Hotel Ladd (10 page)

“
Right on schedule.
Groundwork for the hotel has been pretty well wrapped up and we’re
moving on to the building and hiring stage and—”

“
Already?” Lacy interrupted,
a fork full of golden-fried okra suspended before her mouth. “But
you haven’t built the first building. How are you going to hire
people with nowhere for them to go?”

He smiled indulgently. “I said we’re
moving on to the hiring stage. We have to prepare, don’t we?”
Malcolm shifted his focus to Cal. “We want to have our doors open
by Memorial Day of next year.”

Cal let out a low whistle and tossed an
empty peanut shell into his bowl. “That’s pretty
aggressive.”

Malcolm nodded. “Nick is organizing our
construction crew now. Soon as we’re ready, we’ll ship our people
in and get started.”

Cal cocked his head. “Still, seven
months is pretty tight.”

Malcolm laughed, a confident man
dealing in child’s play. “That’s what sets Harris Hotels apart. We
get in, we get open. Our guys are the best in the business. We’ve
got half a dozen crews that come in. One attacks the hotel, another
will take on the stables. A specialized crew out of California will
handle our landscape, another the interiors, and the restaurant
will be taken care of by an amazing woman out of San
Francisco.”

Lacy’s attention perked at the mention
of “woman.” “What woman?”

Leaning toward her, he said, “An old,
wrinkled woman who looks like a man.”

Realizing the tease, she smirked. “Very
funny.”

Malcolm kissed her nose. “Nobody you
have to worry about, my dear.”

Blue eyes glittering with distrust,
Lacy pointed to the front door. “Unlike that woman.”

“
What’s she doing here?”
Malcolm asked, appearing genuinely surprised.

Cal turned his head to see a
dark-haired woman standing by the hostess stand in line to pay her
bill. She was staring at them. She looked completely out of place
in a slinky gold blouse and metallic jacket, her hips wrapped in
some kind of spandex skirt with boots that soared clear up to her
thighs. Her very thin thighs. “You know her?” he asked.

Lacy nodded vigorously, swallowing.
“Malcolm does. Her name is Jillian Devane and she used to date
Nick. Now she’s trying to build a hotel nearby and put them out of
business.”

“
She’s a hotel developer
Nick and I met during a build in South America. She and Nick hit it
off but when it was time to move on, let’s just say Jillian wasn’t
quite ready to let go.”

“
Ah...” The woman was a
vixen if Cal had ever seen one. Taking a second glance, he noted
she was waving to their table, but rather than approach, turned on
her heel to leave the diner. “Guess we don’t have what she’s
looking for,” he commented, picking up another peanut.

Lacy gasped. Malcolm commented, “Don’t
look now, but we might be in for a cat fight.”

Cal looked between them.
“Huh?”

With a hand to her mouth, Lacy pointed
wordlessly.

Delaney Wilkins had entered and now
faced off with Jillian Devane, who towered over her in four-inch
heels. Cal could feel the tension from here. Oblivious diners
crowded around the duo. Jillian’s shiny black hair fell straight as
a board against her metallic gold jacket and brown skin. Delaney’s
pale blonde hair flowed well past her shoulders, blending in with
her creamy-white sweater. Jillian wore a full face of makeup while
Delaney had barely a touch. A striking pair, they were like night
and day. “The two don’t care for one another, I assume?” Cal
asked.

“
Delaney should scratch her
eyes out,” Lacy hissed. “That woman has no business here and the
sooner she leaves, the better.”

Delaney tried to walk past Jillian, but
the woman stopped her. They exchanged words. Delaney reached up and
fiddled with a necklace, or something at her neck. Cal couldn’t
quite make it out from his vantage point. Jillian smiled, but it
wasn’t a friendly smile. Delaney’s reaction was unmistakable. She
was not happy. Whether Jillian didn’t catch on to the anger or was
intentionally trying to provoke her, Cal didn’t know but watched
with wary interest as she leaned forward and said something to
Delaney. Whatever it was, Cal mused, it hit the mark. Delaney
appeared stunned, then shoved a finger into Jillian’s face. The
woman smiled, turned, and made her exit.

