Hotel Ladd

HOTEL

LADD

by

Dianne Venetta

SMASHWORDS EDITION

*****

PUBLISHED BY:

BloominThyme Press

Hotel Ladd

Copyright 2013 by Dianne
Venetta

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your
personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away
to other people. If you would like to share this book with another
person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you
share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it,
or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return
it to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the author’s work.

HOTEL LADD

Ladd Springs Series:

LADD SPRINGS ~ #1

LADD FORTUNE ~ #2

HOTEL LADD ~ #3

LADD HAVEN ~ #4

Available October 2013

Other novels by Dianne
Venetta

Romantic Women’s Fiction
series:

JENNIFER’S GARDEN

LUST ON THE ROCKS

WHISPER PRIVILEGES

Women’s Fiction:

CONDEMN ME NOT

Hotel Ladd

Copyright 2013 by Dianne
Venetta

ISBN: 978-0-9884871-6-1

Publisher: BloominThyme
Press

Editor: Best Foot Forward

Cover Design: Jaxadora
Design

This book is a work of fiction. Any
references to historical events, real people, or real locales are
used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents
are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to
actual events or persons, living or dead, is coincidental. This
ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights
reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or
by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise) without prior written permission from the copyright
owner.

Acknowledgements

Tennessee has some of the most
beautiful horse country in the world. In fact, Shelby County is
said to boast more horses per capita than any other county in the
United States. If you’ve ever been to Tennessee, you’d understand
why. Not only are there pastures galore, but Tennesseans know their
horses. From Memphis to Knoxville, Nashville to Chattanooga,
equestrian lovers are alive and well and flourishing in the
state.

I discovered this interesting fact,
among others, during my Facebook Release Party for Ladd Springs. As
part of the fun, readers were asked to supply names for an upcoming
horse in the series. Selections were put up for a vote and I’m
proud to announce that Martha Schlegel won with her submission of
“Vegas” -- a beauty you’ll get to know in this book and continue to
love throughout the duration of the series. Congratulations,
Martha!

Many thanks to Martha—one of my
Bloomin’ Warriors—and to all who participated in the week long
release party filled with Tennessee trivia, giveaways and fun. Best
of all, it was a great way to connect with my readers. Can’t wait
for the next one!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my street
team.

Bloomin’ Warriors rock!

HOTEL LADD

Book #3

After years of battling the Ladd
family, Annie Owens has finally procured her daughter’s legacy,
title to Ladd Springs, a mecca of streams and springs in the
eastern Tennessee mountains—only she can’t afford to keep it. Cal
Foster’s father owns the biggest bank in town and has devised a way
to help Annie retain the property, but when hotel developer Jillian
Devane offers to buy the land outright, Annie is torn. She’s
tempted by the huge sum of money—money that will secure her
daughter Casey’s future, something Cal cannot guarantee.

According to Annie’s sister, Lacy Ward,
an insider with the Ladd family, Jillian’s proposal is tainted by
revenge—the depth of which Annie has no idea. She only knows the
woman is out to compete with the upcoming Ladd hotel making any
deal with Jillian Devane tantamount to betrayal. When Cal is
offered a position with Hotel Ladd, Annie is backed against a wall.
Selling to Jillian will end any hope for a future together with
Cal, a man she has come to love. But it isn’t until Casey’s romance
with Troy Parker blows apart that Annie’s decision is
made.

Will “selling out” exile
Annie from the Ladd family, including any chance for happiness with
Cal Foster? Or can she find a way to make amends, ending a
long-standing feud once and for all?
Find
out in this episode of Ladd Springs
...

Meet the cast of characters of Hotel
Ladd...

Ernie & Albert
Ladd
– Brothers of Ladd Springs

Susannah Ladd Wilkins
– Sister to Ernie & Albert

Jeremiah Ladd
- Ernie’s forsaken son

Annie and Casey Owens
- Jeremiah’s ex and her daughter

Calvin Foster
– Home from Arizona, son of town banker

Candi Sweeney
- Annie’s best friend

Jillian Devane
– Hotel developer, competitor to Nick
Harris

Malcolm Ward
– Hotel developer, partner to Nick
Harris

Lacy Owens Ward
– Wife to Malcolm, sister to Annie

Delaney Wilkins
– Ernie’s niece

Felicity Wilkins
- Delaney’s daughter

Nick Harris
– Founder, Harris Hotels

Travis and Troy
Parker
– Neighbors & friends of
Felicity

Fran Jones
- Owner of Fran’s Diner, aunt to Annie &
Lacy

Jack Foster
– Brother to Cal, Delaney’s ex-husband

Beau and Clint
Foster
– Cal’s brothers

Gerald Foster
– Cal’s father

Hank Dakota
– Town lawyer working with Annie

Chapter One

Annie Owens fiddled with the
business card in hand, the matte finished paper growing worn from
her constant handling. Colored green and tan with flecks of natural
fiber, the earth-friendly tone of the company card was clearly
communicated.
Eco-Domani
. Annie’s gaze slid down to the name embossed in the lower
right corner. Jillian Devane, President and CEO.

