Love in Catalina Cove

by Brenda Jackson

  He glanced around the establishment. This restaurant was one he usually frequented whenever he was in New York. He recalled the number of times he’d gotten Roberta to join him in New York on his business trips. She would spend the day shopping while he attended his meetings, and then in the evenings they would take in a play or come here to LeBlanc, the French restaurant known for its fine dishes.

  He wondered why being here now didn’t strike any specific memories. It might be because he intentionally kept himself busy these days so he wouldn’t become dependent on the past. Maybe that had been a bad idea to make such a decision because now he’d become a lonely old man heading into his sixties. Losing both his son and wife in the same year had hit hard and was something proving impossible to move beyond.

  Trying to get a new lease on life was something he did whenever he came to New York. He would attend the plays and have great meals but since he hadn’t been interested in another woman since Roberta, he would attend alone. It was times like these that he often felt hollow inside, which was one of the reasons he hoped Ms. Alcindor would accept his offer. She wasn’t a relative per se, but was the woman his son had taken his last breath loving. Julius’s death-bed confession had made it clear how much he’d loved her. Although it might sound crazy to some, since she was the woman his one and only son had died loving, that meant a lot to him.

  “Reid?”

  He glanced up and at first there was no recognition. And then, “Glo?” He smiled as he stood. “Gloria Latham?”

  The woman smiled back. “I haven’t been called that in years. I got married not long after leaving Yale.”

  The two of them had been in the same study groups and activities while on campus. “If I recall you were dating a guy name Martin Harris.”

  “Yes, you have a good memory. Martin and I were married for close to thirty-eight years.”

  “Were?”

  “Yes, Martin died from a heart attack two years ago. What about you? I remember you were dating someone attending Brown University.”

  “Yes, and you have a good memory as well. She was the former Roberta Ashford. We didn’t get married until I finished law school and we were married for close to thirty-two years. Roberta passed away seven years ago from cancer.”

  “Oh, no, I’m sorry to hear that. You have my condolences.”

  “Thanks and you have mine. Do you live here in New York?”

  “No, Martin and I moved to Philly after we got married. I have friends who live here, and we get together on occasion to go shopping. What about you? I recall you were from a seaside town somewhere in Louisiana.”

  “Yes, Catalina Cove. I moved back there after law school to take over the running of my family’s blueberry plant.”

  “Hmm, I recall how you would return to school from spring break with blueberries for all of us. They were the best.”

  He couldn’t believe she remembered something like that. “Thanks.”

  “What about kids?”

  Pain suddenly flared in his heart. “Roberta and I had a son but he was killed in a car accident a few months before Roberta passed away.”

  “Oh no,” she said, placing a hand to her upper chest as if she felt his pain. “How awful for you.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “You have my condolences again. Martin and I also had a son. He lives in Sacramento. I just came from visiting with him and his family. I have a beautiful granddaughter but of course I’m biased when it comes to her.”

  “You have every right to be. Unfortunately, my only grandchild died at birth years ago.”

  This was the first time he’d ever acknowledged that to anyone. Ever since he’d discovered the child Vashti Alcindor had lost had been his grandchild he’d wanted to claim the child he hadn’t known existed. Staking a claim would have caused tongues to wag in Catalina Cove, and he felt the young woman his son had loved but failed had endured enough.

  Sympathy shown in Gloria’s eyes. He saw it and wished he didn’t. “Oh, my goodness, I almost forgot,” she said, glancing at her watch. “I’m supposed to meet my friends on the ground floor of Macy’s at exactly one o’clock.”

  He was glad she didn’t respond to what he’d said about losing his grandchild on top of everything else. It wasn’t his intent to garner anyone’s pity, but his life was as it was. He had lost everyone who had meant anything to him. “You only have a few minutes to get there, so you need to be going.”

  “Yes, I do. I’m so glad I ran into you, Reid. Seeing you brought back pleasant memories.”

  “I feel the same way, Glo.”

  “Thanks. Goodbye, Reid.”

  “Goodbye.”

  He watched her walk off while thinking she was still a very attractive woman and recalled she’d been Miss Yale in their senior year. She’d been well liked and popular on campus. Everyone had known that Gloria and Martin Harris had been the perfect couple, and she said they’d been married for nearly thirty-eight years. What a blessing.

  He was about to sit back down in his chair when his name was called again. This time he turned and came face-to-face with Vashti Alcindor.

  * * *

  EVEN FROM ACROSS the room Vashti had been able to tell Reid Lacroix was a man of wealth. It wasn’t just the clothes he wore, although the smooth designer suit and shoes were the sharpest male attire she’d seen in a long time. It had a lot to do with the way he’d been standing. Tall. Ultra-sophisticated with a lot of debonair.

  She wondered if Julius would have been a chip off the old block. Probably. However, with her he could be himself and shed some of the rich stuffiness some wealthy people wore. She wanted to believe around her, Julius had been himself.

  “Again, I want to thank you for agreeing to see me, Ms. Alcindor,” he said, pulling out the chair for her.

