Ladd Springs (Ladd Springs, Book #1)

LADD

SPRINGS

by

Dianne Venetta

*****

PUBLISHED BY:

BloominThyme Press

Ladd Springs

Copyright 2013 by Dianne Venetta

LADD SPRINGS

Ladd Springs Series:

LADD SPRINGS ~ #1

LADD FORTUNE ~ #2

HOTEL LADD ~ #3

LADD HAVEN ~ #4

LOSING LADD

Available December 2013

Other novels by Dianne Venetta:

Romantic Women’s Fiction

The Gables Trilogy:

JENNIFER’S GARDEN

LUST ON THE ROCKS

WHISPER PRIVILEGES

Women’s Fiction

CONDEMN ME NOT

License Notes

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only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would
like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy
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it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Ladd Springs

Copyright 2013 by Dianne Venetta

ISBN: 978-0-9884871-2-3

Publisher: BloominThyme Press

Editor: Best Foot Forward

Cover Design: Jaxadora Design

This book is a work of fiction. Any
references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used
fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of
the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons,
living or dead, is coincidental. This ebook is licensed for your personal
enjoyment only. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under
copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by
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without prior written permission from the copyright owner.

Acknowledgements

In every book you’ll find a piece
of the author, and Ladd Springs is no different. The eastern Tennessee
mountains hold a special place in my heart. The setting is gorgeous, the
ambiance serene—the creeks and rivers, hiking trails and fishing holes—it’s made
for some memorable moments with my family and friends.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the
Good family. Thank you for the memories!

LADD SPRINGS

Book #1

Delaney Wilkins finds herself at odds with hotel developer
Nick Harris over a deathbed promise and a mysterious find in the Tennessee
forest. Both are after title to Ladd Springs, a mecca of natural springs,
streams and trails in the eastern Tennessee mountains, a tract of land worth
millions. But Ernie Ladd, current owner of the property and uncle to Delaney,
is adamantly opposed to them both.

Felicity Wilkins, Delaney’s daughter, deserves to
inherit her family’s legacy, but neighbor Clem Sweeney is working against her,
ingratiating himself with Ernie Ladd. Clem is also harboring a secret that will
make him a very wealthy man—unless the others stop him before he can bring it
to fruition.

Complicating matters is Annie Owens. Ex-girlfriend
to Jeremiah Ladd, Ernie’s estranged son lining in Atlanta, she declares her
daughter Casey is Jeremiah’s, making Casey every bit as entitled to the
property as Felicity—only Annie hasn’t proven this claim. Yet.

All are fighting to get the property, but only one
will walk away with the gold.

Meet
the cast of characters of Ladd Springs...

Ernie
Ladd
- Owner of Ladd Springs

Albert
Ladd
- Ernie’s brother

Susannah
Ladd Wilkins
-
Ernie’s sister (deceased)

Jeremiah
Ladd
- Ernie’s son, forsaken from the family

Delaney
Wilkins
- Ernie’s niece, daughter to Susannah

Felicity
Wilkins
- Delaney’s daughter

Nick
Harris
- Hotel developer interested in purchasing Ladd Springs

Clem
Sweeney
- Neighbor out to con Ernie for title to Ladd Springs

Ashley
and Booker Fulmer
- Ernie’s sister Susannah’s best friend & her husband

Annie
and Casey Owens
- Jeremiah’s ex-girlfriend and her daughter

Candi
Sweeney
– Clem’s sister, Annie’s best friend

Travis
and Troy Parker
– Neighbors and friends of Felicity

Fran
Jones
- Owner of Fran’s Diner, aunt to Annie

Jeb
and Willie
- Cohorts of Clem

Chapter One

Crouched
in the Tennessee mountain brush, Delaney Wilkins pushed up from her knees and
moved farther into the thicket for a better view. Beneath the canopy of laurel
and oaks, the scent of wet earth and decomposing leaves rose thick in the air
around her. She craned her head to look between the trees. Some blackened,
others gray, trunks stood in varying stages of decay, victims to the slew of
storms that ripped through the area several years back. And among them, two strangers.
By the outline of their build, the rough jerk to their movements, they appeared
to be men. But gender didn’t matter. Trespassers were trespassers and they were
on
her
land.

