Hotel Ladd (18 page)

Cal grasped her lightly by the elbow.
“Don’t mind Daddy. He’s always looking for a land
steal.”

Gerald laughed. “Not all of us can make
our money on the stock market, son.”

Which is how Cal supported himself.
After leaving a steady income in Arizona, Cal claimed to have
earned enough money investing in the stock market that he didn’t
have to rush out and find work. She sighed. Must be
nice.

“
If you all will excuse us,”
Cal said. “I’d like to show Annie around.”

“
Be my guest,” Gerald said
heartily.

After making brief introductions to the
remainder of his family, Cal led Annie through a commercial-grade
kitchen where a stainless steel refrigerator rivaled the size of
Fran’s fridge at the diner. Shiny stone counters were long and
wide, mahogany cabinets decoratively carved and embossed. Moving
out of earshot of the living room, Cal stopped and turned. “Are you
thinking of selling the property, Annie?”

Gentle brown eyes held no pretense, no
pleasantry. They were open and direct. Cal was asking her an honest
question. A question he was surprised to be asking. “I don’t know,”
she hemmed.

“
Did you discuss the matter
with Mr. Dakota?”

In the privacy of his office
where matters were supposed to be
confidential
, yes. “I asked after the
value of the land. If we’re going to log, I’ll need to know, won’t
I?”

Cal’s gaze sharpened to a razor-thin
line between belief and suspicion. “Not particularly.”

“
If we log a hundred acres,
how much will it cost to build a house?” Cal had been the one to
suggest she set roots and build a home for Casey, giving her
daughter the stability she needed. “Will two-hundred fifty thousand
be enough?”

“
Depends on what kind of
house you aim to build.”

Cal was being cagey. He was testing
her. “I want to know all my options,” Annie declared, growing
indignant beneath the glare of his spotlight. “It’s my job as
trustee to discuss the options and do what’s best for Casey, isn’t
it?”

He nodded. “It is.”

“
And that’s what I intend to
do.” Sensing his withdrawal, Annie tried to affirm his efforts on
her behalf were not wasted. “It’s all I was doing at the lawyer’s
office, Cal. I’m still interested in logging, but I need to know
what it costs and what do I do with the money when they pay
me?”

“
I can help you with that,
Annie,” he said, and she felt something inside him close. Cal
wasn’t sure of her. He harbored doubt where she was concerned and
it killed her. His withdrawal of trust hurt more than she
expected.

“
I know, Cal, and I
appreciate it, you know I do. This is new territory for me, is all,
and I want to be sure, make responsible decisions for
Casey.”

This pulled a smile into his mix of
strain and ambiguity. “You’re doing the right thing.”

Relief fluttered beneath her breast.
“Now, will you show me around? I’d love to see the
house.”

Cal extended an elbow. “By all
means.”

After a half-hour tour, Annie and Cal
descended the spiral staircase, wooden steps that twirled beneath
another magnificent country-styled chandelier. She felt like
royalty sweeping down on the arm of her prince. Annie’s emotions
flipped between envy and awe, admiration and possibility. The
upstairs of the Foster’s home boasted more of the same impressive
construction and décor and made Annie wonder at the type of home
five hundred thousand dollars could build. Surely something as nice
as the Foster estate. It should be enough to build a home and pay
for college. On second thought, Annie deemed, gliding her hand down
the smooth beveled edge of the railing, maybe she should ask
Jillian Devane to pay more. The real estate listings she’d found
online had suggested as much, hadn’t they? Several were listed for
well over a million.

A twinge of excitement skirted through
her. She’d double-check tonight. “Oh!” Annie cried out
breathlessly, bumping into Cal as he froze mid-step on the
staircase.

Cal was stone still. Annie’s heart
caught at the sight of his brother standing a few feet from the
base of stairs. Jack Foster, in the flesh.

