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In her brand-new series, New York Times
bestselling author Brenda Jackson welcomes you to Catalina Cove, where even the biggest
heartbreaks can be healed...
Keep reading for a sneak peek at
Love in Catalina Cove
Love in Catalina Cove
by Brenda Jackson
CHAPTER ONE
New York City
VASHTI ALCINDOR SHOULD be celebrating. After all, the official letter she’d just read declared her divorce final, which meant her three-year marriage to Scott Zimmons was over. Definitely done with. As far as she was concerned the marriage had lasted two years too long. She wouldn’t count that first year since she’d been too in love to dwell on Scott’s imperfections. Truth be told there were many that she’d deliberately overlooked. She’d been so determined to have that happily-ever-after that she honestly believed she could put up with anything.
But reality soon crept into the world of make-believe, and she discovered she truly couldn’t. Her husband was a compulsive liar who could look you right in the eyes and lie with a straight face. She didn’t want to count the number of times she’d caught him in the act. When she couldn’t take the deceptions any longer she had packed her things and left. When her aunt Shelby died five months later, Scott felt entitled to half of the inheritance Vashti received in the will.
It was then that Vashti had hired one of the best divorce attorneys in New York, and within six weeks his private investigator had uncovered Scott’s scandalous activities. Namely, his past and present affair with his boss’s wife. Vashti hadn’t wasted any time making Scott aware that she was not only privy to this information, but had photographs and videos to prove it.
Knowing she wouldn’t hesitate to expose him as the lowlife that he was, Scott had agreed to an uncontested divorce and walked away with nothing. The letter she’d just read was documented proof that he would do just about anything to hold on to his cushy Wall Street job.
Her cell phone ringing snagged her attention, the ringtone belonging to her childhood friend and present Realtor, Bryce Witherspoon. Vashti clicked on her phone as she sat down at her kitchen table with her evening cup of tea. “Hey, girl, I hope you’re calling with good news.”
Bryce chuckled. “I am. Someone from the Barnes Group from California was here today and—”
“California?”
“Yes. They’re a group of developers that’s been trying to acquire land in the cove for years. They made you an unbelievably fantastic offer for Shelby by the Sea.”
Vashti let out a loud shout of joy. She couldn’t believe she’d been lucky enough to get rid of both her ex-husband and her aunt’s property in the same day.
“Don’t get excited yet. We might have problems,” Bryce said.
Vashti frowned. “What kind of problems?”
“The developers want to tear down your aunt’s bed-and-breakfast and—”
“Tear it down?” Vashti felt a soft kick in her stomach. Selling her aunt’s bed-and-breakfast was one thing, having it demolished was another. “Why would they want to tear it down?”
“They aren’t interested in the building, Vash. They want the eighty-five acres it sits on. Who wouldn’t with the Gulf of Mexico in its backyard? I told you it would be a quick sale.”
Vashti had known someone would find Shelby by the Sea a lucrative investment but she’d hoped somehow the inn would survive. With repairs it could be good as new. “What do they want to build there instead?”
“A luxury tennis resort.”
Vashti nodded. “How much are they offering?” she asked, taking a sip of her tea.
“Ten million.”
Vashti nearly choked. “Ten million dollars? That’s nearly double what I was asking for.”
“Yes, but the developers are eyeing the land next to it, as well. I think they’re hoping that one day Reid Lacroix will cave and sell his property. When he does, the developers will pounce on the opportunity to get their hands on it and build that golf resort they’ve been trying to put there for years. Getting your land will put their foot in the door so to speak.”
Vashti took another sip of her tea. “What other problems are there?”
“This one is big. Mayor Proctor got wind of their offer and figured you might sell. He’s calling a meeting.”
“A meeting?”
“Yes, of the Catalina Cove zoning board. Although they can’t stop you from selling the inn, they plan to block the buyer from bringing a tennis resort in here. The city ordinance calls for the zoning board to approve all new construction. This won’t be the first time developers wanted to come into the cove and build something the city planners reject. Remember years ago when that developer wanted to buy land on the east end to build that huge shopping mall? The zoning board stopped it. They’re determined that nothing in Catalina Cove changes.”
“Well, it should change.” As far as Vashti was concerned it was time for Mayor Proctor to get voted out. He had been mayor for over thirty years. When Vashti had left Catalina Cove for college fourteen years ago, developers had been trying to buy up the land for a number of progressive projects. The people of Catalina Cove were the least open-minded group she knew.
Vashti loved living in New York City where things were constantly changing and people embraced those changes. At eighteen she had arrived in the city to attend New York University and remained after getting a job with a major hotel chain. She had worked her way up to her six-figure salary as a hotel executive. At thirty-two she considered it her dream job. That wasn’t bad for someone who started out working the concierge desk.
