Ophelia Carter sat at the counter in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and scanning her employer, Reyna Richards', social media. It was the way she started every day.

Reyna Richards was a much-admired actress who had all but reached Hollywood royalty status. She was married to the infamous actor Carson Richards, and they had produced triplets, two of whom were now famous, which had only added to her fame. The triplets, two boys and one girl, were as beautiful and outgoing as their parents.

"Is it going to be a busy day?" Sage, the Richards' new chef of three months, asked as she looked at the clock from where she stood next to the sink as she tidied up the kitchen.

"The morning will be," Ophelia informed her. She had followed Sage's gaze, noting that everyone should start arriving any minute. It made her stomach turn, and her hands shake, so she set her coffee down before she spilled it. This happened every time she was about to see Sullivan Richards, Reyna's oldest son.

Today was the first informal production meeting for the next movie that Sullivan was about to begin shooting. It would be a family affair as both his parents and his brother were starring, and he was directing and producing.

Ophelia hadn't seen Sullivan in four months. He had been away shooting a movie in the wilds of the Amazon jungle, taking his brother, Sawyer, with him. It had made the house very quiet, and they had all missed them very much.

Well, everyone but Sage had missed them. Sage had never met the brothers, which was probably why she was eager for them to arrive and kept looking at the clock.

Sullivan was the oldest of triplets. He was a writer and director who would occasionally act when the mood struck. He was always worrying and trying to control the outcome of most things, which was futile with his family.

Ophelia took a deep breath to steady her nerves when she heard a car in the driveway.

She had fallen in love with Sullivan the moment she had met him four years earlier. At first, she had thought it was because he was so handsome and famous, but the feeling hadn't waned even as she came to know all of his faults.

Sullivan didn't care much for her, and she got a distinct feeling that he only tolerated her because his dog and mom liked her. It was better than outright hostility, she supposed, but in her dreams, Sullivan always realized he loved her and kicked himself for not seeing what had been in front of him for the past four years. 

As if on cue, the door opened, and Sullivan stomped into the kitchen. He looked for a long moment at Ophelia, and she swore she could see him sigh in resignation at her presence. He then turned and looked at Sage, taking in her slight form and pixie haircut.

Sage had stopped her cleaning and turned to look at him with bright red cheeks.

"The prodigal son returns," Ophelia said in a calm voice as she looked back down at her computer while trying to pretend that his dark good looks were not affecting her. He had lost a lot of weight, and her heart lurched at the sight of him. Was he ill?

"Where's the fatted calf?" he asked as he moved to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

"I'll tell Sage to get right on that, although I don't think it's on your mother's new diet plan. Sage, this is Sullivan, Sullivan, this is our new chef, Sage." Ophelia introduced, looking from one to the other. 

Sage looked like she was about to start fangirling.

"I see you've been on a new diet plan yourself," Ophelia nodded in his direction as she pretended to type something on her computer. It was an attempt to distract him from staring at Sage.

Sullivan looked from Sage to her, and the question was an easy one to read.

Ophelia reached up and pulled on her right earlobe in response. It was a secret the family had whenever they were introduced to someone new by another family member. A tug on the right earlobe meant that the person was not trusted, and a tug on the left earlobe meant that they were.

Ophelia did not trust Sage. She asked too many questions.

Sullivan ignored her comment about his weight loss as he cracked open his water and took a swallow.

"Would you like Sage to make you something to eat?" Ophelia asked as she closed her computer with a snap.

"No, thanks. Are they upstairs?" Sullivan asked about his parents.

"They are. May I suggest you talk to your father first?" Ophelia wanted to prep Reyna about Sullivan's weight loss, so she wasn't shocked. Reyna didn't like to be shocked because stress caused wrinkles.

Sullivan lifted an eyebrow in response to her suggestion. He knew what she was trying to do. Ophelia lifted her chin in response, daring him to comment, but he didn't get the chance because the backdoor opened, and Swayer bounded in all light and energy.

He was dark like his brother, but he lacked Sullivan's brooding good looks. Swayer's jaw wasn't was as chiseled, and he looked more like the boy next door and not the boy from the wrong side of the tracks like his brother. Sawyer was an actor. He was handsome, funny, and the life of the party wherever he went, but Ophelia felt that he was a serious soul that had a heart of gold. He was the middle triplet and had the middle child's habit of always wanting to make peace.

"Phee!" he greeted as he swooped towards her and picking her up in a hug. "You look wonderful! I missed you!"

Ophelia smiled as he hugged him back. "I missed you too. You look much better than the last time I saw you."

Sawyer had lost a lot of weight for his previous movie roll, the same movie that Sullivan had directed, but unlike whatever was going on with Sullivan, Sawyer had done it with a professional's help. He was almost back to his fighting weight.

"I wore it better than Sully does, didn't I?" Sawyer gave a smug smile.

