The Bouquet List (12 page)

“You still there?” Nick said.

“Yep, I’m still here.” What had they been talking about? Telling Yasmin about the possibility of a sale. “Maybe you should tell Yasmin what you’re thinking. I’m sure she’d like input into any decisions.”

“She’ll only worry. I can handle it, and besides, I don’t have time to drive up there.”

Lane frowned as he thought back to what Yasmin had said about being protected her whole life. “I think you should make time to talk to her. She’s strong enough to hear it, Nick, and I think she’ll have opinions of her own.”

There was silence at the end of the line and he could imagine his friend rubbing his forehead as he worked his way to a decision.

Lane suddenly thought of a solution. “Listen, are you going to Pete Worthington’s engagement party tomorrow night?”

“I should, but I have this deal that I’m working on.”

“He invited me, and if I bring Yas we could meet up there for an hour or so, tell her what you know, and then I can bring her back here.”

Nick made an indecisive noise. “If you think it’s that important.”

“I do.”

“I’ll think about it,” Nick replied before they said good-bye.

Lane walked to the restaurant door and opened it. To his surprise, Yasmin met him in the doorway. “You weren’t supposed to see! You won’t get the full effect until it’s all complete. Did you know about this? Did you suspect? Gosh, I can’t get anything past you.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Yas, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said and kissed her lips lightly. “I came to ask you if you’d come to Pete and Amy’s engagement party with me tomorrow night.”

The more he thought about this plan, the more he liked it. If Yasmin was to be a permanent part of his life, it was time she met his friends. They’d soon be her friends too.

She frowned. “You want me to come? We have so much to finish here and…”

“Yes, I do. We both need a break, and it’ll be nice to get out of the place. It’ll only be for an hour or two, and then we can come back and finish things off here. Besides, Nick said he was going to try to make it.”

She looked up, surprised. “He did?”

“And I’d like you to meet my other friends as well.”

She scanned his face, as if looking for more clues, then shrugged. “Okay.”

Satisfied, he stretched his neck to look behind her. “So tell me why you’re looking so guilty. What’s that monstrosity over there?”

She held her arms wide and did a dramatic, “Nooooo!”

He touched both her arms, pushed them down to her sides, and kissed her square on the lips. “I’m not going to leave here until you tell me what’s going on.”

She chuckled as he pushed a strand of hair off her face and kissed her earlobe. “That’s hardly a deal. I don’t want you to stop kissing me so I’m hardly going to agree to that.”

He wrapped his arms around her, then quickly spun her shoulders and dashed into the restaurant to get a closer look at the table.

He slowly turned to see Yasmin biting her lip.

“You think you can persuade me through stealth and trickery?”

She marched over to the table and smoothed out the cloth. “You’ve got to admit it looks beautiful. And check this out.” She lifted the cover to reveal a rustic-looking top. “It’ll be perfect for the restaurant crowd as well. Just like a big communal table at a taverna.”

He shook his head. “How many times did I say no to the long tables?”

She moved back to him and flung her arms around his neck. “Not enough, obviously.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and then pulled back and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Don’t I get some credit for stealth and persistence?”

“You get points for being sneaky and manipulative,” he said.

“We wouldn’t have ended up together if I hadn’t been all those things.”

“True. And that would have been a travesty.” He took another look at the table. “I guess it’s worth considering.”

She stepped away from him and chewed her lip again. “I’m afraid there’s not much time to do any considering. I’ve ordered all the tables and they’ll be here tonight. Grace is coming back to dress them all like this.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, stunned. The media were coming tomorrow. What would they say about such a rustic look?

She looked at him sideways. “No shiitake?”

Under normal circumstances he’d have told her in no uncertain terms to cancel the order, that he was the restaurant expert and that she was a mushroom expert with wild taste in clothing, but there was something about the way she looked at him, something about the excitement and joy in her eyes that made him…start to laugh. All the fight left him and instead he was happy for no other reason than she was happy.

I’m a goner.

“It’ll be perfect,” she said, dancing around the table. “It’s going to give the Palace an incredible community feel. Thank you so much for agreeing to it.”

“A guy hardly has a chance when he’s bulldozed into it at every opportunity.”