Staring up at them, Jack took in Annie
by Cal’s side, noted their hands entwined between them. A glimmer
of realization lit up his dark gaze—his lined, tanned, handsome
gaze. Much darker than Cal, Jack looked weathered, rugged. Dressed
for the occasion in black slacks and striped button-down, his trim
figure suggested he’d kept in shape over the years. “Hi,
Cal.”

“
Jack.” Cal remained in
place, but only momentarily, as if thinking better of it. Guiding
Annie down the last few steps, he asked, “What brings you in
town?”

A sardonic gleam entered his eyes.
“It’s Thanksgiving, brother.”

“
It is,” Cal said, as though
the revelation were insignificant. Glancing toward the living room,
Cal eyed his brother Jack with a healthy dose of suspicion. “Does
Daddy know you’re here?”

Jack laughed, unaffected. “Actually, I
only just arrived. Decided to surprise them with a visit from their
baby boy.”

Cal nodded. Was Jack’s presence
unwelcome? Annie wondered.

“
So how’ve you been?” Jack
brushed Annie with a fleeting gaze. “Since the accident and
all.”

Cal stiffened. “Fine.”

Accident? Annie looked to Cal, then
Jack. What accident?

Jack smiled, a dark pleasure swirling
in his expression as he took in Annie. “That’s good to hear.”
Hesitating briefly, he took a step toward the main living area
where the family could be heard gathered. Conversation was muted,
but amicable, joyous. Somehow, Annie thought all that was about to
change.

Cal watched his brother enter through a
wide, wood-framed opening. His demeanor felt ten shades cooler.
“Cal?” she asked. “What accident was he referring to?” Jack made it
sound serious, though Cal hadn’t mentioned the first word to her in
six months. Had he been hurt? Was he okay?

Annie’s heart skipped a beat as he
turned to her. Deep in Cal’s eyes sat a secret, buried beneath
layers of defense and privacy—layers Jack had ripped away. She
could see it clear as if it were posted on a roadside billboard.
She swallowed, and reached for the strand of pearls at her neck. It
was unsettling to see Cal unnerved.

“
It’s nothing,” he replied
quietly. Without another word Cal led her into the living room, a
room sucked clean of merriment.

Chapter Fourteen

Returning home, Annie found Casey on
the couch. There was no light in the apartment, save for the
illumination of the television screen. Wandering inside farther,
she was surprised Casey wasn’t with Troy. Flicking on an overhead
light, Annie asked after her Thanksgiving meal. “How did it go with
the Parkers?”

“
Horrible.”

Annie stopped. “Horrible? Why? What
happened?”

“
Felicity was
there.”

“
So. She’s with Travis. What
would it matter?” Annie pulled the purse from her shoulder and set
it on the dining room table.

“
She kept asking a bunch of
questions about Troy’s ranch plans, his future, if he was going to
reconsider his decision on college.”

Annie came around and dropped to a seat
next to her daughter. Brushing long bangs behind an ear, she asked,
“And that bothered you?”

Casey stared at the television. “She
doesn’t have any business with Troy. It shouldn’t matter to her
what he’s doing.”

“
Well,” Annie broached
gently, fully understanding that her daughter felt on the outs.
“They’re friends. Makes sense she’d be interested in what he’s
doing.” Casey wasn’t completely comfortable with the family of the
boy whom she was dating. Annie had felt the same way during her
meal with the Fosters. Jack’s surprise arrival didn’t help, nor did
his mysterious comment about an accident or Cal’s vague response.
It left her unsettled, on edge, as though she didn’t belong on the
inside.

Casey grunted. “She doesn’t like
me.”

“
That’s not true. Felicity
likes you, just fine.”

“
No she doesn’t.” Casey
turned her head. “She doesn’t approve of Troy dating me,
either.”

“
Why would you say
that?”

“
Weren’t you listening? She
kept trying to get him to go back to school.”

Annie set hands to her thighs. “Which
has nothing to do with you.”