Delaney
held her breath, suppressing all thought but one. No one was supposed to be in
her
part of the woods. Did they venture too far off the USFS trail and get lost?

Her
instincts hummed. The USFS was public land. It was possible. But these two
seemed too intent on whatever it was they were doing to be lost hikers. She
could hear their voices but was unable to make out the details of their
conversation, or what—exactly—they were doing.
Damn it
, she had to get
closer.

A
quick survey of her surroundings told her the answer wasn’t here. Not unless
she wanted to take up cliff diving down the slope before her, causing a ruckus
that would obviously reveal her presence. Delaney scanned the upper ridge
beyond the men. The trail behind her would take her to the top, but it was a
twenty minute hike at a good clip. But they could be gone by then. She dropped her
focus back to the strangers. There
was
one other way. She spied the
narrow trail leading off to her left. It was a footpath she had forged years
ago, one created as her secret weapon in games of “hide and seek” played with
her cousin, Jeremiah Ladd. At one time, she had used the trail to kick his
butt. At the moment, it would serve to get her thirty feet closer. Unfortunately,
the pace she’d have to travel to remain undetected would have to be excruciatingly
slow.

Delaney
considered her options. Her Palomino, Sadie, was tied to a post at the base,
the landmark her family had built to mark the opening for this trail. If she
had to get anywhere fast, she knew Sadie would take her. Physical confrontation
didn’t concern her—not with a pistol holstered snug in her boot.

Gravel
and sticks crunched behind her. A thunderbolt of fear slammed into her. Shooting
hand to boot, she whirled, ready to pounce.

“Hi,”
came the hushed greeting.

With
a sharp intake of breath, Delaney recovered from the initial shock and took in
the unexpected sight of Nick Harris, the real estate developer determined to
buy her family’s property—
but what the hell was he doing here
?

There,
in the middle of the path, the six-foot-four man stood like a fool.

“Get
down,” she hissed, her pulse continuing to hammer as she waved him toward the
ground. Surprise swirled around a sudden suspicion teeming in his swarthy black
eyes as he spied the hand sliding free from her boot. With a quick check on her
quarry, she growled under her breath, “And be quiet!”

Squatting,
he glanced in the direction she’d been looking and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,”
she said, her focus darting between him and the men. “Why are you following
me?”

“I
saw your horse tied to the post and became concerned.”

“Don’t
be.”

Across
the woods, the men rose to their full height and it was then Delaney got her
first decent look at them. One was tall and bulky, the other was short and
wiry. Wearing tattered cowboy hats and dirty T-shirts, they weren’t tourists. Were
they squatters?

Laughter
punctuated the quiet, drawing Nick’s quick attention. “Who are they?” he
demanded.

“Don’t
know,” she replied, wondering what the men would do next.

“Let’s
get out of here.” He pulled at her arm. “Those men could be trouble.”

Delaney
shot him a hard glance and jerked away from his grasp. “Those men are
trespassing on my land. If anyone needs to get out of here, it’s them.”

“Don’t
be ridiculous,” he said. “If they’re trespassers, you need to call the police.”

She
scoffed at the notion. Calling the police would not help her discover why they
were here. It would only alert the men to the fact that she was onto them. The
larger man suddenly slapped the shorter on the back and said something, but not
loud enough for her to discern even a word. Within minutes, the strangers collected
their belongings and took off in the opposite direction.

Delaney
shot to her feet. Where were they going? That trail didn’t lead back to the
government forest land.
It led straight back to her cabin
.

“I’m
getting you out of here,” Nick said, his voice closing in on her back.

Delaney
wasn’t going anywhere, especially with Nick Harris. “I’m going after them,” she
said. Right after she searched the area below where she’d first seen the men.

“Oh,
no you’re not.” Nick encircled a large, firm palm around her bare bicep.

