Hotel Ladd (3 page)

“
Now, Annie. She gave Casey
half the property, didn’t she? She can’t be all bad.”

Annie thrust her shoulders back.
“Because I forced her hand.”

“
Annie.” Cal eased forward
but didn’t seek her hand. “I’ve known Delaney a long time, and
while it’s true I’ve been away in Arizona the past fifteen-odd
years, it doesn’t mean I don’t understand where she’s coming from.
She’s a woman, a mother same as you, and she wants what’s best for
her daughter. I’m sure she’ll be amenable to whatever we want to
do. It’s your land.”

Annie glanced away and Cal chuckled.
She was spirited but about as unsure of herself as a new born foal.
He understood she was struggling financially which is why he
offered to help her secure a loan to pay the property taxes. Money
matters were easy for him. Back in Arizona, he’d made more money by
investing in the stock market in two months than he’d made earning
salary in a year’s time from the retirement golfing community. It
wasn’t for everyone but for him, investing was a simple matter of
numbers—ratios, costs, earnings—plus a healthy dose of risk.
Keeping Annie’s confidence afloat going forward was proving to be
the bigger challenge.

But Cal Foster never walked away from a
challenge. Challenges were what fired life into his blood, gave him
a reason to wake up every morning and keep his eye on the prize.
Currently, he was in a battle for the prize of his life and it had
nothing to do with Annie. When Cal left Tennessee for Arizona, he
had expanded more than his horizons. He met a woman, married and
had a child—all of which he lost. Much like Annie, his struggle
stemmed from poor decisions made before he realized the weight of
those decisions. But he’d since learned choices had consequences.
Hard consequences, lasting consequences. It wasn’t until six months
ago he understood fully what those entailed. Annie had a child with
a man who wasn’t her husband, a man probably not fit to be one,
either. Cal had a child, but with the actions of one night, lost
all ties to the girl. Regret weighed heavily on his
heart.

Reaching for Annie’s hand,
Cal was thankful she didn’t pull away. It seemed they were
venturing onto some rocky ground and he had to be careful not to
slip due to moving too fast.
Slow and easy
wins the race
. That was his new motto.
“Listen,” Cal said, “a professional forester will take care of the
land, not destroy it. He’ll cut only what he needs, cut only from
land you agree to log. Delaney won’t be able to complain on that
count, and depending on which section you choose, you stand to earn
near a quarter of a million dollars.”

The statement sucked the
breath from her. “Quarter of a
million
?”

He squeezed her hand, her very warm and
slender hand. He and Annie had been officially dating for the last
couple of months and Cal was ready to take it a step further. Annie
was rock solid. She was a good woman, a beautiful woman. If he
could help Annie realize a substantial gain from her land, then by
God he would. Hopefully, her future was his future. “Yes ma’am,
quarter of a million, and I daresay that’s enough to pay off your
loan, cover the taxes for a few years to come and provide you and
Casey with a comfortable lifestyle—until you decide what you really
want to do.”

Cal believed that’s what was driving
Annie’s insecurities. She was floundering, floatin’ like a duckling
without its momma. It was a sentiment that Cal understood. He, too,
was ready for change, a new road to travel. He’d come home to
Tennessee for that very reason, and while he hadn’t found it yet,
it didn’t mean he’d given up looking. Same went for Annie.
Patience. That’s all she needed.

She spewed a sigh. “A quarter of a
million dollars... The things we could do with that
money.”

Struck by the sheer intensity of her
gaze, Cal laughed. “My God, woman, you look like thoughts are
ricocheting off the walls of your brain!” She flashed those
gorgeous blue eyes of hers his way and he roped them in, best he
could. “That’s a compliment, darlin’.” Chuckling to himself, Cal
thought yes, Annie Owens definitely reminded him of his
horse-training days. She was a feisty mare that needed coaxing by a
cool head and a soft touch. Luckily, it was Cal’s
specialty.