It was true, though. Sullivan was bigger than Sawyer. They were both large men, but Sawyer was naturally leaner than his brother.

"How was your free cruise?" Ophelia asked as she started to gather her things.

Sawyer had just completed a cruise incognito a few weeks earlier, and she hadn't seen him since his return. He had a school buddy who owned the cruise line, and Sawyer had promised to get him some free press when he had lost a bet.

Ophelia noted that Sawyer had a little smile that played across his lips. It could mean almost anything, but she had a feeling something important had happened.

She turned to introduce Sage and saw that her eyes were about to pop out of her head at the sight of Sawyer.

"Sawyer, this is the new chef, Sage. Sage, this is Sawyer." Ophelia reached up and rubbed her right ear as they were introduced. "Would you like her to make you something to eat?"

"Oh, yes. I would be happy to!" Sage said, hopping from foot to foot, eager to please him.

Sawyer was admiring her as she bounced from foot to foot.

"Sage, if the doorbell rings, would you answer it? It should be Giselle Logan here for the meeting." With a smile to the group at large, Ophelia turned and walked out of the kitchen, crossing the large, marbled living room as she headed for the curved staircase.

She hadn't gotten very far when she felt a hand on her arm, stopping her halfway up the stairs and out of view from the kitchen.

Ophelia stopped and turned to look up at Sullivan. Even though she was a few steps above him, he was still taller than her. His hand in her elbow was warm and making her tummy tremble.

"How are they?" he asked as he nodded his head to the upstairs landing.

"They're fine. How are you? You don't look good, and your mother is going to have a fit when she sees you." Ophelia pulled her arm from his grasp under the pretense of adjusting her computer.

"I'm fine. I caught a bug or something while I was there. I've seen the doctor, and they've treated me. How are Shay and Polly?" Sullivan looked at her as if he was expecting to get bad news.

"Fine, although I don't think your sister would appreciate being lobbed in with the dog in that question." Ophelia smiled at the thought of the sharped tongued Shayne Richards, the youngest triplet.

Shayne was as beautiful as her brothers were handsome. She was a lost soul trying to find out who she was and what she should do with her life, which sometimes led to trouble. She was also outrageously smart and very good at hiding it.

"She would only find out if you told her," he accused.

There was nothing for Ophelia to say to that, so she continued, ignoring it.

"Polly is fine. All of her stuff is ready to go, and you can take her when the meeting is over if you like. If you're not up to caring for her yet, I can keep her a while longer." Ophelia held her breath, hoping he took her up on the offer. She loved Polly as much as he did.

"I'm not as bad as I look," his lip twitched at her concern.

Ophelia didn't know why it ticked her off, but it did.

"Good, I will be sure to tell your mother that you are your usually annoying self, shall I?" Ophelia asked, knowing he was going to go see his father first as she wanted.

"You shall," he mocked her formal speech.

Ophelia gave a little growl under her breath, then turned sharply and started back up the steps.

"You have something on your butt. It looks like mud," Sullivan informed her in a dry voice.

"Why are you looking at my butt!" she hissed as she reached around to brush it off.

"Here, let me help you," he suggested as he reached up to help, but Ophelia gave a little yelp and jumped out of his reach.

"Don't touch my butt!"

"Why are you trying to touch Ophelia's butt?" Sawyer asked from behind them with an amused voice.

"She has mud on it. I was only trying to help." Sullivan shrugged.

"Let me see!" Sawyer grabbed her hip and turned her so suddenly that she had to turn or risk falling.

"It's only a little smudge. You must have been looking pretty good to see that, Sully," Sawyer said as he reached up to try to brush it off as his brother had.

"Stop! Both of you! You're lucky I don't sue you both for sexual harassment!" Ophelia hissed again as she brushed at her butt.

Neither one of them seemed concerned by her threat.

"A little lower," Sawyer said.

"To the left," Sullivan added.

Ophelia, who they knew was obsessed with neatness, was doing her best to follow their instructions.

"This is taking forever. Hold still, Ophelia," Sullivan said as he grabbed her hip with one hand and held her still while he rubbed a spot on her skirt near her hip. "There, it's mostly gone."

Ophelia closed her eyes and clenched her teeth at his touch.

"See, nothing sexual in it," Sawyer said as he cruised past her and turned left at the top of the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Ophelia. I didn't mean to offend, but I know you would have been more upset if you had transferred it on to Mom's white sofa. It also looked suspiciously like a paw print, which means it was ultimately my fault since my dog did it." Sullivan gave her his rare lopsided smile, which meant that she couldn't stay mad at him.

"It's fine, can we just forget about it?" she asked.

"Sure," he agreed, already moving up the stairs and turning to the left as his brother had. Their father, Carson, had his suite of rooms on the left, and their mother's rooms were on the right.

Ophelia took a steadying breath. They were back, and it was already turning into a heck of a day.