Family Matters (DiCarlo Brides book 4) (The DiCarlo Brides) (11 page)

“Okay.” Cleo tucked the book in her backpack, then looked at Harrison. “I’m ready. Where’re we going?”

Seeing the hotel through the eyes of a nine-year-old who had never been anywhere this fancy was a revelation. Harrison vaguely remembered his own first encounter with one of George DiCarlo’s luxury resorts, but he had been quite young at the time—several years younger than Cleo—and it hadn’t meant as much to him.

Cleo was bright and full of questions, asking about how they cleaned the pool, and why there were trees inside the solarium, and who took care of them, and if she could study there some time. She was eager to try the cup of cocoa the girl working at the café offered her, and was disappointed when Harrison told her it was too close to dinner for a cinnamon roll or cupcake.

“We never have anything good, except when other people are around. Rosemary hardly eats anything and it’s always healthy—which must mean
yucky
because English muffins are
gross
.”

Harrison had noticed Rosemary’s eating habits as well, and had hoped that she ate more at other times, since their dinner schedules didn’t mesh often. But from the fact that she looked as emaciated as a model for Cosmo, he doubted she indulged much. He was sure she hadn’t been that thin when they met again that summer. “Maybe she’ll do better now that you’re here, and she’s home again. Being away from home can be hard for some people.” But he knew he was just placating her.

She made a non-committal noise in response.

“How was school today?” he asked eventually.

“Fine. Your sister—Sage is your sister, right?” When he nodded, she continued, “She came by this morning to tell me that I was going to have a good day and make a friend.” Her face was bright with excitement.

He smiled. “Yeah? I bet you did too, because she’s amazing like that.”

“Yeah, Hannah is so cool and we’re going to get together and hang out. Is Sage always right? Rosemary says she is but my mom said psychics are like magicians and none of it’s real.”

“Most of the time I think you’re right, but if Sage says the stars have a message for you, she’s not making it up.” He leaned in and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I don’t think she really gets it from the stars. She’s just got a gift for knowing things, and I’ve never known her to be wrong.”

Cleo’s eyes were bright with curiosity. “Weird.”

“Yup.”

“So if I asked her if I was going to pass my test in school...”

He laughed. “It doesn’t work that way, kiddo. Sorry. She can’t control what information she gets. You’ll just have to take it as she gives it to you and be happy about it. And study for your tests so Rosemary doesn’t have to go all bossypants on you.”

They walked along in silence for a while longer on their way back to the kitchen when Cleo spoke. “Do you think Rosemary is sorry my parents made her take me now?”

He looked at her in surprise. “What? No. Why would you think that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s just that she seems really stressed out all the time, and it’s only been a week. And, well, she gave me up for adoption, so she must not have wanted me.” She bit her lip and looked at him from the corner of her eye, like she was afraid to look at him straight on.

His heart went out to her—to both of them. It was a rough situation. He stopped in the middle of the hall and crouched down, so he faced her nose-to-nose, then lowered his voice again. “You know what she told me when she found out she was going to get to bring you home?”

“What?”

“That you deserved someone better to raise you than her. She’s worried. She wants to be a great mom, but she doesn’t feel like she’ll do a good job.”

Cleo’s hand slid into his, giving it a squeeze. “That’s silly. How could she be a bad mom?”

He smiled and straightened. “I don’t know, especially with someone like you helping her out.”

Cleo smiled as they entered the kitchen a few seconds later. She headed straight for the office. “You said we could go now.”

Rosemary looked at her computer a little wistfully, as if she didn’t want to leave it yet, but nodded. She saved her file and shut down the computer. “The rest can wait. What do you want for dinner tonight?”

“Pizza!”

Rosemary reached out and pressed the hair back from Cleo’s face. “You always say that.”

“I always
want
it.”

“All right, I’ll make French bread pizzas tonight. We’ll stop by the store and get some bread.”

“Sounds good. You don’t think you’ll have extra, do you?” Harrison asked. He could always go for dinner if Rosemary was cooking, and he wanted to talk to her about what Cleo had said.

Rosemary eyed him. “I suppose, if you promise to behave.”

He felt a tug of attraction at her smile, as he always did. “I can try.”

“Close enough.” She grabbed her coat and purse and they headed for the door.

He decided to consider that a good sign.

There was only one regular grocery store in Juniper Ridge and the organic store closed early, so Rosemary wasn’t surprised to see the place packed. The clientele ran from harried housewives to glamorous spa visitors and snow bunnies to families with young children. She smiled as they moved through the crowds, Cleo’s hand in hers. She was here with her daughter for the first time. This wouldn’t be the last, either. As they made their way to the bakery, she waved to several people she had met in the past six months. If she’d been thinking ahead, she would have mixed up some dough that morning so she could bake it when she arrived home. She would have to start thinking about regular meals now her daughter was around.

“Rosemary, how nice to see you. You too, Harrison.” Etta eyed them speculatively, but if she was making two plus two equal five, she didn’t say so.

Rosemary looked up into the friendly blue eyes of Vince’s mother. “Hello. How is the winter treating you? Vince said the ice has been a hassle for you to get in and out of your driveway.”

“Yes, we shouldn’t have put it on such an incline, but we weren’t thinking at the time.” Etta tipped her head in acknowledgment and turned her gaze to Cleo. “You must be Cleo. Cami said you were going to be living here from now on. Hannah said she met you at school today. What do you think of your new house?”

Cleo shrugged. “It’s nice. I wish we had a pool, but Rosemary said Sage is building one.”

“She sure is. It probably won’t be done for a while yet, but I bet if you begged nicely, they’d let you use the one at the hotel.”

Cleo turned to Rosemary and fluttered her eyelashes ridiculously. “Could I, Rosemary?”

