Annie turned on him. “Mention to me? Do you know something about what happened to him?” Dread peppered her senses. “You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”
Jack sauntered up to the front desk, dropped a hand to the sleek wood countertop. “Hello, brother.”
Cal stood speechless.
“What, no warm welcome?” Jack glanced sideways down the counter.
Two young female reception clerks dutifully ignored him, clearly assuming their best professional detachment though it was obvious they were shocked by his face. Annie tried to pull her focus away but couldn’t. He really did look awful. “And I thought this was a fancy establishment, complete with helpful, courteous staff.”
“You have no business here.”
“Don’t I?”
“You don’t.”
Annie clung to Cal’s side, a determined foreboding settling in.
“I’d like to see the manager.”
“You’re seeing him.”
Resentment glinted in Jack’s dark eyes. “The real manager. I’m here to press charges against one of your employees.”
Annie flung a hand to her neck. Her throat closed. An employee did this to him?
“I’d advise against it.”
Jack chuckled. “Of course you would. But since I don’t take orders from you, I intend to do as I please.”
Malcolm Ward emerged from the back office. Located just to the rear, one could hear everything when the door was open as it had been. Access was inconspicuously fashioned into the rock wall, a discreet vantage point from which he and Cal could be on site yet unobserved by guests. Annie thought it must have been designed with episodes like this one in mind.
Dressed similar to Cal, Malcolm’s cool blue eyes, a near match to his pale blue button-down, leapt from his tanned complexion, fixing on Jack in a penetrating gaze. His shock of white hair was combed back giving him an older, authoritative appeal, underscored by a lean, solid build. As hotel owner and husband to Annie’s sister, Lacy, Malcolm had been forewarned about the likes of Jack Foster and understood the full extent of what he was dealing with at the moment. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Yes.” Shooting a smug smile toward Cal, Jack said, “I’d like to put you on notice. One of your employees assaulted me last evening.”
“Which one?” Malcolm asked pointedly.
Cal interrupted, “You’re out of bounds, Jack.”
“Am I? Is that what you called it last night when you spoke to Daddy? Told him I was out of bounds?” When Cal didn’t respond, Jack continued, “For your information, I didn’t try to rape Delaney. She pulled a gun on me.”
Annie gasped. Malcolm stilled.
Cal hardened his edge. “I have no intention of litigating this matter in a hotel lobby. If you intend to press charges, call the police.”
Jack shifted his weight and tapped his hand to the front desk. “Oh, you’re a big man now, are you? Tough and cocky. Instead of punishing me, you might want to ask what Delaney was doing alone late at night with a stable boy.”
Annie’s hearing became of vacuum. Delaney fooling around?
“Get out before I throw you out,” Cal growled.
Jack leaned a shoulder forward and snarled back, “Don’t tempt me, brother, or I’ll include you in those charges as well.”
Malcolm stepped in, leveling in no uncertain terms, “I’d do as the man says. If you have charges to press, call the authorities. Otherwise, I’ll have to ask you to leave the premises.”
“Really?” Jack laughed, a gesture Annie could tell was forced. “I haven’t done anything. How’s that going to look for your reputation, kicking out a member of one of the town’s most prominent families?”
“Move on, Jack.” Singularly focused on his brother, Cal advised, “I think it’s time for you to pick up stakes and get out of town.”
“Like you did, Cal?” Jack flicked a glance toward Malcolm. “Does your new boss know about your accident?” Annie’s heart squeezed as he said, “Drunk driving is a crime. A real shame when you cripple a man.”
Eyes darting to Cal, then Malcolm, Annie wanted to lash out and strike Jack on behalf of her husband. She wanted to cut him to the quick for the venom he was spewing.
Cal stood immobile, anger heating his gaze. Malcolm appeared oddly cool. “Another word and I call the police,” Cal warned.
Jack laughed, confident he was back in the saddle. “What, can’t handle a rowdy cowboy on your own?”
