Page 2

Ten Hours Earlier

“D ad wants to meet.”

Laura Colton stared at her brother over the rim of her thermos. “You couldn’t have let me finish my coffee before dropping that bombshell?”

Her brother Adam raised a brow as he eyed the overlarge bottle. “There are three cups of java in that thing. If that’s not enough to prepare you for the day, it’s time you rethink some of your life choices.”

“I demand coffee before chaos,” Laura informed him and took another hit to prove her point. She was no stranger to butting heads with her older brother. They worked closely as owners and managers of Arizona’s premier resort and spa.

It was their passion for Mariposa that made them lock horns. The resort wasn’t simply the business venture that supported them. Before it was Mariposa, it was the respite their mother had sought when the disappointment of her marriage to Clive Colton had grown to be too much. Laura and her siblings’ memories of Annabeth Colton were tied not just to the project she had started shortly after the birth of her third child, Joshua, but the land itself.

The three of them had buried her here at Mariposa after her battle with pancreatic cancer.

Laura loved Mariposa. It was more home than her actual hometown of Los Angeles had ever been. When Adam had asked her and Joshua to join him after he’d taken legal control of the resort at the age of twenty-one, neither of them had hesitated. From there, their management styles had been born out of renovations and the desire to make Mariposa their own.

The Coltons had put the once-small hotel on the map. It had been transformed into a getaway for the rich and famous, with twenty-four acres of spacious grounds northeast of Sedona. It now boasted thirty guest bungalows with stunning views of Red Rock Country, a five-star restaurant named after Annabeth herself, a garden, rock labyrinth, golf course, spa, horse stables and paddocks, and hiking trails.

Laura had learned to work with both of her brothers. They were invested in their shared vision, in this life. She could take their ribbing. Just as she could take the fact that she and Adam were both workaholics whose dedication and zeal left little in the way of private lives.

She drank more coffee and tried not to rue the long chain of failed relationships she’d endured, letting her eyes stray to the view from the conference room windows of L Building.

Shadows were long across the rocky vista with its stunning juxtaposition of blue sky and red geography. From its flat ridge top, Mariposa woke briskly. Staff would be going about preparations for the day. The chef at Annabeth would be arranging its signature champagne breakfast. Below the ridge and the bungalows, the horses would be feeding. The helicopter pilot who transported guests from the airport in Flagstaff would be doing preflight checks.

If she had to scrap her plans to be married with children by her late twenties for this, so be it. There’s plenty of time for all that , Adam liked to say when anyone commented on his lack of a wife or children.

Plenty of time, she mused. No need to worry about the fact that she was tripping fast toward thirty.

Cautiously, she asked, “What does Clive want?”

Adam chuckled a little as he always did when she called their father by his given name. “He didn’t say.”

She ran her tongue over her teeth. “Is he bringing Glenna?”

“He didn’t mention her,” Adam said, referring to their stepmother of four years. Laura imagined it seemed odd to him still, too. Clive’s string of mistresses hadn’t been a well-kept secret. He’d fathered a fourth child outside of his marriage to Annabeth. Dani had come to live with Adam, Laura and Joshua in Los Angeles for a time. Laura had been only too happy not to be the only girl, and the four of them had been all too aware of Clive’s neglect.

Laura had never forgotten that, and she’d never been able to forgive Clive for his carelessness or whims. She knew his affairs had been one reason Annabeth had escaped time after time to Arizona. She’d loved Clive, despite his faults and mishandlings. The heartbreak and embarrassment of knowing he had looked for companionship elsewhere...that he had married her for her money...it had been too much for Annabeth to bear.

No, Laura had never forgiven her father, even if Glenna wasn’t like the other women. She was close to Clive’s age, for one, and beautiful, like his mistresses. Unlike the others, she was mature and independent. She even owned her own business, and it was a successful one.

It didn’t mean Laura’s father had turned things around. He’d had little to do with his children’s upbringing. Annabeth had raised them practically on her own until the cancer had taken a turn for the worse when Laura was just twelve years old.

“I thought we could arrange Bungalow Twelve for him,” Adam continued as he shuffled papers in the file spread on the table in front of him.

Laura pursed her lips. Adam was a businessperson, not a bitter man or a hard one. The snub was subtle. Every bungalow at Mariposa was luxurious, but only bungalows one through ten featured a private outdoor pool and were prioritized for VIP guests. She rubbed her lips together, considering. “You don’t think he’ll notice?”

Adam picked up a pen and made a mark on the latest budget report he’d likely stayed up late last night reviewing. “Notice what?”

Adam wasn’t petty either. Neither was she, Laura told herself as she made a notation in the notes app on her phone. “Bungalow Twelve,” she agreed. “When are we expecting him?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“And when is he departing?”

“He didn’t say that either.”

“He can’t just come and go as he pleases,” Laura pointed out. “We have guests coming in after him, and the concierge and Housekeeping require notice.”

