“I may be able to help you with that.” A wry smile tipped the corner of his mouth upward.
“By buying the property,” she said glumly, swallowing her disappointment. Why did she let herself fall so easily?
“By signing a hundred year lease.”
She pulled back. “A what?”
He squeezed her hands, his smile turning into a grin. “Technically, ninety-nine years, but who’s counting? It gives us one to grow on, he added with a wink.”
“Nick. Be serious.”
“I am.” Lifting her hands to his mouth, he pressed his lips to her fingers. “It’ll give me enough time to get to know you better.”
“Nick, stop.” Delaney meant his teasing, though the feel of his warm lips against her skin reminded her of their night together—a night she wanted to repeat. But a hundred years? Was a lease that long even possible?
“The 99-year lease is a business arrangement used to ensure the lessee rights to the use of a property, without actually holding title to it.” He cupped his large hands around hers and held firm. “You own the property, but give me a 99-year lease. I build my hotel, at my expense, while paying you for the use of your land. It’s a win-win.”
“What happens if I decide I don’t want to be in the hotel business anymore?”
Nick cocked his head. “Giving up on us already?”
Delaney ignored the spray of nerves, his adorable pout and said, “I’m being realistic. What if things don’t work out between us, what then?”
“We re-negotiate the terms of the deal.”
“Would I be stuck with a hotel?”
He laughed and relinquished her hands. “Good grief, woman! You make it sound like a punishment!”
“Well... I can’t afford the taxes. I doubt I’ll be able to afford a hotel.”
Nick slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Warm within his embrace, she tried to evade the amusement dancing in his devilishly black eyes. “You wouldn’t have to buy it. I would have to sell to someone more your type and let you two run off on your merry way while I found a hole to curl up and die in.”
“Nick.” She squeezed his muscular torso, luxuriating in the solid feel of his body next to hers.
“If you’re planning our future demise, I have to be realistic, don’t I?”
“I’m not planning our future demise.”
Nick leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead. “You’re not?”
“No.” She tilted her head up and his mouth sought hers. “I’m not,” she murmured as he kissed her—the way she wanted him to kiss her, yearned for him to kiss her.
Nick sighed. “Can we start planning our hotel, then?”
Delaney giggled like a school girl. “Are you using me for my land, Mr. Harris?”
“Not at all. It’s all about your body, Ms. Wilkins.” He enclosed his mouth over hers again, sliding his tongue in and around, as if he couldn’t probe deep enough, hard enough.
Delaney matched his tempo, an urgency building inside her. Last night with Nick had meant something to her. A lot of something. To think that he felt the same way was everything she wanted. More than she could have hoped for. And if the surge of desire she felt was any indication, she wanted him right now.
The sensation of Nick’s mouth and hips ran together in her mind, her body, fusing the pleasurable feelings inside and outside into one. She ached for him to hold her, to love her. Everything about him was masculine, strong. Delaney did not consider herself a weak woman, but she was powerless to resist him.
Boots pummeled up the stairs, the porch door swung open.
Delaney gasped, jerking away from Nick. “Felicity!”
Her daughter stood in the doorway, her body a narrow silhouette against the backdrop of the fading sun. Horrified that her daughter had witnessed the two of them, Delaney could only hope that her child was not appalled by the scene. But she couldn’t see her face.
Delaney held her breath, straightening her shirt as Felicity strolled toward them. Her daughter’s face came into the glow of cabin light. “You two need to get a room.” Calmly, she deposited her flute case by the front door, then proceeded to tug her boots free
Relieved by the hint of humor in her daughter’s voice, Delaney realized Felicity was encouraging her...again. Delaney cleared her throat. “I have a room, thank you.”
Felicity chuckled. “You might try using it.” Picking up her case, she opened the door and wiggled her fingers goodbye. “Night, Mr. Harris.”
Nick grinned broadly and raised a hand. “Night, Felicity.”
Delaney gaped after her daughter. “Did that really just happen?”
