Hotel Ladd (25 page)

She might as well have kicked the floor
out from under the child. Casey looked dazed, clueless, as if the
question had never crossed her mind. “I don’t know.”

Annie contemplated the road ahead,
Casey’s future, her future. The two of them had some decisions to
make. The two of them could move, start fresh. They could sell the
property and take the money to begin their lives anew. Troy wasn’t
here. There was no reason for Casey to stay. Annie could help her
daughter start over, maybe even attend college.

Cal’s image popped into her mind’s eye.
Visions of his smiling face doused her heart. Cal wanted to commit
his future here. He wanted to be part of Ladd Springs, of Serenity
Springs. It was a place where Annie wasn’t welcome. “You still have
your job at the diner,” she said, hoping it would be seen as a
positive in her daughter’s column.

Casey unwound her arms with an utterly
beaten look. “Great.”

“
Have you given any more
thought to going to college? With Troy gone, maybe it will give you
something to fill your time.”

“
He said he’d be
back.”

“
Be back, when?”

Casey wiped her eyes, her cheeks, then
swiped a hand under her nose. She walked toward her mother and
slumped to the mattress beside her. “He didn’t say.”

Annie wanted to scream at
the top of her lungs,
Does he expect you to
wait for him? Does he expect you to stop everything until he gets
his act together?

Over Annie’s dead body. She
would
not
let Casey
sit home, whittling her time away as she waited for Troy Parker to
grace her with his presence. She had to move on with her life. She
had to find her passion, follow her dreams. It was the same thing
Annie needed to do. Scraps of her last conversation with Cal broke
in but she pushed them aside. Cal had found his way. She needed to
find hers.

Dropping elbows to knees, Casey plunked
chin to her hands and stared at the floor. “I probably couldn’t get
into college.”

Hope detonated in Annie’s chest. Did
that mean she would consider trying? “Of course you could. Your
grades in high school were good.”

“
C’s. Most of them were
C’s.”

“
Only during your senior
year. Before that you earned A’s and B’s.”

Casey snorted.

“
You could get into college,
no problem. If you want, you can begin with the community college.”
They take everyone, Annie thought, the idea quickly gaining steam.
Casey could attend the local college and then transfer to another
school, a university. Or, better yet, they could sell the property
and head to Chattanooga, or Knoxville. Thoughts of her mother and
Felicity instantly nixed both locations. Maybe Memphis or, shoot,
who said they had to stay in Tennessee? Annie loved the mountains.
Perhaps Ashville would be a nice place to start over. Surely they
had good schools there. “You could get your grades up after a
semester or two and then apply to a four-year school.”

“
I don’t even know what I’d
do.”

But at least she was
thinking in terms of doing
something
. It was more than Annie had
hoped for, and she wasn’t about to push the subject. Cal was right
about one thing. Casey’s heart had been broken, and it was Annie’s
job as her mother to see her child through it. And see her through
it she would. Better yet, she would see Casey through her
heartbreak
and
work
to see that college became a reality. First thing in the morning,
Annie would call Ms. Devane. She would get the paperwork moving and
sell the property. Jillian was offering twice what Cal could get
logging and if Annie played her hand right, she could negotiate a
higher offer. Her preliminary review of the online listings
suggested Ms. Devane was on the low end of the market. She
obviously had money. There was no reason Annie shouldn’t get every
penny she could out of the woman and then let her worry about roads
and permits as she built her hotel.

As for the competition,
Harris Hotels would have to fend for themselves. Annie was becoming
convinced Jillian Devane wasn’t quite the menace everyone was
making her out to be. If she’d tried to ruin Nick before without
success, why should they be worried about her now? Besides, Jillian
wasn’t Annie’s problem—Casey was. With a gentle hand to her
daughter’s back, she whispered, “We’ll get through this. We’ll get
through this and send you to any college you want.” When Troy’s
ready to come home, he can wait on
you
for a change.

Later that night, seated alone in front
of her computer, Annie stared at image after image on the screen,
the lot of them beginning to look the same. Scrolling through
photos of rolling hills and pasture for nearly two hours would do
that to the eyes, eyes that were beginning to glaze over. Annie
blinked and turned away from the monitor. She set her pen down and
closed her notepad. One thing for sure, Ms. Devane was a thief.
Glancing back at the screen, a particularly gorgeous piece of
wooded land was featured front and center on a real estate website.
Annie deemed Ladd Springs to be twice as nice as that one. Sure,
the one listed had a house and pole barn, but if she deducted a
hundred thousand for the structures, she still ended up with
hundreds of thousands more than Ms. Devane was offering. Annie
Owens might not be in the business of real estate, but she could
research, same as anyone else.

According to the numbers listed on the
internet, Casey’s half of Ladd Springs was worth a heck of a lot
more than five hundred thousand. It was closer to a million, maybe
more. Blowing out her breath, she stood abruptly. And she would not
be taken by some highfalutin’ real estate developer lady who
marched into town throwing money at her. If Jillian Devane wanted
the property as bad as Lacy claimed she did, then she would have to
pay for it. All Annie had to do was come up with a price. Turning
off the computer, she retreated to her bedroom. Passing by Casey’s
bedroom door, Annie felt a stab of longing. Casey should be looking
forward to college, a wonderful and exciting life, not tying her
entire future to Troy. This should be an exciting time in her life,
not depressing.

