The Lure of Love (8 page)

Where was
Billy? She’d bounded out of bed this morning, hoping that perhaps they’d have
breakfast together or at least coffee, but he seemed to have disappeared. It
wasn’t until about an hour ago that she’d thought to look in the parking lot
for his car and discovered that it was gone.

No promises
had been made last night, but she’d been so sure he would be here this morning.
Or had she read too much into their conversation? She didn’t think so; there’d
been unmistakable heat between them; heat that even now made her breath catch
in her throat.

She wandered
to the front of the lobby just as Jamie pulled up in the runabout. Craig jumped
out and offered Jamie his hand. Brooke smiled to herself. Jamie was the most
independent woman she’d ever met and she’d never seen her accept help from a
man. The couple stood together on the dock, looking into each other’s eyes and
a surge of envy caught her by surprise.

“They look
good together, don’t they?” Leeza had come up beside her and stood watching the
scene on the dock.

Brooke
smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing.” She looked down at the chef. “By
the way, did you see Billy this morning?”

Leeza thought
for a moment. “He came into the dining room just before we started serving and
grabbed a couple of pieces of fruit.” She gave her friend a sly smile. “Why are
you asking?”

Brooke
shrugged. “We spent some time together last night.” Her gaze drifted down to
the dock where they’d been sitting. “He’s actually very nice.”

Leeza nodded.
“You’re right and it’s about time we stopped calling him Slick Billy. He’s always
been nice to everyone here. One of our favourite guests, come to think of it.
Matt said that he and Billy were playing ball with some of the kids last night
and that they might hang out together today.”

Brooke
frowned. “Matt?”

“Matt Weber.
The guy who almost got eaten by the grizzly.” Leeza flushed bright red.

Brooke
stepped back and looked at her friend. She recalled checking Matt in yesterday.
He’d given her a professional smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and he’d
looked around as though wondering what he was doing here. He was one of those
tall, lean types that women drool over in men’s magazines.

“I remember
him,” she said now. “Insanely good looking. When did you meet him?”

“This
morning. He was sick and Stacy asked me to go upstairs and check him out when
she couldn’t find you.”

“So he’s okay
now?”

“He’s fine. I
didn’t need my St. John’s Ambulance skills.” She gave a shaky laugh. “There’s
something about him, Brooke.” She considered revealing Matt’s problems but
decided to keep them to herself. “He’s going through a rough time right now.”

“You’re
attracted to him, aren’t you!”

Leeza nodded.
“I shouldn’t be, but I am.” She watched Jamie and Craig as they walked across
the lawn. “What are the odds? All three of us at the same time.”

Brooke
exhaled slowly. “At least they’re different men.” She checked her watch. “I
thought I’d see if Jamie has time to talk. It’s about business; do you want to
be part of the conversation?”

“I’d like
that. I’ll just go check on the kitchen staff.” She looked around at the empty
lobby. “Our favourite table?”

Brooke
nodded.

“Okay, see
you in five minutes.”

* * *

Leeza studied
the other two women as she walked across the lobby a few minutes later. It was
amazing to her that the three of them had become friends, since outwardly they
appeared to have very little in common. They differed not only in appearance,
but in the way they approached life. Jamie was probably the most
straightforward person she’d ever met. She met challenges head on and was
unscrupulously honest in all her business dealings. It was unfortunate that the
Lodge was suffering as a result of the most recent world financial crisis.

Brooke was
another story altogether. Tall, beautiful and elegant, she wasn’t inclined to
reveal a lot of personal information. But there was no doubt that she was a
clever businesswoman. Leeza smiled. If anyone was a match for Billy, it was
Brooke.

And then
there was herself. People were always surprised when they found out that she
was a chef. Hell, she surprised herself sometimes. Pale and short with cropped
black hair, the woman who looked back at her from the mirror appeared closer to
eighteen than to thirty two. Thirty two and dangerously close to falling seriously
in love for the first time…but with the wrong man. She gave herself a mental
slap and joined her friends.

