The Rivals - Vi Keeland Page 0,28

the time we were kids. I knew there were different subcategories of the disease, and wasn’t sure exactly which type she’d had, but she’d always looked tired and too thin when we were in school. When we were about eighteen, right after we graduated, I remembered hearing she’d had a kidney transplant. Her family and friends seemed very optimistic that things would get better from there. But about five years ago, while I was living in London, I’d heard she passed away.

Weston stopped when we arrived in front of The Countess. He looked up at the beautiful façade and smiled. “Caroline would have loved this place. She studied architecture at NYU and got a job at the New York City Historic Preservation Society. She thought it was her personal duty to protect the character of the City’s oldest buildings.”

“I didn’t know that.”

He nodded, still looking up. “She was also obsessed with Christmas—thought it was her job to sprinkle it on everything for two full months each year. If she were here, she’d have us both already in planning meetings about how we were going to decorate The Countess at the holidays.”

“I know a little trivia about Christmastime at The Countess, actually. And it involves our families. When I was researching the hotel, I came across some old pictures where there was an enormous Christmas tree in the lobby. I also read a few hundred of the hotel’s reviews on Tripadvisor so I could get a sense of what people thought about their recent stays, and I noticed there were quite a few reviews written during December where people noted that the hotel had no tree and very few holiday decorations. I asked Louis about it, and he said the first few years they were open, our grandfathers would go out in search of the biggest tree they could find, and the three of them would personally decorate the tree from top to bottom. It was one of Ms. Copeland’s favorite things to do. After everything happened between the three of them in 1962 and they parted ways, there was never another tree lit in the lobby. Grace loved having a big tree, but couldn’t bear to put one up because of the memories it brought. She always felt bad that she’d caused the destruction of our grandfathers’ friendship, and she hoped one day they’d bury the hatchet and a tree would again be lit in the lobby.”

“No shit?”

I nodded. “Yup. So there hasn’t been a tree or any real Christmas spirit here since before we were born.”

Weston was quiet for a while as he continued to look up. “I guess Grace and I have something in common, then.”

“What do you mean?”

“I haven’t put up a tree or decorated since Caroline died either. When we were kids, she would make me spend hours helping her decorate the house. As she got older, she made me come over on her birthday, November 2nd, and spend the entire day helping her decorate. She did it on her birthday because it made it harder for me to say no.”

I smiled. “I love the relationship you two had. In high school, I remember seeing you guys walk home together all the time, or I’d see you laughing together in the hall at school. It used to make me wish I had a sibling.”

Weston looked at me with a warm smile. “What? Good old Spencer doesn’t count?”

I laughed. “Not a chance. Plus, even if we did get along, he grew up in Florida where my father stowed his second family. So I didn’t get to know him too well. And maybe he never had a chance with me because of how he came into my life.”

Weston seemed to consider something for a moment. “Would it help you to have some dirt on him?”

“Help? I’m not so sure. But would I enjoy it? Absolutely.”

He smiled and leaned in a bit, even though the sidewalk around us was empty.

“Your half-brother with the sweet, Southern fiancée and the engagement announced by her pastor father in The New York Times—well, he’s screwing a stripper in Vegas who’s a well-known dominatrix.”

My eyes widened. “I knew you had dirt on him the other day at lunch.”

“They stay at a small hotel-casino on the outskirts of town. I guess so nobody will notice them. Don’t think Spence knows I’m a silent partner at The Ace. Saw them together with my own eyes. Then I asked around. It’s been going on for a while.”

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