“I’d be delighted, but why not ask your mother?”
“I tried,” Ariana spat out, sounding hurt and angry. “Mom went off on her marriage rant again, saying that marriage is an antiquated system. Just because she got divorced doesn’t mean every marriage is destined for that. She refuses to take off work.”
“Wall Street is demanding, darling, especially at your mother’s level,” Ruby said, trying to diffuse the situation. Mari was still bitter over her divorce, but Ruby was dismayed that she refused Ariana’s need for her. “Sweetheart, I’ll be honored to give you away.”
As Ruby hung up the phone, she shook her head. Ariana’s mother had erected a brick wall around her heart after she’d divorced. Ruby’s elder sister Patricia, Mari’s mother, had started exhibiting symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer’s that same year. And Ariana was just a little girl in grammar school. By then, Patricia couldn’t be trusted to look after Ariana. Bitter and determined to start over, Mari took a job in New York.
Unable to break through to Mari, Ruby had committed herself to being there for Ariana. The poor girl had lost her father when he left her mother for another woman. In turn, her mother had slammed the door to her heart. At least Mari allowed Ruby to dote on Ariana.
As if compensating for her failed marriage, Mari Ricci threw herself into her work, earning her way through the ranks to become a successful investment banker on Wall Street. Ruby had to admire her commitment and drive, but success and the long hours required grated on her relationship with her daughter.
At first, Mari’s housekeeper looked after little Ariana. But soon, Mari began to travel extensively for work, so she put her daughter in a boarding school. On Ruby’s request—and offer to pay in full—Mari acquiesced and sent her to a boarding school in California on the relatively quiet outskirts of Los Angeles.
When Ariana tired of returning to New York to see her mother, Ruby organized her schedule around Ariana’s breaks. Her niece had a room at Ruby’s house in Palm Springs, just an hour’s drive from the school.
As for Ariana, perhaps Ruby had overcompensated, but it was what Patricia would have wanted, too. Besides her hyper-focused, business-minded mother, who else did Ariana have? Ruby certainly wasn’t counting Ariana’s boyfriend, that self-centered man-child Phillip, even if they were getting married. Phillip was an overambitious filmmaker whose primary focus was his career—not the relationships in his life. Ruby feared that might include Ariana, too.
Had Ruby been ambitious when she was young? Naturally, she hadn’t had much choice, but she’d always valued her relationships. Even when forced to make the ultimate choice, she had chosen her family over herself.
Despite Phillip’s shortcomings, Patricia would have wanted Mari to go to Ariana’s wedding, too.
Ruby sipped her cool drink. Had it been almost a year since Patricia’s death? She blinked against the emotion welling in her eyes. Her sister was the only one who knew the price Ruby had paid for her success.
Ruby dabbed her eyes with a linen napkin. Although Patricia had lingered for years, her illness had stolen her from them long ago.
Almost a year. Patricia had left one crucial task to her—if she chose to do it. The safety deposit key was still tucked in Ruby’s purse. Although Ruby didn’t know the exact contents of the box, she could guess. This year, the days had slipped by, none of them quite the right one to share the story that had happened so long ago.
Ruby took another sip of her Bellini. She picked up her phone again and found the number in New York she wanted. After tapping it, she waited.
A young woman answered. “Mari Ricci’s office.”
“May I speak with Mari, please?”
“Who’s calling?”
“Ruby Raines.”
Sputtering erupted on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, it sounded like you said…well, never mind. Your name again?”
“You heard correctly,” Ruby said pleasantly. “Mari is my niece.” Who clearly hasn’t briefed her new assistant very well.
“I’m sure she’s available for you, Ms. Raines. She’s not taking calls, but I’ll tell her it’s you.”
“Oh, let’s surprise her. It will be fun.”
“Great idea. Hold, please, Ms. Raines.”
A few moments later, her niece answered, her voice crisp and efficient. “Mari Ricci. Who’s calling?”
“Mari, it’s Ruby. Ariana just gave me the news.”
Mari let out an exasperated sigh. “Let’s talk about this later.”
“Later seldom comes,” Ruby said, trying to be conciliatory. “Won’t you please come to her wedding? She’d love for you to give her away.”
“If she’d been more organized and planned farther ahead, I could have,” Mari said. “I won’t reward her for selfish behavior.”
“Mari, it’s her wedding.” Ruby was trying to be patient. Where is Mari’s heart? She tried again. “It won’t be complete without you there. And Ariana will remember this for the rest of her life. You don’t want to regret your decision.”
“There’s a lot I regret,” Mari shot back. “Like her father. This won’t be one of them. Besides, marriages have what, a fifty-percent chance, if that? I like better odds. And no, I don’t feel the emotional need to attend. She’s a grown woman; she’ll be fine. Besides, she has you.”
“Mari, dear, I wish you weren’t still so angry.” Ruby held her breath.
“I’m not angry. I’m realistic. Ariana doesn’t need me there to do anything, and I have prior commitments with clients who do. Now, I have to return to work. You have no concept of what’s going on here.”
“But Mari—” Click. With a sigh, Ruby placed her phone on the table. At least she’d tried. She wouldn’t tell Ariana she’d spoken to her mother. Why wound the poor girl twice?
Ruby took another sip of her chilled cocktail. Dear Ariana. If only she could bring her great-niece here for a break before it was too late.
For all of them.
But maybe there was another way. Villa Fiori loomed in her mind. She raised her hand to the waiter, who hurried to her.
“Would you ask the concierge to join me?” Ruby asked. “I have an urgent request.”
Chapter 1
Beverly Hills, 2010 - Two Weeks Later
* * *
In the Rodeo Drive jeweler’s private viewing room, sunshine poured through a clerestory window above, illuminating the filigreed canary diamond necklace in Ariana’s hands. Of all the jewelry that Ariana had chosen for her casts and clients, this piece exuded the greatest warmth. The shimmering golden hues would beautifully reflect her client’s expressive amber eyes.
After studying the impressive necklace, Ariana raised her gaze to Yasmin, the jewelry executive seated across from her at the polished, antique desk.
“Solani Marie would wear this for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival,” Ariana said. “Would there be any trouble transferring it to France?” The studio had mounted a major campaign for Solani Marie’s latest film. While these yellow diamonds certainly couldn’t compare to the astounding 128-carat Tiffany diamond that Audrey Hepburn had worn for the jeweler’s advertising campaign years ago, they were dazzling, nevertheless.