A Christmas Temptation

by Karen Booth

  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 need 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 Want Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates.

  Copyright © 2018 by Brenda Streater Jackson

  Want Me, Cowboy

  by Maisey Yates

  One

  November 1, 2018

  Location: Copper Ridge, Oregon

  WIFE WANTED—

  Rich rancher, not given to socializing. Wants a wife who will not try to change me. Must be tolerant of moods, reported lack of sensitivity and the tendency to take off for a few days’ time in the mountains. Will expect meals cooked. Also, probably a kid or two. Exact number to be negotiated. Beard is nonnegotiable.

  November 5, 2018

  Revised draft for approval by 11/6

  WIFE WANTED—

  Rich rancher, not given to socializing. Successful rancher searching for a wife who enjoys rural living. Wants a wife who will not try to change me. Must be tolerant of moods, reported lack of sensitivity, and the tendency to take off for a few days’ time in the mountains. Though happy with my life, it has begun to feel lonely, and I would like someone to enhance my satisfaction with what I have already. I enjoy extended camping trips and prefer the mountains to a night on the town. Will expect meals cooked. Also, probably a kid or two. Exact number to be negotiated. Beard is nonnegotiable. I I’m looking for a traditional family life, and a wife and children to share it with.

  “This is awful.”

  Poppy Sinclair looked up from her desk, her eyes colliding with her boss’s angry gray stare. He was holding a printout of the personal ad she’d revised for him and shaking it at her like she was a dog and it was a newspaper.

  “The original was awful,” she responded curtly, turning her focus back to her computer.

  “But it was all true.”

  “Lead with being less of an asshole.”

  “I am an asshole,” Isaiah said, clearly unconcerned with that fact.

  He was at peace with himself. Which she admired on some level. Isaiah was Isaiah, and he made no apologies for that fact. But his attitude would be a problem if the man wanted to find a wife. Because very few other people were at peace with him just as he was.

  “I would never say I want to—” he frowned “‘—enhance my enjoyment.’ What the hell, Poppy?”

  Poppy had known Isaiah since she was eighteen years old. She was used to his moods. His complete lack of subtlety. His gruffness.

  But somehow, she’d never managed to get used to him. As a man.

  This grumpy, rough, bearded man who was like a brick wall. Or like one of those mountains he’d disappear into for days at a time.

  Every time she saw him, it felt as if he’d stolen the air right from her lungs. It was more than just being handsome—though he was. A lot of men were handsome. His brother Joshua was handsome, and a whole lot easier to get along with.

  Isaiah was... Well, he was her very particular brand of catnip. He made everything in her sit up, purr...and want to be stroked.

  Even when he was in full hermit mode.

  People—and interacting with them—were decidedly not his thing. It was one reason Poppy had always been an asset to him in his work life. It was her job to sit and take notes during meetings...and report her read on the room to him after. He was a brilliant businessman, and fantastic with numbers. Bu
t people...not so much.

  As evidenced by the ad. Of course, the very fact that he was placing an ad to find a wife was both contradicting to that point—suddenly, he wanted a wife!—and also, somehow, firmly in affirmation of it. He was placing an ad to find her.

  The whole situation was Joshua’s fault. Well, probably Devlin and Joshua combined, in fairness.

  Isaiah’s brothers had been happy bachelors until a couple of years ago when Devlin had married their sister Faith’s best friend, Mia.

  Then, Joshua had been the next to succumb to matrimony, a victim of their father’s harebrained scheme. The patriarch of the Grayson family had put an ad in a national newspaper looking for a wife for his son. In retaliation, Joshua had placed an ad of his own, looking for an unsuitable wife that would teach his father not to meddle.

  It all backfired. Or...front fired. Either way, Joshua had ended up married to Danielle, and was now happily settled with her and her infant half brother who both of them were raising as their son.

  It was after their wedding that Isaiah had formed his plan.

  The wedding had—he had explained to Poppy at work one morning—clarified a few things for him. He believed in marriage as a valuable institution, one that he wanted to be part of. He wanted stability. He wanted children. But he didn’t have any inclination toward love.

  He didn’t have to tell her why.

  She knew why.

  Rosalind.

  But she wouldn’t speak her foster sister’s name out loud, and neither would he. But she remembered. The awful, awful fallout of Rosalind’s betrayal.

  His pain. Poppy’s own conflicted feelings.

  It was easy to remember her conflicted feelings, since she still had them.

  He was staring at her now, those slate eyes hard and glinting with an energy she couldn’t quite pin down. And with coldness, a coldness that hadn’t been there before Rosalind. A coldness that told her and any other woman—loud and clear—that his heart was unavailable.