“Oh, Lane, I have such an amazing feeling about this. I really think it’s going to make all the difference to Mom. What say we get the photographer to get shots of Saturday night with all the people, the new decor, and all the new food, and we can make it into a little movie for her? Don’t you think that would be a great idea?”

He caught her hands and dragged her back close to him. “Sure,” he said. “And maybe I should have a quick talk with your dad before Saturday, to see if there’s anything else he wants us to do.”

“He’d love to hear from you. Just think, Lane, in one more week, the fortunes of the Aegean Palace are going to be turned around and everything will be different.”

As she moved back to look at the table, Lane considered the prospect of the Palace being sold out from under them, and he curled his fingers into his palm. Things would be different at the Palace, he was sure of that; he just hoped it was in the way that Yasmin wished for.

Chapter Ten

It had been a tough day. Yasmin loved the new artwork she’d ordered for the foyer; she thought the pieces were lively and exciting. Lane had said they were too loud and modern. The new fountain had sprung a leak and caused the new tiles in the courtyard to begin lifting, and when she’d suggested laying something completely different, Lane had given her a lecture about sticking to budgets and being sensible. Now that they were standing at the entrance to the Bluebird Club, the venue for Peter and Amy’s engagement party, she let herself relax a little.

“Oh, wow,” Yasmin said on a long breath, “this place is amazing.”

The large double door opened into a wide atrium, and crowds were standing in clusters while waiters walked among them with hors d’oeuvres. She saw a woman who must have been Peter’s or Amy’s mom, flitting among groups of older people and beaming to everyone who came in.

Yasmin had known of many of these people when she was younger—most were Nick’s friends as well as Lane’s—but she’d never really mixed with them. Like Nick, his buddies and their girlfriends were good at both sports and academics. Most had fast-tracked finance or law degrees and were already making serious money in Manhattan. Her friends, on the other hand, were all academics or artists, perpetual college students who’d likely end up in either academia or a commune in India. For a minute she was reminded this was Lane’s and Nick’s world and that these people really were out of her league. No, not out of her league—she’d remembered Lane disagreeing with her for saying that—just on a different track in life.

Lane put his arm around her waist to guide her into the room, and her skin responded to his touch beneath the deep green silk of the dress Genie had helped her pick out. Lane looked incredibly handsome in his charcoal suit and shirt, and when he winked at her she felt her body warm all over.

When she’d written the fifth entry on her list, she’d never imagined it’d be more than a one-night stand. In fact, she hadn’t really thought about what would happen after she’d achieved it. Did she think she’d just end up saying, “Thanks very much, that was pleasant. Close the door on your way out,” and move on to the next thing on her list? She hadn’t made a plan for how to deal with the possibility of a second or third night with that person, or meeting his friends. Probably because number five was supposed to have been out of her league. She’d never dreamed whoever it was would want a second night with her. But Lane was different. And now she couldn’t imagine tonight ending any other way than being snuggled in his arms.

“I’m underdressed,” she whispered as she looked across the men and women standing in small groups. The men were in expensive-looking suits and the women were impossibly perfect, with beautifully applied makeup and chic outfits. “Look at all those gorgeous cocktail dresses. I wish I’d worn something more suitable.” The 1950s dress she and Genie had seen in a thrift store window had seemed perfect at the time, with its flared skirt and its belt in the same fabric, and when they’d found a matching bow in a dime store to go in her hair she’d felt invincible. Now she patted her hair and wondered why she’d felt so confident. She wished it was just the two of them, curled up together on the couch back at home, feeding each other halva cake.

Lane leaned in and whispered close to her ear. “You look beautiful. Interesting and unique and very, very sexy.”

“But I look too informal,” she said as she pulled at the front of her dress to cover her chest.

He grabbed her hand to stop her from pulling and waited until she met his eyes. “I’ll be the proudest man in the room with you on my arm.”

A waiter came toward them with a tray of champagne and orange juice. Lane released her hand and took a glass of champagne for himself and handed the juice to her.

“Maybe this was a mistake,” she said and turned to watch more people walking in, air-kissing each person they met.

“Griffiths!” One of the men slapped Lane on the back, and the woman with him leaned in to kiss Lane on both cheeks. “It’s good to see you out from under your rock.”