“Everything
okay in the kitchen?” Jamie asked out of habit.

“Everything’s
fine.” Leeza settled in. “What’s up?”

Jamie
shrugged. “I’m not sure. This is Brooke’s meeting; she has some ideas.”

Brooke turned
and pointed to a small unused space that opened onto the lobby. “For starters,
I’d like to turn that little alcove into a shop. I understand it used to be a
store of sorts but when the campground was enlarged the store was moved out
there.”

Jamie glanced
across the lobby. “It really is wasted space. What were you thinking?”

“I want to
carry items that will appeal to women. The men buy all their fishing gear and
stuff in the campground store when they buy their fishing licenses, but we
don’t have anything to interest the women.” She looked at the two other women.
“Have you visited a spa recently?”

They looked
at each other and shook their heads.

“No, well
that’s okay. Spas these days make money from more than aesthetic services. They
do very well from the product lines they carry. Nail care, skin care, facial
supplies. You’d be astounded at the variety that’s available. Since coming here
I’ve watched the women who come with their husbands and a lot of them are
bored. We don’t even have fashion magazines they can buy. But if we can make
the wives happy, the men are likely to stay longer. It’s win win. The best
thing about the location is that it will take very little money to get it up and
running.”

Jamie tried
not to show her disappointment. “Sounds good, but I don’t have any money to
experiment right now. Plus it’s getting close to the end of the season.”

Brooke
nodded. “I know that. I have the money to fix up the space and buy the product.
We should look at it as product testing. We can use it as a promotional tool
for next year while we see which products sell well in this area.”

“Next year?
What happens then?” Leeza shook her head. “I can’t keep up with you.”

A faint smile
flitted across Brooke’s face. “Hear me out on this. It’s going to sound a
little far-fetched at first, but we can do it.” She took a deep breath.

“Jamie, you
own the lakefront property to the south of the lodge, right?”

Jamie
frowned. “Yes, I own about a quarter of a mile to the south and slightly over a
mile to the north. Back when my grandfather bought it everyone thought he was
crazy. This was a remote area in those times, but he was obviously a man of
vision who could see that there was only a limited amount of waterfront. Why?”

“Because I’d
like to build several spa buildings on that property.” She edged forward on her
chair. “I visualize them as being all natural wood and decorated in a soft,
muted colour scheme. They’d be connected by covered walkways so guests could
move comfortably from one treatment area to the other. That stand of trees is a
perfect buffer between the main lodge and the spa area. I see meandering paths
leading through the trees from the lodge to the spa.”

Jamie looked
at her like she’d grown an extra head. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Brooke
opened a file. “I started looking into this shortly after I arrived. Since then
I’ve been in touch with a design firm that specializes in spas, the one that
did the West Coast Spa, actually. They’ve done some preliminary sketches and
given me a rough estimate of constructions costs plus what it would cost to
equip the buildings. They even advised me on how to estimate the cost of
running services to the buildings…power, water, all that stuff. It won’t be
cheap, but I’ve allowed a generous amount.”

Jamie
frowned. “How could you begin to estimate something like that?”

Brooke looked
up quickly, then went back to the plans. “I asked the design firm how to
proceed. They pointed out that you’d eventually need permission from the
planning department, so I talked to them. They said they don’t anticipate any
problems with what I outlined, and they put me in touch with some local people
who were very helpful. By the way, they recommend upgrading our power service,
but I’ve covered all that.”

She turned to
Leeza. “If we do this right, it could be a winner. Leeza, you could come up
with a special spa menu, offering healthy selections for those people who
really get into it.”

Leeza shot a
quick glance at Jamie and then looked back at Brooke. “Do you really have that
kind of money?”

“Yes, I do.”
She looked from one to the other of her friends. “I was talking this over with
Billy last night and he asked a couple of interesting questions.” She laid a
hand on Jamie’s arm. “I hope you don’t mind that I talked to him. He’s got a
good business head.”

