Hotel Ladd (13 page)

“
I am not,” Lacy nipped
back. “She’d tried to ruin Nick and Malcolm before, and she’s
trying to do it again.”

“
They look like they’re
doing fine to me.”

“
Only because Malcolm is a
genius.”

Annie could see holes burning through
Mrs. Weatherford’s otherwise detached demeanor. If she was trying
to act like she wasn’t listening, she was doing a horrible
job.

Lacy perched a hand on her hip. “Now
listen, what I came here for was to ask you if you want to go with
me to buy some baby clothes. I was thinking maybe this Saturday we
could drive to Chattanooga.”

“
Fine,” Annie replied.
Anything to move Lacy away from the ears of Mrs. Weatherford—even
if it meant shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, the busiest time of
the year!

“
Perfect. How about we go
after breakfast?”

Lacy and Malcolm had breakfast at
Fran’s every Saturday morning. Like clockwork, they arrived at nine
and left at ten. “I’ll meet you there.”

“
Yay!” Lacy squealed.
“Toodles!”

“
Toodles,” Annie muttered
under her breath and watched her sister scamper out of the salon,
praying she kept quiet about the Jillian Devane
sighting.

Chapter Ten

As Annie turned into her apartment
complex, the futility of her situation swallowed her whole. It
wasn’t fair that Delaney’s life was turning out so perfectly. Her
daughter Felicity was in college, her tuition bills paid in full,
her love life complete as she dated Travis Parker—the good son.
Annie’s daughter opted for the drop-out, the one Parker child who
refused to attend college. Then there was Delaney’s love life. It
was as picture-perfect as her daughter’s, her wagon hitched
securely to the wealthy Nick Harris. Not only would Delaney run the
stables for the hotel, she’d build a home on the property, a
magnificent retreat for herself and Nick. According to Lacy, they
were working with one of the architects for Harris Hotels and
creating a real masterpiece of a log cabin, including cathedral
ceilings, massive exposed beams and huge antler chandeliers. Lacy
said they were building a personal spa, too, complete with sauna
and hot tub.

Annie considered the aging two-story
apartment building in which she lived, and her spirits sank even
further. She couldn’t afford a home, modest or otherwise.
Supporting two on her nail income over the years made it tough to
save up for a down payment let alone keep up with mortgage
payments, taxes and insurance. The little money she had managed to
accumulate went to pay the hospital bill for Casey’s overdose. It
was a bill she paid gladly, grateful to have her daughter alive,
but still. Her finances had since careened into a ditch.

Parking, she dropped her
head back against the headrest. Life stunk. Stunk like road kill.
Cutting the engine, Annie stared at her building, feeling no desire
to go inside. It was empty. An empty apartment in a barren, rundown
complex. Staring into her rearview mirror, she pondered the night
ahead. Friday night would find her home alone. Cal had called every
day this week, but she’d blown him off. She wasn’t in the mood. She
wasn’t in the mood for anything. The blue car parked in the row of
spaces behind hers drew her attention. She sharpened her
focus.
Casey
?

Annie bolted upright in her
seat and pushed open her door. Leaping from her vehicle, she ran
across the parking lot to be sure. Scrutinizing the license plate,
the numbers confirmed it. She whipped her head toward her building.
Her pulse kicked.
Casey was
home
? Grabbing her purse, Annie ran up the
stairs and jabbed her keys into the door, opening it with a shove.
“Casey?” she called out, heart pounding as she stumbled inside.
“Casey, are you here?”

The light slanting out from
beneath her daughter’s bedroom door opened the flood gates of
hope.
Casey was home
. Annie hurried down the hallway and rapped on the door.
“Casey.”

Within seconds, the door opened and she
found herself staring into the sullen-faced expression of her only
child. Black hair fell limp around her face, blue eyes were devoid
of cheer as Casey hung a hand from the door jamb.
“What?”