“It did, and she’s right.” Dropping his sultry gaze to her mouth, he murmured, “We need a room.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Delaney grabbed her gun from the dresser top. Fear skirted through her pulse. Nine o’clock in the morning, who the hell was pounding on her front door? Had Jeb gotten out of jail?
Nick and Felicity had gone, leaving Delaney alone. She edged her way along the wall and peeked around the corner. Holding the gun low by her side, she cocked the pistol and steeled her arm.
“Delaney Wilkins! I know you’re in there!”
Delaney bolted erect. Annie? What the heck was she doing here?
Uncocking the gun, she slipped the pistol back into her boot, pulled her jean pant leg down and walked to the door. With a shake to her hair, she braced her nerves and opened the door. “Do you mind not destroying my property?”
Annie marched past her and whirled. “So you’ve done it. You’ve finally done it.”
As Delaney stared into Annie’s fiery blue eyes, her demeanor primed for attack, realization dawned. News travels fast. Delaney set hands to hips and stood astride. “Done what, Annie? Secured the rightful ownership of Ladd Springs?”
“Oh, save your high and mighty tone with me,” she fumed. “I’m sick and tired of your holier-than-thou attitude. I’ve come to inform you that this is not over. My lawyer will contest the transfer of title.”
“Since when is a man not within his rights to sign over his property?”
“Since he’s working under duress.”
“Duress?”
“Duress.” Annie stepped forward and jabbed a finger toward Delaney’s face. “It is illegal to unduly influence a person to gain power over their property.”
Delaney bit out a laugh. “You might want to get your terms straight. Which is it? Duress, or undue influence?”
“Don’t get smart with me.”
“Get smart with you? How about I educate you on the facts?” Staring her down eye-to-eye, Delaney could almost feel Annie’s heart pumping as hard and angry as her own. “Ernie signed the property over to Felicity. That’s the only thing that matters.”
“What about Jeremiah? Don’t you think he’ll have something to say about it? He’d have to release his rights for Felicity to get Ladd Springs.”
Annie sucked the wind from Delaney’s confidence. “What?”
Now it was Annie’s turn to gloat. “Oh, yes. Or didn’t you know?”
“But it was Grandpa Ladd’s name on the title, not Jeremiah’s.”
“Tell a court of law. The fine print says otherwise.”
Fine print? What the hell was Annie talking about?
“Oh,” Annie added. “And don’t do anything to the property I wouldn’t do. It won’t be yours for long.”
Nick exited the jewelry store and pulled out his phone. The sidewalk was deserted, most folks somewhere else at two in the afternoon. After one call to his attorney this morning, his plans were moving forward. He dialed Malcolm’s number. Once the paperwork was drawn up and Felicity signed on the dotted line, he was in business. The irony struck him. Felicity would have to sign. His new landlord was barely eighteen years old. He chuckled. Definitely new territory for him!
“Nick.”
“Hey,” he responded, glancing at the bags of manure and pine mulch piled i
n neat stacks outside a hardware store. “I have good news.”
“I heard. Lanny called me right after he got off the phone with you.”
Nick smiled into the phone. “Stealing my thunder, is he?”
“Saving your butt. I’ve been on the phone with investors all morning, steering them back on course. Jillian almost snagged another one, so you can thank me later.”
Well-acquainted with Malcolm’s paybacks, Nick smiled. “How much will that cost me?”
“Plenty. But listen, I don’t have a lot of time at the moment. When are you coming back? We need to get started on drawing up the plans.”
“Well, that’s one of the things I’m calling you about, Mal.” He swung his gaze into a thrift store, where ladies’ dresses lined the display window. “I’m going to have a survey done on the property. I have some leeway as to site location, so I plan to stay another week or so and explore the land by foot.”
“Is that really necessary? I thought most of it was forest land. Seen one tree, you’ve seen them all, right?”
Nick laughed. “Malcolm, haven’t I taught you better? You must become one with the land, get to know her secrets before you can exploit them for highest and best value.”
