Crown Jewel (8 page)

“I called her before I left and she promised to come for a visit. I know better than to hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Reba has two personalities. A good one and a bad one. Mostly I just saw the bad one. She and I never had any Kodak moments. I truly, truly regret that. Among other things, she is not a forgiving person. You know what, Ricky, I don't want to talk about Reba anymore because I get too upset with myself for allowing her to get under my skin.

“So, do you think your son Tyler will have a change of heart?”

Ricky shrugged. “I have this…dream, for want of a better word, that he's going to be with Max when Max arrives. I see him showing up with a two-by-four on his shoulder, as opposed to a chip. I think he needs to prove something to himself, and if it takes him jabbing at me to prove whatever it is, I'm willing to suffer the blows. This parenthood stuff is all new to me.” He shrugged again before he threw his hands in the air.

“I appreciate the opportunity you're giving me, Ricky,” Roxy said. “By the way, I didn't mail you all the plans for the Crown Jewel. I have them right here if you want to take a look.”

“Sure. By the way, Ted Lymen came with me. I'd give him the job as head gardener if I were you. He knows his stuff. My housekeeper, Ellie, will be here next week. Use her on your staff. You can depend on both of them. Let's have dinner in the dining room this evening. Seven o'clock. Don't be late. This door better be locked no later than six. It's a business dinner, Roxy.”

“Okay, I'll be there.”

Camellia Island, South Carolina
Six Months Later

The damp heat overwhelmed him the minute he stepped onto the tarmac. It was the one thing he'd learned to hate in the month he'd been in South Carolina. Ricky told himself the wicked humidity was only a few months out of the year, and he could live with it. There was no such thing as perfect weather anywhere. The pluses far outweighed the negatives; it stayed green all year, the winters were incredibly mild, and golfers could be on the links basically all twelve months. The tennis buffs and pros had no problem with the weather either. It was only June now; but it was already hot as hell. During July and August, he was told, you could see the fat literally melt out of your body.

He was waiting for his two sons, who were due to arrive at any minute on a small private jet. He saw the plane in the distance and waited patiently, in a cotton shirt sticking to his sweaty torso.

Even though his gaze was on the plane, his thoughts were thousands of miles away on his more immediate problem. They were running wild.
Time to take care of business,
he thought bitterly.
Something I should have done a long time ago.

Ricky mopped again at his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt, his gaze following his two strapping, handsome sons as they loped across the tarmac to where he was standing. He felt his chest swell with pride. His boys, that's how he thought of them. He still remembered how shocked he'd been when Tyler had arrived with Max six months ago, with a wicked grin on his face. “I'm willing to give it a whirl for three months,
Pop.”
The
Pop
was a slur, and they both knew it. It didn't matter. What mattered was that Tyler was willing to give him a chance.

There had been no warm, fuzzy moments, no kind, caring words. That was okay, too. Time, he'd thought back then, was on his side. He could be patient. Both boys, according to Roxy, were exceptional. They worked hard and took criticism well. Both, she said, at some point in time, could take over the resorts. He felt proud.

Now, they had come to Camellia Island for a look-see. “We just want to see what you guys are up to,” was the way Tyler had put it. It was a turnaround visit, with both of them leaving on the late-afternoon flight.

The handshakes were firm and businesslike. Perhaps one day there would be a hug. If it never happened, that would have to be all right, too.

Tyler looked at his father and offered up his mantra, “Time is money!”

“Well, if it isn't the California Sunshine Boys,” Roxy said, pulling the open-air Jeep alongside them. She wore sneakers, pedal pushers, and a tank top. Her hair was pulled back into a bun. You didn't dress to the nines when you hung out at a construction site the better part of the day. Still, she looked good. Both young men whistled. “Hop in.”

They peppered her with questions, wanting to know everything about the progress on the Crown Jewel. “I think I'll defer to your…to Ricky.”

“If things go the way they've been going, we should be up and running in three, maybe four months. Definitely no later than Christmas. Everything that could go wrong has already gone wrong, so we're not expecting any more problems. I think we have a pretty good handle on everything if the weather holds. Now, if a hurricane comes along, it could screw everything up. Those damn things are vicious as hell.