“
Good job, Delaney,” Lacy
said, trailing her figure to a back table in the corner where she
joined an elderly woman already seated. Cal didn’t recognize the
woman and chucked the peanut into his mouth. “Jillian is not
welcome here,” Lacy went on. “She needs to pack her bags this
instant and scat.”

“
It’s a free country,
sweetheart,” Malcolm replied, unaffected by the scene. “She’s free
to come and go as she pleases.”

“
But she’s here to destroy
you! You said so yourself.”

Malcolm hugged Lacy close. “I’ll keep
an eye on her, okay?”

Lacy huffed, but Cal liked that Malcolm
wasn’t worried about the woman. It was a sign of confidence. He
knew his business and wasn’t concerned about a little competition.
Cal had come to like Malcolm. Although Malcolm was a city boy from
Los Angeles, Lacy was weaving the country into him one day at a
time. Smart, friendly, the man had an easy way about him and fit
right in. Unlike the developer Cal worked for in Arizona, Malcolm
was in tune with those around him. He didn’t seem like a one-way
road kind of man but a two- way fellow filled with detours and
yield signs. Living with Lacy probably made it a must!

Speaking of business, Cal had been
tossing about an idea he wanted to run by Malcolm. While it wasn’t
his place to tell a man how to run his business, there was no
reason he couldn’t offer a friendly suggestion. “I’ve been thinking
about the hotel,” he said, swallowing, not sure how Malcolm would
receive the idea but compelled to try. “Have you given any thought
to providing history tours for your guests? I mean, I don’t want to
overstep my boundaries, but if you’re interested in being in tune
with the community, the land, I think folks would get a kick out of
hearing about the history of these parts. They might find it
intriguin’ to know that Tennessee is the Turtle Capital of the
World.”

A wry smile pulled at Malcolm’s mouth.
“Really?”

“
Sure is. We’re called that
because of the many species of turtles that inhabit our great
state. Literally thousands of turtles live in Reelfoot Lake,
including varieties like stinkpots, mud, sliders and map turtles.”
Malcolm laughed while Lacy shot a bored look to the ceiling.
“Reelfoot Lake itself is a wonder, too,” Cal continued, thoroughly
in his element. He loved history and his home state was full of it.
“Did you know it was created by the largest earthquake in American
history?”

Malcolm sat back. “You don’t
say?”

“
Yes sir. Occurred in the
winter of 1812 up in the northwestern part of our
state.”

Malcolm laughed. “Sounds like a great
idea. I think guests will love it, and I know just the man to
handle the job. What do you say you take on the position of General
Manager and organize the entire experience?”

Malcolm could have run over him with a
dump truck, his shock would have been the same. Cal gaped at him.
“Me?”

“
Yes. You have experience
working in a real estate community. You know people. You have
experience. I made a phone call to your old boss, frankly, a man
who couldn’t say enough nice things about you.”

“
You called my boss?” Cal
asked, alarm mingling with surprise.

“
You don’t mind, do you? I
check out all my new hires before I put them in the running. Though
I’ll warn you, you’re top of my list.”

Lacy smiled at Cal, as though
reaffirming how great she thought he was, too.

Cal’s gut tightened.
If only they knew
. One
night in Arizona had changed his life, changed his relationship
with his wife, his daughter Emily. Worse than the suffering he’d
caused at home, he’d cut a hole in the life of a stranger—a gaping
hole which couldn’t be repaired. One night, one bad decision,
monumental consequences. Consequences he lived with every day. He
was only surprised Peter had spoken so highly of him. On second
thought, Cal asked, “Who did you speak with?”

“
A guy named Peter
Malone.”

So it had been
Peter
. Cal turned the information over in
his mind. The last day he saw Peter had not been a pretty one.
Peter was angry, disappointed. He felt like Cal had let him
down.