“You met someone?”
Nick laughed again, but this time it reached deep and low into his abdomen, stirring old feelings of want. “You know me too well.”
“Yes, and sometimes your penchant for women translates into trouble for Harris Hotels.”
“Jillian hasn’t made a dent in our reputation.”
“Not for lack of trying!”
Slowing as he neared his car, Nick chided, “Yes, well, who knew she was psychotic?”
“She hides it well, I’ll give you that,” Malcolm replied. “But I thought you would have learned your lesson about mixing business with pleasure.”
Nick stopped just short of his car. “Except this time I think I’m in love.”
“Yeah, I’m in love every time—the point remains the same.”
Nick shook his head and replied, “Touché.” Pressing the key fob to unlock his door, he said, “Listen, don’t worry about my love life. This deal is sweeter than we could have imagined. But I need you here. How soon before you can catch a flight?”
“To Tennessee?”
He chuckled. “Well... I’m not in Bali.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m up to my eyeballs in paperwork! I can’t come down there. What could possibly be so important that you need me on site and not in the office?”
“Gold, Malcolm.”
“Gold?”
Nick nodded. “In more ways than one.”
Delaney resisted the urge to place another call to her attorney’s office. She’d called twice, the man had her number, he’d return her call when he was free. She paced the kitchen, checked on the cornbread again and chastised herself aloud, “The bread won’t bake any faster, you keep looking at it!” She tossed the oven door closed.
She spun on her socked heel and dropped back against the counter. But she was going crazy. Was Annie right? Did she have a point? Delaney didn’t recall any fine print referring to Jeremiah. What could she be talking about? Was there more to the title than what was listed in the public records? Were there other papers, other documentation regarding the property? If so, how did Annie know about them and Delaney didn’t?
She wanted to call Nick, but she didn’t want to appear ignorant—especially after all the plans they started laying out last night in bed. Her lawyer could answer the legal questions about title and rights. He’d know what to do.
But she wanted Nick to help her. She wanted Nick to make this go away—they were planning a hotel together! Maybe even a life. She couldn’t let Annie ruin her plans before they even got started.
Footsteps sounded heavily across the front porch and Felicity burst in through the front door. “Mom!”
The frantic call of her name gutted Delaney. She rocketed from the counter.
Fear popped in Felicity’s delicate features. “It’s Casey!”
“Casey?”
“She’s in the hospital,” she cried.
“The hospital?” Delaney clutched hold of the island, alarm crawling through her. “What on earth for?”
“She overdosed.”
Standing in the emergency room waiting room, Annie Owens was a wall of anger. Beneath the stark lighting, worry carved deep lines around her mouth, across her forehead. Ice filled her gaze and she raised her chin indignantly. “What is she doing here?”
Waved off by Ashley, Delaney hung back, Felicity hovering by her side. With no time to change, Delaney still wore a tank top smudged with cornmeal and buttermilk, her hair pulled back into a hapless ponytail. But then again, there weren’t many folks who would see her. The waiting room was practically empty.
“I invited her,” Ashley stated crisply. She took a step forward, inserting herself between Annie and Delaney, her hot pink dress and boots ridiculously out of place in the somber environment. As usual, the woman looked as if she were headed for the dance floor and not a family crisis.
“What for?” Annie asked. “She’s the one who caused this.”
“Malarkey!” Ashley exclaimed. “That’s nothing but tomfoolery, Annie, and I won’t stand for you saying another evil word. Delly didn’t cause this any more than you did.”
But the accusation stung. Part of Delaney felt it may be true.
Ashley moved closer to Annie and lowered her voice. “The child is troubled, Annie. She needs help. This is just her way of cryin’ out for it.”
Annie turned her back on her godmother, but her wrath didn’t dim. It scorched the room and everyone in it.
