VINA IN VENICE (THE 5 SISTERS) (3 page)

Victoriana folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope.  “It seems our parents are determined to send us on a quest for love.”

“How can they do this to us?”  Maria wailed.

“You know why,” Kelsey said.  “They want us to have what they had.”

Vina’s temper flared.  “You’re being incredibly selfish, Maria.  This isn’t
about you; it’s about all of us.  You can’t spend the rest of your life being afraid to step outside just because you got rained on once. 
Personally, I think it sounds like a grand adventure
.
”

“
I don’t know what you’re worried about anyway
,” Kelsey
said
. 
“
If you don’t believe in love, you’re certainly not going to find it.”

“She’s right,”
Sophia
agreed.  “What do you have to lose?”

Maria’s shoulders slumped
in resignation
.  “All right, I fold.
  I can’t fight all of you at once.”

Vina smiled to herself.  The tag team method never failed to work on Maria.  “So, now that we’re all in agreement again, who’s going to
call Sheldon and set up a meeting time?”

“I’ve already called him,” Victoriana said with a superior air.  “He contacted me yesterday and said it would save time if I let him know when were finished so he could drop the envelopes off instead of having to wait for an appointment.  As a matter of fact,” she glanced at her watch, “he should be here any minute.”

While they waited for Sheldon to arrive, Vina idly wondered whether his
dropping by
had less to do with saving time and more to do with getting Victoriana alone outside
the formal
business
atmosphere
.  She wasn’t blind to the way his eyes migrated to Victoriana more frequently than the rest of them, or how his
baritone
business voice softened whenever he address
ed
her.

Unfortunately for Sheldon, her sister seemed oblivious to his attraction towards her.  It was a pity really
,
because Sheldon Davis was a genuinely nice man.  It didn’t hurt that he was sexy as sin either.
 
Even sexier in jeans and a white button down
, Vina thought, when Sheldon arrived a few minutes later.

“Here you go, ladies,” he grinned as he handed out the envelopes. 

The five sisters gathered around Sheldon in a semi-circle,
each of them enthralled with tearing open their envelopes and
discovering where they would be flying off to
.  Excitement rippled through Vina
when her
eyes locked onto name of the city printed on the ticket. 
Venice, Italy
.  Her heart tripped as she envisioned capturing the attention of a tall, dark Italian vineyard owner.  She imagined being held in his strong arms
, breathless with anticipation as he lowered his head to kiss her
.

Vina’s beautiful daydream went up in a puff of smoke when she read the name of the man her parents had chosen to be her escort.  Apparently, the bubble had burst on her
sisters’ daydreams as well.  As if on cue, they all looked up
,
and
in perfect unison
repeated the words Maria had said earlier.

“How can they do this
to
us?”

Chapter 2
       

Vina was not amused when Sheldon laughed at their synchronized response.  Neither were her sisters.  Having five women glower at him quickly sobered Sheldon’s mood.

“I apologize, ladies.  I shouldn’t have laughed when it’s obvious you’re upset by your parents’ choices.”

Victoriana skewered him with a look that was as cold as her tone.  “Did you have something to do with this?”

Sheldon held up his hands in a gesture of denial.  “I had no part
in
it, other than fulfilling my role as Executor and giving you the envelopes.  Victor and Lucinda did confide in me about the escorts
, and I totally agreed it would be safer than having you travel alone.  But they didn’t tell me who those escorts were, and I didn’t ask.”

“I’m…sorry,” Victoriana said.  “I shouldn’t have accused you.  It’s just that…the
ir
choices seem…” she looked to her sisters for the right word.

“Strange,” Vina supplied.  “
Mine is, anyway.”
  She glanced at the name again but it still didn’t make any sense.  “It’s Travis.”

“Travis?  I’m afraid I don’t know anyone with the last name Travis,” Sheldon said.  “I wonder why they chose him if they knew you didn’t like him?”

Ashamed of herself for making it sound as if she’d drawn the short straw with Travis, Vina
rushed to
explain.  “Oh no, it’s not that at all.  I adore him to no end.
  Travis Malone’s parents live in the estate bordering ours.  My sisters and I went to school with
the f
ive
Malone boys and their sister
, so we’ve known each other for ages.  I was a bit shy in grade school, and Travis sort of took me under his wing.  We’ve been best friends ever since.
”

Sheldon looked even more perplexed than before.  “I don’t see the problem.  If you’re such good friends, and your parents obviously trust him, then why are you upset about their choice?”

“I don’t know.  I guess it’s a little like taking your brother along.  True, he’ll be there to make sure nothing
bad
happens, but
his being there will ensure that nothing
…
romantic
will happen either.
  I mean…what if I do meet a man I’m attracted to?  Is Travis going act as a bodyguard and tag along if I go out on a date?”

