“Mamamama,” he said up at her with that big grin of his.
She kissed his forehead just before Mrs. Hawkins scooped him up and turned to walk away. “Where are my sisters?”
“In your grandfather’s den,” Mrs. Hawkins said.
It didn’t matter that Gregory Chandler had been dead for almost ten years now or that Emma had taken up residence here. That room would always be his.
Cari entered the heavily oak-paneled room that she imagined still smelled of her grandfather’s cigars. The large windows at the end of the room did their best to let in the sunlight but the room was still dark and felt very masculine. As a child Cari had never ventured in here as it was the domain of her stern grandfather.
“Hey, girls,” Cari said. “I thought we were just having breakfast.”
“We will,” Emma said. Her oldest sister had thick wavy hair that she normally wore pulled back in a chignon because she said it made her look more professional. “Since Jessi is in charge of marketing I wanted to run your idea past her for the Christmas game.”
“Now? I don’t have any of the information with me and my staff is taking Sunday off,” Cari said.
“It’s fine. We’ll just get a high-level rundown on it. I want to keep it a secret from Playtone until we have the finished product.”
“I don’t think that is going to work,” Cari said. “Dec is in the office and I talked to Allan about the financial targets. If we don’t show them our pro forma and some progress, I think we’re in danger of losing everything.”
“Why did you talk to Allan?” Jessi asked.
“He was in the office to see Dec,” Cari explained. “What is it between the two of you?”
Jessi looked distinctly uncomfortable, which wasn’t like her sister. “There’s nothing between us. He got all protective and mad because I investigated John before Patti married him.”
“Why did you do that?”
“They met in Vegas. I didn’t know him, and Patti is a hot property with her business going international. He could have been a gold digger.”
Cari reached over and patted her sister on the shoulder. Jessi really didn’t trust anyone except those who’d proved themselves trustworthy. It made Cari a little sad because she could remember the sweet little girl that Jessi used to be before life had hardened her.
“Was he?”
“Would I have let her marry him if he was?” Jessi said, sounding disgusted. “Allan got all macho man and told me to back off.”
“Just from having a private investigator look into John’s past?”
“I may have also offered John a bribe to see if he’d take it and run,” Jessi mumbled.
Cari shook her head and couldn’t help laughing. “Oh, I’m sure that went over well.”
“John forgave me, but Allan hasn’t.”
“Well, that doesn’t matter,” Emma said. “I want to know more about Cari and Dec. I know you went on one date with him the first night he showed up at the office, but scuttlebutt says you two are dating. That’s not right, is it?” Emma asked.
Cari walked over to the large overstuffed leather sofa and plopped down on it. “Yes, it is right. We ended up talking about more than business at dinner and kind of hit it off.”
“Hit it off?” Jessi said. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“Well, it is me,” she said. She didn’t want to have this conversation, but realized it was exactly what she needed to do so that when she told them about Dec and DJ, it wouldn’t give them both heart attacks. “I guess he just came along at the right time.”
“I don’t think dating him is a good idea,” Emma said.
“Hell, I’m going to have him investigated,” Jessi said. “Then we’ll see if you can keep dating him.”
“No,” Cari said, standing up. “I’m sorry, but this is my decision. I’m going to date him despite the fact that we have some history with his family.”
“Does your family mean so little to you?” Emma asked.
“No, it’s not like that. But men like Dec…”
“Men like Dec?” Jessi asked. “How well do you know him?”
“Not as well as you’re implying, but I do sort of like him. And I haven’t met that many men who I want to get to know better.”
“Not since you realized you were pregnant,” Jessi said.
“Yes. I don’t want you two meddling in this. It’s hard enough dealing with the takeover and starting to care for him. I know what I’m doing.”
“I hope you do,” Emma said. “Because he’s not going to put you before Playtone Games. With the board meeting tomorrow morning I think it’s safe to assume there isn’t anything else you can do now. I just want you to be sure you know what you are doing.”