Hotel Ladd (22 page)

Beside her, Casey’s tears had subsided
as she stared up at Jack with an odd mix of interest and distrust.
Did she realize this was Felicity’s father?

Anxious for him to leave, Delaney
added, “Unlike your family, I’m not interested in catching up on
old times.”

He chuckled. “Nice to see you, too,
sweetheart.” Jack overtly checked out her legs beneath the table.
“I gotta admit, you look good. Still as hot as ever.”

“
Make yourself useful and
disappear, Jack.” She drew Casey closer to her. “Can’t you see
we’re not interested in company?”

Tapping Casey with a thoughtful gaze,
he said, “How’s Felicity?” When Delaney didn’t respond, he pressed,
“She in town? I’d sure like to see her.”

Casey registered his identity, turning
to Delaney with a look of shock.

“
She’s away at college,”
Delaney replied.

He nodded, as though approving. “Don’t
tell me she didn’t come home for the holidays.” Delaney remained
stone-faced but Casey’s change in expression gave it away. He
thrust her a self-serving smile. “That’s what I thought. Well,
listen, tell her I’m in town, will you? I’d like to see her while
I’m here.”

When hell freezes
over
. Delaney would rather spit nails into
his coffin than allow him to hurt her daughter again. And hurt her,
he would. The last time Jack contacted Felicity was to deliver a
lecture on how he wouldn’t pay a dime toward her college tuition.
She’d have to earn scholarships like he did. Which was a load of
bull. His father’s friends sponsored most of those scholarships to
get in Gerald Foster’s good graces. None of which were necessary,
anyway. The Fosters were worth plenty.

“
You know how to find me,”
he said affably. “I’ll make my schedule flexible to see my
daughter.”

Bile rose in her throat. The man made
her sick.

Jack winked. “Try to smile, Dell. That
scowl makes you look old.”

Chapter Eighteen

Annie paced her living room as she
awaited Cal’s arrival. His phone call this morning sounded
uncomfortable, awkward. Was he coming to press her on the issue of
employment with Serenity Springs? Did he want her to take the job,
thus clearing the way for him to accept the position as General
Manager?

She knew Cal wanted the job and she
knew he wanted her consent. They’d been discussing a future
together in round about ways, and Cal had made it clear he wanted
Annie to be a part of his life—a big part. A nervous tremor wound
through her. She wanted the same. Cal was coming to mean a lot to
her. A very lot. But if she sold Casey’s half of Ladd Springs it
would cause friction. It would prove a sticky-wicket between her
and Lacy, Malcolm, Nick, Delaney...and Cal, if held title as
General Manager. It would be uncomfortable at best, outright
hostile at worst. Annie paused. Did she want to be a part of
Serenity Springs? Did she want to tie her future to that of Delaney
and Lacy?

Annie jumped—“Oh!”—startled
by the ring of her cell phone. Pulse racing, she scooped the phone
up from her sofa table, staring at the screen in disbelief.
Delaney
? With a reflexive
press of her thumb, Annie answered. “Hello?”

“
Annie, its
Delaney.”

Smoothing a hand down the side of her
head, she nodded. “Yes, what’s up?”

“
I spent the afternoon with
your daughter. She’s in a bad state.”

Annie dropped her hand, her breath
escaping in a rush. “What?”

“
Are you aware of her
breakup with Troy?”

Annie’s heart leapt into her throat.
“Breakup?”

“
Yes, they broke up last
night. Apparently Troy was messing around with Jillian Devane and
Casey caught them.”

Annie reached out for the couch to
steady herself. “Jillian Devane? What would he be doing with
her?”

“
Same thing as any other
red-blooded man. If she was offering, he was taking.”

“
I can’t believe it,” Annie
muttered more to herself than Delaney, although no sooner had the
words erupted from her lips than did visions of the two at the
diner flooded through her mind.
Troy and
Jillian
? She dropped to a seat. “I don’t
know what to say.”

“
Speaking of unbelievable
things, I can’t believe you’re considering selling Ladd
Springs.”

Adrenaline surged through
Annie’s weak limbs. “
What
? Who told you that?”

“
Casey.”

Casey
? Casey was sharing their private business with Delaney? Since
when were the two of them close enough to share personal
information? And if Delaney knew about the potential sale, could
she stop it? Could Nick?

“
Is it true?” Delaney
demanded.

Through a fog of bewilderment, her
strength draining fast, Annie envisioned Delaney’s high and mighty
expression through the phone connection. Delaney thought she was
catching Annie in the act. “No,” she spat, “it’s not
true.”

“
Then why would Casey say
it?”

“
Gerald Foster offered to
buy the land from me,” Annie lied, anger welling quickly at a lie
she felt powerless to control—but dammit she wouldn’t let Delaney
have the upper hand with her!

“
Gerald? What would he want
with the property?”

Annie allowed the significance to sink
between them before responding, “I think we both know the answer to
that one,” then took pleasure in Delaney’s silence. About time
someone gave it back to her, and Annie was glad she had the honor
of dishing it out. Regaining her wits, she went on, “As for the
sale of Casey’s property, it’s none of your business what I decide
to do with it, one way or another.”

“
It sure as hell is my
business. I gave it to her!”

“
Operative word,
gave
.” Annie savored a
smug smile. “The property belongs to Casey, not you. When and if we
decide to sell, you’ll be the first to know.”

“
Annie, I
swear
if you sell that
property to Jillian Devane, I will have your hide, you hear
me?”

