Hotel Ladd (26 page)

“
Call me Hank.”

“
Hank.”

Looking between the two women, he
asked, “Ready?”

Jillian practically purred,
“
Yes
.”

Pulling the gloves from her hands,
Annie nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Chapter Twenty-One

A looming sense of dread settled over
the table as Nick Harris received an update on the situation.
Delaney, Malcolm, Lacy and Cal huddled together at Fran’s Diner,
each and every one feeling the impact of his displeasure. Malcolm
was steeped in concern, Lacy sat supportive by his side while
Delaney sat like a bundle of nerves and resentment. Cal had worked
his way through nearly half a bowl of Fran’s boiled peanuts. Nick
Harris hadn’t been in town for a twenty-four hours and his anger
was palpable. Not exactly the circumstances Cal would have chosen
for his first meeting with his new boss, a man who fit Annie’s
description snug as a glove. Part lumberjack, part international
businessman, Nick’s six-foot four stature and dark brown hair was
surly and foreboding and could rattle even the bravest of men in a
dark alley.

“
What the hell has been
going on since I left?” Nick demanded.

“
Jillian Devane, that’s
what,” Malcolm replied.

Nick stared at his partner, dumbstruck.
“Do you think Annie will sell?”

Malcolm looked to Cal, as did the
others. It was Annie’s decision, but he was the one working to help
her make it. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but Annie has a mind
of her own. If the number’s high enough, she might.”

“
I knew she was only after
the money,” Delaney interjected.

“
Now hold on,” Cal said.
“Annie’s worked hard her whole life. She’s taken care of her
daughter, and there’s nothing wrong with wantin’ to do better by
herself.”

Delaney glared at him. “You’re
preachin’ to the choir, Cal. My life story reads no
different.”

“
And you sold out,” he
reminded quietly, heedless to the scorch of reprisal staring back
at him. Delaney had a reputation as a spit-fire but she wasn’t
anything he couldn’t handle.

“
It’s not the
same—”

“
How much is Jillian
offering?” Nick jumped in, redirecting their focus. “Can we up the
offer? Make a deal with Annie so sweet, she can’t
resist?”

“
Maybe I can talk to her,”
Lacy piped up. “Maybe I can get her to realize that Jillian is no
good and she’s only using her.”

Nick seemed doubtful. “Money is money.
Annie doesn’t have a vested interest in Harris Hotels or Ladd
Springs.”

“
Well, she
should
. Casey’s a Ladd,
isn’t she?”

“
And thrilled to be one,”
Delaney mused soberly. Dropping an elbow to the table, she plunked
her face into her palm. “Casey hates Jeremiah.”

Cal agreed. From what Annie said, Casey
despised her father. There was no reason for her to find any
sentimental value in the property. And with Troy gone, she was
going to be hurting something fierce. The two were ripe for picking
up stakes and moving on.

“
I say we make an offer,”
Malcolm submitted. “If Annie is willing to sell to Jillian, she
should be willing to sell to us. Can you talk to her?” he asked
Cal.

“
I can try.” Though he was
uncertain as to whether they were actually on speaking terms at the
moment.

“
Try,” Nick reinforced.
“Find out what Jillian’s offering and double it.”

Delaney’s expression took a
hit. “
Double it
?”

He nodded. “I know Jillian and I
guarantee she’s offering pennies on the dollar for what the land is
worth.”

“
Don’t you think Annie would
know that?” Malcolm looked between the men. “She has to have
someone helping her with the deal. An agent, a lawyer? Surely
they’ll advise her if it’s a lowball offer.”

“
She’s working with Dakota,”
Cal said. “I found out over Thanksgiving.”

“
Is he ethical?” Malcolm
asked.

“
I haven’t dealt with him in
years, but my Daddy trusts him. They’ve had a lot of dealin’
together at the bank.”

“
Can you call him?” Nick
asked. “Get information on any deal she might have
working?”

