Crown Jewel (7 page)

A huge grin on his face, Ricky folded up the papers and returned them to his hip pocket. Then he laughed. Out loud. So hard, he doubled over, and still he kept on laughing.

A moment later he was on his feet and out of the room.

He had to come up with a use for his brother's office. A use that made sense.

Sooner or later something would come to him. It was called moving on.

 

Ricky stood on the periphery and watched the staff's reaction to Roxy's arrival. She looks different, Ricky thought. Everything about Roxy looked new. A new hair color, a brownish red with gold highlights and a new softer hairstyle that went with her island clothing—a flowered shift with generous slits on each side showing off well-tanned legs. Her straw hat, bag, and sandals were what all the guests seemed to be wearing. He also noticed she wore very little makeup. A new Roxy. He decided it was a good thing.

He noticed that the staff did everything but stand on their heads and salute her. She, in turn, waved and smiled. He wasn't surprised when she called a staff meeting within minutes of settling into her old office.

He caught up with her at the end of the meeting. Her eyes were wary as she walked by his side back to her office. Her stride was purposeful as she moved along, smiling and waving to several guests.

Inside the pleasant office with the door closed, Roxy called the dining room to order coffee. “Sit down, Ricky. Why?” Her eyes were still wary. “Why did you invite me back here?” For the first time, he noticed a slight tremor to her hands.

“Good business move, Roxy. I know squat about running a resort. I'm willing to learn, but that's going to take a long time. Without proper management, these resorts can go downhill fast. Even I know that. In just the few weeks that you were gone, things went to hell. I understand your reluctance about training me, for want of a better word. A contract makes it a formal business arrangement, which affords you certain protections. All kinds of ‘built-ins,' as they call them. I don't think I'm ready to take on a partner at this stage of the game. We can keep our options open in that regard; three years is a long way off.”

Ricky pointed to the calendar on the bulletin board. “You need to explain that to me, Roxy. If my calculations are right, at best you got four, maybe five hours sleep a night. What kind of life was that? Where was Philly while you were doing all this?” he asked, waving his arms at their surroundings.

Roxy made a funny noise in her throat. The coffee arrived, she poured. “It was my life. This place, the work, it was all I had. I'm sorry I didn't thank you for offering me my old job back. I haven't been thinking very clearly of late. Like I said, I started drinking, didn't eat, couldn't sleep. Philly promised…he led me to believe…I can't change anything. I just want you to know I'm grateful. Don't take that to mean you can walk all over me like your brother did.”

“What did Philly promise you? What did he lead you to believe?”

“That his share of the resorts would come to me. I worked like a dog, Ricky. And right now I feel like a tired old dog that's been kicked one too many times.” Her voice was so bitter, Ricky flinched. “I built this place, oh, not the stone and mortar, but I did all the rest.” She gulped at the hot coffee. He knew she burned her tongue, but she kept on gulping.

“Why didn't you get it in writing? I don't understand any of this.”

“He was my husband, for God's sake. We had an…arrangement. I honored my end of it, he didn't honor his. It was a business marriage. We never had sex in all the years we were married. If you want my honest opinion, I think Philly was gay but wouldn't come out of the closet. It's only my opinion. I can't tell you how many of our famous female guests threw themselves at him. He didn't bite. Nor was he flattered. I didn't know that about him going in. Look, Philly gave me whatever I wanted. I think I have thirty-two charge cards, tons of costly jewelry, the latest fashions, a high-end car. He never once asked me what I bought. He paid the bills and gave me a salary. He said he was rescinding the prenup. You're right, I should have gotten it in writing. It was a lousy trade-off, Ricky. He used me, and I used him. I played fair, with the exception of the forged policies, and he didn't; that's the bottom line.”

She had to be lying. This simply wasn't Philly. A headache started to hammer away behind his eyes.

