by Tina Martin
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked frowning.
“I’m taking care of this for you.”
“I don’t need you to take care of anything for me, Kenton.”
“Well, that’s too bad because I got this covered. He opened the bill to see what the damage was for a lonely glass of wine. Then he leaned to the side to remove his wallet and one twenty-dollar bill.
Lauren was heated. This was indeed a small town, and she didn’t like the way it looked for her and Kenton to be sharing a table. She definitely didn’t like how he was asserting himself like he was coming to her rescue because Evan couldn’t make it. To set matters straight, she said, “In case you thought we were old friends and still on speaking terms, Kenton, let me make things clear to you—I want nothing to do with you. Nuh-thing. When you see me somewhere, like for instance, here in a restaurant, don’t assume it’s okay to sashay over here and talk to me because it’s not. As a matter of fact, don’t look at me. Don’t speak to me. Don’t smile at me. Don’t do anything. Two years ago, you walked out of my life. We’re not friends, and we’ll never be friends.”
She stood up and dug around in her purse for money. When she found a twenty, she slammed it on the table and said, “And I definitely don’t need you paying my bills. Goodbye, Kenton, and I’m not saying that in a see ya later kind of way if that’s what you’re thinking. I mean, goodbye as in leave me alone. Forever.”
She walked away and he just sat at the table and smiled. He’d brought some anger out of her – a good sign as far as he was concerned. If she was still angry that meant she still had a reason to be angry. Her feelings were still involved. He could still get to her. And he intended to do just that.
Chapter 4
Holding a silver pen, Kenton tapped on his desktop in a daze. Even after his brother, Remington walked into his office, that daze continued. The tapping persisted. His mind was consumed with thoughts of Lauren – how she’d snapped at the restaurant last night. And she looked good while doing it.
“Kenton?” Remington said to get his attention.
He blinked out of his daze, stopped banging the pen on his desk and looked up at his brother. “Hey, what’s up, Rem?”
Remington wanted to ask what was up with him, but he stuck to business instead. “I was going over the accounts just now. I saw Jarrod landed a twenty-thousand dollar booking in one day.”
“Yep. He sure did.”
“It usually takes a week to hit those figures. Do you know any of the specifics about that booking?”
Kenton narrowed his eyes at his brother. Why was Remington asking him? He had access to all the systems – bookings and all – and he was asking him who made the 20K booking like he was unaware. Something told Kenton that his brother was well aware of who wanted the ballroom at The Mountain Chateau. So, instead of answering him, Kenton asked, “Do you know who booked it?”
“No. That’s why I’m asking you.”
Kenton leaned back in his chair. “Harvey Chandler reserved it for an engagement party. Why someone needs to spread an engagement party over the course of three days is beyond me, but that’s who wanted it.”
“You said Harvey Chandler?”
“Yep,” Kenton said, unenthused. “Harvey Chandler.”
“If I’m not mistaken, you used to date one of his daughters.”
“I did.”
“Lauren, right?” Remington said, taking a seat and crossing his legs.
“Yep. Lauren,” Kenton said, keeping it short.
“I wonder if she’s the one engaged?” Remington asked rubbing his chin.
Kenton shrugged.
“Come on, Kenton. Don’t tell me you haven’t already looked into it. I know you.”
Kenton sat up. “And I know you, Rem. You’ve already looked into this, haven’t you? You already knew who booked the hotel and why before you came into my office.”
“Then you know me well, brother.” Remington gave him a lopsided grin. “Lauren’s engaged now, huh?”
“She is,” Kenton responded impassively like the news of her engagement didn’t bother him any.
“I take it you’re okay with it.”
Kenton looked at his brother like he was crazy. “Why wouldn’t I be? What Lauren and I had was a long time ago.”
“It wasn’t all that long ago. And actually, you haven’t been in a serious relationship since now that I think about it.”
“Yes, because after the whole Lauren incident, I didn’t want to give any other woman false hope that I wanted to settle down.”
