by Maisey Yates
“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 Million Dollar Baby by Janice Maynard.
Copyright © 2018 by Brenda Streater Jackson
Million Dollar Baby
by Janice Maynard
One
A dimly lit bar filled with rowdy patrons was an uncomfortable place to be on a Thursday night near the witching hour...if you were a woman without a date and too shy to make eye contact with anyone. The music was loud, masking Brooke’s unease.
She was lonely and so very tired of being the forgotten Goodman child. She’d spent her entire life toeing some invisible line, and what had it gotten her? Neither of her parents respected her. Her two older brothers were out conquering the world. And where was Brooke? Stuck at home with Mom and Dad in Royal, Texas. Held hostage by their expectations and her own eager-to-please personality. The whole situation sucked.
She nursed her virgin strawberry daiquiri and stared at the tiny seeds nestling in the ice. Impulsive decisions were more her style than drunken peccadilloes. Brooke had seen too many of her friends almost ruin their lives with a single alcohol-fueled mistake. She might be crazy, but she was clearheaded.
Suddenly, she realized that the band had vacated the stage. The remaining plaintive music—courtesy of the lone guitar player—suited Brooke’s mood. She didn’t even mind the peanut-strewn floor and the smell of stale beer. At the same moment, she saw a man sitting alone at the bar, three empty stools on either side of him. Something about his broad shoulders made the breath catch in her throat. She had seen him walk in earlier. Instantaneous attraction might be a quirk of pheromones, but yearning had curled in the pit of her stomach even then. Sadly, the dance floor had been too crowded, and she had lost sight of him before she could work up the courage to introduce herself.
Now, here he was. All the scene needed was a shaft of light from heaven to tell her this was the man. This was her moment. She wanted him.
Butterflies fluttered through her. Oh, God. Was she really going to do it? Was she really going to pick up a stranger?
There was little question in her mind that he was her type. Even seated, she could tell that he was tall. His frame was leanly muscled and lanky, his posture relaxed. His dark blond hair—what she could see of it beneath the Stetson—was rumpled enough to be interesting and had a slight curl that gave him an approachable charm. Unfortunately, she couldn’t gauge the color of his eyes from this distance.
Before she could change her mind, she lurched to her feet, frosty glass in hand, and made her way across the room. Not a single person stopped her. Not a single person joined the solitary man at the bar.
Surely it was a sign.
Taking a deep breath, she set her drink and her tiny clutch purse on the polished mahogany counter and hopped up on the leather-covered stool. No need to panic. It was only a conversation so far. That’s all.
Now that she was close to him, she felt a little dizzy.
She gnawed her bottom lip and summoned a smile. “Hello, Cowboy. Mind if I join you?”
* * *
Austin glanced sideways and felt a kick of disappointment. The little blonde was a beauty, but she was far too young for him. Her gray eyes held an innocence he had lost years ago.
He shot her a terse smile. “Sorry, ma’am. I was about to leave.”
Her face fell. “Oh, don’t go. I thought we could chat.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Chat?”
Mortification stained her cheeks crimson. “Well, you know...”
“I don’t know,” he said. “That’s the point. This could be a sorority prank, or maybe you’re a not-quite-legal girl trying to lose her virginity. You look about sixteen, and I’m not keen to end up in jail tonight.”
She scowled at him. “That’s insulting.”
“Not at all. You reek of innocence. It’s a compliment, believe me. Unfortunately, I’m not the guy you’re looking for.”
“Maybe I want one who doesn’t end sentences with prepositions.”
The bite in her voice made him grin. “Are you insinuating that I’m uneducated?”
“Don’t change the subject. For your information, I’m twenty-six. Plenty old enough to know my own mind.” She took a deep breath. “I’m in the mood for romance.”
“I think you mean sex.”
He drawled the five words slowly, for nothing more than the pleasure of watching all that beautiful creamy skin turn a darker shade of dusky pink. “Sex?” T
he word came out as a tiny high-pitched syllable. Huge, smoky, thickly lashed eyes stared up at him.
This time he hid the grin. Poor kid was petrified.
He couldn’t deny that he was tempted. She was genuine and sweet and disarmingly beautiful...in a healthy, girl-next-door kind of way. Her pale blond hair was caught up in a careless ponytail, and her royal-blue silk shirt and skinny jeans were nothing pretentious. Even her ballerina flats were unexceptional. She was the kind of woman who probably looked exactly this good when she rolled out of bed in the morning.
That thought took him down a road he needed to avoid. His sex hardened, making his pants uncomfortable. He held out his hand, attempting to normalize the situation. “I’m Au—”
She slapped her hand over his mouth, interrupting his polite introduction. “No,” she said, sounding desperate and anxious all at the same time. “I’ll call you Cowboy. You can call me Mandy.”
He took her wrist and moved her hand away. “Not your real name?”
“No.”
“Ah. Aliases. Intriguing.”
“You’re making fun of me.” Her face fell.
“Maybe a little.” He smiled to let her know he was teasing.
Without warning, their flirtatious repartee was rudely curtailed. A tall, statuesque redhead took the bar stool at his right shoulder and curled an arm around his waist. “Buy me another beer, will you? Sorry I was gone so long. Who the hell thinks it’s a good idea to build a ladies’ room with only a single stall?”
Austin groaned inwardly. Damn. He’d actually forgotten about Audra for a moment. “Um...”
Poor Mandy went dead white and looked as if she were going to throw up. “Excuse me,” she said, with all the politeness of a guest at high tea with the queen. “It was a pleasure to meet you, but I have to go now.”
Thank God Audra was a quick study. She sized up the situation in a glance. Her eyes widened. “Oh, crap. I’m sorry. Don’t go. I’m his sister. Honest.”
