"Yes," Cari said. "I'll be fine."
She scooped DJ up off the floor and said good-night to her nephew. Once she was in her car and driving toward her home, she realized she didn't want to go back there tonight. She didn't want to sleep in a bed that smelled of Dec or walk through her own house that was now filled with memories of him.
She drove to the Ritz Carlton and checked in there, and as she lay in the king-size hotel bed, she thought about the last time Dec had left her and how long it had taken her to get over him. This time felt so much worse.
She ran a bath and then climbed in with her son; he played in the water and she realized that his little world hadn't changed. She envied him the fact that no matter what had happened today or in the past he wouldn't remember it.
* * *
It took Dec and Allan all afternoon to get Kell to agree to give Jessi and Emma a chance to prove their worth to the company.
"I'm not going to accept mediocrity from them," Kell warned.
"I don't care as long as they have a chance to prove themselves," Dec said. "It's really all we can do at this point." He looked at his cousins and let out a breath. "I'm going to need a few days off to win Cari back."
"She said she loved you, dude, I don't think it'll be that hard," Allan said.
"She said she felt like a fool for loving me," Dec reminded him. "I should never have let her walk out."
Kell got up, walked over to him and clapped his hand on his shoulder. "You will win her back. What can we do to help?"
"You no longer care that she's a Chandler?"
"You have a son, Dec, and as you pointed out earlier, that changes everything."
Dec was glad to hear it. Kell might be stubborn, but eventually he'd acquiesced to what was right. "I want DJ to feel like a real Montrose."
"What does that mean?" Allan asked.
"Just that I never really felt like one. I was always aware I was adopted."
"To us you were always a Montrose. I don't want to hear you say that again," Kell said.
He was glad to hear that from his cousins; he felt the acceptance he'd always searched for was finally his. Now he needed to get Cari back, and then he'd be able to relax. There was only one way to do it. He had to prove to her he had roots.
He thought of his big mansion in Beverly Hills standing empty and he knew what he wanted to do. "I have to trade in the Maserati. Will you two do me a favor?"
"Why do you have to trade it in?"
"It's not a kid car," he said. Then he explained what he needed his cousins to help him do, and they were more than happy to do their part. He had the feeling that Kell still felt bad about his outburst of temper earlier. Dec wasn't too sure if they would succeed in doing everything that he asked, but he left them to go put his part of the plan in motion.
He went to the Porsche dealer and traded the Maserati in on a Cayenne and then drove to Cari's house as the sun was setting. He was surprised to find it empty. He called Cari's number, but the phone just went to voice mail. Damn. He didn't want to leave this rift between them any longer.
Now that he knew he loved her, he wanted his life with her to start right now. He finally called Allan and asked him to call John's wife and get Jessi's number. Thirty minutes later he had it. It was after nine, which was late, but not too late. Not when his future was at stake. He called the number.
"This is Dec. Can I speak to Cari?" he asked when Jessi answered the phone.
"She's not here. She went home, but I don't think she's in the mood to see you," Jessi said.
"I'm at her house and she's not here," Dec said, feeling a sense of real panic. What if she'd had an accident?
"What? Are you sure she's not just hiding from you?" Jessi asked.
"I'm positive. There is no one here and her car isn't in the driveway," Dec explained. He looked at that empty house and saw what he'd brought to her life. Maybe he should just respect her wishes and let her stay hidden from him. But he couldn't do that this time. The first time he could walk away because he hadn't let himself care, but this time he loved her too much. And he needed her back by his side.
"Let me see what I can find out," Jessi said after a long minute. "If I help you with this, you are going to owe me."
"Okay. I'll owe you a favor. But I can't do anything to stop the takeover," he warned her.
"That's okay. I'll think of something you can do for me. I'll call you back," she said.
"I'll be waiting."
Dec sat in the driveway of Cari's house for forty-five minutes before his phone finally rang.
"Yes?"
"She's at a hotel. She said she couldn't face sleeping in the bed she shared with you," Jessi said.
Her words cut him like a knife. He'd never meant to hurt her like that. "Where is she?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Why do you think?"
"I think you want her back. That you realized that you screwed up. But I want to hear you say it," Jessi said.
"I screwed up," he admitted. "Now tell me where she is."
"Ritz Carlton in Marina del Rey. She checked in two hours ago. So she must have gone there straight from Emma's house," Jessi said.
"Thanks," he said, disconnecting the call. She was staying less than a mile from the yacht club where he lived. He wondered if she'd done it deliberately. But he was glad she was so close. He knew it was too late tonight to go to her room, but in the morning when she woke up … He finally had the right gesture to show her how much she meant to him.
He drove to the hotel and talked to the concierge. They wouldn't give him Cari's room number but they did agree to deliver his invitation to her. He went to the yacht but couldn't sleep, so he spent the night vacillating between excitement at seeing her in the morning and the very real fear that she might not accept his invitation or his apology.
* * *
The envelope sitting in front of her suite door was white and embossed with the Ritz Carlton seal, but when Cari looked at the front of the envelope she recognized the handwriting as Dec's. She slowly opened it and drew out the card inside.
Please join me for breakfast on the Big Spender at slip number seven at the Marina del Rey Yacht Club this morning. I want a chance to apologize.
Dec
It wasn't a wordy note, but she found she couldn't resist the chance to see him and hear what he wanted to say. To be honest, she'd had a miserable night and looked forward to a lifetime of lonely nights without Dec. If he wanted to apologize, then she wanted to hear it.
She got herself and DJ dressed after having the concierge send up outfits for them and drove over to the yacht club. She didn't need to ask directions to find Dec's yacht, as there was a trail of hearts with her name on them that led down the dock to the slip where she found the Big Spender. The gangplank was down and there were a trail of rose petals that led up to the deck, where they formed a huge heart.
"Hello?" she called out as she stepped on board.
"Hello," Dec said coming up the steps. He looked tired, as if he hadn't slept a wink the night before. He came over to her as soon as he saw her and took her into his arms. He kissed DJ on the head and then he kissed Cari on the lips.
"I love you," he said. The words hung in the air and he felt naked in front of her. For the first time he realized why Cari hadn't tried harder to contact him. She must have felt this fear when she thought of trying to get the man who'd fathered her son involved in her baby's life. The life of the child she loved so much.
She started to speak but he put his finger over her lips to keep her from saying anything. He couldn't let her tell him all the reasons why she didn't love him. He knew he'd screwed up yesterday and that it was going to take him forever to win her back. But he was okay with that.
"Yesterday morning when we left your place I knew it was going to be a difficult day. I also knew there was no way I could fire you and ask you to be my wife. And that's what I wanted, Cari. I don't know how things got so out of control."
"I think it was your cousin," Cari said. "He wants our blood. But it was also us. I wanted you to stop thinking like a businessman and just do what I wanted in my heart. And I made the meeting and the outcome into a big test."
"First, Kell did want your blood. But I said things to you I shouldn't have," he said. "You were right when you said that things are different now that we have a son. Everything changed for me the night you told me about DJ, and I was too afraid to admit it."