“You mean like the false hope you gave to Lauren?”
Kenton scrunched up his brows. “Since you think you know so much, tell me, Rem. What happened between me and Lauren?”
“I know you liked her,” Remington said uncrossing his legs and sitting straight up. “I know you didn’t like the way things ended. And I also know you’re afraid to commit to a woman.”
Kenton snapped his head back. “Afraid?”
“Yeah. Afraid.”
“Man, please. I’m not afraid of anything. As I recall, before Emory, you weren’t the commitment type yourself.”
“No, I wasn’t, but a smart man knows when to get out of his own way. No, I didn’t want a commitment, love—none of that. Now, I have it, and I love it. I’m in love with my wife and I wouldn’t change a thing about my decision to allow myself to love. It’s up to you to figure that out. Or you can sit back, do nothing and watch the woman you love marry another man. It’s your choice.”
“Love?” Kenton asked frowning.
“Okay. Let’s say like,” Remington offered. “Is that better? You do like her, don’t you?”
Kenton stared at his brother. Why was he playing the father role instead of the brother role? He’d normally did that with their younger siblings – Giovanni, Jessalyn and Davina. Now, he was on his case about an ex-girlfriend.
“Just know that whatever goes down, it’s my choice. Now, do you have any real business to discuss, or did you come here to lecture me?”
His brother’s attitude didn’t bother him in the least. “Actually, I do have something business-related to discuss. I need you to come up with a way to incorporate a discount program for Jessalyn’s new souvenir shop. It would be for our hotel guests only. You know the grand opening is this Saturday. She could use all of our support.”
“That’s fine. I’d planned on being there, anyway. As for this discount program, wouldn’t that somehow fall under marketing?”
“It does, and so does most of what you do. Besides, I don’t want just anyone doing this. She’s our sister. She needs our support—not some random team member who won’t take the assignment seriously. With that being said,” Remington stood up, “I need you to come up with something in a few days. Can’t wait to see what that something is.” He walked towards the door, leaving Kenton’s office.
Kenton shook his head. Now he had to use brain power to come up with some way to help his sister while at the same time thinking about what Remington said about Lauren. He thought back to when Lauren poured her heart out to him, nearly begged him for a commitment – for marriage – and he turned her down cold.
It wasn’t easy.
He made being heartless appear easy – like it hadn’t been a thing for him to walk away from her – but it hadn’t been an easy thing to do. He was just as affected by the breakup as she had been. He was just better at controlling his emotions, hiding his feelings and feigning happiness.
She, on the other hand, had taken it hard. In those rough days following their breakup, she had even attempted to call him a few times. Left him a few voicemail messages requesting that they have a conversation about what had happened between them. He was the one who chose not to answer, to let bygones be bygones and turn over a new leaf – one that didn’t involve an attachment to a woman, no matter how much he cared for and adored her.
Chapter 5
According to Jarrod, Harvey Chandler had reque
sted to tour The Mountain Chateau – the grounds as well as the indoor ballrooms – probably something he should’ve done before he reserved it to make sure it was suitable to his liking. Either way it went, he wanted to be there to accommodate Harvey’s request. Jarrod was perfectly capable of handling this, but with such a major, high-dollar booking, he figured it would look much better to Harvey if a Lennox showed up. Besides, he knew Harvey. He’d met Lauren’s parents during the course of their one-year courtship and found them to be good people.
Kenton was just arriving at the resort when he saw Harvey entering through the lobby doors. He quickly parked, then jogged to catch up to the man.
“Mr. Chandler,” he called out once he made it to the lobby.
Harvey turned around and looked at him, flashing a smile when he recognized him.
Kenton was grateful that there wasn’t any bad blood between the two of them. When his relationship ended with Lauren, it ended with her parents, too.
“Kenton Lennox, long time, no see,” Harvey said, reaching to shake Kenton’s hand.
