Her Secret Texas Valentine. Helen Lacey
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I have a terrible reputation,” she said tartly, trying to remember the last time she actually did go to a party. “Young and impulsive and likely to get into all kinds of trouble. Oh, hang on,” she said and smiled. “That was you, Schuyler, getting cozy with the Mendozas so you could wrangle an introduction to our newly discovered Fortune relatives. And then falling in love with one of the sexy Mendoza men.”
Of course, every word was true. Schuyler had integrated herself into the Mendoza family, specifically by getting a job working at the Mendoza Winery, and then by falling in love with Carlo Mendoza. It was a series of events, jump-started by discovering that the Fortunados were related to the infamous Fortune family. The very idea that they were connected to the Fortunes had sent a curious Schuyler on a mission to find out the whole truth. They discovered that their grandfather was actually Julius Fortune, and that their dad, Kenneth Fortunado, was one of his many illegitimate children dotted around the state and even the country. Their grandmother had signed a confidentiality agreement with Julius, but also being something of a free spirit, had changed Kenneth’s name to Fortunado as a way of not completely complying to Julius’s demands. Learning that, Schuyler had been determined to get acquainted with the Fortune branch of the family. That’s how she ended up at the Mendoza Winery, pretending to be a waitress. The Mendozas and the Fortunes were interlaced by marriage. Turned out Julius’s son Jerome Fortune, who was known as tech billionaire Gerald Robinson—their uncle—had a daughter who was married to one of the Mendoza cousins. The link was enough to get Schuyler’s crazy mind into thinking she could somehow bring the families together.
Valene hadn’t taken much interest at the time, since she’d been neck-deep in work and wanted to prove she could be as ambitious and successful at Fortunado Real Estate as her sister Maddie. But now the truth was out. They were really Fortunes—as their free-spirited grandmother had enjoyed an affair with the philandering Julius. Valene had learned to accept the fact that she had an incredibly complicated family tree. It wasn’t unusual to see an article on the internet or in the paper about the family. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that a journalist named Ariana Lamonte had done an exposé on all of Gerald Robinson’s children, including the ones he’d sired out of wedlock. Yeah, complicated didn’t really cover it. Particularly now that Gerald Robinson, aka Jerome Fortune, had left his embittered wife, Charlotte, and had sought refuge in the arms of the first and only love of his life, Deborah—who had borne him three illegitimate sons decades earlier.
Yes, the Fortunado/Fortune/Mendoza connection was about as complicated as it got.
“Okay,” Schuyler said and grinned. “I’ll admit that I’m the flake in the family.”
“What does that make me?” Maddie queried.
“The workaholic,” Val said lightly. “And I’m the spoiled brat. I know, since our brothers have told me that repeatedly over the years.”
“You’re not spoiled,” Schuyler defended. “But you’re the youngest, and since we’ve already established that you’re Daddy’s favorite, you know you have to get labeled as something. But now I think we should check out this Jake on social media and see what he’s hiding.”
Val rolled her eyes. “He’s not hiding anything.”
“Everyone is hiding something,” Maddie said, her mouth flattened. “What’s his last name?”
“I’m not saying,” Val replied, standing her ground. “I’m not going to do anything other than go on a nice and respectable date with the man.”
Schuyler made a dramatic sound. “Oh, I see, you actually like him.”
Val waved an impatient hand. She loved her sisters...but sometimes they were impossibly bossy and interfering. “We spent an hour together. I’d hardly call that enough time to form any kind of opinion.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Maddie said seriously. “I was pining for Zach for years after the first time I laid eyes on him.”
“But underneath your corporate and workaholic demeanor, you’re a soppy sentimentalist,” Val said and chuckled. “And I’m a realist.”
They all laughed, and it was so nice to spend some quality time with her sisters. Since both of them had married, and Schuyler had moved to Austin to be with Carlo, she’d missed their company. Of course, she still regularly saw Maddie at both the Houston and Austin offices, but that was work. She had friends, but other than her bestie, Adele, no one came close to the affection she felt for her siblings. She even missed hanging out with her brothers. Particularly Connor, who lived in Denver and was always a great source of advice and counsel.
Growing up as the youngest Fortunado child had had its difficult moments. For one, her parents were overprotective of her and often treated her as though she were eighteen and not twenty-four. Since her father had retired and he and her mother had begun traveling, their stranglehold had lessened a little, but she still spoke to both her parents every few days. Case in point: she hadn’t told her parents she was using My Perfect Match to find a man, otherwise she knew her father would start handing out her number to people he thought were suitable for his youngest, beloved child.
She packed up what was left of her lunch and gave each of her sisters a hug. “I have to get back to work. I’m showing an estate in Bunker Hill this afternoon.”
“The McGovern place?” Maddie inquired, quickly in CEO mode.
“That’s the one,” she said and shrugged. “I have a buyer from Arizona, a couple who are transferring to Houston for work. We video chatted last time I did an open house, and they seem interested in the property.”
“But?” Maddie asked, always picking up on Val’s body language.
“They’re going in at under three fifty per square foot.”
“Median price is what?” Maddie queried. “About four hundred?”
She nodded. “Yeah...so we’ll see. The husband really likes the place, but his wife is a banker and is naturally going to try to screw the owners with a lower offer.”
Maddie’s brows rose quickly. “Please tell me you’re not using that terminology with the clients?”
Val laughed. She loved Maddie, but sometimes her oldest sister was too uptight. “Of course not,” she assured her boss and smoothed a hand over her perfectly tight chignon. “I am always at my professional best when I’m with a client.”
“Well, as long as you let your hair down with your hot cowboy on Friday night,” Schuyler said and chuckled.
Your hot cowboy...
Her skin turned uncharacteristically warm at the thought of Jake Brockton.
“Would you stop encouraging her to be as reckless as you?” Maddie scolded her sister.
Val was still smiling as she left the boardroom and headed up the hall. She passed her brother-in-law Zach McCarter and hiked a thumb in the direction of the boardroom. He nodded and grinned, clearly amused that she knew he would be looking for the wife he obviously adored. Val liked Zach; he was a good boss and a great businessman. She’d learned a lot from him since he’d moved to Houston from the San Antonio office. The transition had been at her father’s behest, of course, before her dad had retired. Kenneth had pitted Maddie and Zach against one another in a contest to secure the top job once he retired, and over the course of the rivalry, they had fallen crazily in love.
She was still smiling as she entered her office and was moving around her desk when her cell phone beeped. She checked the text message instantly.
It was her hot cowboy.
Toscano’s. Seven o’clock. Looking forward to it. Jake.
She grinned when she noticed the smiling emoji, wondering how he’d wrangled a reservation at one of the most popular restaurants in Houston. She texted back quickly and tucked the cell into her pocket.
She had a date.
And