“They're working on the drywall in the rooms now. Everything's been plumbed and wired. The tennis courts are done. They'll continue to work on the golf course right up until the day we open. The pools are done except for the surface tile on the deck area. Everything we ordered is in and stored.”

“You sure that scrip thing is going to work?” Max asked.

“If it's the only game in town, it has to work,” Roxy said. “No money on the island. You just use the scrip you buy when you check in at the resort to make purchases at the shops, or you charge them. By the way, how was your flight?” Roxy wished she could tell them how nervous Ricky had been before they'd left for the airport. Maybe someday she'd be able to. She couldn't step over the invisible line Ricky had drawn between himself and his sons. It was that simple.

“Good flight. No problems,” Tyler said, then switched back to the subject of the resort asking, “No cars?”

“Again, it's the only game in town. You can go anywhere you need to go in a golf cart. No pollution, no engines revving up, no accidents. No gas pumps, just good, old-fashioned, clean, fresh air,” Ricky said. “People are going to be paying top dollar for the privacy and solitude we are guaranteeing. The press can't get here either, and that's a
really
good thing. The only access to the island is our own ferry and helicopter, and of course we're going to have the helipad. It's almost finished. If our guests want to go to Hilton Head, Charleston, or the new film studio, we'll take them.”

A frown appeared between Tyler's brows. “You're pretty cut off here. What if…”

“We have all of the ‘what-ifs' covered, boys. We have fifty suites and three villas. That's it. Small but exclusive. We have our own security force, our own medical people. We managed to snare a five-star chef. I've got two of the most famous actresses in Hollywood willing to make some commercials for the resort in return for one free stay a year for five years. I'll be making a few commercials myself. Roxy is working on the golf and tennis pros. It's a green light all the way. We've been fielding phone calls right and left from people all around the world. Like I said, Roxy has it covered. We're on a roll, guys.”

“For our equestrian guests, we decided to include a stable and some bridle paths,” Roxy added. “Your…Ricky likes to ride. And, I've been saving the best part till last. Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Tyler and Max said in unison.

“We're building, well, it's almost done, a miniclinic. Very high-tech. State-of-the-art. You know, for people who want to come here to get, say, a face-lift or a major overhaul. We'll have a top-notch staff. I'm hoping my daughter Reba will eventually head it up. We're talking pricey and private here. I told Donna to leak the word, and calls have been coming in so fast I now have a separate book just to log them in. This might surprise you, but the guys are outnumbering the women two to one. What do you think?” Roxy asked. She looked in the rearview mirror to see the expressions on the boys' faces. They nodded approvingly.

“I thought Reba's specialty was going to be children's reconstructive surgery,” Max said.

“That's true, but ‘eventually' is a long time from now. I called ahead, and the ferry is waiting. We just leave the Jeep here and go across. Take a look, our own private island,” Roxy said, cutting the engine.

Later, over a chuck-wagon-style lunch for the workers, Tyler looked at his brother, concern showing on his face. “Why do you suppose he hasn't said anything? He looks worried as hell. Roxy seems okay, but…”

“It's hard for me to believe all this can come together in four short months.” Max pointed to the piles of brick and wood, the different trucks, the heavy machinery, and the enormous heaps of sandy soil that were everywhere. “Maybe he thinks it's none of our business. If you recall, we were the ones who drew the original line in the sand. He hasn't crossed it. It wouldn't hurt you to meet him halfway, Tyler.” He yanked at his baseball cap, pulling it down farther to shade his eyes from the blazing sun.

Tyler ignored his half brother's words as he stared at Ricky and Roxy, who were deep in conversation, a set of blueprints spread out on a rough table made from bricks and two-by-fours. “Maybe he doesn't know. I suppose it's a stretch to think that since we know, and we aren't movie types. I wonder why he didn't try to squelch it. It can't be good.”

“Sometimes silence is golden. The more you say, the more the ghouls have to feed on. Our old man didn't get where he is by being stupid. My grandparents aren't going to like being fodder for some tabloid. They're decent, kind, retired people who enjoy their privacy. They don't understand shit like this. My mother now, she's gonna love it! Let's agree now that we don't talk, and we don't grant any interviews,” Max said.