“
What are you doing here? I
mean, you’re welcome to be here,” Annie added quickly, a rush of
nerves flitting through her chest, “but why? What happened?” Panic
sliced her heart. “Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine.”

“
Then what?”

“
Troy got fired.”

Annie’s pleasure skidded off the road.
“Fired? What happened?”

Casey walked past her mother and into
the living room. Annie followed, a million thoughts zipping through
her mind—the reason Troy could have been fired, the consequences...
Casey plopped herself onto the sofa and crossed her arms over her
chest. “He showed up for work late and they fired him.”

“
For being late?” Annie
asked. “He was late one time and they fired him?”

“
Yep.”

Annie stared at the back of
Casey’s black head of hair. Something wasn’t right. The man she met
in the office spoke very highly of Troy. Being late once didn’t
warrant a firing. Something else had to have been at play. But
unwilling to start a fight, Annie focused on her daughter. She
rounded the sofa and sat next to Casey. “So you came home.” Casey
glared at her as though she were an idiot.
She was here, wasn’t she
? Annie took a
deep breath and exhaled slowly, controlling her reaction. She was
here. Casey was home. “Do you plan to call Fran and ask about your
job? I know she could use the help.”

“
I don’t want to work at a
diner.” Casey picked up the television remote and pointed it at the
television.

“
Well, I realize it’s not
what you want to do forever, but until you figure out what you do
want to do, it’ll pay the bills.”

“
What bills? I have Ladd
Springs, remember? I should be
getting
money, not paying
it.”

Irritated she had to compete with the
television volume, Annie said, “Casey, earning money from the
property will take time. It’s like we discussed before, Felicity’s
deal has been in the works for months. Cal and I are working on a
plan that will bring in quite a bit of money. Or possibly we could
sell,” she broached warily. “Sell the land outright and collect a
lump sum. Either way, there would be enough money for you to go to
college, start a savings account.”

“
I don’t want to go to
college.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because I hate
school.”

“
Oh, well, sure, high school
is boring but college is different. You get to pick which classes
you want, take only those subjects that interest you.” Annie didn’t
know any of this from personal experience. She was only going off
what she’d heard at the salon over the years. Most stories about
college were positive, people claiming it was the best time in
their lives. Why would Casey want to pass up the opportunity? Going
to college completely paid for seemed like an easy yes. Didn’t get
any easier than if it slid off a greasy griddle. Why fight it? “Why
don’t we look into it a bit before we decide? You might find that
you’ll change your mind.”

“
Doubt it.”

Annie suppressed the urge to fuss at
Casey for her horrible attitude. She was being downright ornery
when all her mother was trying to do was make a plan. There was no
reason they couldn’t discuss the issue of college, but for the
moment Annie thought it best to let it go. She wasn’t dying on that
hill tonight. “Are you hungry?”

“
No.”

“
Are you sure? We could go
to Fran’s for a cheeseburger.”

“
No thanks.”

Expelling her breath in a ragged
stream, Annie cut her losses and accepted that her daughter had no
interest in bonding. Shouldn’t be a surprise. Casey hadn’t been
interested before she left, why would she care to now? Didn’t mean
Annie had to give up, merely change tactics. Picking a fuzz of lint
from her skirt, she broached, “Did Troy come back with
you?”

Casey looked at her. “Is it a problem
if he did?”

“
No. It’s just a
question.”

“
Yes.”

“
Did he go home?”

“
Yes.”

Yes, no, yes, no—Annie was getting
nowhere. Probing Casey for details was going to reveal nothing more
than the fact that she was home, which Annie could see with her own
two eyes. Casey pushed up from the couch and headed for her
bedroom. Once again, she closed herself off from the
world.

