Love's Paradise

by Celeste O. Norfleet

“Excellent,” Jordan said happily. He needed to hear some good news after the day he had. It wasn’t that the company was doing badly or anything. But having the next project set up and waiting was always good business. With the economy still sluggish and the housing and commercial construction markets stalled, getting new projects was becoming more and more difficult.

  He knew what the market had done to a lot of companies their size. Some were bankrupt and others were working on a shoestring with less than half their staff. Hamilton Development had been blessed. Their business had increased and they’d been steadily working and even hiring more workers. “That’s really great news.”

  “All right, I gotta go. Duty calls.”

  “All right, man. Thanks, talk to you later.”

  Jordan hung up feeling a lot better. He was ready to take on the world again. That included Nolan, the board of supervisors and, especially, Sheri Summers.

  Chapter 6

  Jordan went back to work after his brother’s phone call. After a few hours of work he got up, grabbed a bottle of water from the office refrigerator and carried it to his desk. He sat down, opened it and took a long sip while thinking about his earlier altercation with Sheri Summers. He smiled. She was a lot different than he remembered. He reached over and turned on his computer as he began dialing the phone. A few seconds later Kenneth Fields answered. “Kenneth, it’s Jordan.”

  “Hey buddy, what’s up? How are you? Where are you now?”

  “I’m doing okay. I’m at the Crescent Island property.”

  “How’s the project coming?”

  “Good. We’ve made amazing progress since you were last here. We should be finishing up soon.”

  “Any more problems with the locals?” he asked.

  “No, nothing too major, nothing we can’t handle on-site.”

  “Good, so what can I do for you?” Kenneth asked.

  “I’m not sure if this is anything or not, but I wanted to keep you in the loop and I wanted your thoughts.”

  “Sure, what’s happening?” Kenneth asked.

  “I just had a visit from a woman who works at the local museum. She was very upset and she seems to think that there may be some artifacts of historical significance at our secondary site. We’re just about to get started in that area in couple of weeks, and with our tight schedule I can’t afford any delays.”

  “What makes her think there are artifacts on the site?”

  “Some bush was cleared and a hole was dug earlier. We had a few days of hard rain and we came across some wooden planks and what looks like an old medicine bottle and a ship’s bell.”

  “Not exactly a smoking gun, but curious nonetheless. When the land was purchased a thorough title search was performed. Due diligence came up blank. We can only depend on the available records from local officials. The previous building and land maps showed no unusual certifications. At this point I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It’s not a legal issue. I will however make some inquiries on this end. I have a few friends in the Library for Research in African Culture. But do me a favor, keep track of everything you find and pull out of there. Write down specifics, time, date, location, who found them, et cetera.”

  “Will do. Anything else?”

  “Yeah, keep a close eye on the site for a while, maybe beef up security the next few days. If people think there’s something of value out there, you might run into some trouble with the locals and those looking to cash in. Treasure hunting is always a draw for some.”

  “Yeah, I already have security on it.”

  “Good. Let me know if you have any other problems.”

  “I will. Thanks.”

  “What time are you getting in this evening?”

  “Not until late. I have a few things to take care of before I leave, and Darius asked me to pick up some documents from Louise Gates.”

  Kenneth started laughing. “That’s pretty brave of you.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it. The woman has matchmaking on the mind twenty-four-seven.”

  “Didn’t she already try to set you up a while ago?”

  Jordan chuckled. “Yeah, but it didn’t work out. We weren’t exactly compatible at the time. Coincidently, she’s the woman I told you about from the museum.”

  “Interesting coincidence. Are you sure this isn’t one of Louise Gates’s matchmaking schemes?”

  “Nah, not this time. She doesn’t know anything about what’s going on here at the site. And besides, Sheri Summer was just as adamant about staying single as I am. That’s about the only thing we can actually agree upon.”

  “Still…”

  “Yeah, I know,” Jordan agreed. “I’m watching my back. I’ll talk to you when I get there this evening.” Jordan closed his cell and took another sip of water. He saw the business card he had tossed on his desk earlier. He picked it up and read the raised lettering. He started typing in the web address but then stopped when his cell phone rang. He expected more drama. “Yeah,” he said gruffly.

  “You got a minute? I’m on the main floor,” Ian said.

  “On my way,” Jordan said. He grabbed the floor plans and went to the primary site. He ran into Ian and Cleveland talking on the main floor. The first thing he noticed was the faint smell of smoke.

  “Everything okay in here?” Jordan asked, grimacing.

  “Yeah, no problems now. We have a new generator and some oil spilled on the coils. It started smoking. Everything’s under control now, but this shouldn’t have happened. The coils were clean when the unit was installed two weeks ago.”

  “Are we having problems again?” Jordan asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Ian said.

  “I’ll up security and increase the foot patrol just in case,” Cleveland said. “If there’s a problem, my guys will find it and take care of it.”

  Jordan nodded and took a deep breath. “I guess it’s going to be one of those days.”

  “Oh, yeah, looks like it,” Ian added.

