Evie’s Awakening: Love in Holiday Junction, Book Three

by Franklin, Tami

  Lou frowned, dropping her hands. “So he plays dirty.”

  Liam shrugged. “Sometimes. At least that’s what I’ve heard.”

  “Perhaps you’ll have to reconsider your own tactics,” the mayor said.

  “I don’t think so,” he said stiffly.

  “All I’m saying is sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.”

  “And all I’m saying,” Liam said, his jaw tight, “is I’m not that kind of lawyer. If you want to fight fire with fire, as you put it, you better find yourself another guy.”

  “I’m sure that’s not what Joshua means,” Lou said, touching Liam’s arm with what he could only assume was an annoyed glance toward the mayor, blocked by the sunglasses. “We’d never expect you to do anything illegal or unethical. Right, Joshua?”

  The mayor hesitated for perhaps a beat too long, but finally sighed, his long face settling into a creased frown. “No, of course not.” His phone beeped and he glanced at it before looking toward the sky. “Here he comes.”

  Liam didn’t know anything about airplanes, but even he had to admit the jet was impressive. Sleek and white with upturned wingtips, a wide swath of green sweeping up from the belly over the tail, and curling around the Hart Enterprises logo, it spoke of wealth and extravagance. It fairly shouted, actually. The plane pulled to a stop about fifty feet from them, and after only a couple minutes, the door opened, unfolding into a stairway, and a man and woman emerged.

  “Who is that?” Joshua asked under his breath.

  Liam could only assume that the tall man with the brown hair, graying at the temples, was Sparks. But the woman? She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her.

  “I’m not sure,” he replied.

  She was—the word impeccable came to mind. Beautiful, but in an untouchable way. Brown hair swept up into a neat French twist, a cream-colored suit flawlessly tailored to her trim frame. She walked quickly, bright red heels clicking against the asphalt, and as they drew nearer, Liam could tell they matched her lipstick. She, too, wore sunglasses, so he couldn’t see her eyes, but he could feel her studying him, and immediately got the impression this woman was not one to mess with.

  “Liam Durant?”

  He tore his gaze from the woman, and took the hand extended toward him, shaking it firmly. “Grayson Sparks. Welcome to Holiday Junction.” He turned to introduce the others. “This is our mayor, Joshua Kendricks.”

  Grayson nodded, shaking the mayor’s hand. “Mr. Mayor.”

  “Mr. Sparks.”

  “Please, call me Gray.” He smiled, dark eyes sweeping over the mayor.

  Taking stock, Liam thought.

  “And this is Louise Chalmers,” he said as she stepped forward, “owner of our local bookstore, Chalmers Chapters, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce.”

  “Ms. Chalmers.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Lou said with a charming smile. If there was one thing she was good at, it was charm.

  The woman in the red shoes cleared her throat and Sparks turned to her without missing a beat. “And may I present Evangeline Hart?”

  “Hart?” Liam repeated, surprised.

  “Evie,” she corrected, holding out a perfectly manicured hand, her fingernails pale and rounded with pristine white tips.

  “Executive Vice President of Hart Enterprises, and daughter of Warren Hart,” Sparks clarified as Liam shook her hand, followed by the others.

  “Ms. Hart . . . Evie,” Joshua said, a bit flustered. “We didn’t expect you.”

  “Yes, well, it was a last minute decision,” she replied with a quick quirk of her lips. “I’m heading up the project, so I thought it made sense to come myself, and see if we couldn’t work out a solution.”

  “Excellent.” Joshua nodded. “I’m certain we can.”

  “Good.” Another brief, chilly smile. “Thank you for coming to meet us. We tried to hire a car, but—”

  “Yes, well, not a lot of call for that in Holiday Junction, I’m afraid,” Liam said, running a hand through his hair. “But we’re happy to help.” Two men dressed in black suits approached, carrying the luggage, and he waved toward his Suburban.

  “Sure is beautiful country around here,” Sparks said as they walked toward the car. “There any fish in that lake I saw as we landed?”

  “Lake Cathote?” The mayor said. “Absolutely. You a fisherman?”