  “Thank you. I will admit I’m a bit confused as to why you wanted to meet with me, though.”

  He didn’t say anything when a waitress came and opened their table napkins and placed them in their laps, filled their water glasses before handing them both menus. Then she left. It was only then that he looked at her and said, “I want to make you an offer that I hope you will consider.”

  Vashti raised a brow. “What kind of an offer?”

  He smiled at her. “Let’s order and we can discuss everything over lunch.”

  Vashti wondered why everything seemed rather mysterious to her, but she would do as he asked. “I take it you’ve been here before,” she said.

  “Yes, several times.”

  “Then what do you suggest?” she asked him.

  “I like their lobster bisque as an appetizer and you can’t go wrong with their rib eye.”

  She nodded. “Okay, Mr. Lacroix, I will take your suggestions.”

  “And please call me Reid.”

  She nodded. “Okay and you can call me Vashti.”

  While eating her steak Vashti tried not to stare across the table at Julius’s father, but this was the first time she’d ever been alone with him and the only time she’d been close enough to really study his features. She could see Julius in them. They had the same dark eyes and sculpted jaw. She knew she was looking at what would have been an older Julius had he lived.

  At that moment he glanced up and caught her staring. “Sorry. I was thinking how much Julius looked like you.”

  He smiled and she decided he and Julius shared similar smiles as well. “A lot of people thought so,” he said.

  She pushed aside her plate and he did as well. “Thanks for lunch, Mr. Lacroix, I mean Reid. Although I enjoyed dining with you, I’m aware you invited me here for a reason. Why?”

  Reid Lacroix met her gaze. “It’s about Shelby by the Sea.”

  Vashti should have known. More than likely he had blocked the sale of Shelby from the developers because he wanted the inn for himself. He kn
ew that couldn’t happen since it was clearly stated in Hawthorne Barlowe’s will when her aunt had inherited the mansion. She didn’t know the entire story but when old man Barlowe left his home to her aunt, he had made two stipulations. The Barlowe land could not be sold to any member of the Lacroix family. Evidently at some time in the past there was a disagreement between the Barlowes and Lacroixes that was never resolved. The other stipulation was that although the mansion was known as a historical landmark since it had once been the summer home of President Theodore Roosevelt before it had been sold to the Barlowe family, her aunt could not donate the inn to the historical society. It had to be either sold or passed on to her aunt’s offspring or a family member.

  “Reid, if you’re about to say that you want to purchase the inn, there’s no way I can sell it to you. I think you’re well aware of that.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of it, but that’s not why I asked to meet with you.”

  “Then what’s the reason?”

  “To ask you not to sell Shelby by the Sea. It’s your legacy. I’m sure your aunt would not want you to sell it.”

  Vashti frowned, wondering why he thought he knew what her aunt would have wanted. They may have been neighbors but they didn’t run in the same circles. The Lacroixes were the wealthiest family in the cove. She’d made the mistake when she fell in love with Julius to think money didn’t matter, but in the end he’d shown her that it did.

  “If that was my aunt’s desire then she could have easily stated it in her will, but she didn’t. Therefore since I inherited the inn, I can do with it what I please.”

  “Yes, but do you really want to sell it? It’s your aunt’s legacy...and yours.”

  Her frown deepened. What made him think he knew so much about her? As if he read the question in her features, he asked, “Did you know your aunt and my wife became friends?”

  Vashti looked skeptical. “Aunt Shelby and your wife?”

  “Yes.”

  If this was true then it was news to her. “When?”

  “When Roberta discovered she had cancer. Your aunt used to be a nurse and was reputed to know how to mix herbs into a tea that could cure just about anything. Everyone claimed that’s why old man Barlowe lived as long as he did, thanks to your aunt. Without even asking her to, Shelby made the tea. Not saying your aunt was a miracle woman, but Roberta did live two years longer than the doctors had given her.” He paused a minute and then added, “I’m convinced she would have lived even longer but Julius’s death destroyed her will to live. He was her heart.”

  That was something Vashti knew to be true. Julius loved his mother deeply and she loved him. “So, they became friends. What of it?”

  “She told my wife that if anything happened to her that the inn would go to you because she believed you would never sell it, because you loved the inn as much as she did.”

  Vashti drew in a deep breath. There was a time she had. “Why are you telling me this when you know I have to sell it? It can’t just sit there.” There was no way she would tell him she didn’t have a job and needed the income.

  “I’m hoping that you’d consider moving back to Catalina Cove and running it yourself.”

  Vashti was convinced if she hadn’t been sitting firmly in her chair she would have fallen out of it. It was a thought that had been running through her mind lately. Since she didn’t have the funds to do such a thing it had merely been a thought. Now she was surprised in addition to Bryce, he’d had a similar idea. “Why would I want to do something like that?” she asked, needing to know why he would suggest such a thing.

  “Why wouldn’t you? You have a hotel and tourism degree from NYU. That says a lot.”