“Don’t be silly, Mike,” the woman said as she stroked Lane’s arm. “We heard you’d sold your restaurants, Lane, and that you’re opening the restaurant in the new Prescott Hotel. I know a lot of people who can’t wait for that opening, but I bet it means we’ll see even less of you from now on.”

He smiled, then turned back to Yasmin. “Mike and Rachel, this is Yasmin Katsalos, Nick’s sister.” He pulled her a little closer and his friends’ eyes flicked to Lane with the universal expression of understanding. Yasmin found a polite smile. Guess they weren’t keeping their involvement such a secret anymore.

“So what have you been doing to fill in the hours, Lane?” Mike asked.

“I’m working with Yasmin on a renovation at her parents’ wedding hall.”

“Oh, do you run it?” Mike turned to her and she had a terrible feeling he was going to quiz her about profit margins and the state of business confidence in Westchester. Her palms became damp and she smoothed down her skirt. “I guess financial expertise must run in your family.” He craned his neck to look over her head, and she took a sip of orange juice to calm her heated face. “Where’s that brother of yours?”

“He should be here soon,” she said. She hadn’t seen Nick since she’d come back from Borneo, so she was looking forward to it. Her father had explained to both her brothers that their mom wanted some time out, but Yasmin wasn’t sure if they knew the extent of the Palace’s problems. She and Nick had talked on the phone when he was available, but he hadn’t been out to the Palace
.
It wasn’t surprising—they’d always had a good relationship, but he was too wrapped up in his own world to make too much time for family. She was surprised that he’d give up his precious time for an engagement party.

Another couple joined them, the woman equally as manicured and beautiful as the first, the man calm and serious. The group talked about people they all knew, promotions and mortgages, baby plans and Caribbean holidays. The second couple issued an invitation to a long weekend in the Hamptons, and the woman teased Lane about the fact that he hadn’t hosted the crowd for a dinner party for a while.

A slow-burning heat rose on Yasmin’s neck. She’d felt exhausted the past two days, but she hadn’t wanted to make a big deal of it. Once they got through the relaunch, she’d have time to relax.

“What do you say, Yasmin?” Lane said, turning to her. “How about we have a dinner after the relaunch is over? We’ve probably picked up enough tips from this project to make it pretty memorable.” He nodded to Mike. “Like the party you and Rachel had last summer.” Her stomach clenched tight. The group started swapping stories about what had apparently been a legendary night, before moving on to other topics, so she got out of having to answer. Which was good, since she had no idea what she would have said. She and Lane were entertaining guests now? They’d gone from needing to keep their relationship a secret to throwing cozy dinner parties?

She cursed the fact that she couldn’t drink. A stiff whiskey or one of those glasses of champagne would hit the spot about now, or having Genie here to pass comment on all the beautiful people. When she went to take a tiny step back from the group, she felt Lane pull her closer as he continued talking to the guy beside him.

Yasmin looked around at Lane’s friends and a sad and sickening realization worked its way into her thoughts. This was the life that Lane fitted into so effortlessly, the life he’d told her he wanted to grow further as he got older. Country clubs and old friends, corporate people and close connections. But this was exactly the sort of life she
didn’t
want for herself anymore.

She’d fitted here once, when she’d been Nick’s little sister, when she’d been his stand-in date at company functions and graduations—and she’d made up her mind that this wasn’t the way she wanted to live. She watched Lane talking in that serious way that he did when he felt strongly about something, and she realized that despite the physical closeness, the intimate connection they’d made in the last twenty-four hours, they were still so very, very different. Suddenly, the room began to spin and she had to will herself to stay upright. Now was not the time to lose her cool. She took long breaths through her nose and concentrated on a bowl of punch on a table.

She was vaguely aware of someone moving toward her from the other side of the room, and then a hand slid around her shoulders.

“Hey.” She turned and felt Lane’s hand slip from her back. Nick was standing beside her in a perfectly crisp suit, a smile lighting up his olive complexion. He kissed her cheeks, then methodically moved around the circle, kissing the women and shaking hands with the men.

“Where’s the girl we saw you with on Saturday night?” Rachel asked. “She seemed nice…and absolutely stunning.”

“She was stunning,” Nick said. “But today’s Wednesday.” The group roared with laughter. “Excuse me, you guys,” he said. “I need to talk to my sister.”

…

Nick took Yasmin’s elbow and walked her over to a column, away from the celebrating crowd, and turned his back to the group they were just speaking to.