Jamie shook
her head, too stunned to talk. “The first thing he mentioned is that a Spa is
at odds with the concept you’ve got going here of a family resort. But I
pointed out that there’s no reason why the two things can’t co-exist, as long
as the spa is located on the south side of the Lodge. This building will act as
a barrier between the campground and the Spa.”

“The other
thing he mentioned was that I’d be putting up these buildings with my money on
your property. It’s not as if I could pick them up and take them away if we have
a disagreement. We’d have to have a lawyer draw something up of course, but I
told him that it’s doubtful we’d disagree when it comes to important decisions.
We’d make those based on what’s good for the Lodge and the Spa.” She held up
her two forefingers and danced them back and forth. “The one supports the
other, and vice versa.” She sat back in her chair. “What do you think?”

Leeza was
staring at her. “I know it’s not polite to ask, but how in the world can you
come up with money like that?”

Brooke paused
for a moment, her thoughts far away. “I suppose you deserve to know.” She told
them about her step-mother, and the investments that had made her a rich woman.

Jamie
couldn’t speak, but Leeza voiced her thoughts. “I don’t understand how you
managed to stay so nice.”

Brooke
smiled, but it was a sad smile. “It’s not as if he kicked me out with nothing.
Lots of people are much worse off than I.” She looked back and forth between
Jamie and Leeza. “I know you’ll need time to consider the spa, but how about
the store? I can have it ready to go and stocked in a couple of weeks. I’ve
also written a brochure on the spa and if we decide to go ahead we can start
giving it out to our guests.” She grinned. “Might as well start spreading the
word.”

Jamie nodded.
“By all means, go ahead with the store.” She looked at Brooke like she’d never
seen her before. “Off the top of my head I like the idea but are you sure you
really want to do this? The land may be mine, but the rest of it seems awfully
one-sided.”

“I’m sure.”
Brooke was as serious as Jamie had ever seen her. “As I said before, I fell in
love with this area the first time I saw it and this is a great business
opportunity.” She finally smiled. “It will be good for all of us. I’d like to
see Leeza with a share as well. I’m not saying we’ll make a fortune but it will
ease your financial pressures and we’ll have fun doing it.”

“I might have
to change my menu a bit but that’s no problem.” Leeza was thinking aloud.
“We’ll attract a different type of guest with a spa.” She brightened. “Of
course that won’t be until next year, but it will be fun to make some changes.”
She turned to Brooke. “And I like your idea of a special Spa Menu. This is
going to be exciting.”

Brooke smiled
again. “I think so too. I’m going to…”

She stopped
speaking as Billy came through the front door, plastic gasoline container in
hand. “Hi ladies.” He acknowledged Jamie and Leeza, but his smile was for
Brooke. “The lawnmower just ran out of gas and I can’t find Floyd.”

Jamie stood.
“I saw Floyd this morning and told him what you were going to do but I didn’t
think about running out of gas.” She turned to Brooke. “Can you contact him and
see where he is?”

Brooke was
already speaking quietly into her headset. Billy walked to her side with a
silly grin on his face. “Afternoon, Brooke.”

She held up a
finger. “Okay, I’ll tell him.”

Jamie and
Leeza nudged each other as a blush crept into the cheeks of the normally calm
Brooke.

“Hi, Billy.
Floyd says to tell you that he keeps a forty-five gallon drum of gasoline in
the maintenance shed. He’s at our neighbour’s place to the south, helping him
fix his water pump.” Her curiosity got the better of her. “What in the world
are you doing, anyway?”

Billy
grinned. “Matt and I are building a baseball diamond on that level piece of
land up behind the campground. We’ve been gone all day looking for equipment.”
His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “We decided if we’re going to do it, we’re
going to do it right. We bought out all the baseball equipment in the
surrounding area; that’s what took so long. We got bats, balls, gloves, and
caps. We got bales of hay to make the backstop.” He checked his watch. “They
said they’d deliver them right around now. We bought some of those white
sandbags for the bases, and Revvy was good enough to cut us a piece of wood for
home plate. I drew it up and they cut it.” He looked pleased with himself. “We
scaled everything down so the kids will feel comfortable playing.”