Casey looked at her mother as if she
were an idiot. “Yes it does. It would take Troy away from
me.”

Annie stilled. “I think you might be
over-analyzing it. Felicity believes college is the best route.
She’s there, Travis is there. She thinks Troy should be, too.” And
you, Annie added silently. Casey should be in college, too, not
wasting her life chasing a boy. “It only makes sense that she’d try
to sell you and Troy on it.”

“
Well, he doesn’t want to
go. He wants to stay here and work with horses. He wants to stay
with me.”

Annie smiled. “Cal had some really nice
things to say about Troy.”

A thunderbolt of surprise struck the
tension from Casey’s expression. “He did?”

Annie nodded. She reached out and
stroked Casey’s hair, taking comfort in the fact that her daughter
didn’t resist. Hope blossomed in her chest. Maybe this was an
opportunity to repair the rift, close the space between them. “He
sure did. Said Troy helped him deliver a foal the other day and
perhaps saved the baby’s life.”

“
Oh, yeah. Troy told
me.”

“
Saved the animal’s life,
according to Cal,” she said, “Though I don’t know about that whole
mouth-to-mouth thing!” She screwed her face. “But I’m glad he’s
okay with it. Annie yearned for the candid look in Casey’s eyes to
continue. Her daughter was a child again, a baby who still believed
in the possibility of happily-ever-after. She was a girl, a young
woman. She had hope in her eyes and joy in her smile.

Absorbing the revelation, Casey nodded.
“He’s really good. I told you, didn’t I? Troy is really good with
horses. He doesn’t need college.”

Annie’s heart swelled and she dropped
her hand. Casey was pure devotion. She was solid, supportive. “With
you in his corner, Troy can conquer the world.”

When her daughter opened into a
full-fledged smile, Annie took the opportunity to broach the
subject of Ladd Springs. “Have you thought any more about what we
discussed regarding the property?”

“
You mean selling it?” Annie
nodded, her breathing suddenly shallow. Casey shrugged. “I don’t
care, really. I’m not going to see any of the money until I’m
thirty, anyway.”

“
As trustee, I can spend
some of it on you before then.”

“
To go to
college.”

“
To go to college, to buy a
car...” she added, reminding her daughter that she wasn’t trying to
force the issue, only offering it as an option—one of many. “We
could buy a house.”

Casey looked at her and
Annie realized at once that her daughter wasn’t considering a
move-in with
her
.
She was anticipating a move-in with Troy. Annie’s heart fell. Of
course she was. Who wanted to live with their mother for the rest
of their life?

“
House, car, there are all
kinds of things you can do with the money,” she said. Like start a
business. Candi had been bugging Annie to go into a salon together.
Maybe Casey could do something along the same lines, but what? What
did she want to do? “If you could spend the money on anything,
job-oriented, I mean, what would you spend it on?”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
I mean,” Annie said,
formulating her thoughts as she spoke them, “say you could start a
business. What kind of business would it be?”

Casey shrugged, but her features
softened in contemplation. “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about
it.”

Eighteen and Casey had never thought
about what she wanted to do. Felicity knew she wanted a career as a
flutist. Travis knew he wanted to be a lawyer. Troy knew he wanted
to work with horses. But Casey? She knew nothing of the kind. Annie
ran a hand down her daughter’s back. “You should think about
it.”

“
Think about what kind of
business I want to start?”

“
Think about what you want
to do with the rest of your life.” It was something Annie needed to
start thinking more about herself, as well.

The next day, Annie met Cal, Malcolm
and Lacy for lunch. Thanksgiving was over but the salon was closed,
leaving her with a long weekend. Cal planned to take her riding
this afternoon, but Lacy insisted they have lunch. She and Malcolm
wanted to share some good news.

“
Thanks, Fran,” Annie said
as her aunt finished a pour of coffee.

Fran winked. “You bet.”

Annie looked to Lacy and asked, “Okay,
what’s the big news.”