Kenton accepted his hand and returned the firm handshake. “Good to see you Mr. Chandler.”
“No need for formalities. Just call me Harvey. We know each other, right?”
“Right,” Kenton said, remembering how cool and laid back Harvey was. And he looked good for his age – rocking a silver suit with a groomed salt and pepper beard that matched the close cut hair on his head. “How’s life been treating you, Harvey?”
“Oh, just splendid. Now, that I’m marrying off daughter number two, I’m even better,” Harvey replied with a chuckle.
Kenton disguised a frown. Weren’t fathers supposed to be leery of giving their daughters away whether they liked the man she was marrying or not? He didn’t seem bothered by it – like Lauren’s marriage would somehow take the burden off of him. “So, a three-day engagement party, huh?”
“Yes, Sir, and I want the best of the best for my daughter.”
Kenton nodded. Perhaps he should’ve let Jarrod handle this. He had an obvious conflict of interest here – taking his ex’s father on a tour of the resort where she would be having an engagement party was no longer a good idea. “Well, I, for one, have never heard of such a thing,” Kenton commented as they strolled toward the first ballroom.
“Yes. Three days, but not all three days are for the engagement,” Harvey said, dipping his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks. “What my daughter doesn’t know is, Evan is planning a surprise wedding on Saturday and an all-day reception on Sunday. Besides him, I’m the only one who knows. Well, now you do, too.”
“A surprise wedding?” Kenton said, his heart thudding as he tried to keep all traces of surprise and disappointment out of his voice. He was already a master at hiding emotions from his face. He was one of those unreadable people. Those poker-faced people.
“Yes. The official engagement party is on Friday. Saturday is the day Evan chose for the wedding. Sunday is reserved for the reception.”
“How could he be planning to marry her without her getting wind of any of it? People gossip, especially around here where there’s nothing else for folks to do.”
Harvey shrugged. “Trust me, I’m just as surprised as you are. I don’t know how it’s possible either, but I’m certain she doesn’t know. If she did, she’d have a tantrum because Lauren—”
“Hates surprises,” Kenton finished saying.
Her father looked at him. Smiled. Kenton still knew his daughter despite their break up. “Yes. Lauren hates surprises. In fact, she despises them. She doesn’t like being put on the spot in any capacity.”
Kenton nodded. “Shouldn’t Evan know that?”
“He does, but it was a risk he was willing to take. He’s secretly picked out her wedding gown and all. The music, the deejays, the flower arrangements…he’s taken care of it all. The only thing she’s in charge of is the details surrounding the engagement party because that’s all she knows about.”
Kenton didn’t like the sound of anything he was hearing. For Lauren’s sake. What woman wanted to have a rushed wedding? What woman didn’t want to pick out her own wedding gown? What the heck did men know about wedding gowns and flower arrangements? He wasn’t giving her the option to do anything related to her own wedding. Something didn’t seem right about that. Exactly who was this Evan person, besides a numbskull wannabe wedding planner? “Seems like he’s in a hurry.”
“That’s because he is in a hurry,” Harvey said. Upon stepping into the grand ballroom, he looked up at the massive, crystal chandelier in the center of the ceiling. The way the light struck the glass crystals sent prisms of colors dancing across the ceiling and flitting around the room.
“You said, he is?”
Harvey looked back at Kenton. “Yes. He is.”
“And, why might that be?” Kenton heard himself asking.
“Well, he knows how desperate my daughter is to get married and he’s taking advantage of that.”
What the…? Was he hearing Harvey correctly? “And as her father, you’re okay with that?” Kenton asked.
Harvey smirked. “What choice do I have in the matter? My daughter is a grown, capable woman.”
“You’re her father. If you don’t have any influence in her life, who does?” Kenton asked, seemingly coming to Lauren’s defense. “This doesn’t sound right at all. All Lauren ever wanted was to get married and have a family—”
“Yes, Kenton. That’s all she wanted, but with you, not Evan. My daughter wants you.”
