Cherry Orphan

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

On the morning of his second day at Villa Suerte, Robert's Spanish-style hacienda in the heart of the Del Monte Forest, James had become engrossed.

Calley entered the study from the garden doors and walked over beside him. She wore black tap shoes, loose slacks and a long crochet top that featured wide, three-quarter-length sleeves. All she lacked were roses in her hair. Each time James saw the girl in a different outfit he paid special attention. He knew she'd started being extra careful about her wardrobe choices around Robert. Sexy and flaunting were out. Fetching and stylish were in.

He placed each Polaroid image side by side on the huge black table, stared at them for a moment, then tried to rearrange the order to better match his memory.

Immediately Calley responded to the way he fussed over the photos. James used a fiber-tipped pen to write information on the back of each shot—time, date, location—any detail pertinent to the subject.

She chuckled while reading the reverse of one photo. "San Simeon should be S-i-m-e-o-n, not, Simian. You make it sound like a monkey house."

James took it back. "Oh, yes. Of course. I'll change it. I also need help with this one." He handed Calley a shot taken at a roadside lookout point. In the foreground stood the Bentley and Robert holding both his daughters, one on each side with the rugged coastline behind them. "I need to know what kind of car this is. Not just the make."

The girl made a noncommittal face. "Not sure. Ask Dad or Sonia. It's new. He's had it for less than a year."

He nodded and set the shot aside. Calley moved in and took his hand. "James, can I say something to you that's very serious?" Her voice had dropped to a quiet murmur. "It's about you and me."

Her perfume drove him crazy when she came this close. He wanted to draw her tight to his body, yet, despite them being presently alone in the villa, he somehow knew this would be bad form to respond in any intimate way. "I think I can guess what's bothering you," he speculated. "You're frightened I'll tell Robert you stayed at my house. You think I'll tell him what we did."

"No, no I don't think you'd be like that," she said hurriedly. "I just want to be sure you understand, Dad is very different to Colleen—just look at this place compared to hers. He's a traditionalist. When you've been here a while it'll be clearer where he's coming from. Success is very important, but so is image. He's the poor cousin in this neighborhood and well aware of it. Some of the residents of this berg are billionaires; you'll be meeting a few of them. He wants to live here because it makes him try harder. I think without constant drive and ambition he'd simply shrivel up and blow away."

"Sounds like you're saying enough is never enough?"

"That's a tough way to put it, but yes. He's fiercely competitive. For example, you noticed the golf course when we drove up—we can see it from the grounds?"

James nodded.

"He's a member, but can't play worth shit. Every spare moment he's down there taking golf lessons from the resident pro. Jack told me on the QT Dad will never be any better than low average. Actually he hates the game; it frustrates the hell out of him. So where does he choose to live? Pebble Beach—right slap dab in the middle of Golfer's Paradise."

"Calley, I'm naive, but not brainless. The things I told Robert about my family were important to him—to all of us. The things we've done together are private, I know the difference. You tell Sonia stuff. Does she run to Robert with all the details?"