Free Fast Track by Julie Garwood Page A

“We should have ordered champagne to celebrate the fact that we’re all going to stay in Chicago. For a while there I thought Jack and Sophie were going to be transferred to Phoenix, and Alec and I were going to be transferred to Boston permanently, but it all worked out. All of us will be together in the city we love. Even Aiden and Spencer will be home more often.”
    “Aiden and Spencer?” Cordie asked.
    “Spencer told me, once Aiden gets the hotel in Florida up and running, he plans to cut way back on travel. In the past year he’s flown all over the world, to Hong Kong, Paris, London, Melbourne, and Sydney, and all over the United States. I hope he’ll slow down, but I won’t believe it until I see it. He practically lives on the Gulfstream.”
    “The Gulfstream is a beautiful jet,” Cordie said. “The bedroom’s nicer than mine.”
    “Is Aiden still staying on the top floor of the hotel when he’s in town?” Sophie asked. “If he’s around more, maybe he’ll buy a place of his own.”
    “It’s doubtful,” Regan answered. “The penthouse seems to work for him. Aiden really hates clutter, and the penthouse is sleek, clutter-free.”
    “It’s beautiful but sterile,” Sophie said. “Very impersonal.”
    “I can understand the appeal. I live in a clutter-free environment,” Cordie said.
    Regan and Sophie laughed. “Maybe in your dreams,” Regan said. “You’re always surrounded by clutter.”
    “Not at work,” Cordie insisted. “Chemistry is a precise science, and if I weren’t organized in the lab, it would be a disaster. It’s just that, when I’m home, I want to relax. Besides, the clutter is mostly books,” she said.
    “And scarves and shoes and keys and—” Sophie added.
    Cordie interrupted. “It isn’t that bad,” she said. “And we weren’t talking about me. You were catching us up on your brothers. What’s going on with Spencer? Is he going to stay in Chicago?”
    “For now,” Regan answered.
    “And Walker?” Sophie asked. “I know he’s still racing cars all over Europe, but when he retires, will he come back to Chicago?”
    “That’s a whole other story,” Regan said. “And not a happy one.”
    “What’s going on?” Cordie asked.
    “According to Spencer, our brother Walker still hasn’t grown up. I agree with him,” she said. “Walker is seven years older than I am, but he still acts like an impulsive teenager. There are two lawsuits against him, both involving women he jilted. The women’s lawyers are trying to get their greedy fingers on the hotels. It won’t happen,” she rushed to add. “Still, it’s a worry Aiden doesn’t need. He just settled another suit for Walker, and we had to pay quite a lot of money. Even though it was ruled an accident, Walker was responsible. There weren’t any life-threatening injuries, but it’s only a matter of time before something catastrophic happens. I wish Walker would figure out his life.”
    “I wish I could figure out mine.” Cordie didn’t realize she’d said the thought out loud until Sophie asked her to explain what she meant. She was saved from having to answer when the waiter interrupted to take their dinner orders. Because they had dined at the hotel so many times, they didn’t have to look at the menu. Sophie and Regan ordered a Caesar salad with chicken, and Cordie was in the mood for salmon.
    She waited until the waiter left the room and then said, “Natalie Kane, my mother—though calling her ‘mother’ gives me the willies—left my father a farewell letter.” Her voice was filled with sadness as she added, “He kept it all these years. He wrote several letters to her, too, but they were all returned unopened. Those letters were in the lockbox along with the marriage certificate and divorce decree.”
    “Did you open your dad’s letters and read them?” Sophie asked.
    “Yes, I did. He left them, so he must have wanted me to read them. They were heartrending pleas for her to