Kenton looked at the man like he was crazy. “I’m not following you.”
“What’s there to follow? This isn’t rocket science. My daughter wants you.”
“And you’re telling me this knowing your daughter is committed to another man…is engaged to another man?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I want Lauren to be happy.”
“And you don’t think she’s happy with Evan?”
“Not at all. Lauren pretends well.”
Mind blown, Kenton threw his hands behind his head and walked in circles, getting his thoughts together. “If you think she’s not happy, why’d you pay twenty grand for space at this resort?”
“Well, I had to do something to get your attention.” Harvey chuckled. “In less than two weeks, my daughter is settling for a man because she can’t have the man she wants. Now, I don’t know what happened between you two, but I think it’s worth fixing, especially if you have an ounce of feeling left for my daughter. Do you?”
“Harvey, what I had with Lauren—”
“Do you care for her?” Harvey asked, interjecting.
“I do. We were together for a year. It’s the longest I’ve ever been with any woman.”
“Yet, it was so easy for you to walk away.”
“She was forcing my hand. I didn’t want to be pressured into getting married to anyone. Marriage was never apart of my plans. I wouldn’t know how to be a husband. I don’t know what’s involved in dedicating myself to someone.”
Harvey sighed heavily, dismissing Kenton’s words. A man knew what was involved in dedicating himself to a woman. Whether he wanted to do it or not was the question. “Can you lead me out to the grounds, please?”
“Sure,” Kenton said. “Right this way.”
As they began walking, Harvey continued, “I know my daughter better than you. Better than anyone. She’s a romantic at heart—always had her a taste for those mushy romance novels and romantic comedies. She’s the happily ever after type. You know what I mean?”
“Yes,” Kenton said.
“And maybe that’s my fault. I’ve been with her mother for thirty-eight years. She’s observed us—watched us love each other—and that’s what she wants. Love. Real love, not all this fake nonsense that’s so prevalent in today’s world where you’re with someone for two years, claim to be over the moon in love, only to be divorced two years later and married to someone else before the i
nk can dry on the divorce decree.”
Kenton nodded. It never occurred to him that Lauren may have wanted marriage so badly because of her parent’s good example. He, unfortunately, didn’t grow up in the same type of environment as she had. His parents were deceased and before she died, his mother had walked out on them.
“Even though my Lauren is a romantic, she wasn’t out here chasing after men, frantically looking for Mr. Right like her biological clock was about to run out of digits. She was being herself. Finding herself. But then she met you, and I saw a side of my daughter I’ve never seen.” Harvey smiled. “You brought out that part of her. It was the first time I’ve seen her in love. And the last.”
“The last?”
“Yes. Quite frankly, I see nothing remotely close to that kind of love and happiness when she’s with Evan.”
Kenton grimaced. “Why would she marry Evan if she doesn’t love him?”
“The same reason why you would swing by a gas station to pick up a soda and a bag of potato chips instead of going to the grocery store. Because it’s convenient, right?”
“You’re telling me that Lauren is marrying this Evan guy because he’s convenient?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. After you broke her heart, I think she gave up on finding love. She’d found it with you. You just didn’t want her.”
“It wasn’t like that, Harvey.”
“I don’t know what it was like, exactly,” Harvey said, sounding grumpy. “All I know is, you two are not together. So what does she care who she marries when whoever the guy is would never measure up to you?”
Kenton scratched his head, frustrated. “Why go through all of this, Harvey? If this is really the way you feel about Lauren and Evan, why go through all of this planning?”
“Because, ultimately, the decision is hers. If she wants to marry Evan, then fine. He has his reasons for wanting to be with my daughter, I’m sure, just like she has her reasons for wanting to be with him. As her father, I want to do everything in my power to ensure her happiness, which is why I suggested The Mountain Chateau. I knew she’d come back to Bryson City for it, just like I knew Lennox Enterprises owned this magnificent resort.”