She laughed. “Yes. But not without making arrangements with us first. You can’t be in there alone. Not ever.”

Cleo put her hands on her hips. “I’m not a baby.”

“No, you’re not.” She squeezed her daughter’s hand. “But swim safety is important. And hotel rules say no one under fourteen without adult supervision.”

Cleo harrumphed a little. “I bet you don’t make the Navy guy have someone babysit him when he swims.”

Harrison set a hand on Cleo’s shoulder. “When you finish SEAL training, we’ll let you swim unsupervised too.”

Cleo didn’t appear amused, but Rosemary had to smile.

“Lana’s having a baby,” Cleo said, apparently deciding a change of topic was in order. “Do you think Cami will have one too? It would be cool to have cousins. My parents each had a brother, but neither of them got married. And they don’t like kids much.” Her nose wrinkled.

“I hope she does,” Etta said, “but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Vince has lots of nieces and nephews—and not just Hannah. She comes to my house sometimes. You should join us one afternoon.” Etta shifted her basket from one hand to another.

“That sounds good,” Rosemary said. “Call me when you have Hannah over again and I’ll see if we can work it out.”

Etta made excuses about needing to get home to start dinner and they waved goodbye, before continuing into the bakery area.

“She’s nice,” Cleo said.

“Yes, she’s very nice. I’ve met Hannah, she’s a lot of fun.” They picked out French bread and continued to the meat and cheese aisle. “So, was Sage right? Did you make a good friend today like Sage said you would?”

“Yes. Hannah!” She giggled a little. “She’s going to have her mom ask if I can sleep over this weekend.”

Rosemary felt her gut clench at the thought of her baby staying over at someone’s house overnight—even if it was Vince’s sister. “I guess I’ll have to talk to her mom and see what we come up with.”

“A sleepover already?” Harrison asked as he picked up a bag of shredded mozzarella.

Wrinkling her nose at his choice, Rosemary grabbed the bag and put it back on the shelf. “We’re not using that. Who do you think you’re shopping with, anyway?” She grabbed a package of fresh mozzarella to shred at home. “Pre-shredded mozzarella. Always dried out and subpar.” She let the sentence fall into little more than a mutter, teasing him as much as anything.

He grinned. “My mistake.” He tugged a small package of Canadian bacon from the display. “Is this okay for your majesty?”

“Yes. That’s fine.” Rosemary was pleased that he’d understood the tease. She considered the vegetables in the fridge at home and decided they still needed some fresh peppers and a can of olives.

Cleo eyed Harrison. “Are you psychic like your sister?” Her tone showed curiosity mingled with disbelief.

“Nope. Sometimes I get itchy feelings about things, but only once, no, twice, actually, I had an impression strong enough to count, and I messed it up. Sage gets impressions all the time, though.” He grabbed a bag of chips from an end cap. “Are the kids here further along in math and stuff than you, or behind you?”

“About the same.” Cleo shrugged. “Can we get Twinkies for dessert?”

Rosemary turned and glared at her in mock horror. “I cannot believe you are my daughter. How could you possibly eat that trash?” She laid on the drama and huffed loudly, pleased when it make Cleo giggle. “Just ask Jonquil what happened when she tried eating Ho-Hos around me. Seriously, you’re both such neophytes.”

Cleo looked around them, reminding Rosemary that they’d told her it was
her
decision when to tell others they were related, and she’d totally forgotten. When no one was close, though, Cleo turned to Harrison and asked in a stage whisper, “What’s a neophyte?”

“Someone who’s new to something—specifically someone who doesn’t know enough to be aware that only Rosemary is capable of making anything worth eating.”

Rosemary elbowed him, though it was mostly for show. “There are plenty of people who can cook fine, but Hostess isn’t one of them. Don’t worry, Cleo, I’m going to teach you and then everyone will bow to your amazing powers in the kitchen.”

Harrison sent her a commiserating look. “She uses a lot of long words considering she’s always pretending to be some tough street kid, doesn’t she?”

“What makes you think it’s an act?” Rosemary stuck red and green peppers into a bag. She looked up to see Rulon coming toward them, a scowl on his face. She did not need a confrontation with a former employee, but she couldn’t avoid him now.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” he asked her.

“It’s a grocery store. I’m buying groceries.” Rosemary straightened.

“You probably think you own the place, don’t you? You own the whole world—you’re one of the mighty DiCarlos. Guess what, most of us don’t care. And you might run that hotel, but it doesn’t make you the only game in town, you know? You think you’re all big and important, but you’re nothing. And you’re going to pay for causing me trouble.” He walked forward and pointed his finger in her face. His breath smelled of beer and he reeked of cigarette smoke.

“You better back off, Rulon.” Harrison pushed between the two of them, and Rosemary shifted Cleo behind her.

“Oh, you and her, huh? Is that why you let her get away with anything at the hotel? I should have known.” His face twisted with anger. “You’re both going to be sorry.”

The grocery store manager walked over. “Is there a problem, sir?”

“No. I’m leaving.” Rulon sneered at them and pivoted, stalking away.

Rosemary gave Cleo’s hand a squeeze, hoping her daughter couldn’t tell she was shaking. “Thank you, Jeff. It’s always hard when you have to fire someone. He wasn’t very happy about it.”

“No problem. We’re sorry he bothered you. Let me know if you need anything.” He nodded to them and walked away down the drink aisle.

“That was interesting.” Harrison’s gaze held a modicum of censure. He hadn’t approved of how she’d handled Rulon, and after she had time to calm down, she wished she’d handled it better as well. It didn’t make it okay for Rulon to get in her face, though.

“Who’s that guy?” Cleo still watched in the direction he had disappeared, biting her lip.

“Someone who used to work for me. He doesn’t anymore. Come on, he won’t bother you again.” Rosemary hoped it was true.