself believe she was loveable.
“Rose?”
She drew a deep breath and turned to Willow. “Yes?”
“Lily and I were trying to figure out what stage the hotel was in while you were here.”
Rose smiled. “It was when Alec was doing some major renovations at the property. How about you, Lily?”
“I came to work right after you left and was here for only two years. By the time I left, a lot of the major projects were completed. Alec found me a job in Phoenix, and after a couple of years there, I moved home to New York to be with my sister.”
Rose’s heart constricted at the pain that momentarily washed over Lily’s features. She understood it.
“Shortly after, my parents took the jobs at Alec’s house,” said Willow.
“We have a lot of years of history tying us together,” said Rose. “It’s good that we’re here to help him.”
Willow nodded and then a smile spread across her face. “Let’s have some fun doing it, too.”
“Why not?” said Lily.
The three women grinned at one another.
###
That night, Rose lay in bed hugging the pillow beside her, feeling as if her emotions were playing a game of tag inside her. She swung from feeling happy to see Alec again to wanting to cry over his physical state, to being jealous that he thought as highly of two other women as he did of her. She told herself she was being immature, but she couldn’t stop her circling thoughts as her heart expanded and contracted with every new emotion. She lay back and looked up at the ceiling, her eyes awash with tears.
Her thoughts drifted to her ex-husband. Poor Ron! She’d tried her best with him. Everyone thought he was the perfect man for her—fun-loving, wealthy. He should’ve been the right one, but, unfortunately, he wasn’t Alec. She and Ron were both hopeful at the beginning that their marriage was going to work. And when it became obvious it wasn’t going well, Ron became a different, destructive person. Though it had been several years since they divorced, she was still sorry about the way it had turned out. Since that time, she’d dated from time to time but wasn’t interested in a permanent relationship with anyone.
CHAPTER FIVE
LILY
Lily sat in the dining room with the other two women eating a delicious meal of chicken mole and other Mexican dishes Juanita proudly presented to them. She’d forgotten how tasty Mexican food could be, but then upstate New York wasn’t the place to find it.
Between mouthfuls of dinner, Lily did her best to concentrate on what Rose was saying. Rose was such a stunning, self-assured woman that Lily constantly fought insecurities in her presence. And Willow? A bright, attractive younger woman who had enjoyed a lot of Alec’s attention.
“Is that all right with you, Lily?” Rose asked, bringing her focus back to her.
“I’m sorry. What were you asking?” Lily felt the heat on her cheeks and knew they’d be turning pink. She’d tried and tried to train herself not to be so open but had never succeeded. One date told her he thought it was cute, but she knew better.
“Are you okay with meeting tomorrow morning, say, nine o’clock? We can gather here in the house in the kitchen.”
“Sure. That would be fine. I’m as anxious as you to get started on Mission Save or whatever you want to call this.”
Willow’s eyes brightened. “I like that—Mission Save. Even better, I like desert flowers to the rescue.”
“Do you remember that old television program about the man and his angels? We can be Alec’s Angels,” said Rose.
“Or like he says, we can be his desert flowers,” said Willow, chuckling.
“Great idea,” Lily said, liking the sound of it.
“Okay, we’ll call ourselves the Desert Flowers. Let’s all shake on it,” said Rose, holding out her hand. Lily and then Willow shook it. “Now, it’s official. Are either of you going to have any trouble staying here for an unknown period of time?”
“No,” said Lily quickly. She’d already received a text wanting to know where certain things were in the office. She would help her replacement, and then she’d be free. She’d send her boss an email tomorrow morning to let him know she wouldn’t be returning.
“I’ve made arrangements for my teaching assistant to take over for the next couple of months. She’s highly qualified to do so,” said Willow. “She’s thrilled with the opportunity.”
Lily studied the younger woman for a moment, admiring her beauty, the sense of calmness about her. Before she could stop herself, she said, “Did you and Alec ... I mean, were you and Alec ...” She stopped, suddenly aware of how awkward the moment had become.
Willow chuckled. “Were Alec and I together? No, he’s like a father to me. Besides, neither one of us would’ve dishonored my parents in that way.”
Lily clapped her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, God! I’m so sorry. That came out all wrong. I should never have had that second glass of wine.”
“No problem,” said Rose. “I’m sure we’re all curious about our connections to Alec. He and I lived together for six years before going our separate ways.”
“And I was with him for less than two,” said Lily.
“He hasn’t dated anyone else for any length of time,” said Willow. “He told me he didn’t want to continue to hurt anyone because of his devotion to his wife and child.”
“Guess that says it all,” said Lily.
Rose reached across the table and gave Lily’s hand a squeeze. “I understand how you feel.”
Lily nodded, but she wasn’t sure Rose understood at all. God help her; those feelings for Alec still lingered. She’d never loved anyone else.
###
The next morning, Lily stared out the window of her bedroom at the desert landscape. Some people thought desert scenes were so uninteresting, so plain. She liked that Alec hadn’t succumbed to the idea of green grass. She loved the beige, sandy starkness of the land accented by a colorful plant, spiky cactus, or green tree here or there to add texture.
The sky was a bright blue that matched her sunny mood. She’d called her sister to tell her she was moving to California. Then she’d sent off a long email to her boss explaining that she would not be returning to the office and asked that her personal things, few as they were, be delivered to her sister.
Her boss’s reply was quick and brief, acknowledging her work through the years, blah, blah, blah. More than ever, she knew she was right to make this move. She’d just turned forty-two and was young enough to begin a whole new life, wherever it might take her. First, she was going to help the man who’d proved to her that she didn’t need to live in chaos all the time.
Lily fingered the drapes hanging by the window, loving the feel of the silky material. Her condo back home was suitable, but nothing more. The return to this lifestyle forced a promise to herself to enjoy life more, to live better.
She checked her watch. Time for breakfast and the meeting to which she’d agreed. Heaven knew what awaited her.
When she walked into the kitchen, she found Willow and Rose chatting comfortably with one another. Anxious not to miss out on anything, she joined them.
“Good morning! What a beautiful day!” she said, sliding onto a chair at the kitchen table.
“Hey, there!” Rose said. “We were just talking about the need to set up a form to track any information we think Alec should know. I’ve already spoken to him about this, and he agrees. After breakfast, he’s going to provide us information on the people we’ll be working with. I can’t wait to see it!”
Willow emitted a long sigh. “I’ve googled assistant managers at the company, and if the guy Alec mentioned is who I think it is, it’s not going to be easy. I remember him from my time at Cornell. Unless he’s changed, I’m in for a difficult time. He’s not a nice guy.”
“We’ll soon know all about them.” Rose stood. “Now, let’s enjoy breakfast. Juanita has laid out a lot of choices, so we can help ourselves.”
Lily went over to the breakfast bar suddenly feeling hungry. It felt great to have the time to relax at her morning meal. Usually, she was grabbing something to eat in the car on her way to work.
Sitting with the other two women, she felt a bond with them. The future ahead held no promise of easy things to come, yet they were all willing to face them together.