“Unless the Barnes Group can build whatever they want without any restrictions, there won’t be a deal for us.”
Vashti didn’t like the sound of that. Ten million was ten million no matter how you looked at it. “Although I wouldn’t want them to tear down Shelby, I think my aunt would understand my decision to do what’s best for me.” And the way Vashti saw it, ten million dollars was definitely what would be best for her.
“Do you really think she would want you to tear down the inn? She loved that place.”
Vashti knew more than anyone how much Shelby by the Sea had meant to her aunt. It had become her life. “Aunt Shelby knew there was no way I would ever move back to Catalina Cove after what happened. Mom and Dad even moved away. There’s no connection for me to Catalina Cove.”
“Hey, wait a minute, Vash. I’m still here.”
Vashti smiled, remembering how her childhood friend had stuck with her through thick and thin. “Yes, you’re still there, which makes me think you nee
d your head examined for not moving away when you could have.”
“I love Catalina Cove. It’s my home and need I remind you that for eighteen years it was yours, too.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Look, I know why you feel that way, Vash, but are you going to let that one incident make you have ill feelings about the town forever?”
“It was more than an incident, Bryce, and you know it.” For Vashti, having a baby out of wedlock at sixteen had been a lot more than an incident. For her it had been a life changer. She had discovered who her real friends were during that time. Even now she would occasionally wonder how different things might have been had her child lived instead of died at birth.
“Sorry, bad choice of words,” Bryce said, with regret in her voice.
“No worries. That was sixteen years ago.” No need to tell Bryce that on occasion she allowed her mind to wander to that period of her life and often grieved for the child she’d lost. She had wanted children and Scott had promised they would start a family one day. That had been another lie.
“Tell me what I need to do to beat the rezoning board on this, Bryce,” Vashti said, her mind made up.
“Unfortunately, to have any substantial input, you need to meet with the board in person. I think it will be beneficial if the developers make an appearance, as well. According to their representative, they’re willing to throw in a few perks that the cove might find advantageous.”
“What kind of perks?”
“Free membership to the resort’s clubhouse for the first year, as well as free tennis lessons for the kids for a limited time. It will also bring a new employer to town, which means new jobs. Maybe if they were to get support from the townsfolk, the board would be more willing to listen.”
“What do you think are our chances?”
“To be honest, even with all that, it’s a long shot. Reid Lacroix is on the board and he still detests change. He’s still the wealthiest person in town, too, and has a lot of clout.”
“Then why waste my and the potential buyer’s time?”
“There’s a slim chance time won’t be wasted. K-Gee is on the zoning board and he always liked you in school. He’s one of the few progressive members on the board and the youngest. Maybe he’ll help sway the others.”
Vashti smiled. Yes, K-Gee had liked her but he’d liked Bryce even more and they both knew it. His real name was Kaegan Chambray. He was part of the Pointe-au-Chien Native American tribe and his family’s ties to the cove and surrounding bayou went back generations, before the first American settlers.
Although K-Gee was two years older than Vashti and Bryce, they’d hung together while growing up. When Vashti had returned to town after losing her baby, K-Gee would walk Vashti and Bryce home from school every day. Even though Bryce never said, Vashti suspected something happened between Bryce and K-Gee during the time Vashti was away at that unwed home in Arkansas.
“When did K-Gee move back to Catalina Cove, Bryce?”
“Almost two years ago to help out his mom and to take over his family’s seafood supply business when his father died. His mother passed away last year. And before you ask why I didn’t tell you, Vash, you know why. You never wanted to hear any news regarding what was happening in Catalina Cove.”
No, she hadn’t, but anything having to do with K-Gee wasn’t just town news. Bryce should have known that. “I’m sorry to hear about his parents. I really am. I’m surprised he’s on the zoning board.”
For years the townsfolk of the cove had never recognized members of the Pointe-au-Chien Native American tribe who lived on the east side of the bayou. Except for when it was time to pay city taxes. With K-Gee on the zoning board that meant change was possible in Catalina Cove after all.
“I need to know what you want to do, Vash,” Bryce said, interrupting her thoughts. “The Barnes Group is giving us twenty days to finalize the deal or they will withdraw their offer.”
Vashti stood up to cross the kitchen floor and put her teacup in the kitchen sink. “Okay, I’ll think about what you said. Ten million dollars is a lot of money.”
“Yes, and just think what you could do with it.”