“That’s something you’ll have to work out with him before you
go.  Your departure date isn’t for two weeks, which should give you time to talk to Mr. Malone and make any other necessary preparations.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Vina replied uncertainly.  “I’m surprised
my parents were able to
talk him into it.  He owns an upscale restaurant on the north side and just opened a new
location
…”

“Your friend Travis is the owner of Malone’s?”

“Yes,” Vina beamed with pride.  “
He and I have also gone into
property investment
together, and even though I handle the bulk of the work, it still consumes some of his time.  He may have been amenable to playing escort when they approached him, but
I can’t imagine
Travis
has the time or inclination to
take off
work
for
a whole month
.”

Sheldon nodded thoughtfully. 
“
If he’s unable to go, or can’t remain with you the entire time, let me know.  It seems to me that Victor and Lucinda must have had a great deal of trust in the gentlemen they chose for each of you, otherwise they would
have
made provisions for alternate escorts.  I assume by your responses, the rest of you have similar doubts about your travel companions?”

             
Vina
was only half listening
as her sisters took turns
re
laying
who they had been coupled with and why it concerned them.
 
What had possessed her parents to choose Travis, of all people?  Granted, the man could pass for a real bodyguard; Travis was six foot four with the shoulders of a linebacker, and he looked downright dangerous when he was angry.
  But
they knew he had a tendency to be a tad over protective towards her. 

Why
bother
sending her on
this…
quest
,
and then
sabotage it
by providing an escort who was more likely to
deter
any potential
love interests than
encourage them?
  It didn’t make sense
…
or did it? 
Maybe the reason they chose Travis was because they wanted someone who wouldn’t try to make a move on her w
hile she searched for Mr. Perfect
.
  Considering who they’d selected for her sisters, it seemed the most logical answer.

Vina tuned back in to the conversation going on around her just in time to catch a snippet about Victoriana’s reluctance to say who was accompanying her or where they were going.  Big mistake on her part because it only made the others more curious and determined to find out who it was.  Victoriana was highly agitated by the whole thing; Vina could tell by the flushed cheeks and how rigidly her sister held herself.  She was
also clutching the envelope to her chest, as if she was afraid one of them might try to snatch it from her hands.

“
Stop pestering
her,” Vina leapt to Victoriana’s rescue.  “
She doesn’t have to tell you busy bodies anything.  And if
she has no objections
regarding
the man
Mom and Dad chose
to be her escort
, that’s her business.”

Victoriana flashed a smile of gratitude
at
Vina as Sheldon bid them all good-night and whisked her sister out of the room.
  Maybe she’d been wrong about Victoriana being oblivious to Sheldon’s feelings for her.  She’d certainly done her best to
spare
the poor man from hearing
about
the trip she’d be taking
with someone else.
  A trip to some fabulous city where
she
was
supposed to find her one true love.  How sad
Victoriana
couldn’t see he was right
here.  One encouraging smile; that’s all it would take for Sheldon to offer up his heart.

Vina’s attention migrated back to the note in her hand. 
Travis Malone
.  What in the world could they possibly have said to persuade him to agree to do this?

***

Travis leaned back i
n his chair
,
only marginally less edgy than he’d been over
the past few weeks
.  He’d been expecting the call for some time now
,
and should have been relieved by
the good
news Sheldon Davis had just delivered. 
Instead, he found himself being bombarded with a host of c
onflicting emotions
and an uncharacteristic lack of determination to ward them off.
 

Ah, but you don’t want to fight them anymore, do you?

T
oo much time had been wasted already
; it was now or never
.
 
N
o more excuses, no more lame attempts to convince himself
it would all work out in the end if he just
let nature take its course. 
Because this
is
the end
, Travis told himself. 
He was through
waiting and wanting
, through
hoping that
Vina
would
suddenly realize what he had known for years.  They belonged together.

When Victor and Lucinda Moore
arrived at his restaurant one evening
three
years ago and
asked to speak to him in private, Travis immediately sensed it was about Vina and ushered them into his office. 
He’d listened quietly as they
spelled out the conditions of their Wills,
caref
ul to keep the mounting panic from showing on his face.  How could he decline, knowing they would simply pick someone else to take his place?  And yet, accepting their proposal meant he would have to stand by and watch Vina give her heart to another man.

His stomach had been twisted into knots by the time they finished.  He and Vina had been discussing a joint venture in real estate investment
, and he’d planned on using that extra time together as a means of developing a more intimate relationship.  It wasn’t exactly the type of thing you revealed to a young woman’s parents.  Not after
they’d just told
him there wasn’t anyone they trusted more to watch over their daughter, that is.

“Well, what do you think?” Victor asked.