The Fortune Most Likely To...

Seeing the server approaching, she held her reply. When the server asked if he could start them out with a drink, Lila ordered a glass of sparkling water rather than anything alcoholic. Everett followed her example and asked for the same.

“And if you don’t mind, I’d like to order now,” Lila told the young server. “I have to be getting back to the office soon,” she explained.

“Of course.”

After he took their orders and left, Everett picked up the thread of their conversation. “I think you knew just what you wanted years ago,” he told her. “I’m the one who got it all wrong.”

Was he saying that out of pity for her, she wondered, feeling her temper beginning to rise as her stomach churned.

“On the contrary,” Lila responded. “You were the only kid who was serious when he said he wanted to play ‘doctor.’ If you ask me, ‘Dr. Fortunado’ achieved everything he ever dreamed about as a kid.”

Everett’s eyes met hers. Longing and sadness for all the lost years filled him. For the time being, he disregarded the note of bitterness he thought he detected in her voice.

“Not everything,” he told her.

This was an act. She wasn’t going to fall for it, Lila thought, grateful that the server picked that moment to return with their drinks and their orders. Everett wasn’t fooling her. He was just saying that so that she would forget about the past. Forget her pain.

As if that were remotely possible.

Silence stretched out between them. Everett shifted uncomfortably.

“So, tell me about you,” he finally urged. “What are you doing these days?”

Lila pushed around the lettuce in her salad as if the fate of the world depended on just the right placement. She kept her eyes on her plate as she spoke, deliberately avoiding making any further eye contact with him. She had always loved Everett’s dark blue eyes. When they’d been together, she felt she could easily get lost in those eyes of his and happily drown.

Now she couldn’t bear to look into them.

“I’m a manager of one of the departments at the Fortune Foundation. My work involves health outreach programs for the poorer families living in the Austin area.”

That sounded just like her, Everett thought. Lila was always trying to help others.

But something else she’d said caught his attention. “Did you say the Fortune Foundation?”

“Yes,” she answered. Suspicion entered her voice as she eyed him closely and asked, “Why?”

“Well, it just seems funny that you should mention the Fortunes. My family just recently found out that our last name might very well be ‘Fortune’ rather than ‘Fortunado.’” He pulled his face into a grin. “Crazy coincidence, isn’t it?”

Coincidence. Lila had another word for it. Her eyes narrowed as she pinned him with a look. “Is that why you wanted to get together for lunch?” she wanted to know. “To ask me questions about the Fortunes and see how much information you could get?”

He stared at her, practically dumbstruck. What was she talking about?

“The fact that you work for the Fortune Foundation has absolutely nothing to do with my wanting to get together with you,” Everett insisted. Thinking over her accusation, he shook his head. “I’m not even sure if the family is connected to the Fortunes. It could all just be a silly rumor or a hoax.

“And even if it does turn out to actually be true, my family’s not positive if we want to reveal the connection. It sounds like there are a lot of skeletons in the Fortune closet. Actually,” he confessed, backtracking, “maybe I spoke out of turn, talking about the possible connection. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to anyone at the Foundation.”

Did he think she was going to go running back after lunch and act like a human recording device, spilling every word that had been said between them? Just what sort of an image did he have of her?

Lila found herself struggling to tamp down her temper before she said anything.

“Well, obviously not everyone at the Foundation is a Fortune,” she pointed out icily. “And anyway, the Fortunes are a huge family. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to find out that there’s another branch or two out there. There’ve been so many that have been uncovered already.”

Everett nodded. “Makes sense,” he agreed, even though he still felt a little leery about having the story spread around that the Fortunados believed that they were really Fortunes. Trying to steer the conversation in a different direction, he asked, “I’m curious—what do you think of the Fortunes?”

Lila’s smile was reserved. She remembered hearing a great many unnerving rumors concerning the Fortune family before she began working at the Foundation. But most of what she’d been told turned out not to be true. For the most part, the stories were just run-of-the-mill gossip spread by people who were jealous of the family’s success as well as their money.

“In my experience,” she qualified in case he wanted to challenge her words, “they’re a great family. A lot of people hold the fact that they’re rich against them, but the family does a lot of good with that money. The Fortunes I’ve met aren’t power hungry or self-centered. A great many of them have devoted their lives to the Foundation, to doing as much good as they can,” she emphasized.

“Power-hungry and self-centered,” Everett repeated the words that she had used. “Is that the way you think of most rich people?” he asked. Then, before Lila could answer, he went on to ask her another question—the question he really wanted the answer to. “Is that how you think of me?”

Her eyes narrowed again as she looked at Everett intently. Rather than answering his question, she turned it around and asked Everett a question of her own. “Did I say that?” she asked pointedly.

“No,” he was forced to admit. She hadn’t said it in so many words, but he felt that Lila had implied it by the way she’d structured her sentence.

“Then let’s leave it at that, shall we?” Lila told him.

It was obvious to Everett that he was going to have one hell of a rough road ahead of him if he ever hoped to win her over. And despite what he had told his sister to the contrary, he really did want to win Lila back.

He admitted to himself that Lila was the missing ingredient in his life, the reason that every triumph he had had felt so hollow, so empty. It felt that way because Lila wasn’t there to share it with him.

For now, he changed the subject to something lighter. “You know,” he said as he watched Lila make short work of her Caesar salad, “as a doctor I should tell you that eating your food that fast is really not good for your digestion.”

“And being late getting back from lunch isn’t good for my job approval,” Lila countered tersely. Finished, she retired her fork.

Was she really serious about needing to get back so quickly? Initially, he’d thought it was just an excuse, a way to terminate their meeting if she felt it wasn’t going well. Now she seemed to be waving it in front of her like a flag at the end of a marathon.

“I thought you said that you were the manager of your department.”

“I am. And as manager, it’s up to me to set a good example,” she told him.

If she really wanted to leave, Everett thought, he couldn’t very well stop her. “Can’t argue with that, I guess.”

“No, you can’t,” she informed him, a stubborn look in her eyes as they met his.

He gave it one last try. “I suppose this means that you don’t want to order dessert. I remember that you used to love desserts of all kinds,” he recalled.

“I did,” she acknowledged. “But then I grew up,” she told him crisply. “And right now, I’m afraid I have no time for dessert.”

He nodded. “Maybe next time, then.”

Lila was about to murmur the obligatory, “It was good seeing you again,” but his words stopped her cold. “Next time?” she echoed, surprised and stunned.

She sounded far from happy about the prospect. Everett did his best to ignore the coolness in her voice. Instead, he explained his comment. “I might be spending more time in Austin over the next few months.”

“Oh?” She could feel the walls going up around her. Walls meant to protect her. She could feel herself struggling with the strong desire to run for the hills. She forced herself not to move a muscle. “Why?”

“Well, with Schuyler engaged to Carlo Mendoza and living here, I thought I’d be the good brother and visit her from time to time to make her transition here a little easier for her.” This was harder than he thought it would be and it took him a few moments before he finally said, “I was wondering if it’s all right with you if I call you the next time I’m in Austin.”

His question was met with silence.