“
Is it really worth that
much?” she asked.

Cal leaned near. “Depending on the
grade of timber, your profit might even go higher. It all depends
on which trees they cut and who they sell them to. You might even
ask they set aside a few logs for you and Casey to
build.”

“
Build?”

He smiled, darting a glance to her
lips, her very lush lips. Lips that were full and glossed with a
hint of pink, lips he could kiss right this minute. “You want to
live on the property, don’t you?” Cal assumed that’s why Annie had
fought so hard to acquire the title. Casey was a Ladd. She was part
of the family. It made sense she’d want to live on the land of her
ancestors, even if her kin weren’t right friendly. It didn’t
matter. Family was family. Blood ran deep through the heart of the
South. One only need ask his brothers how cantankerous relations
could be, between stealin’ kisses from the sweetest girls in school
to bar room brawls with the toughest thugs in town, the Foster boys
were known for their turbulent relations with one another and the
community at large. Folks called it a “reputation.” Cal and his
brothers used to call it “plain fun.” The boys had their disputes,
but never once did they question their loyalty to
family.

At Annie’s reticence, Cal repeated,
“Isn’t that what you’re after?”

She slumped back against the cushion
and placed a palm to her forehead. “I don’t know.”

The tortured quality to her voice
pulled at him. A mix of want and need tangled with a mess of doubt
Cal didn’t quite understand. “What’s holding you back,
Annie?”

From across the sofa, she looked at
him, and that’s when he caught it. A sliver of reluctance passed
behind her eyes. She was holding back. There was more to her story
than she was saying. Cal could recognize a holdout when he saw one.
There was always a clue, a shift in the eyes, a slant in the gaze.
A hiccup, a blink, but the guilt was there just the same. “Talk to
me, Annie. Tell me what’s going on.”

As though balancing a fine line between
truth and evasion, Annie hesitated. “Everything is happening so
fast. Nick and Malcolm have been staking those orange flags
everywhere, marking their territory like two dogs on a Saturday
night. Did you know they’ve already drawn up plans for the hotel,
restaurant—everything? According to Lacy, all they need now is
approval from the county and they begin building.
Building!”

Cal leaned back, extending an arm the
length of the sofa. “Well, it’s not their first rodeo. Why, I’ve
seen entire communities pop up out of thin air in the desert and
they were nothin’ to scoff at. Mighty nice homes, too, so I know it
can be done. All you need is money and experience.”

“
And they have
both.”

“
They have both,” Cal
agreed. Was this the crux of her displeasure? Money? Delaney and
Lacy had it and she didn’t?

Well, he could tell her a thing or two
about money. It didn’t fix everything and he had an ex-wife and a
police record to prove it. But if money is what Annie needed, then
money is what he was going to see that she received. “Why don’t you
let me talk to Delaney and discuss matters right calmly? Then I’ll
call a forester friend of mine. He’s been in the business twenty
years and is the best of the best. Why, you give him the okay and
you could have your money by Christmas time.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “That
soon?”

Cal nodded.

“
Wow.” She allowed her gaze
to drift. “I guess I have something to think about.”

“
Do you need to discuss it
with Casey?” Cal wasn’t exactly sure how the trustee agreement had
been written. Did Annie have sole control over what she could do
with the land or did she have to consult her daughter?

“
I can’t sell it without her
approval, but I can decide what happens with it until she’s of age
to receive it in full.”

Cal slapped hands to knees. “Alrighty,
then. Sounds like we have a plan.”

Annie slid him a sharp glance. “Thank
you. Thank you for all your help with the property. I think I’d be
lost on my own.”

The abrupt change pleased Cal. While he
liked Annie’s strong and spirited side, he liked her sweet and soft
side even better. “You don’t have to thank me, Annie, I’m glad to
help.” At her quick smile, he relaxed back into the cushion and
sidled up next to her, pulling her close. “Now how about you tell
me what else is on your mind?”

A small smile crept onto her lips. “Am
I that transparent?”