“
I don’t think you’ll get
anywhere,” Malcolm returned. “Attorney-client privilege should
prevent him from discussing the matter.”

A privilege Cal knew could be stretched
and bent around these parts. Legal jargon might hold up like a
steel cage in California, but around here, people discussed
business without thinking, assuming everyone knew about it already.
There were no secrets between friends and family, and that
accounted for most of the town.

“
Well, we need to do
something and we need to do it fast,” Nick snapped.

“
I hear you,” Cal replied,
cutting him some slack. Under the circumstances, Nick was under a
lot of pressure. His hotel plans were well underway and if Jillian
purchased the adjoining property, she could make his life
miserable.

“
And I mean fast. You don’t
know what this woman is capable of.”

“
He does,” Malcolm
said.

Cal nodded, and glanced around the
restaurant, the normalcy of the lunch crowd disquieting him. Local
folks were oblivious to the danger that lay ahead, the havoc one
woman could play on their town. After Lacy spotted Jillian Devane
outside the Trendz salon, Malcolm had warned Cal to keep an eye out
for trouble. Jillian was a serious threat, he’d told him,
explaining how she’d destroyed a competitor in South America
through dubious means. A group out of Asia beat her in a deal for a
tract of prime oceanfront land, snapping the land out from
underneath her shiny black heels. Jillian bought the adjacent
property, put up a small building and sat on it for two months.
Tragically, the structure burned to the ground, taking hundreds of
acres with it. The nearby hotel was evacuated, a sizeable chunk of
its land scorched clear to the shoreline.

On word of the disaster, Jillian
feigned shock and despair, but Nick knew better. Jillian had
orchestrated the fire, alluding to the incident in subtle terms,
suggesting it was karmic justice, a concept she whole-heartedly
supported. But Nick recognized the deception behind her thin mask
of sympathy. For him, it had been the beginning of the end to their
relationship.

Which made Cal feel better about the
man. He’d come to know and respect Malcolm, but his time in Arizona
taught him there were developers who didn’t care about the land
they developed or the people they sold it to, no matter how loud
they professed to the contrary. They were interested in money,
nothing more and nothing less. Cal couldn’t work for a man like
that, not in good conscience. Straightening in his seat, he said,
“I’ll talk to her. She’s a reasonable woman. She’ll understand
what’s at stake.”

Cal waited until Annie returned home.
Parked outside her apartment complex, he watched from afar as she
parked, walked up the staircase and entered her home. He gave her a
few minutes to settle in before climbing out of his truck and
ascending the stairs himself. He didn’t expect her to be happy to
hear from him but she would. He had to dissuade her from selling to
Jillian Devane, whether it cost him her affection or not. Wild
flames raging through forest land exploded in his mind. The town’s
well-being depended on it.

Mildly winded, he knocked on her
door.

Annie appeared before him, clearly
surprised. “Cal? What are you doing here?”

“
I hope you don’t mind me
showing up on your doorstep without calling first, but I have to
talk to you.”

“
What is it?” She stepped
aside, letting him in. “Is everything okay?”

Cal felt like a heel, a henchman doing
his master’s bidding. But it had to be done and he was the only one
to do it. Squaring off with her, he asked point-blank, “Are you
selling the land to Jillian Devane?”

Annie hesitated, but the jerk in her
gaze told him all he needed to know. His posture slackened. “Why,
Annie? What happened to the logging?”

“
Jillian offered a lot more
money than I’d ever realize from logging.”

“
But you’ll lose the land
entirely.”

Annie stepped away from him, hovering
by the dining room table. “Casey doesn’t want it. She’s through
with the Ladds, the Parkers...”

Cal followed her, but hung back. “Is
this about Troy and Casey?”

“
Please don’t tell me you’re
going to stick up for him again. He dumped her, Cal. She forgave
him and he dumped her. Dumped her flat and broke her
heart.”