  Jordan looked around with his usual critical eye. When it came to his work, everything had to be perfect. But now that this was a Hamilton Development Corporation–owned project he had to step up his game and take it beyond just perfection. The future of the company—everything—was riding on this. Hamilton Resort Complex had to be magnificent.

  Everything seemed to be close to schedule. The drywall was up, the windows and doors were in, electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems were all installed and operational. The flooring specialists were preparing to put in stone and hardwoods. He was pleased with what he saw. “It’s definitely looking good in here. Minus any more drama, we just might pull this off.”

  Ian nodded. “I agree. This is by far the most ambitious project to date and we’re knocking it out of the ballpark. It’s going to be awesome.” They discussed a few technical details then headed back outside. “So, I heard you made yourself a new friend today. Not bad,” Ian said, smiling broadly, obviously trying hard not to laugh.

  “You heard that, huh?”

  “Oh, yeah, I think everybody in the company did,” Ian said, giving in to his suppressed chuckle.

  “Everybody?” Jordan questioned, turning to him.

  “Well, maybe not everybody. There are a couple of workers off today. But I think someone sent them a cell phone video.”

  “There’s a video?” Jordan asked, surprised. He stopped walking then saw Ian laughing. “Damn, that’s the last thing I need.”

  “Man, you know with the internet and YouTube, everything we do goes public. So what was all the drama about?”

  Jordan shook his head. “I don’t know. Some woman, Sheri Summers, she works at the local museum and for some reason she seems to think there’s something in that hole worth preserving.”

  “Is there?”

  “I don’t know and the last thing I need right now are last-minute surprises. I guess I’m gonna have to look into it, or…”

  “Or what?” Ian asked then quickly answered. “No, don’t tell me, le
t me guess. Or you’ll just pour on the charm like you always do and have her eating out of your hand in no time.”

  “I wouldn’t put it that directly, but, yeah, something along those lines. I can handle women. That’s what I do.”

  Ian shook his head. “One of these days you’re going to run into a woman you can’t manipulate and charm. And she’s going to capture your heart before you even know it. You’re gonna be head over heels in love.”

  Jordan laughed heartily. He knew there was no way he’d allow that to happen. He would never allow himself to fall in love. There had been other women in his life who had tried. They all tried and they all failed. There was no way it was going to happen. He guarded his heart too closely and no woman was ever going to get to him.

  “Okay, you laugh now, but mark my words, one of these days it’ll happen. Love will happen.”

  “Trust me. That will never happen. You know I don’t do the love thing. I leave that to Julian and Darius. Not me, never me.”

  Ian shook his head. “You know better than that, never say never.”

  “Never,” Jordan said defiantly.

  “Now you’re just tempting fate. But all right, you got that. In the meantime, I need to check on some supplies I ordered for the rest of the week. I’ll be off-site the rest of the day. You headed back to the main office?”

  “Nah, I’m gonna hang around here for the next few hours.”

  “All right, I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”

  “All right, I’ll see you later,” Jordan said as his cell rang. He pulled it out and answered. “Jordan Hamilton.”

  “Jordan, this is Nolan Chambers. I’m glad I caught you before you left for the day. I was wondering if you could stop by my office this evening. I think we need to talk.”

  He didn’t have to ask what this was about—he knew. But he wasn’t in the mood to deal with Nolan at the moment. “I have another appointment this evening, Nolan.”

  “I understand, but this is important. I believe our discussion this morning ended awkwardly to say the least. Neither one of us should be taking a hit for this. Now I’m going to help you all I can, but you need to meet me halfway. I’m sure a few very minor concessions aren’t completely out of the question. After all we both want the same thing, for Hamilton Resort Complex to be a success. The board would like you to know that we have the utmost respect for you and your company. We’d like nothing better than to have this Hamilton Development project completed with few to no unscheduled delays. And of course we’d love to have more projects here on Crescent Island.”

  The veiled threat wasn’t so veiled. “What do you propose?”

  “If you could stop by my office we could talk privately. I’d like to explain our position in more detail.”

  “Fine, I’ll meet you tomorrow.”

  “Uh, perhaps we can make it sooner, possibly this evening,” Nolan suggested.

  Jordan stalled on purpose then finally agreed to meet him.

  “Excellent, that will be fine. I had a meeting in Richmond today and I’m headed back to the island now. Can we make it let’s say, six-thirty?”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “Excellent, I’ll meet you around six-thirty this evening.”

  “Fine,” Jordan confirmed then hung up. He went back to the trailer office, sat down and opened his laptop. He took a deep breath and dived back in.

  As an architect, his job was basically done. But as general contractor, he was responsible for building and seeing the project through to completion. He worked the rest of the day thankfully in nearly uninterrupted peace. He followed up on requests and orders, reviewed the budget, status and technical reports and completed a number of tasks he had put off all last week. It was time to get back to work.

  Sheri stared at the computer monitor for the next hour and a half. There were figures she had to identify and a report she needed to write, but it was no use. All she kept thinking about was seeing Jordan again. Her heart was still beating fast.