  She’d thought the same thing until she’d gotten laid off. And now she couldn’t get a job in her chosen field. Not in New York anyway. Competition was fierce. And then there was the issue of her starting salary. She’d been earning six figures at the Grand Nunes Luxury Hotel-Manhattan. The only job offer she’d gotten wanted to start her off with half of what she’d been making.

  “I love living in New York and have no reason to give it up to return to Catalina Cove.”

  Reid didn’t say anything but just looked at her with those eyes and with the same expression Julius would when he was about to spring a surprise on her. Julius’s surprises had been playful and fun. She had a feeling his father’s would not.

  He took a sip of his wine and then said, “I would think there’s nothing to hold you here any longer since you’re no longer employed with the Nunes Hotel Corporation.”

  * * *

  FROM THE EXPRESSION on Vashti’s face Reid could only assume her unemployment was supposed to have been a closely guarded secret. It was at times like these that Reid wished he wasn’t so direct, so matter-of-fact. But he was. Besides, he needed to make sure she fully understood why returning to Catalina Cove and taking over the inn made good sense. He could have easily voted her way at that zoning board meeting. If he had, the other board members would have done so as well, and Vashti would have left Catalina Cove a very rich woman. But he knew money wasn’t everything and believed in his heart that Shelby by the Sea was her legacy and it was time she returned to the cove and claimed it.

  “How do you know I’m unemployed?”

  At least she didn’t deny it. “My blueberry plant supplies blueberries for a number of hotels in this city. The Grand Nunes is one of them. I was advised by my sales manager over a month ago that the hotel had changed ownership and that we would have to submit a new bid. It was then I discovered the new owner was letting every top management person go. I knew from talking to Shelby that you were a top employee there.”

  She lifted a chin. “And what makes you think I haven’t found another job?”

  He took another sip of his wine. “Have you?”

  “No, but what business is it of yours?”

  “Because I want to make you an offer about the inn.”

  “And I told you I can’t sell it to you.”

  He nodded. “That’s not the kind of offer I want to make.”

  He saw the confusion in her features. “What kind of offer are you talking about, Reid?”

  He declined the waitress’s offer to refill his wineglass. When she walked off he said, “I need you to keep an open mind at what I’m about to say and consider the possibilities.”

  “I can’t make any promises but I’ll try.”

  He smiled. He could see why his son had fallen in love with her. Although he was certain her attitude had changed a lot over the years, for Julius to love her so long and so deep meant she’d been special to him.

  “And that’s all I ask.” He paused a moment and then he said, “When your aunt Shelby was alive, the inn was one of the most sought out places in Catalina Cove by tourists. It was booked months in advance. I’m aware there has been a decline over recent years. Shelby wouldn’t take my advice about using another marketing strategy to promote the inn and it cost her potential customers. New customers. It’s okay that she had the old ones, but in order to grow, the inn needed to attract new ones. She needed to add Wi-Fi to the rooms and offer other amenities.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I know. She had a magical touch with the place but she refused to move into the new age of media advertising.”

  “I believe you can have that same touch and at the same time know that the right advertising and marketing plan will work wonders and put the inn back on the map.”

  He paused a minute then said, “When I suggested that you consider returning to the cove to bring life back to the inn I was deadly serious. You have the perfect experience for it. You used to spend a lot of time there with your aunt so you know what works and what doesn’t. And you get the chance to be your own boss. You’ll build your own legacy.”

  “Whoa, what you’re suggesting will require a lot of work.”

  “Are you s
aying a little work scares you?”

  “No. However, there is the issue of what all it will take to get the inn up to snuff. I visited the inn while in town and noticed a lot of repairs are needed and a number of upgrades that need to be done. That will require the use of funds I don’t have.”

  “And that’s where I’ll step in.”

  She gazed at him suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

  “Because I know repairs are needed to bring the inn not only up to standards but to get it in the digital age, like providing Wi-Fi to every room and also adding a business center, I’m willing to give you a low-interest loan to do whatever you need to do to bring the place up to par.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Mainly because it would mean the small businesses in the cove will remain family-owned.”

  She stared at him for a long moment before asking, “You do have a problem with others moving into the cove and taking over, don’t you?”

  “Not with everyone. Take Sheriff Grisham for instance. Although we don’t always agree on everything, I know he’s fallen in love with the town and will do what’s right. Besides, it’s boring when everybody agrees with me. The sheriff and Kaegan keep me on my toes. Nothing like a good argument every now and then.” And he had a feeling if she ever returned to the cove that she would keep him on his toes as well.

  “And what happens if something happens to me before the loan is repaid? Does that mean you would expect to take the deed to the inn?”

  “No. I will require you to carry an insurance policy that stipulates the balance would be paid in full if anything were to happen to you.”

  * * *

  VASHTI WASN’T SURE why she was asking all these questions when she had no intention of doing what he suggested. There was no way she would move to the cove and reopen the inn. But still... “You said it would be a low-interest loan. How low are we talking?”

  He quoted her an amount that was simply ridiculous. “You’re kidding, right?”

  He chuckled. “No. I’m deadly serious. You aren’t the only person I’ve offered such a deal to. I’ve lured back a number of others. Like Kaegan.”