Hot
and unwelcome against her skin, his hand tightened. The hair on the nape of her
neck prickled in rebellion. She looked up into his face, noting his thick brow
gathered in a storm of its own. “Excuse me?”

“I’m
not about to let you run off and chase after strangers. Those men could be up
to no good.”

“You’re
damn right they are—and on my property!” Delaney yanked her arm, only to find
it immovable. “Let me go,” she spat.

“No.”

At
the force of his objection, she stopped. Glaring at him, Delaney performed a
rapid assessment of the situation. While trained in physical defense, taking on
the over two-hundred-some pound muscular Mr. Harris was not what she wanted to
be doing at the moment. She wanted to get over there and find out what those
two men had been doing. She wanted to follow them to see where they were going.
She stared up at Nick, her displeasure intensifying as she noted the hint of
amusement in his eyes. “Why are you here again?”

“I
told you. I saw your horse back there without you on it.” He relaxed into a
smile. “I became concerned.”

Dimples
carved into his cheeks on either side of his mouth, compliments to the slight
cleft in his chin centered within his angular jaw. Black-brown eyes appeared
seamless beneath his heavy brow and deeply tanned skin. With his short, dark
hair rich and full, combed away from his face, his appearance was one of rugged
masculinity that seemed right at home in these woods. But this was Ladd land. Her
land. He had no business interfering.

“My
whereabouts and well-being are none of your concern,” she said, making no
effort to conceal her annoyance at his gallant show of male dominance, “and I
hereby officially relieve you of duty. I can take care of myself, thank you.”

“I’m
not leaving without you.”

She
grumbled under her breath. She could stay and protest, wasting precious time,
or she could feign conciliation and take Sadie after the men. No doubt they
were taking the back way out. Nick didn’t mention anything about a horse of his
own. Delaney savored a private smile, a plan forming in her mind. There was no
way he could stop her once on horseback. “Fine,” she retorted and headed back
toward the trail, taking the incline in three long strides.

Once
on the path, she walked as fast as she could, eager to lose him.

Nick
caught up with her easily, matching her stride. “Do you have much trouble
around here with trespassing?”

“Some.”
Boots jarred her legs as she navigated the hard-packed, uneven clay, littered
with rocks and roots. As they walked side-by-side, Delaney couldn’t help but
notice her five-foot-five inches and a buck twenty in weight were dwarfed by
comparison to Nick.

“How
do you handle it?”

Anger
rose hot and fast in her breast and she turned on him. “Why? So you can map out
a response to silence the trouble, once you swindle the property from my
uncle?”

“I’m
not trying to swindle the property,” he said, his tone measured and even, as
though it required effort for him to remain calm.

“Aren’t
you? Ernie already said
no
. Why are you still here?” she asked, taking
him in from the side as she marched down the trail, passing an opening that
revealed a cascade of water. It crashed over rocks and gullies and fallen logs,
making its way downstream. Flooded with sunshine and white caps, Zack’s Falls
was one of Ladd Springs’ many assets.

Nick
raised his voice over the roar of waterfall. “I’m a patient man, Ms. Wilkins. I
understand he needs time to think it over. I’m willing to give it to him.”

“You
don’t know my uncle.”

“Why
don’t you tell me about him?” he asked, his voice drenched in friendship and
camaraderie. “I’m not a bad guy. I’ll make it a win-win proposition for
everyone.”

Delaney
didn’t like the abrupt switch from rawhide to velvet. Nick was trying to con
her and she was not a woman easily conned. Well, not anymore anyway. “No sale,”
she told him.

Nick
raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

“You
heard me.” She flipped her face up to meet him directly. “No sale—in every
sense of the words.”

Delaney
didn’t speak for the remaining ten-minute trek to her horse. She had nothing
more to say to the man. He was here to get her uncle to sell his property, land
that bordered the Tennessee/Carolina state line on one side, the public forest managed
by the United States Forest Service on the other, and was chockfull of rivers
and creeks, waterfalls and springs. She’d grown up on this land, buried her
mother on this land. In her family for over six generations, this property was
not only priceless but of sentimental value. None of which Mr. Harris cared
about. He wanted to develop it, build some fancy hotel and spa and exploit the
natural resources of the property. He didn’t care what it meant to her family. But
that was neither here nor there. Uncle Ernie would not sell to an outsider. At
least they had that much in common, Delaney mused sourly, as she pushed a
branch out of her way.