A swarm of angst fluttered
in Annie’s breast, she flung her gaze about the room.
Delaney knew about Jillian
? But how? Even Casey didn’t know about the deal they were
discussing. Annie had purposefully kept that detail secret—from
everyone. Had Jillian told her? Fear slid down her spine. No, it
had to be a coincidence. A wild guess on Delaney’s part and nothing
more. Jillian Devane was a smart woman. She knew there’d be a fight
if anyone got wind of the sale beforehand. Throttling a fresh slew
of nerves, Annie said, “Thank you for letting me know about Casey,
but I’m finished with this phone call.”

“
I’d watch her closely, if I
were you. She’s vulnerable right now.”

On account of her drug problem. “Yes,
thank you, but I don’t need help raising my daughter.”

Before ending the call, Delaney
cracked, “Oh, and for the record, Nick didn’t have anything to do
with Jeremiah’s beating.”

Annie latched a hand to the couch.
“What?”

“
Casey told me you think it
was Nick behind the beating, but it wasn’t. It was
Ernie.”

“
Ernie?”

“
Yes,
Ernie
. He went God knows where to call
in some kind of thug attack in an effort to stop Jeremiah from
causing trouble. So next time you’re doling out the blame, leave
Nick out of it.”

Annie clenched the phone at
her ear.
Ernie had Jeremiah beaten and
robbed
? “I don’t believe you. Why would
Ernie do such a thing? And how would
you
know, anyway?”

“
He confessed to me at the
hospital before he died. The man hated his son and I can’t say as I
blame him, the way Jeremiah was treating him.” Delaney released an
exasperated sigh. “Ernie thought he was doing the town a favor by
running him off. It’s twisted, but it’s the truth.”

Casey walked in the front door and
Annie’s thoughts swerved to a halt. “I have to go,” she said and
ended the call. Pushing away from the couch, she hurried over to
her child, shoulders sunken, eyes dead. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?
What happened?” Annie didn’t want to let on what she knew. She
wanted Casey to share it with her like she had Delaney.

“
Nothing.”

“
Nothing?

“
I want to be alone,” she
mumbled and walked past her mother en route for her
bedroom.

Crushed, Annie could only
watch her go.
Nothing?
She could share her heartbreak with Delaney and not her own
mother?

The betrayal whipped up a tornado of
emotion. Anger, jealousy, hatred and resentment swirled together in
a funnel of hurt and disbelief. Casey had chosen Delaney over her.
She had opened up and shared her pain with her but wouldn’t reveal
the first detail to her own mother. It was a poke in the eye and
Annie had had enough. She was tired of Delaney’s intrusive
personality and her know-it-all attitude. She probably needled it
out of her daughter, then acted like Casey had shared it of her own
accord. Annie’s temper teetered on the edge of control. The woman
was a witch. A selfish witch. Why, Annie had a mind to sell the
property just to spite her.

Cal hesitated outside Annie’s front
door. Glancing down the deserted second-story corridor, he pulled
at his jacket collar as misgiving kicked up a dust storm in his
gut. He needed to talk to Annie, but doing so in public wasn’t
advisable. The news wasn’t good. It was real bad and he felt partly
responsible, but it was what it was, and he wasn’t going to play
games with her. Annie was a sensible woman. She understood that
people made choices. Sometimes good ones, sometimes bad ones, but
they made choices and they had to live with them. Whether they
wanted to or not. It was a lesson he’d learned the hard way. Cal
rapped on the door, the cold metal bruising to his knuckles.
Moments later, Annie opened it. “Hi, Cal.”

Although she was expecting him, her
pretty blue eyes weren’t nearly as eager as he’d hoped. Just as
well. He’d be erasing the joy from them right soon, anyhow. “Hi,
Annie.” She stepped aside. Cal made sure to be quick about it. It
was freezing outside and he didn’t want any more frigid air running
into her apartment than need be. Annie closed the door behind him.
“Thanks for having me over,”

“
Cal,” she said, a small
smile rushing to her lips, “you know I’m always glad to see
you.”

He nodded, a twitch nervous. He hoped
that remained true after what he was about to tell her. “Is Casey
home?”

Annie nodded. “She’s in her
bedroom.”

Cal cursed the luck but didn’t let on.
“Well,” he began, careful to keep his voice low. “I need to tell
you something and it’s best I get right to it.”

Concern rippled across her features.
“What’s going on?”

“
Troy was fired
today.”

She grasped her neck.
“What?”

He nodded. “Beau called me and I had to
agree with the decision.” Though it hurt like hell. Troy had been
his recommendation. He believed in the boy but now...

“
What for?”

Cal took a few steps toward her but
stopped. He understood this was a touchy subject. “He’d been
drinking.”

The color drained from her face. “He
was drinking on the job?”

“
No. But he showed up late
with alcohol on his breath.”
Seeping from
his skin
was the way Beau put it, but Cal
didn’t need to paint a picture any darker than it already was. “I
think he must have been hung over, but I wasn’t there. They called
me first thing, seeing’s how I’m the one who recommended him for
the job.”

Anger scorched her reply, “And he blew
it.”

“
He did.”

Fury trickled into sapphire eyes,
chilling them with a rage he’d yet to witness in her. “I knew that
boy was no good, right from the start.”

“
Now I wouldn’t go that far.
He made a mistake—”

She bristled, sending
prickleys across his skin. “Mistake? You call getting drunk and
showing up for work hung over a
mistake
?”

As a matter of fact, he did. Done it
himself on a number of occasions and every single one of them had
been a mistake. “He’s been doing a fine job—”

“
Until he decided to blow
it, deciding that drinking was more important than holding down a
job.” Before Cal could reply, Annie whirled and strode across the
small living room. She marched from one end to the other, torching
the air between them. “Casey is better off without him. He’s a low
life, a loser.” As though realizing her daughter might overhear,
she stifled her tone. “She can do a heck of a lot better than Troy,
I’ll tell you that. I’m almost glad he was fired. Now she’ll see
him for what he is.”