Malcolm stepped around Cal, but Cal stopped him. “Don’t. He’s not worth it.” Then to his brother, “Get out, before I throw you out.”
“I’m going,” Jack said, pushing off from the desk. “But I’m putting you on notice. Smear my name again and it’s the last thing you do. Same goes for Delaney and Troy. Those two haven’t heard the last from me.”
Annie gaped. He’s the stable boy?
Jack shot one last smirk their way, then pushed out through the front doors of the lobby. Annie felt tiny, wishing she were trapped in a dream rather than standing in the center of reality where her husband was about to lose his job, her daughter about to have her heart torn to shreds. She closed her eyes, warding off the tawdry images. But it couldn’t be true. Delaney and Troy were not together.
Cal said, “I’m sorry, Malcolm.”
“Not here.” Malcolm signaled his staff with a nod of thanks, then retreated to his office. Cal duly followed.
Annie debated. Was it her place? Reaching out for Cal’s arm, she blurted, “I’ll be in the salon if you need me.”
He merely nodded, but the gloom inked in his eyes gouged her heart. He looked like a man on his way to the guillotine.
Malcolm took a seat, indicating Cal should take one himself. He did. Continuing to digest the scene that had taken place, Cal ran through his options. Jack had left him no room for escape. No room to detour. Separated by a simple wooden desk, papers neatly assorted to one side, a computer and keyboard to the other, Cal had to give it to Malcolm straight. Resisting the urge to look at the security images on screens overhead, he tensed. There was a security camera trained on them, recording a conversation he never hoped to be having. It was a closed chapter in his life. A wound that had healed. Until his brother Jack decided to tear it wide open. “Listen, Malcolm, I’m sorry about what happened out there.”
“Disgruntled guests are a fact of the business.”
“Jack is more than a disgruntled guest.” And they both knew it. “I need to explain about the accident, about the drunk driving—”
Malcolm silenced him with a hand. “No need.”
“I can’t let it pass. I need to explain.”
“You don’t,” Malcolm corrected. Surprised by the finality in his tone, Cal stared at Malcolm, fighting to make sense of it. “I know about the accident.”
Cal shot forward. “You what?”
“I know about the accident, I know about the other driver. I know about what you tried to do for him and his family.”
“But how?” Malcolm closed his expression, undercutting Cal like a blow to the chin. “I don’t understand. You can’t know. I haven’t told anyone except for Annie.”
Malcolm almost looked guilty as he said, “I checked your background before I hired you. I made calls to your boss, I searched the public records, did a full search on your name.” He added a half-smile. “You’d be amazed by what the Internet will reveal these days.” Cal dropped back into his seat like a ton of lead. Something told him he was about to find out. “When I learned about the accident from the papers, I made some discreet inquiries to your attorney.” He raised a hand between them and said, “The man didn’t break client-privilege, but he did reveal in so many words how you were trying to help the family. I checked into it. The hospital bills, the medical care...” Blue eyes softened. “I respect what you tried to do.”
Met by compassion, Cal hardened. “It was my fault.”
“Culpability wasn’t proven.”
<
br /> “Still. It was my fault. I’d been drinking.” Words he didn’t have use for these days, but remained stuck to him from the past. He glanced at the security monitors and found lobby activity had returned to normal.
“You made a mistake. You tried to own up to it. I respect that in a man.” Malcolm heaved a sigh, holding Cal firmly within his sights. “I’ve made some mistakes in my life. Everyone has. What I’ve learned is that I’m more interested in where a man is going then where he’s been. You’re a good man, Cal. You’re rock solid. I need you by my side running this hotel.”
“Thank you,” he murmured, too shocked to say anything more.
“But I also need honesty from those around me. Jack was pretty battered. He made a pretty nasty accusation.” Malcolm narrowed his gaze, one that nailed Cal to his seat. “What happened between Jack and Delaney? How does Troy fit in?”