He had. More than quitting
without notice, Cal had been a constant thorn for Peter. Between
the drinking and the hangovers and the accident that made front
page news, Peter had been hounded by Cal’s mishaps. He never missed
a day of work because of his drinking, but he sure had been asked
to leave for a few.
One more fight and
you’re fired
. Short and sweet. Cal
understood. A loose cannon was unpredictable and unpredictability
was bad for business. It was bad for marriage, too. Alcohol had
made a mess of his life, a mess of others, so he set the bottle
down ten months ago and walked away. Clean cut, no second thoughts,
he never looked back.

What had Peter been
thinking
? He didn’t know Malcolm. He didn’t
know Malcolm was a friend. Cal narrowed his gaze on the man sitting
across from him. What had Malcolm said during the phone call that
made Peter so amenable? Why would he stick up for him after their
falling out?

Allowing the questions to course
through him, Cal eased free of the burden. No matter. He was
grateful for the small miracle and would take a break wherever he
could get one. His drinking days were over. No going back. Some
days it amazed him. Other days he understood completely. When you
had something to fight for as important as he did, the bottle
didn’t stand a chance. Longing pricked at his heart. He missed his
daughter. Leaving Emily had been like leaving a piece of his heart.
She was the reason Malcolm’s job offer meant so much to
him.

Clearing his voice, Cal reined in his
thoughts and said, “Well, it’s nice to hear.” Adding privately, a
man never wanted his past employer to be left with a bad taste in
his mouth, and Peter Malone’s should be spittin’ mud to this
day.

“
I don’t think you have to
worry. The man said you were great with the residents, reliable on
the job and smart. Odd,” Malcolm paused, “but he underscored your
potential almost as much as he commended your past. While you don’t
have direct GM experience, he didn’t have any qualms recommending
you if I was willing to train you. Which I am.” Glancing sideways
to Lacy, he continued, “As you know, I’m setting down roots here,
but in the future, Lacy and I will be traveling quite a bit and
I’ll need to know I have a good man holding down the fort while I’m
away.” Malcolm smiled, and Cal almost felt guilty at the outpouring
of trust in the man’s pale blue eyes. “I think that man is
you.”

Cal couldn’t believe his good fortune.
He and Malcolm had established an easy rapport over the last
several months, spending more and more time together on account of
Annie and Lacy, but he never expected a job offer. The position of
General Manager for an exclusive boutique hotel sounded incredibly
appealing. He’d be interacting with international guests,
intriguing people from all over the world... Cal had done his share
of managing, making him feel secure on that count. The scale of
operations they were talking was hundreds of employees versus
thousands, people from this area, people he understood. The South.
In Arizona folks didn’t understand the Southerner in him. They
heard his accent and immediately thought redneck, hillbilly,
neither of which he was. He was a southern gentleman, an educated
man who was raised in the hills of Tennessee but understood the
finer points of life. Cal considered himself a simple man, but a
man of civility. “It sounds like a great offer,” he
replied.

“
So you’re
interested?”

“’
Course I am. It’s a heck
of an opportunity for a small town guy like me.”

“
There’s nothing small town
about you, Cal,” Lacy interjected. “You’ve spent the last fifteen
years in the big city, haven’t you?”

“
Same as you, but it doesn’t
look like it’s changed you any.” Lacy frowned and he chuckled.
“That’s a good thing, darlin’.”

She rebounded instantly and batted her
lashes. “I’m a country girl at heart, you know. That’s why I came
back home. There’s no place like Tennessee and I’ll never leave it
again,”—she reached for Malcolm—“except to travel the world with
you, of course.”

Malcolm laughed softly.

“
Tennessee is the best place
on earth,” Cal declared and meant it with every fiber of his being.
Arizona was a beautiful state, extremely diverse and filled with
natural wonders, like the jaw-dropping vista of red rocks and
canyons in Sedona and the nearby Grand Canyon, but Arizona wasn’t
home. He’d tried to make it his home, but when his marriage fell
apart he realized it wasn’t meant to be, though it would always be
a part of him. The most important person in his world was there
waiting for him.