  “When I have the time,” he replied with a sorrowful shake of his head.

  “Well, I’ll have to take you out while you’re here.” Joshua slapped him on the back. It was all part of the plan, of course. They’d agreed that getting Sparks—and now, apparently, Evangeline Hart—to see and appreciate the natural beauty of the area would help win them over.

  “That sounds wonderful,” Sparks said, glancing over his shoulder. “You want to do a little fishing, Evie?”

  “I doubt I’ll have the time,” she replied. “But you go ahead.”

  “What are your plans while you’re in town?” Lou asked her.

  “I’d like to meet with the town leaders. The Chamber of Commerce, of course.” She nodded at Lou with a small smile. “Basically, get to know the town and its residents. Hart Enterprises wants to become a part of the community.”

  “Really.” Liam couldn’t keep from sounding doubtful.

  They reached the SUV and the woman turned to face him, sliding off her sunglasses and meeting his gaze for the first time. Her eyes were brown, but an unusual shade. Under the sun they shimmered like bourbon, flickering with hints of cinnamon and gold.

  She tipped her head. “Mr. Durant?” He blinked, realizing she’d been speaking to him while he was trying to determine the actual color of her eyes.

  “Sorry, what was that?” He felt his cheeks warm, but didn’t look away.

  “I said we’re on the same team, after all.” She gave him what could only be described as a patronizing smile, and he stiffened.

  “Are we?”

  “Aren’t we?” She tipped her head. The breeze tugged loose a strand of hair, and she caught it, neatly tucking it behind her ear.

  “Well, I suppose if Hart Enterprises is willing to reconsider—”

  Evie’s smile fell, her warm eyes turning cold in a flash. “We aren’t reconsidering anything.”

  He crossed his arms. “Then what are you doing here?”

  “I told you. We’d like to work out a solution before we all have to waste a lot of time going to court.”

  “Evie—” Sparks said in a warning tone.

  She shot him a sharp glance, silencing him, before she focused on Liam again. “There’s no reason to dance around it. It’s a waste of time. No judge is going to grant that injunction.” She shrugged one shoulder. “But we are willing to work with the community to try and streamline the process in a way satisfactory to all parties involved.”

  And Liam finally got it. “You mean you want to pay people off. Bribe them to stop fighting the development.”

  Evie wrinkled her nose. “We would never bribe anyone,” she said. “We would, however, be willing to offer incentives to local businesses. We only want to try and contribute to the community. If the community is willing to be reasonable.”

  “Evie,” Sparks said through gritted teeth. “Now is not the time.”

  “Why not lay our cards on the table from the start?” Evie said, not looking away from Liam’s gaze. “Mr. Durant here is a practical man, I’m sure.” She took in his rumpled suit with an arched brow. “I’m sure he sees the futility of what he’s doing.”

  “There’s nothing futile about it,” Liam said in a low, furious voice. “You can’t just come in here and get the people of Holiday Junction to roll over. We’ll defend our town. Our history.”

  “Perhaps we can discuss this over dinner?” Joshua suggested.

  “History!” Evie scoffed. “It’s an old factory. Concrete and broken glass. This town doesn’t care about it at all. The application for historical designation is a Hail Mar
y to try and stifle progress.”

  “You have no idea what we care about!” Liam leaned in, not caring that they were nearly nose to nose. “You don’t know anything about our town!”

  “Liam.” Lou touched his arm, but he ignored her.

  “I do know that textile factory, and the twenty acres it sits on, belongs to Hart Enterprises,” Evie Hart said coldly. “You can try to fight it, but we’re bigger. We have more money. More power. We can wait you out, if we have to.” She straightened, moving back from him a little. “But we don’t want to do that, don’t you see? We don’t want to ruin Holiday Junction. We want to help it grow. Become more prosperous. That’s good for everyone involved.”

  “Except for those who live here, and who love the town as it is,” he retorted.

  Evie smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I guess we’ll see about that.”

