Hotel Ladd (33 page)

Cal leaned over and brushed his nose
against her hair, tickling her ear. “You wait until Christmas
morning, hear me?” A tiny thrill zipped through her. “Then we’ll
talk about comparing gifts.” As Delaney marveled over her diamond,
holding her finger at arm’s length while Lacy ogled it, Annie
wondered what he could possibly mean. She already had a ring. What
could be better than that? Cal said to the group, “I think we might
want to warn folks visiting the hotel there’s something in the
water around here that make men want to marry!”

“
Well if they didn’t grow
them so hot around here”—Malcolm hugged Lacy to him—“we might be
able to resist.”

“
I say we bottle and sell
the stuff.”

Nick chuckled at Cal’s suggestion. “How
about we get the hotel built first, shall we gentlemen?”

“
It’s as good an idea as
any,” Cal volleyed back.

Nick brushed Delaney’s hair over her
shoulder. “I’m planning a Grand Opening Day celebration wedding
event and I refuse to wait a day past Memorial Day.”

Cal raised his brow. “You two gettin’
hitched on opening day?”

“
That we are.”

Delaney looked to Annie, then Cal, a
mischievous spark in her eyes. “Care to join us?”

She could have vacuumed the sound from
the room. For a second no one said a word. All eyes turned to
Annie. Several customers turned heads her way. She erupted with a
nervous laugh. “Why not? Let’s do it!”

“
Only we might have to
postpone it a day or two.”

Nick looked at Delaney with a stern
eye. “Are you trying to squirm out of it already?”

“
No. But Ashley won’t take
kindly to you upstaging her big Memorial Day party.”

“
Good God—I almost forgot.
She’d have my hide!” he exclaimed and Delaney smacked his
arm.

“
She won’t give you any pie
for your hotel, either.”

“
Pie?” Fran breezed out of
the kitchen. “Someone need a slice of pie?”

Delaney and Nick exchanged a guilty
glance. “Nick here was wantin’ to know if you’d consider sharing
your peach pie recipe for the new hotel,” Cal
interjected.

“
Share my recipe?” Fran
waggled a finger. “Not on your life, but I might sell you a
few!”

The group of them laughed uproariously.
Nick moseyed near Fran and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Gathering her close in an almost conspiratorial manner, he said,
“You drive a hard bargain, Fran. We’ll buy your pies on one
condition.”

“
One condition?” She eyed
him warily. “What’s that?”

“
You let me buy some from
Ashley, too.”

Lacy covered her mouth with a giggle.
When Aunt Fran looked on the verge of saying no, she squealed,
“C’mon, Aunt Frannie—you have to sell us your pies! You have
to!”

Fran broke into a grin. “Lord a’mercy
how can I say no to pregnant woman? Of course I’ll sell you my
pies!”

“
Thank the Lord,” Cal
whispered to Annie. “I thought for a second there I was gonna have
to enter into secret negotiations.”

Annie smiled. “She’d have
come around.” And suddenly, the sentiment gave her pause.
She’d come around
. Like
she had. Like Delaney had. She snuck a glance upward at Cal, his
soft profile, features she was beginning to know by heart. Her
stomach flipped. Would Emily come around? Would she let go of the
hurt and entertain a fresh start with her father? With her? Could
she forgive him and accept him, mistakes and all? Mild-mannered,
heart of gold, he was worth a second chance wasn’t he? Her gaze
drifted back to the couples making plans for an upcoming hotel,
upcoming weddings, and she lingered on the narrowing divide between
her and Delaney, the healing wounds between herself and
Lacy.

Didn’t everyone deserve a second
chance?

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Mid-February Annie was amazed by the
progress of Serenity Springs—make that Hotel Ladd. Delaney had
convinced Nick to change the name, leaving only the spa to reflect
the original title. Annie thought it was a nice gesture on Nick’s
behalf. It ensured the land remained tied to its heritage, a
reflection of generations gone before and still to come, and
placated Delaney’s growing angst over losing control. After all,
this was a business to Nick Harris. For Delaney and Felicity, it
went deeper. Ladd Springs was their legacy.