Cal understood broken hearts all too
well. But broken hearts could mend. Troy could mend. If Annie sold
to Jillian, the land they both knew and loved would be destroyed.
His new beginning would be destroyed along with it. “I should tell
you that Nick has made an offer to buy it from you.”

“
Nick? Why would he want to
buy it when he already has half of Ladd Springs?”

“
To prevent Jillian from
getting it.”

She blew out her breath and crossed her
arms. “I think Nick is making a big deal out of nothing. If he
can’t stand the competition, he should get out of the
business.”

“
It’s more than
competition.”

She stormed past him and took up
position on the opposite side of the couch. She turned. “Really?
Because from where I’m standing it looks like a man afraid that a
woman is going to upstage him.”

Cal hated the distance she was putting
between them. He didn’t want to make accusations about a person,
even a woman like Jillian, but Annie needed to understand what was
at stake. “She wants revenge, Annie. The woman is buying the
property to destroy Nick.”

“
So I’ve heard,” she said,
rolling her eyes.

“
If you know what she’s
after, why would you help her?”

“
Because I need the money,
Cal. Casey wants to go college, she wants to start fresh, maybe
even get out of this town and find her future in a bigger city.
This is my opening with her and I’m not going to blow
it.”

The knife to his heart was quick. Cal
was all too familiar with blown chances. He understood Annie was
working under powerful pressure. “I understand.”

“
Do you? Because it sounds
like you’re fighting me on this, Cal. I thought we agreed that I
needed a new direction, a change in my life. This offer to sell is
that chance.”

“
But Nick can buy
it.”

“
Your daddy said he wanted
to buy it, too, but I doubt they’re willing to pay me what she’s
offering.”

“
How much?”

“
Almost a million dollars.”
Cal let out a low whistle. “That’s right.” Annie had declared the
amount almost victoriously, but he knew the woman only offered the
amount to ensure her revenge. If what Malcolm said about her family
wealth was true, the sum was a penny in a beggar’s tin can. “I
hardly think Nick has the kind of money to waste on buying more
than six hundred acres of land he doesn’t need, competition or not.
Jillian Devane in Tennessee is something he’s going to have to live
with.”

“
It’s not competition when a
person resorts to arson.”

Annie paled. “Arson?”

Cal nodded. He hated to cast people in
a scandalous light when he had no proof, but Annie left him no
choice. He had to get her to understand what was really going on,
how they could lose everything if she sold to Jillian, his new job
included. “According to Malcolm, Jillian lost out on a real estate
deal in South America several years ago and was spittin’ mad.
Another company purchased some land she wanted and laughed in her
face as they built their hotel. She bought the adjacent land and
built a small building. Two months later it burned down and took
half the hotel property next door with it.”

Annie gaped at him. She was listening.
She understood the ramifications. Encouraged, he felt a blast of
confidence. “Jillian Devane willfully burned hundreds of acres of
beautiful land, Annie, because she wanted revenge—revenge for
losing out on a sale.” Cal paused, allowing it to sink in. He had
Annie’s complete attention and he aimed to use it to get her to see
the consequences of selling. Annie brought a hand to her
forehead.

Cal’s heart squeezed. She must be
imagining the same thing happening to Ladd Springs, hating the
thought as much as he did. He dropped his voice, “This woman wants
that revenge again, and I’d hate to see the same thing happen
here.”

Annie took two steps and fell into a
heap on the couch. Dropping her face into her hands, she shook her
head. Cal saw it as his opportunity and went to her side. Annie had
heard him. His mind eased. She knew it wasn’t the right thing to
do. She wouldn’t sell to Jillian Devane, not at this point. Sitting
beside her, he placed an arm around her shoulders. “She’s not a
decent woman.” Annie clamped her hands tightly to her face and
Cal’s spirits fell as he realized she must have been looking
forward to the money. It had to be more than the logging, or else
why would she sell? Cal rubbed a hand up and down her back. “If you
want to sell, Annie, Nick offered to buy the land,” Cal said. “I
know he’ll pay a fair price.”