  Liam knew a challenge when he heard one. She was going to do her best to get to the people of Holiday Junction. But Liam knew his neighbors—his friends—and if Evangeline Hart thought she could strongarm them, she had a big surprise ahead of her.

  So he smiled too as he yanked open the driver’s side door of his Suburban.

  “I guess we will,” he replied.

  * * *

  Evie sat in the passenger seat of Liam Durant’s SUV, her hands clenched tightly in her lap to hide the shaking. What had she been thinking?

  She hadn’t, was the answer.

  It had been a sleepless night and a long flight as she reviewed bids, reached out to her contacts about the environmental impact statement, and tried to figure out what she was going to do to save Tobara. She was exhausted, and despite her agreement with Gray that they would lay low, take the temperature of the town and try not to ruffle any feathers, she’d opened her big mouth and challenged Liam Durant—all of them actually—within ten minutes of meeting him.

  Where was her tact? Where was her business savvy? No wonder her father was looking at other options for CEO.

  The silence in the Suburban was palpable, a wall erected between her and Durant, who drove, eyes focused unerringly on the road ahead of him. What more was there to say, anyway? She’d told him she planned to pay people off—to bribe them, for heaven’s sake. That was her father. That was Gray.

  Not her.

  But she’d felt backed into a corner and lashed out before she could think better of it.

  Idiot.

  Now, she had no doubt her words would be repeated through the Holiday Junction grapevine faster than social media could ever hope to do it. And she’d face twice the resistance than she would have if she’d just kept her stupid mouth shut.

  Evie swallowed a yawn, surreptitiously observing Durant out of the corner of her eye.

  She’d tried to intimidate him. That was true. After years of fighting to be recognized for her own intelligence, instead of her pedigreed name, Evie was used to doing that. But even she had to admit that Liam Durant was no small town pushover. He’d given as he got, and she had to admit to some begrudging respect for the man.

  She even felt bad for scorning his suit. Sure, it was most likely off the rack, but he wore it well. Evie wasn’t dead, after all. Even if he was the enemy, she had to admit Durant was handsome, with his broad shoulders and trim waist, long fingers and tousled sandy hair. And those stormy blue eyes? Her knees might have buckled a little bit when she looked into them, and she was glad her sunglasses hid her initial response.

  It had to be the lack of sleep, she reasoned. That was what was to blame for her unprofessionalism and general lack of discretion.

  “Sure is beautiful,” Gray said from the back seat. Evie glanced at him through the side mirror and he gave her a look that said fix this, if she was fluent in Gray’s looks. And she was.

  “Yes, it is,” she said with a small smile, looking out at the towering evergreens lining the road, the ferns and multicolored wildflowers covering the ground. Every now and then there would be a gap in the thick forest and she’d catch a glimpse of snow-capped mountains in the distance. “How far are we from town?”

  “Not far,” Liam said shortly. He glanced in the rearview mirror and whatever—or whoever—he saw made him sigh heavily. “A few more minutes. We have you set up at the Holliday Inn on the west end of town. It’s only about a mile from the textile mill, so we thought it would be convenient.”

  “You’ll like it,” Lou said, patting her on the shoulder. “It’s the nicest hotel in town.”

  “Carl has a car you can use while you’re here,” Joshua added. “It’s nothing fancy, but it should get the job done.”

  Evie wasn’t sure who Carl was, but Joshua’s eager nod made her feel like the snobbiest, most ungrateful person on the planet. “I’m sure it will be fine. Thank you,” she said with a smile. Holiday Inns weren’t too bad. Nothing extravagant, but generally clean and comfortable.

  They drove around the main center of town, passing a few businesses and a large concrete and brick building with a faded sign in front that read Fraternal Order of Beavers. The businesses gave way to some scattered houses, and eventually, Liam pulled onto a long, graveled driveway. Expecting a three- or four-story stuccoed building with a big green H over the doors, Evie blinked in surprise when a cedar and glass structure came into view.

  “This is the Holiday Inn?” she asked, as they got out of the car.