“I wasn’t expecting you to make it,” Yasmin said, wiping her clammy hands on her dress. “I thought you were pursuing world domination.”

He had a hand in one pocket and was regarding her with such a serious look, she began to get worried. “I am busy, but I needed to see you, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. Cost me an arm and a leg for an engagement present, though.” She’d never seen him look so intense. His forehead was creased in a frown and his mouth was turned down. “Are you okay? You look really pale.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “What is it?”

Suddenly his face changed and he leaned back for effect. “What’s with the hole in your nose and the carnival hair? Has Mom seen it?”

Yasmin aimed a punch at his arm. “Of course she’s seen it. I’ve Skyped with her most days. Don’t tell me she didn’t say anything to you about it. And I saw Dad briefly before he left.”

“And he didn’t demand you get rid of both immediately?”

When she didn’t respond he gave her a supercilious grin. “Mom did mention being worried that you were going off with some punk rock band. The only way I could calm her down was by reminding her Lane was working on the renovation and that he’d keep an eye on you.”

Yasmin looked across to where Lane was hugging another woman who had joined his group. Things had changed between them tonight, but she’d have to wait until after the party to talk to him about that. She turned back to Nick. “So what did you need to see me about?”

His eyes became more serious. “I don’t think Mom’s coming home.”

“What do you mean not coming home? Not ever?” A lump formed in her throat and she had to swallow before she could speak. “She wouldn’t do that. Live thousands of miles away from us. And why hasn’t Dad told me this?” Her heart ached in her chest. She hadn’t considered for a minute that her mother wouldn’t ever return. How could they be a family with her mom living in Greece permanently? What would it mean for her father? For the Palace? For all of them?

“I had Dad on the phone in tears.”

“Tears?” She shook her head at the impossible image of her father crying, but it was too much to think about. “I Skyped with him yesterday and he said everything was fine. Tears? Are you sure?”

“Yas, Mom and Dad would rather lie to you than have you hurt. Dad wants me to arrange the sale of the Palace.”

Yasmin reeled back as if she’d been punched. “But the Palace is their life. Their American Dream. They worked their fingers to the bone building that place up. All those hours, those weekends, those
years
without a holiday. What was all that sacrifice for? If they sell now while they’re struggling, they might not be rewarded for any of that hard work.”

Her brother shrugged. “It’s just a business, Yas. And not a very profitable one at that.”

“Just a business?” Now she could feel fire start to light in her veins. “The Palace is way more than a business, Nick. It’s our home, it’s our heritage. It’s a symbol of what we are as a family and I, for one, am not about to lose that. God, why did we all move away? Why didn’t we see what we had when everything was good?”

Nick rubbed a hand across his chin. “What do you propose we do?”

“You could buy it from them.” She clutched his arm as the perfect solution became clear. He was wealthy, very wealthy, and he probably knew all sorts of ways to help the business financially.

He pulled at the collar of his shirt. “As if Dad would let that happen. He’d rather end up bankrupt than feel he was taking charity from one of his kids.”

She lowered her voice. “You know I don’t have enough money to do it. And neither does Ari. What about you running it for a while?”

“Yasmin,” he said, touching her arm. “I’m sorry, but I’m far too busy with my own work to take on the Palace.”

“But what if it’s the three of us? What if you, me, and Ari made a pact to do whatever we can to save it? Lane and I have almost finished with the restaurant renovation and we’ll be inviting all the media and having the relaunch. What if after that you and I work together for a few weeks? Try to turn it around ourselves?”

He shrugged and looked back to where a group of his friends was standing. “I don’t know, Yas. I’m really busy and I’ve got no experience in a business like the Palace. Maybe if there were a surefire way to make money on it fast, then I’d think about it. And besides,” he said, arching an eyebrow, “don’t you have a PhD to finish? Or have you given up on your dreams?”

Give up on her dreams? If anything, working through her list had only made her more committed to spreading her wings, to finding what it was that made her happy. As soon as she finished her bouquet list, she was going to make another one.

“Of course not,” she said, waving the idea away with her hand, “but that doesn’t mean I think we should give up on the Palace.”

He rubbed his chin. “If I say yes,
if
that’s the way we decide to go, then one of us needs to go and convince Mom to come home.”