Sections of the hotel looked fairly
complete. The buildings were up, the landscape was in. Employees
spent all day on site, training for their new positions. Cal was
like an old riverboat, steady as she goes. On site he kept the pace
smooth, the tempo upbeat, kinda like a factory in motion. Behind
the scenes he worked through problems until he found a solution. He
never raised his voice, merely guided people in the direction he
wanted and away from that he didn’t. Malcolm worked mostly with
contractors and designers, applying the finishing touches to his
masterpiece. From what Cal said, the design aspect was all Malcolm.
From the indulgent spa to the riverfront restaurant and each and
every trail in between, everything creative was Malcolm.

Except the stables. Those belonged to
Delaney and was the place she lived these days. She worked night
and day, but somehow, Annie didn’t think the word work ever crossed
Delaney’s mind. Horses were her passion. She lived and breathed
them, cared for them like they were her children. One day, while
waiting for Cal to finish up, Annie decided to explore, following a
trail that led to the stables, and what she saw took her breath
away. Once the wooded path hit a clearing, a gently rolling meadow
stretched between her and a pristine line of corrals. A sloped
gravel road, lined by white fencing led the way, and when she
arrived hilltop the smell of leather and wood engulfed her. There
were no horses or hay as yet, only bridles and leads, saddles and
pads. Annie recalled the scent and how it reminded her of
everything Tennessee, everything country. Delaney had created an
ambiance as warm and welcoming as a country campfire on a
crispy-cold night. When Delaney discovered her, she had graciously
given her a tour.

“
Annie?”

She turned at the sound of Cal’s voice.
“Yes?”

“
What are you doing standing
out here all alone?”

“
Just enjoying the
scenery.”

He jogged down the front
steps from the main hotel, a log structure practically built into
the mountainside. Massive beams ran floor to ceiling and crossed
lengthwise to support an A-line roof and walls of windows. Malcolm
insisted every wall be a window for an inside-outside sensation.
Wanting no barrier between his guests and the land outdoors, he had
even gone so far as to line every bathroom in river rock and
included open-aired, spring fed steam showers. When Annie had asked
him what he intended to do when it rained or snowed, he simply
smiled, pushed a button, and an ingenious automated cover slid into
place. “
Voilá
.”

Annie shook her head. Malcolm was not
only creative, but the man harbored a technological affinity as
well. Sliding doors weren’t his only marvel of machinery. He rigged
all the sprinklers to use rain water and recycled hotel water to
irrigate the landscape. By utilizing a high-tech filter, he claimed
the water was practically as pure as the springs by the time it hit
the leaves outdoors. His compost bins were another ingenious feat.
Strategically located throughout the property, the food waste his
guests discarded was composted for use in the hotel’s herb and
vegetable gardens to grow the next batch of culinary
creations.

“
Are you ready to take a
look at the spa?”

Anticipation skirted through her. “I
am.”

Cal took her by the hand and guided her
through a covered walkway that followed the mountainside and into
the spa. Another feat of gorgeous design by Malcolm, the spa had
been worked in and around mountainous rocks, over and above a
rushing creek. It was the same creek that used to run behind
Ernie’s cabin, long since destroyed and replaced with an adorable
rustic shack where they housed historical items from the area. That
was Cal’s idea. A history buff, he convinced Malcolm and Nick their
guests would love a quaint trip into the history-rich past of
Tennessee, complete with Indian relics, tokens leftover from the
old mining days and of course, tales of gold fever that wracked the
land, including right here in Ladd Springs. For added mystique, an
authentic graveyard lay within view—home to Susannah and Ernie and
any number of Ladds to come. Cal assured them that after a visit
here, those pretty gold pendants they had in the gift shop would
sell like hotcakes.