Cal grinned, relishing the ejection of
tension from her deep blue eyes, he replied, “You are to me.”
Breathing in the scent of her, he picked up hints of a faded
perfume. Leaning close, he brushed a sweep of silky hair behind an
ear punctuated by a large silver hoop. He traced a finger around it
and she sighed. Staring out into the sea of night, he wondered what
was going through her mind. Cal interlaced his fingers through hers
and her gaze mellowed, her pupils swallowed whole by the luminous
glow of a nearby lamp.

“
I want something to do,
Cal. I want something exciting, challenging.”

“
More challenging than
paintin’ all those pretty nails?” he teased. Annie clamped her
lips, but he gently shook her. “Aw, c’mon Annie. You know I’m just
having fun. I think you’re the best in the business, but I
understand what you’re saying. The same goes for me. I need a new
direction. I’ve been helping my Daddy out at the ranch but all he
keeps trying to do is lasso me into the bank. It’s not what I want
to do.”

“
Did you not like working in
Arizona?”

“
Arizona was real fine, but
once you sold one house, you sold them all.”

“
I thought you managed the
community.”

“
I did, eventually, but even
then it was all the same. Selling, or managing the selling, all
began to feel the same. It made me itch for something new.” He
paused, allowing a swell of regret to pass through him. He might
have been bored with his work life, but not his personal. At home,
he’d been happy. He loved his wife, loved his daughter.
Unfortunately, it was they who got their fill of him. He tamped
back a swell of regret. “I want to try my hand at something
different. Ever since I gave up the drink, I’ve been
driftin’.”

“
Is it hard for you to be
back home?” she asked. “You know, with all the memories? Your
brothers?”

Cal shook his head. “Not really. Not
when you’ve changed your heart, it isn’t. Now if I was still
struggling with it, sure. But I’m not.” He couldn’t afford to
struggle with the bottle. He had too much riding on his sobriety
back in Arizona, and he was determined to make things right. Moving
back to Tennessee was his chance to prove himself, prove he could
remain sober, hold down a job, and be the man his daughter needed
him to be.

“
What do you think you want
to do?” Annie asked.

“
Not sure.” And that was the
hardest part of all. Cal had no burning desire to do anything. He
loved working with horses, but he was getting too old to spend
every day in dusty corrals and pens with wild stallions. He liked
investing money. Found he had a knack for it, but he didn’t want to
invest other people’s money, only his own. Cal didn’t know what he
wanted to do and that was his problem. A problem he needed to
solve. Proving he could walk the straight and narrow meant getting
his life back—the most important piece, anyway. His wife was
through with him. She’d moved on and Cal didn’t blame her. But his
daughter was a different matter.

Emily needed him and he needed
her.

“
Seems we both have a lot to
think about,” Annie murmured.

Cal nodded. “Agreed.” Why Annie had to
withdraw her hand from his was perplexing. Did she want those
thoughts of hers to include him?

Chapter Three

Annie walked her last client of the day
to the receptionist’s desk and caught a glimpse of a dark-haired
woman walking in the front door. Long black hair fell in a
straight, sleek line behind her back, her very narrow back. She was
almost a stick of a figure, draped in gold jewelry and expensive
leather jacket. As she neared, Annie noted her lips were glossed a
tawny brown, a sheer tone that melted into her brown skin. But it
was her eyes that leapt out at you. Cat eyes, turned up at the
ends, or maybe it was the heavy black makeup that created the
effect. Annie guessed her identity in a heartbeat. Jillian Devane.
She had to hand it to Lacy. Her sister had described the woman
perfectly. Wealthy, stylish, she looked right at home amidst the
ultra-modern interior of the Trendz salon with its minimalist black
and white design and cool blue ceramic lamps hanging overhead in
the way of lighting.

Annie turned to her client. “Bobbi Jo
will get you scheduled for next time, okay?” The woman smiled and
the two hugged. “See you then.”