  “Oh, no, not that one,” Lou said with a laugh. She followed Gray out of the car and slammed the door shut. “It’s Holliday—two L’s,” she explained. “The founder of the town was James Holliday, but then in the fifties, the town council voted to lose one of the Ls. It was a whole PR thing.” She waved a hand. “Anyway, we couldn’t very well change the name of the Inn, trademarks and all that, so they kept the extra L.” She waved toward the building with flourish.

  “It’s a beautiful building,” Evie said, taking in the angles and thick log posts.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Lou followed her line of sight, shading her eyes from the sunlight glinting off the windows. “The original building burned down in the seventies, and the land sat here untouched for about twenty years. Some millionaire built it for a summer home or something, but then with the dot-com bust, he went bankrupt. Carl and Carla bought it at auction for a fraction of its worth, and it became the Holliday Inn once again.”

  “Well, I’d love it if we could get settled in and get something to eat,” Gray said, rubbing his hands together. “Please tell me they have a restaurant.”

  “They do,” Liam replied, “but they only serve breakfast and lunch. You’ll have to go into town to the diner, or the Mill, if you’d like something more elegant.” He glanced pointedly at Evie’s shoes. “I’m guessing the Mill is more your style.”

  Evie straightened, arching a brow in irritation. “Actually, a nice, juicy burger sounds wonderful.”

  “It does?” Gray said in surprise, earning a glare from Evie.

  “I mean, yes.” Gray nodded emphatically. “A burger would be great.”

  “Well, let’s get you all set up,” Joshua said, leading them up the front steps. “We figured you’d be tired tonight, but we’ve set up a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce tomorrow. We can talk after that and figure out the best way to proceed.”

  The wide front deck wrapped around the whole front of the building and down one side. A couple lounge chairs and a small table were set up to the right of the entrance, although it still seemed a bit chilly to sit outside. The inn felt a bit like a tree house, with the evergreens surrounding it on all sides—or like it had sprung up on its own, a natural addition to the scenery.

  They walked into the dim interior and Evie blinked to let her eyes adjust. A desk sat in an alcove off to the left with a little needlepoint sign reading Welcome to the Holliday Inn and a small reception bell. But when she turned and saw the sitting area, Evie’s breath caught. The whole opposite wall was an A-frame of windows looking out over rolling hills, studded with evergreen trees. A large fireplace d
ominated the far corner of the room, a huge piece of slate actually punching through the wall from outside to serve as a hearth, and she realized the building had actually been built around the monstrous stone. Tearing her eyes away from the fireplace, she gazed out the windows again. In the distance, the mountains she’d seen driving in sparkled in the sunlight, and a blue ribbon of river wound through the valley, Evie presumed on its way to the lake she’d seen from the plane.

  Her mouth dropped open and she let out a little gasp.

  “See that little cluster of trees over there?” Liam asked, and Evie realized she’d walked into the sitting room without even realizing it, and now stood just a few feet from the windows. She looked where Liam was pointing.

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “That’s where your condos will be,” he said. “So that mountain view? Forget about it. Well, except for the software millionaires who can afford it, that is.” He moved his finger a little to the right. “And your charming retail space, as the brochure calls it, will clear out all those trees over there. That’s where the scouts have their campouts. Bummer for them.”

  Evie sighed, tired and more than a little irritated by Durant’s condescending tone. “Hart Enterprises always endeavors to incorporate the natural surroundings into our projects whenever possible.” She wondered if she sounded like she’d recited the words before. Because she had. Countless times.

  “I’m sure you do,” Liam said, shaking his head as he walked away.

  Evie pinched the bridge of her nose, willing herself to calm down, but when she turned to follow Durant, her heel caught on something and she stumbled, falling to her hands and knees. A pair of glassy black eyes and a snarling mouth appeared before her, and she screamed, scrambling back as her heart raced wildly.

  It only took a moment for her to realize what it was and to feel like a complete nitwit.

  She’d stumbled on a black, bearskin rug.

  Evie sat, splayed out, one shoe dangling off her toe and her skirt hiked up above her knees, and tried to think of a way to get out of the situation gracefully. But of course, the whole group rushed to see what the problem was, and any hope of that vanished like a wisp of smoke.