Vashti was thinking and she loved all the possibilities. Although she loved her job, she could stop working and spend the rest of her life traveling to all those places her aunt always wanted to visit but hadn’t, because of putting Shelby by the Sea first. Vashti wouldn’t make the same mistake.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, for the first time in two years, Vashti woke up feeling like she was in control of her life and could finally see a light—a bright one at that—at the end of the road. Scott was out of her life, she had a great job, but more importantly, some developer group was interested in her inn.
Her inn.
It seemed odd to think of Shelby by the Sea as hers when it had belonged to her aunt for as long as she could remember. Definitely long before Vashti was born. Her parents’ home had been a mile away, and growing up she had spent a lot of her time at Shelby; especially during her teen years when she worked as her aunt’s personal assistant. That’s when she’d fallen in love with the inn and had thought it was the best place in the world.
Until...
Vashti pushed the “until” from her mind, refusing to go there and hoping Bryce was wrong about her having to return to Catalina Cove to face off with the rezoning board. There had to be another way and she intended to find it. Barely eighteen, she had needed to escape the town that had always been her safe haven because it had become a living hell for her.
An hour later Vashti had showered, dressed and was walking out her door ready to start her day at the Grand Nunes Luxury Hotel in Manhattan. But not before stopping at her favorite café on the corner to grab a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee. Catalina Cove was considered the blueberry capital in the country, and even she couldn’t resist this small indulgence from her hometown. She would be the first to admit that although this blueberry muffin was delicious, it was not as good as the ones Bryce’s mother made and sold at their family’s restaurant.
With the bag containing her muffin in one hand and her cup of coffee in the other, Vashti caught the elevator up to the hotel’s executive floor. She couldn’t wait to get to work.
She’d heard that the big man himself, Gideon Nunes, was in town and would be meeting with several top members of the managerial and executive team, which would include her.
It was a half hour before lunch when she received a call to come to Mr. Nunes’s office. Ten minutes later she walked out of the CEO’s office stunned, in a state of shock. According to Mr. Nunes, his five hotels in the States had been sold, including this one. He’d further stated that the new owner was bringing in his own people, which meant her services were no longer needed.
In other words, she’d been fired.
CHAPTER TWO
A week later
VASHTI GLANCED AROUND the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Although she’d never returned to Catalina Cove, she’d flown into this airport many times to attend a hotel conference or convention, or just to get away. Even though Catalina Cove was only an hour’s drive away, she’d never been tempted to take the road trip to revisit the parish where she’d been born.
Today, with no job and more time on her hands than she really needed or wanted, in addition to the fact that there was ten million dollars dangling in front of her face, she was returning to Catalina Cove to attend the zoning board meeting and plead her case, although the thought of doing so was a bitter pill to swallow. When she’d left the cove she’d felt she didn’t owe the town or its judgmental people anything. Likewise, they didn’t owe her a thing. Now fourteen years later she was back and, to her way of thinking, Catalina Cove did owe her something.
Keep reading for an excerpt from A Texan for Christmas by Jules Bennett.
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p; Copyright © 2018 by Brenda Streater Jackson
A Texan for Christmas
by Jules Bennett
One
Scarlett Patterson clutched the handle of her small suitcase and waited.
And waited.
She’d knocked twice on the door, but still no answer. She knew this was the address she’d been given—a small cabin nestled in the back of the sprawling, picturesque Pebblebrook Ranch. She’d been told exactly who she’d be working for and her belly did flips just thinking of Beau Elliott—deemed Hollywood’s Bad Boy, the Maverick of Movies, Cowboy Casanova...the titles were endless.
One thing was certain, if the tabloids were correct—he made no apologies about his affection for women. Scarlett wasn’t sure she’d ever seen an image of him with the same woman.
That is, until his lover turned up pregnant. Then the two were spotted out together, but by then the rumors had begun—of drugs found in his lover’s carry-on, of affairs started...or maybe they’d never stopped.
Why he’d come back home now, to this quiet town in Texas and his family’s sprawling ranch, was none of her concern.
With a hand blocking her eyes from a rare glimpse of winter sun, Scarlett glanced around the open fields. Not a soul in sight. In the distance, a green field dotted with cattle stretched all the way to the horizon. This could easily be a postcard.
The Elliott land was vast. She’d heard there were several homes on the property and a portion of the place would soon become a dude ranch. In fact, this cabin would eventually be housing for guests of said dude ranch.
So why was Beau Elliott staying here instead of one of the main houses, with his brothers? Was he even planning to stick around?
So many mysteries...
But she wasn’t here to inquire about his personal life and she certainly wouldn’t be divulging any extra information about hers.
She was here to help his baby.
Even if that meant she had to come face-to-face with one of the sexiest men on the planet.
The snick of a lock had her turning her attention back around. When the door swung wide, it was all Scarlett could do to hold back her gasp.
The Second Chance Page 16