Annie stared at the television screen,
a rapid-fire commercial squawking a hundred miles an hour about
cleaning supplies. Grabbing the remote, she muted the noise.
Tomorrow she’d stop by the diner and tell Fran Casey was home.
While she said she didn’t want to work at the diner, she might
change her mind—provided Fran was willing to take her back.
Frustration soured in her belly. Where had she gone wrong with
Casey? It couldn’t be by her example. She’d worked at Trendz for
almost ten years, and another salon for eight years before that.
Never had she shown up late, or missed a day, unless it was utterly
impossible for her to get there. Some days it meant slinging a baby
bag over her shoulder and traipsing in with a baby on her hip.
Other days it meant calling on Candi for a favor. Babysitters
called in sick, child care centers were expensive... Annie managed
the best she could and while there had been difficult days, she saw
to each and every one of her responsibilities without fail. Why did
Casey take to hers so carelessly?

First thing in the morning, Annie
headed to Fran’s Diner. The heat in her car was on the blink and
she’d been frozen the entire ten minute drive. It was even colder
outside, the wind biting against her skin. Thankfully she’d thought
to wear a hat, leaving her face the only part uncovered. Hustling
toward the old retro-styled building, she tucked gloved hands
beneath her arms and hastened her step. As she reached the door, it
swung open as Cal Foster held it for her. “Well, isn’t it my lucky
day. The sunshine just walked in.”

Annie grinned despite herself and
ducked her head as she passed him. “Hi, Cal.”

“
Aren’t you a sight for my
pair of lonesome eyes?”

Enveloped by the warm interior of
Fran’s Diner, the air laced with the aroma of baking biscuits and
fried bacon, Annie frowned. “I’m sorry I haven’t called you, but
I’ve been so busy I haven’t had the first chance.” Removing her
gloves, she stuck one in each coat pocket.

“
You don’t need to make
excuses for me, darlin’. I understand.”

She smiled, genuinely happy to see him.
Shaking her hair, she removed her coat with Cal’s assistance, then
loosened her knit scarf. Suddenly she was famished. “Have you eaten
breakfast?” she asked him.

“
Waitin’ on you.”

It was a pathetic lie, but one she
jumped on. “Care to join me?”

Gentle hazel brown eyes cradled her
within a gaze accentuated by the soft camel flannel of his shirt.
Coupled with jeans and boots, Cal was pure country, pure gentleman.
“Couldn’t think of a better way to start my day.”

Fran breezed. “Good morning, sugar!”
She kissed Annie’s cheek and asked, “You two need a
table?”

“
Please.”

“
I happen to have the best
one in the house available.” She waved them to follow her past the
rounded glass pie case and into the back corner by a window. It was
private yet offered a nice view of the sunny outdoors. A woman
waved to her and from a distant table, a client from the salon.
Annie acknowledged her as Fran dashed off to the kitchen promising,
“Coffee and juice, comin’ right up!”

Taking her seat, Annie peered out the
window at vacant lot behind the diner littered with leaves, the
trees swaying in the wind. It was supposed to warm up considerably,
reaching a high of seventy-five. Perfect fall weather, if you asked
her, even more perfect after a good night’s sleep. Annie had slept
clear through to morning, knowing her daughter was home. Seeing Cal
only added to her pleasure. “Guess who came back home last
night.”

“
Casey?”

She nodded, warmed by the satisfaction
swirling in his eyes. Sweet eyes, gentle eyes, Cal was a man who
understood things, could connect emotionally with a woman where so
many men could not. Annie found it a very appealing trait in a man.
She had no use for bold and blustery. She wanted a man with a good
head on his shoulders and a sympathetic ear. “I’m real happy she’s
home. She wasn’t very friendly last night, but I’m sure she’ll get
over it.”

“
Give her time. She’s
probably smarting from the sting of failure. Girl runs away from
home, the last thing she wants to do is return with her tail
between her legs. I’d give her space. She knows where to find
you.”

Again it occurred to Annie that Cal was
wise beyond his experience. It was almost as if he understood what
she was going through from personal experience. But as far as she
knew, he didn’t have children. An ex-wife, but no kids. And
considering all the time they’d been spending together, she should
know. “I think you’re right. Unfortunately, Troy’s home,
too.”