Adam lifted his eyes briefly to hers. Even sitting, he looked lanky despite his broad shoulders. His blue eyes matched hers, and his medium-blond hair was never not short, trim and stylish, even when the rest of the world was waking up. People liked to think he’d been born in a suit, and if she hadn’t grown up with him, she’d wonder, too.

“I’m sure you’ll let him know when he arrives. Let’s move on.”

Laura made another notation about her father’s visit and did her best to ignore the unsettled feeling that pricked along her spine.

“The wedding on Valentine’s Day weekend,” Adam continued. “I’m assuming everything’s on schedule?”

“I spoke to the mother of the bride yesterday,” she explained. “They’ve asked for another three bungalows, as the guest list has expanded.”

“A little late for that.”

“I said we could do it,” she admitted, “as long as they agreed to cap the number there.”

He let loose a sigh. “I’ll have to adjust the price points. How many more plates is that for the reception?”

“Five adults, four children.”

He scrawled and started talking numbers.

“We need to talk about this year’s anniversary celebration,” she interrupted. Mariposa had opened on Valentine’s Day almost twenty-two years ago. “Since the wedding is on Valentine’s Day, I propose we move the celebration to Wednesday, the eighteenth.”

Adam stopped counting to consider. “That works for me.”

“We’ll have a bandstand, like last year,” she said, ticking items off her list. “Live music, hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and fireworks. And you’ll make a speech.”

He raised his gaze to hers. “Will I?”

“Yes,” she said, beaming. “People like to hear you speak.”

He waved a hand. “If I must.”

“Good man,” she praised and put a check mark next to Adam’s Speech on her list.

An infinitesimal smile wavered across his lips. “You enjoy painting me into a corner and patting me on the head when I have no choice but to comply.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” She tapped the hollow of her collarbone. “Is that the tie I bought you?”

“Yes,” he said after a glance at it.

“It looks very nice,” she said. “And I was right. It does bring out your eyes.”

His smile strengthened. “Clever girl.”

The door to the conference room opened. Laura eased back in her chair as Joshua loped in. He smiled distractedly through dark-tinted shades when he saw the two of them seated on either side of the table. “Greetings, siblings.”

“You’re late,” Adam pointed out.

“Oh, you noticed,” Joshua said, unfazed as he pulled out a chair and dropped to it. “How thoughtful of you.” He caught Laura’s look. “You’re not going to tell me off, are you?”

He was so charmingly rumpled, any urge to scold him fell long by the wayside. Joshua was twenty-seven. His dirty-blond hair was perpetually shaggy. When he took off his glasses, his eyes laughed in the same shade as hers and Adam’s. At six feet, he was trim and muscular. He couldn’t claim to eat and sleep work as they did, but he was just as devoted to Mariposa. He was very much at home in his role as the resort’s Activities Director.

“No,” she replied.

He pecked a kiss on her cheek. “You’re my favorite.”

“For the moment.”

He leaned his chair back and crossed his legs at the ankles. “What’s the latest?”

“Clive is coming,” she warned, handing over her thermos easily when he held out his hand for it.

He took a long sip. “And how do we feel about that?” he asked, squinting at Adam across the long, flat plane of the table.

Adam answered without inflection. “Indifferent.”

“Oh?” Joshua said with a raised brow. He looked at Laura for confirmation.

Laura cleared her throat. “We’re placing him in Bungalow Twelve.”

Joshua laughed shortly before setting the thermos on the table between him and her. “I approve.”

“I thought you might,” Adam said, again without looking up.

Joshua had been only ten when their mother had died. His memories of Annabeth were the foggiest—most of them mere reflections through a vintage-cast mirror. Though he remembered well how Clive had abandoned them to their grief. As the youngest, he’d needed the most stability and guidance. It was Adam and Laura who had stepped into that role—not their father.

“Glenna won’t stand being demoted to anything below the amenities of Bungalow Ten,” he warned.

“We don’t know she’s coming,” Laura revealed.

“I’m just saying,” Joshua said, holding up his hands.

None of them had gotten to know their stepmother well. But Joshua was right. Glenna may keep her thoughts to herself, and she could be perfectly cordial. But she also had a discerning eye and was accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle. One reason, no doubt, she had been drawn to Clive Colton. As CEO of Colton Textiles, he lived in a Beverly Hills mansion she had already refined to her tastes.

Laura sighed. “I’ll deal with that if it comes.”

Joshua sketched a lazy salute. “I’ll have Knox loan you a helmet.”

“I have one,” she reminded him. Not that she’d need it. She could handle Clive, and she could certainly handle Glenna. She shook her head. “Are we being unkind?”

Her brothers exchanged a look. “In what way?” Adam asked.

“He hasn’t been well,” Laura reminded them. “The ministrokes last year and the rumors about sideline business deals going sideways... We could be losing him.”

They lapsed into silence. Joshua reached up to scratch his chin. “Is it not fair to say I feel like I lost him a long time ago?”

She studied him, and she saw the ten-year-old who’d needed a parent. His hand clutched the arm of the swivel chair. She covered it with her own. “It is fair,” she assured him.