Annie entered her bedroom and flicked
on an overhead light. She needed a change, too. She was tired of
struggling, tired of working day after day and the occasional
weekend only to barely scrape by. It wasn’t fair. When she turned
on the light for her bathroom, her gaze went to the line of nail
polish bottles neatly organized atop her vanity, bright and
colorful against the off-white countertop. Nails didn’t pay the
bills. She enjoyed the work, but the money wasn’t enough to get
ahead. It was enough to survive but that was it. No matter how hard
she tried to save, she couldn’t manage to get beyond paying the
bills and actually grow her savings. Logging would give her an
enormous sum of money and keep the property, but Ms. Devane’s offer
was double that amount, maybe more if Annie could convince her that
the property was worth it. Selling would change their entire lives.
They could move to a bigger city, Casey could go to college, Annie
could work in a high end salon...

But it would mean leaving Cal. Annie
dropped a hand to her vanity. A man she believed could be the one.
Mr. Right, if such a thing existed. Gazing into the mirror, Annie
saw a woman alone. An aging woman, a woman who’d been alone for
most of her life and who desperately wanted change. She’d like to
be with Cal. She’d like to think a future with him would be a happy
one. They understood each other, grew from the same roots. It
seemed a good fit. Cal didn’t have a stake in Delaney’s hotel
business. Would he really care if she sold the property to Jillian?
Would he mind if they sold and moved to a bigger city? Chattanooga
was only an hour away. He could find a good job, remain close to
his family. Hadn’t he been telling her he was looking for a change?
He mentioned using some of the timber money to build a home on the
land, but Annie didn’t care about staying close to Delaney. She
didn’t need to tie their futures together. She needed to stay close
to Casey.

Annie scrutinized the reflection of her
eyes. Dark circles were beginning to form, her mascara looking
heavy and harsh against the pallor of her skin. She was tired.
Change would do her good. Would Cal object to her
selling?

Ignoring the sliver of answer that
tiptoed through her heart, Annie washed her face and went to
bed.

The decision had been made.
Armed with recent land sales in the area, Annie called Jillian
Devane to inform her of her decision. She was selling, but she
wanted eight hundred thousand dollars for the property. It had been
a bold move on her part, but to Annie’s surprise, the woman didn’t
blink.
You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Owens.
Draw up the paperwork and I will pay you eight hundred thousand
dollars cash.
She’d been subtle, mincing
her words with precision, but Annie could hear the excitement in
her voice. The woman was
thrilled
.

Annie shivered as a burst of
wind tumbled a pile of fallen leaves. The air was cold, clouds low
and heavy. It would make a few people unhappy to learn of the sale,
but they’d have to get over it. This was about securing her future.
Theirs was set. Thoughts of Lacy and Delaney came to mind, their
men, their wealth. It was time she found her own happiness. While
she couldn’t shake the feeling she was slinking around, making
deals with the devil, she couldn’t ignore the mind-boggling sum,
either.
Eight hundred thousand
dollars
. She never dreamed of seeing that
much money in a lifetime, let alone one afternoon. One very cold
afternoon.

Pulling her coat tightly to her body,
she plowed ahead. Mr. Dakota said he could have the papers ready
for signature by lunch time. She couldn’t believe a major
transaction could be handled so soon, but he assured her it was no
problem. All she had to do was sign on the dotted line and the deal
would be done.

For the first time in months, Annie
felt light of mind. She felt good, energetic. The chilly air bit at
her cheeks, but she didn’t care. A decision had been made. It was a
decision that freed her heart. After spending so much time worrying
about how to pay for the property, she never had the opportunity to
enjoy the fact that it was theirs. With the sale, Casey would be
able to enjoy the benefits of being financially secure, and Annie
could take her percentage as trustee. Mr. Dakota said there was
nothing wrong with it, so long as Casey didn’t object. It was a
consent Casey had given more readily than Annie
expected.

Grateful things were
beginning to roll their way, Annie was already thinking in terms of
investment. The sum of money was enormous—easily able to cover
Casey’s college expenses, a little house for the two of them
wherever they landed. Gerald Foster could help direct her as to
which investments she should choose, how to keep the money safe
long-term. As soon as Annie thought of him, his offer to purchase
nipped at her conscience. He’d wanted first dibs. He’d wanted the
chance to buy the land from her before anyone else. Running back
through the conversation, Annie tried to recall if she’d
agreed.
Had she
?

Annie couldn’t remember. The
Thanksgiving supper had been nothing but a blur of “meet the
family” and “what accident?” She was still curious about what
really happened, if there was more to the story than Cal was
letting on. It sure felt like it, but now it seemed like none of
her business. She and Cal might be finished once he learned of the
sale. She expected him to be upset with her, but she took strength
in the knowledge that she had done what was best for her and Casey.
If he had any serious intentions of being with her, he was going to
have to accept the fact that she was a grown woman with a mind of
her own. She didn’t need his permission to sell—or his
approval.

Wrapping a gloved hand around a heavy
vertical bar that was the entrance to the Dakota Law Firm, Annie
hoped it wasn’t the end to their relationship. She hoped Cal meant
what he said about moving with her.

Jillian Devane stood in the small
lobby, her presence consuming the modest setting of the Dakota law
firm, a single couch, two wingchairs, a potted plant and a
mass-produced framed landscape print hanging on a wall lined with
waynes coating. Draped in a full-length chocolate silk coat and
matching hat, her black hair combed in a sleek swath down her back,
Jillian smiled. “Good afternoon, Ms. Owens.”

Momentarily stunned as the reality of
her actions hit home, Annie hesitated. “Hello.”

“
You’re right on time,” she
noted in a tone Annie felt to be somewhat mocking.

She cleared her throat, “I do like to
be punctual.”

Mr. Dakota walked out through his open
office door with a friendly smile. “Hey, Annie.”

Dressed casually in a plain white dress
shirt and black slacks, the lawyer wore no tie or jacket, something
Ms. Devane probably found lacking. But Mr. Dakota was a country
lawyer, and in these parts folks didn’t waste time on formalities
and pretense. They focused on getting the job done. Annie stepped
forward. “Hi, Mr. Dakota.”