Tyler nodded. “You know what really gets me? Ricky's film studio bought the rights to the book, and the damn thing hasn't even been written. That sleaze Dicky Tee is going to pen it. Ted said it was payback time for Ricky because he walked away from Hollywood when he was top box office. The studio lost
millions.
Ted also said they're going to do the filming here at that new studio outside Charleston. Scandal in Hollywood is nothing new. No one is going to be shocked if they read about Ricky's past drug and alcohol problems. The people in Hollywood and the industry thrive on it as long as everyone's name is spelled correctly. I think Ricky is concerned, not for himself, but for us, our families, and for his brother's memory. His brother was pretty special to him. That's my opinion for whatever it's worth.

“You know what else is weird. I took a subscription to
Variety
just so I could stay on top of what's going on. I go online in the morning to check the
L.A. Times,
too.”

Max grinned. “Guess I'm just as weird as you are because I do the same thing. You know what we're doing, don't you? We're closing ranks around our father. It's not just a cut-and-dried business relationship anymore. It would be nice if those two got together, wouldn't it?” he said, jerking his head in his father and Roxy's direction.

“How'd that all happen?” Tyler sounded so befuddled, his brother burst out laughing.

“My grandmother told me there's nothing more important than family. In my wild youth, I didn't realize how right she was. I know it now, though. Everyone deserves a second chance, Ty. Even our father.”

Tyler dug his boot-clad toes into the sand. “This is going to be one kick-ass resort when it's up and running. Do you think
he'll
move on when it's done and start some other project? For Christ's sake, what is he searching for? Don't tell me he isn't searching either. I've never seen a more haunted man in my life. Do you think it's
us?
Are we supposed to tell him we love him and forgive him, or something?”

“Wait for the book, and you'll get all the juicy details,” Max said, his gaze still on his father. “If you want a wild guess off the top of my head, I'd say it has to do with his brother's leaving his estate to him and not Roxy. I'm not sure he trusts Roxy one hundred percent. It's not our business, Ty.”

“I say we make it our business, Max.”

Max looked at his brother over the top of his sunglasses. He blinked. Had he heard Tyler correctly? “That means we step over the line. I don't know if I'm ready to do that. I like what I'm doing. Hell, I even like our old man, and I'm crazy about Roxy. I don't want to get my ass kicked out. You're getting pretty damn brave all of a sudden.”

“If we don't protect
our own,
who else is gonna do it? Maybe Ricky doesn't care. Maybe he thinks the publicity will be good for him. Actors are actors forever. It's in the blood. I read that in
Variety
and those slimy tabloids. You wouldn't believe the shit those sleazeballs print in the name of news. Ninety-nine percent of it isn't true. Ted told me that, too.”

“They're done discussing business. They're talking about us now,” Max said.

Tyler swatted him before he picked up a handful of sand and threw it at Max.

“I think it's working, Ricky,” Roxy said as she eyed his sons. “They've been slowly developing a brotherly relationship these past six months. They actually like each other. You should be pleased.”

“I am. Philly and I never had that kind of relationship. He was steady and reliable, and I was wild and reckless. Oil and water. I looked up to him, though. And, I was afraid of him. I was always afraid of him.”

“Get over it. He's dead,” Roxy said, coldly.

Ricky blinked at how brutal her words sounded. It was time. Things were starting to move too fast.

“Roxy, we're pretty much done here for the day. After we drop the guys off at the airport, let's go to dinner. I say we get dressed up and have a real date. What do you say?”

Roxy looked shocked. “You mean a business date or a boy-girl date?”

He was going to say a business date, but the words came out differently. “A boy-girl date. I promise not to trample on your affections. We deserve a night out.”

“All right. Yeah, okay.” She gave a low, throaty chuckle that sent shivers up his arms and made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Ricky threw back his head and laughed. In spite of herself, Roxy grinned as she playfully poked him in the arm.

Tyler nudged his brother's arm the way Roxy had nudged his father's arm. “I like what I'm seeing there. Come on, I want to see the helipad and the tennis courts. I think we might seriously need to think about putting a suggestion in the Suggestion Box that goes something like this, ‘Let's take shifts working this resort. Three months each.' Sometimes those damn islands get to me.”