“In his wildest dreams, I don't think Philly ever thought you would ask me to come back here. He had you under his thumb, and don't deny it, Ricky. Sometimes he was insidious. Here's another one of my private thoughts. I think he willed everything to you thinking you'd fail. You may not know this, but he was extremely jealous of you. I'll bet you don't even know that he never once watched one of your movies. To him, you had it all. Running a place like this twenty-four/seven is a full-time job. You've never been known to hunker down and give a hundred percent. Again, that's my opinion,” Roxy said coldly.

Ricky felt like he was strangling on her words. She had to be lying, she just had to. “Why? Did he hate me? Did he hate you? Christ Almighty, we're talking about my brother here, not the damn Devil.”

“That's as good a name as any. Now, tell me what you want me to do. You're the boss.”

Ricky shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I guess you know I fired a lot of your staff.”

Roxy shrugged. “No one is indispensable.”

“You are.”

Roxy smiled. She was still pretty at forty-three. He knew her age because he'd seen a copy of her driver's license at the lawyer's office. Aside from the dark circles under her eyes, she could still hold her own.

“First things first. Your crazy hours are going to stop. An eight-hour day is sufficient. There might be times when you have to stretch it to nine or ten, but that's it. I don't want you turning yourself into a pretzel over this, but my son Max is coming aboard. He's young, he's savvy, and he's good-looking. A definite asset in this kind of business. You're going to learn how to delegate authority. You're in charge, make no mistake. If he screws up, you fire him. I'll make sure he understands the buck stops with you. Give your assistant more authority. She seems knowledgeable as well as nice. On top of that, she adores you. Loyalty is a wonderful thing.

“Max will be here a week from today. I want you to get to know him. Tell me where he'll fit. Max is good with money. Andreadis told me he had a chance to go to the London School of Economics. He declined. Let's see if he can step into Philly's shoes. Also, Max oozes charm. You'll get the picture when you meet him.

“One more thing; I want you with me. Don't read something into that statement that isn't there. If we're going to build the Crown Jewel, we're going to do it together. That means we're going to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth. Camellia Island in South Carolina is not around the corner. You with me so far?”

“Yes.”

“All right then. I'm going to call Andreadis unless you prefer another attorney.”

“Actually, I do prefer another attorney. His name is Noel Randal, and his offices are in Los Angeles.”

“That's a start. Call him. Tell him what you want. Have him get in touch with Andreadis. As long as you aren't outrageous or try to throw in something we didn't agree on, you won't have a problem with me. Let's get everything out in the open from the git-go so no misunderstandings happen later on. Whatever came before today belongs in the past, and we aren't going there. This is a new beginning for both of us. You still with me? You burned your tongue, didn't you?”

“Yes, and yes.”

“Do you have any questions, Roxy?”

“Not right now. I need to sit here and absorb all of this. I'm trying to figure out what I did to deserve this.”

“You honored your agreement. Do you mind telling me something? Why did you fight me about Philly's burial?”

“I don't know, Ricky. I guess I wanted to win one. It was wrong. When you saw me at his grave that day, I finally got up the courage to tell him off. I know that probably sounds sick to you, but I wasn't in a good place. It was a hellish life. This,” she said, waving her arms about, “was my haven. It was the only place I could be me. Ricky, how did it go with your sons?”

“Max seems okay with it, but Tyler doesn't. I don't think we're ever going to be a warm and fuzzy family, but I want to give them a chance at a good life. I'm hoping for some respect along the way. We'll probably spend the rest of our lives trying to prove things to one another, and we'll miss the good stuff in between. It is what it is. You must be proud of Reba.”

“I am. She's not very proud of me, though. She's a whole other story, so let's not go there right now. Every parent wants to be proud of their child and to have that child proud of them. Reba and I were never close, and I regret that. She was very upset when Philly died and she was disturbed, angry even, at not being mentioned more significantly in Philly's will. I'm just guessing here, but I think she was expecting a huge bequest just as I was expecting to inherit Philip's share of the resorts. She was exceptionally fond of your brother. It bothered me a little,” Roxy said, looking away to stare at nothing.