Adam had shielded his mouth with his writing hand. He dropped it to the table, the ballpoint pen still gripped between his fingers. “Mom left the resort to us in her will not just because she wanted us to have a piece of her and financial security. She left it because she knew the house in Los Angeles wasn’t a home. She left us a place we could belong to. Dad never provided that for her or us. She made sure after she was gone we wouldn’t need to rely on him, because she knew all he would ever do was disappoint us. Like he disappointed her.”

“She left us fifty percent of the shares in Colton Textiles, too,” Joshua added. “If it’d been him...if he had gone first...would he have done the same?”

Laura shook her head. “I don’t know.” But she did, she realized. She knew all too well.

Adam dropped the pen. He folded his hands on the tabletop. “If we have an opening, we can slot him into one of the VIP bungalows. Would that ease your conscience?”

Laura considered. She opened her mouth to answer.

A knock on the door interrupted.

“Come in,” Adam called.

The panel pulled away from the jamb. Laura felt the tension in the room drain instantaneously as Tallulah Deschine peered into the room. The fifty-year-old Navajo woman was head of housekeeping at Mariposa. She’d been with the Coltons since the renovation. In the last decade, she’d become more of a mother to them than a member of staff, and she was one of the few workers at the resort who, like Adam, Laura and Joshua, lived in her own house on property. “I’m sorry to intrude.”

Joshua sat up straighter. “No need to apologize, Tallulah. Come sit by me.” He pushed out the chair next to his.

Worry lines marred her brow. “There’s a situation. Down at the pool.”

“What kind of situation?” Adam asked, his smile falling away in a fast frown.

Tallulah’s attention seized on Laura. She opened her mouth, then closed it.

Laura saw her chin wobble. Quickly, she pushed her chair back. “What is it, Tallulah?” she asked softly, crossing to the door. She heard Adam and Joshua get up and follow suit. “What’s happened?”

Tallulah’s eyes flooded with tears. She spoke in a choked voice. “The maid, Bella... She noticed one cabana was never straightened after hours last night. When she went inside to do just that, she found someone there.”

Adam touched her shoulder when she faltered again. “Someone who? What were they doing there?”

“Oh, Adam.” Tallulah shook her head, trying to gather herself. “Bella thought she’d fallen asleep there, so she tried waking her up. She couldn’t. There’s something really wrong...”

“Who is she?” Laura asked. There was a hard fist in her stomach. It grew tighter and tighter, apprehension knotting there. “Tallulah, who did Bella find in the cabana?”

“It’s Allison,” Tallulah revealed. “The yoga instructor. Knox knows CPR. He’s trying to bring her around—”

“Did you call 9-1-1?” Adam asked, his phone already in hand.

“Alexis made the call.”

“EMTs should only be ten minutes out,” he assured her.

Joshua pushed through the door. “If she’s not breathing, that’s not enough time.”

Laura tailed him. He’d already broken into a run. She didn’t catch up with him until they came to the end of the hall.

If Allison wasn’t asleep in the cabana...if she wasn’t breathing... What did that mean?

Laura hastened her steps and nearly ran into Alexis Reed, the concierge, and Erica Pike, Adam’s executive assistant, in the lobby.

“What’s going on?” Alexis asked urgently. “Is Allison okay?”

“I don’t know,” Laura said. Joshua didn’t stop. He hit the glass doors. They swung open. She followed him out into the mountain air. Her heart was in her throat as they raced to the pool area.

The drapes on the farthest cabana were still closed. The pool maintenance person, Manuel, stood outside with his hat in his hands. Their head of security, Roland, stepped out, expression drawn.

“How is she?” Joshua asked. “Did Knox bring her around?”

Roland shook his head.

Laura fumbled for speech. “What?”

Joshua swept the curtain aside.

Laura moved to follow him, but Manuel brought her up short. “I don’t think you should go in there, Ms. Colton.”

She shook her head. “Why? What’s wrong with her?”

Roland took a breath. “I don’t know how to say this, but I don’t think she’ll be coming back around.”

Laura couldn’t wrap her head around the words. She slipped past Manuel and Roland, ducking through the parting of the drapes. Her footsteps faltered when she saw Joshua and Knox Burnett, the horseback adventure guide, leaning over the still, white face of the woman lying supine on the outdoor rug. Neither of them moved. “Why did you stop?” she asked Knox. “Why aren’t you helping her?”

“Laura...” Joshua mumbled. “You need to go.”

She crouched next to him. Her hand lifted to her mouth when she saw the tint of Allison’s lips.

Knox’s face was bowed in an uncharacteristic frown.

Even as she denied what she was seeing, she looked at him. “Why did you stop?” she asked again.

He was panting, his long hair mussed. His face inordinately pale, he said, “She’s cold. So cold. I couldn’t get a pulse. She never had a pulse...”

Laura looked down at Allison’s face. Her dark eyes stared, unseeing. “Oh, God,” she said with a shaky exhalation.

Joshua’s fingers closed over hers. He spoke in a whisper, as if afraid Allison would hear. “She’s gone.”