“
What are you gonna do?”
Candi Sweeney asked, a nervous edge creeping into her
voice.

“
I don’t know,” Annie
murmured.

“
She seemed real intent on
talking to you.”

Annie nodded, dropping her
gaze to two half-eaten sub sandwiches on the coffee table before
them, food Candi had graciously picked up on her way over after
work. Her friend understood this was a significant development.
Annie had to do
something
.

Six months ago Delaney Wilkins had
signed over half of Ladd Springs to Annie’s daughter, Casey. Ladd
Springs, the mecca of rivers and streams, mountains and trails and
springs—natural springs that were unique to the property—had been
held by the Ladd family for generations. Delaney’s uncle, Ernie
Ladd, had recently passed away, willing the entire tract to
Delaney’s daughter, Felicity. Because she was blood kin.

Well, so was Casey. Ernie’s son,
Jeremiah Ladd, was Casey’s father, making her equally entitled to
the land. The logic was simple. It was Ladd land and she was a
Ladd. Unfortunately, Annie had to prove the fact first, a process
Jeremiah fought her every step of the way. But after battling him
for years, she finally won when he showed up in town six months ago
looking for his piece of the land. Ernie had refused him outright.
He was willing it to Felicity and no one else. In the end, Jeremiah
landed himself in jail for an unpaid gambling debt, Ernie died and
Felicity received title to the property. Annie had secured her
paternity test and proved once and for all, Casey was Jeremiah’s
daughter making it impossible for Delaney to ignore her rights.
Eighteen long years and a paternity test had proven it beyond a
shadow of a doubt. Annie’s daughter was a Ladd. It was the reason
Delaney acquiesced and signed over half of the property to
Casey.

But the property consisted of hundreds
of acres. If she were to keep the property, Annie had to think,
plan, strategize—but it was the details regarding what to do that
were tripping her up. This was out of her league. She didn’t do
financial calculations. She did fingernails! A flurry of angst
peppered her chest. Flipping her gaze out through the back windows
of her apartment, Annie latched onto a range of mountains.
Saturated by a late afternoon sun, the Blue Ridge Mountains were
ablaze with orange, red and gold, clumps of green tucked here and
there in between. Beyond, the sky had cooled to a bluish-lavender.
Fall was upon them, dropping temperatures into the upper thirties
for the third day in a row. There was even talk of snow.

Seated on the couch in the living room
of the two-bedroom apartment she and her daughter called home,
Annie looked to Candi. Concern scored her dark brown eyes, her
heart-shaped face framed by stick-straight hair that fell in
flat-ironed points across her shoulders. Naturally brown,
highlighted by chunks of blonde, her hair was perfection. Candi was
a hairstylist, her best friend, the only one who understood what
was at stake. “Annie? Are you listening?”

Caught by a sudden chill, a
shiver raced through Annie. What was she going to do? She knew what
she
wanted
to do.
She wanted to call Ms. Devane. She wanted to speak with her about
the financial potential of her share of Ladd Springs. Casey’s
share, Annie corrected. Over six hundred acres of pristine forest
snaked with rivers and streams and loaded with springs she now
owned. Trouble was, now that Casey retained title to half the
property, Annie had to figure a way to afford it. That part wasn’t
as simple.

“
Do you think this woman can
help?” Candi pressed, hanging on the edge of her seat. She’d been
Annie’s closest ally throughout and truth be known, the reason
Annie and Casey held title to the property. If Candi hadn’t called
Jeremiah back home from Atlanta, none of this would have happened.
Casey would not have title to the property and Annie would not be
in a position to earn money from it.

“
Maybe.”

“
She seemed real eager to
talk to you when she gave me that card.” Upon receiving it, Candi
had immediately rushed to Trendz, the salon where Annie worked as a
nail tech and delivered both business card and message.
Please have Ms. Owens call me at her earliest
convenience. I will make it financially worth her
time
.

Seems Jillian Devane had a proposition
for her.

Staring at the card in hand, Annie
wasn’t stupid. She’d heard the woman was in town to get revenge on
Nick Harris, boyfriend to Delaney Wilkins and the owner of Harris
Hotels. His company was currently transforming Ladd Springs—the
other half of Ladd Springs that belonged to Delaney’s daughter,
Felicity—into an upscale hotel and spa resort for the very wealthy.
Nick had signed a 99-year lease to use the land, land that old man
Ernie Ladd had refused to sell, instead willing it to Felicity as a
life estate. When Ernie died, the land became free and clear to be
developed.