  Genie was right. He was gorgeous. But he was also impossible. His absolute refusal to listen to her request was infuriating. It was like he intentionally dismissed her. She shook her head to try and refocus on the job at hand. She read the screen then revised a few paragraphs. A few seconds later she deleted what she’d written and revised it again. Just as she finished her thought her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID then picked up quickly. “Sheri Summers.”

  “Sheri, hi, it’s Jack.”

  “Hi, Jack, thanks for getting back to me.”

  “No problem. Look, I know what you’re gonna ask me. I received all three of your requisitions. But I’m sorry I can’t give you any more money than I already have. The building is falling down around you and it’s only getting worse. The budget is extremely tight this year and we’re struggling to make ends meet over here. Unfortunately, donations aren’t what they used to be.”

  “No, Jack, that’s not what I need to talk to you about. I need you to contact legal with a formal request. We might have a situation here.”

  “What’s the problem?” he asked. She spent the next five minutes telling him in detail about the photos and what had happened at the work site. “What’s the name of this construction company?”

  “It’s called Hamilton Development.”

  There was a brief pause. “Wait, do you mean Hamilton Development out of Northern Virginia?”

  “Yes, I think so. Do you know of them?”

  “Yes, of course I do. They’re very good friends of the museum here in D.C. They are very generous in giving to the museum’s program sponsorship.”

  “I’m guessing that changes things,” she said, already disappointed and knowing exactly where this conversation was going.

  “No, not necessarily,” Jack said. “I’m sure we can work all this out amicably without contacting legal.”

  “I already tried,” she said. “He won’t listen to me.”

  “Perhaps I should speak to Darius. He’s my main contact.”

  “But he’s not the brother doing the work, it’s Jordan.”

  “Oh, then, I’m sure there must be some mistake. I’ve met Jordan. He’s extremely generous with his time and talent both personally and professionally.”

  “Jack, it’s not about giving money right now, it’s about finding the historical remains of a ship on his property, a very important ship, one that defined this island.”

  “Yes, yes, I understand that. But perhaps we can find a better solution than bringing this up to legal. I suggest we take our time with this.”

  Sheri rolled her eyes to the ceiling. She expected Jack to drag his feet. She just didn’t expect him to completely wimp out on her. “We may not have time, Jack. They could bulldoze the area and cover that hole up any day now, if it hasn’t already been done. We would have lost a major historical find in the process.”

  “I’m sure that won’t happen. Jordan is very sensitive to the museum,” he insisted. “I don’t know if you remember this but we had a situation like this a few years back and—”

  “Yeah, I remember,” she interrupted quickly. “It was in Haymarket near the battlefield. A developer wanted to build homes and they found artifacts on the property.”

  “Exactly, and it turned into a public relations nightmare. We lost millions of dollars in funding. If we make the wrong move here, this will blow up in our faces.”

  “But we have to do something.”

  “We will, we will. I’m just not all that sure what it might be at this point. Let me confer with a few people here and see what we can come up with. Just hold on, do nothing for right now.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “I don’t know, a week, perhaps two or more.”

  “Jack…” she began.

  “Sheri, don’t worry, I got this. I’ll take care of it.”

  That’s when she started worrying. She knew there was going to be a delay. She’d run into situations like this with him before. He was usele
ss when it came to actually doing something to help. When Jack didn’t want to deal with something, he would just let the situation fester, ignore it as if it hadn’t happened and hope for the best. It was a ridiculous way to manage museums, but when your mother sits on the board of directors and you have no professional qualifications for the post, ignoring it was the best he could do. “All right, thanks, Jack. Please keep me in the loop on this.”

  “Sure, sure, we’ll talk later.”

  Sheri hung up and sighed heavily. It looked like Genie was right. With Jack at the helm, this was going to turn into a bureaucratic nightmare. He had no idea what it meant to love art and history and what it meant to want to preserve the past. All he cared about was impressing the higher-ups, coming in under budget and making as few waves as possible in the process.

  It was obvious she needed some kind of backup plan. But right now she had no idea what she was going to do or how she was going to do it. She looked up at the computer monitor. It had gone to sleep. She pressed a key on her keyboard and went back to work knowing she’d come up with something, even if it took her the rest of the afternoon. Much to her dismay, it did and she still had no plan.

  As usual Sheri stayed late. She worked on some paperwork, but she also searched the internet for similar cases where artifacts were found on private property. Not surprisingly, she found quite a few, but none of them offered any promising resolutions. But she had no intention of giving up. She glanced at her watch. It was getting late and she had a stop to make before heading home.

  Chapter 7

  Sheri left her office and hurried across the street. She looked up at the Rantone Building as she approached. Named after her grandfather, an influential and very popular public figure, the building housed the offices of the city supervisors.

  The idea of going to her former stepfather occurred to her earlier, but she decided against it. Now, she figured, why not give it a try? Nolan Chambers was the chairman of the city council. Surely he could do something to help. After all it was the council who initially gave Hamilton Development the green light to build the resort after they purchased the property. They confirmed and approved his blueprints and inspections, so perhaps he would help her get on the property and get samples to test. She definitely needed to ask him.