Opening the door for her, Cal asked,
“Have you given the salon your notice?”

“
I have,” she said, with no
small amount of ambivalence. Annie had been torn up inside when she
told the owner she was leaving. Trendz had been her professional
home for almost ten years, and it felt like she was leaving home
when she told them she was joining the staff at Serenity Springs.
Annie grinned inwardly. Make that running the Serenity Springs spa.
The nail department, anyway. Walking into her section, her jaw
dropped. “Do you need five stations?”

“
Yes ma’am. We aim to have
manicures, pedicures, waxing, the works.”

Annie laughed. “But do you think you’re
going to need them at one time?” She looked at a row of fancy
leather chairs wrapped in plastic, sleek stone sinks behind each,
complete with built-in wooden racks for her selection of nail
polish, a stack of drawers to house her manicure tools. A line of
pedicure chairs lined the opposite wall, outfitted equally well.
Unlike the stark contemporary décor of Trendz, the pale cream walls
and recessed lighting matched the supple vanilla leather of the
chairs to give this area a calming aura. Polished pebblestone
floors lent a natural, earthy feel. It was unfinished, but she
could easily envision Malcolm’s intent.

“
We plan to run at full
occupancy.”

“
All the time?”

Cal grinned. “All the time.”

She shook her head. “You’re going to
have your hands full.”

He slid them around her waist and
nuzzled her ear. “I hope so. We’re going to need a few kids to fill
that house.”

Grasping hold of his arms, she reveled
in the feel of him, the peace she felt in his presence. Enfolded
within his embrace, she immersed herself in the scent of his
cologne, a subtle fragrance with a mildly woodsy spice. Thoughts of
Christmas morning floated to the forefront of her mind. Cal’s gift
to her had been architectural drawings. It wasn’t what she expected
to find when she unwrapped the enormous gold-papered box with the
glittery red bow, but then again Cal was proving to be anything but
ordinary. He told her it was a dream home, a place he’d always
wanted to build in the mountains but had no one to build it with
until her. A slew of warm memories inundated her. He promised she
could change anything she wanted, but after perusing the pages,
Annie didn’t want to change a thing. She loved it, but it was what
he said to Casey that touched her heart the most.

There was a private detached cabin
included solely for her. Said he understood living with her momma
wasn’t ideal for a young woman on her own, and he believed she
needed her own space. Annie thought Casey was going to jump from
the couch and hug him. She didn’t, but Annie could see the
appreciation bursting in a gaze straight from her heart. Cal had
given her the greatest gift of all. Independence.

And despite the fact that her life was
beginning a beautiful new phase, something had been gnawing at
Annie and she needed to get it off her chest. Turning within his
arms, she peered up at him. “Cal?”

“
Yes?”

“
Can we invite Emily to the
wedding?” Cal went rigid. “I mean it. I think it might be a nice
outreach, don’t you?”

Sadness poured into hazel eyes, his
features etched by time, a time greater than his years. “Annie, I
think it’s a real sweet idea, but I don’t think she’ll come. I’ve
called her twice and her momma won’t let her talk to
me.”

“
Why don’t we go see her in
person?” His Adam’s apple logged up and down. “Would you, Cal?
Would you take me out there to meet her? It’s a lot harder to say
no to person when they’re standing right there in front of
you.”

“
I don’t know, Annie. That
might be asking a bit too much of her.”

“
Will you at least consider
the idea?”

Visibly relieved, he nodded. “I
will.”

She kissed him. “Thank you.”

After they investigated every nook and
cranny of the new nail salon, Cal took his time escorting Annie
back to the lobby. He idled around the path, indulging in a spout
of a waterfall escaping from a crack in the rocks. It was spring
water, one of the many natural outlets on the property. Ladd
Springs earned its name for a reason. “Have you given any more idea
to where you want to live?”

It was a question she’d been
anticipating but had no answer. “I have.”