Delaney hugged arms to her body. The girl was troubled, but drugs? She never suspected it had gone that far. After turning Casey away at Fran’s, an overdose was the last thing Delaney expected to happen. How had she fallen so far into depression? Felicity and Casey were friends at school. They ran in the same circles. It’s how Felicity learned of her condition. Did you hear? Casey Owens overdosed.
From there, word spread like a Tennessee wildfire through the rural high school.
“Annie,” Delaney murmured. “If there’s anything we can do...”
Annie turned on her, fury setting the pain ablaze. “Do? Haven’t you done enough already?”
“Annie—”
“Don’t Annie me,” she spat. “You all but called my daughter illegitimate to her face—and you wonder why she’s upset?”
Delaney balked. “I did not.”
“’The property belongs to Ladds,’” Annie mimicked. “Ring a bell?”
Delaney shrank in the wake of indictment. Casey must have run straight home to Annie and repeated the encounter verbatim.
“Whether you like it or not,” Annie said, daggers shooting from her eyes. “Casey belongs to Jeremiah. She’s a Ladd, same as you.”
Delaney didn’t come here to cause trouble, but she wasn’t going to roll over and play dead, either. Noting Ashley and Felicity had faded into the background of the confrontation, Delaney took the reins, she stepped forward and said, “Annie, whether she is or isn’t hasn’t been established. So under the circumstances I think it’s fair to say the property rightly goes to Felicity.”
Resentment pulsed through Annie’s features, colored the blue of her eyes with an unsettling mix of worry and anger and hate. “Do you think I care any less for my daughter than you care for yours?”
“Of course not.”
“You divorced, Jack. We're both single mothers.” Annie screwed her face into a display of disgust. “Tell me how we’re so different again?”
Delaney shifted her weight from heel to heel. “Annie, please. You’re not even sure who Casey’s father is,” she quietly accused.
“I am. It’s Jeremiah Ladd.” Annie hesitated for the briefest of seconds, like a cat ready to pounce, but then her expression calmed and Delaney’s skin tingled. She flashed a glance to Ashley, as though warning
sirens would ring out any moment. “I wonder how he’d feel,” Annie added, “knowing that you’re stealing his inheritance.” Delaney felt the hit swift and firm to her gut. “Perhaps someone should call him.” Annie’s nostrils flared. “Before it’s too late.”
Delaney was floored. Annie Owens was a lot of things, but calling Jeremiah? Was she out of her mind? She knew how Ernie felt about his son—how Jeremiah felt about his father. Was she that bitter? Hell bent on destroying the family to get what she wanted, no matter the cost?
The mere thought of Jeremiah entering the picture was toxic. Pure poison.
Staring at Annie through a haze of disbelief, the waiting room felt like it was suspended in time. Delaney ran a hand over top of her head, down her ponytail and asked, “What’s the point, Annie? Is it money you’re after?”
“I’m after what rightfully belongs to my daughter, same as you,” Annie declared.
Placing a hand to her forehead, Delaney drew it halfway down her face and stared. Deep down, Delaney had the sneaking suspicion that, given the chance, Annie would sell the place and run with the money. She didn’t care about the legacy of Ladd Springs. She didn’t have memories that bound her to the land, family members buried in its soil. She wanted money. Legitimacy. Delaney spewed out a sigh. “This is stupid.”
“I agree.” Ashley stepped in and seized the opportunity to bust them apart. “Hissing at each other like two angry possums isn’t gonna solve a thing.” She pointed toward the emergency ward, bracelets clanging at her wrist. “We’ve got a child in their fighting for her life. She needs all the support she can get, and I demand you two put your differences aside and focus on what’s important.” She checked with Felicity, as if seeking her agreement.
Felicity nodded, her green eyes glistening.
“There’s plenty enough time later to argue over who deserves what. Right now, we’ve got to come together, bow our heads and pray for Casey.” Ashley reached out and grabbed hold of Annie and Delaney, drawing them to either side of her. Felicity filled in between her mother and Annie. “We’re family,” Ashley declared and bowed her platinum head of hair. “Let’s start acting like it.”
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