The
trail opened to a small patch of grassy field, tall strands of willowy green
littered with tiny purple and yellow blossoms, butterflies hanging low and
plentiful. Between here and the property, a river flowed, the same one that
wound down along the trails from Zack’s Falls. Sadie neighed at the sight of
her owner and shook her blonde mane in excitement. Heartened by the sight of
her mare, Delaney begged off. “Thanks again for your concern, but I’ll be okay
from here on out.”

He
eyed her warily. “Where you headed?”

“Back
to the cabin.” As if it was any of his business. She grabbed the worn leather
bridle and unwrapped it from the post. Holding it in her left hand, she seized Sadie’s
mane and hoisted herself up and on, sliding into a seated position behind the
horse’s neck. Delaney gently pulled the reins secure and looked down at Nick. It
occurred to her that this was a much better view of the man. A handsome man,
but a meddling one nonetheless. “See you around.”

“Doesn’t
it hurt to ride without a saddle?”

“Not
a bit,” she replied. In her book, there was no other way to ride a horse. After
a quick rap to her rump, Sadie took off at a gallop, tail waving high and
proud.

Nick
crossed arms over chest and watched her go. Delaney Wilkins was like poetry in
motion. A natural on bareback, she rode with the fluidity gained by a lifetime
of experience. Not only did she move as one with her horse, but her skin glowed
with the same silky suede coloring of her Palomino, her white blonde hair—a
similar glossy mane in both length and style—crashing in waves down her back as
she rode. Her light brown tank revealed fit upper arms, small round breasts and
a narrow waist. Then there were her jeans. Nick felt a surge in his loins. He’d
never met a woman who wore a pair of Levi’s like Delaney did—rough, ragged, the
ripped edges of white thread shredding around her heavy brown boots—boots that
looked to be the one and only pair she owned. Yet somehow he found the shabby
attire sexy as hell.

She
was sexy as
hell. Which would be a bonus if he could convince her to stay on and manage the
stables of the hotel he planned to build.
And he would build it
. Ernie
Ladd was a tough old goat, he’d give him that. But when it came to negotiating
land deals there was no one better to get the job done than he. Patience was a
virtue. Setting fire to greed was part of the process. Nick understood that
once the kin-folk got wind of the money he was offering, they’d press the old
man to sell. Legacy was a powerful driver. But dollars were more powerful.

Nick
began the haul back to the main house for another go-round with the old man. He
hadn’t added a single new property in almost five years, but after the gem he’d
opened in the rain forests of Brazil, it was understandable. Visions of a
particular brunette slipped into the forefront of his mind, stirring the pot of
need. Feisty and fantastic, she had been a great distraction, but so had his
attorney. Nick beat the big guys to the punch in securing a property in South
Americas’ largest growth market. Fueled by the rising domestic traveler in
search of eco-luxury, property values had exploded, but so had his headaches as
he fought lawsuit after lawsuit. Most were bogus claims stating he didn’t
receive proper authorization from the Brazilian government, while others were
straight-up accusations of corruption. None of which were true. Nick played by
the rules, even agreeing to the extortion tactics for financial contributions
to the Amazon rain forest preservation fund. As the leader in boutique
eco-hotels, he was more than happy to make these financial contributions. It
was his business to conserve resources, work his hotels into the environment
with minimal impact. He simply didn’t like to be forced to contribute or be accused
of skirting the law. Mandatory anything rubbed him the wrong way. But then
again, he had learned a long time ago, greed usurps all. A concept to which his
investors were not immune. The pressure to produce was on. Between expensive
litigation and a weak economy, Nick needed to inject new excitement into his
hotel chain, and Ladd Springs would do the trick.