Cal started from the beginning, from the minute he received Troy’s call to the moment he dumped Jack at his parent’s home and the subsequent conversation with his father about the incident. He didn’t leave out a single detail, not an inch of what he knew. He owed Malcolm that much. He owed Malcolm a whole lot more, but he’d begin where he could. “I didn’t expect him to have the audacity to press charges.”
Malcolm returned a contemplative stare. “Nick will have to know.”
“Don’t you think Delaney will tell him?”
“Did you tell Annie?”
Ouch. Apparently Malcolm picked up on Annie’s surprise.
No, Cal had not told her. Delaney had wanted the ordeal kept private so as not to hurt Felicity. Cal gave her his word. It wasn’t Annie’s business. It wasn’t anyone’s business but Delaney’s and Jack’s and Troy’s.
Troy. Hopefully this wasn’t going to ruin his second chance. From what Annie said, Casey had taken him back. She’d told him about the baby and the boy was reportedly thrilled. If Jacks persisted, Troy could end up in jail.
“Delaney asked me to keep her confidence and I gave her my word. I figure it’s her business who she tells.”
“Do you know what really happened?”
“Only what Troy told me.”
“Troy.” Malcolm furrowed his brow. “How did he manage to get mixed up in this mess?”
“He was working late, overheard the commotion. When Jack went for Delaney, he intervened.”
Malcolm shook his head. “That boy has an amazing ability to find trouble.”
“I’ll give you that,” Cal agreed, “but he did the right thing.”
“Maybe.” Caution entered Malcolm’s gaze. “But it might be the end to his career with Harris Hotels.”
Outrage rippled through him. “You’re not going to fire him, are you?”
“The decision might be out of my hands. Depending on whether or not Jack goes through with pressing charges, Troy might find himself with a legal battle.”
“It won’t come to that, I promise you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Cal couldn’t. He simply knew he couldn’t allow it to happen. There was too much as stake for his family—his wife and step-daughter, his soon to be son-in-law.
“Either way, Nick needs to know.”
“You don’t think Delaney will tell him?”
“Can’t be sure. But now that I know, I can’t hold her secret.” He paused. “I’m sorry, but Nick and I go way back. We don’t keep important information from one another no matter who wants it so.”
Reluctantly, Cal nodded. Jack attacking Delaney on hotel property counted as important when it came to Nick. As owner of the hotel, Malcolm would have to be concerned. Troy was an employee. His actions had consequences.
Chapter Eighteen
Annie rapped lightly on Casey’s bedroom door. “Sweetheart, can I come in?”
“Yes,” came the muffled reply from somewhere inside.
Annie pushed open the door to discover her daughter whisking hangars from one side of her closet to the other, a dull array of tops and dresses swinging from the force. Casey wasn’t known for her bright clothing. She wasn’t known for caring about how she looked. “What’s the matter? Did you lose something?”
“I’m having breakfast with Troy today and I don’t want to wear a tent dress.”
“Tent dress?” Annie asked, venturing further in. “Those are maternity clothes, not tent dresses.”
Casey glanced over her shoulder with a stony eye. “They’re tent dresses, Mom. They make me look big as a house.”
Annie nearly laughed. “You couldn’t look big as a house if you tried.”
Casey groaned loudly. Hands slid hangar after hangar along the metal bar as she pulled each piece of clothing out, inspected it, shoved it back in. Plink. She thrust another back in dismay. “What am I going to wear?”
Annie savored a private smile. It was nice to see her daughter care about her appearance. She couldn’t remember the last time Casey fussed with her hair or clothes. She didn’t wear makeup, no nail polish. Her toe nails were painted, but it was only under duress. The techs needed practice during their soft opening the week before Memorial Day, and though Casey had wanted nothing to do with it, obliged on their behalf. Annie was happy her daughter had found reason to care. She feared it was a joy soon to be extinguished.
She doubted the girl knew anything about the incident with Delaney. “Well...” Annie meandered closer. “Why don’t you try that sundress Lacy bought for you?”
Casey halted mid-motion. “What sundress?”
“Remember, the aqua blue one she said would bring out the color of your eyes?”
Visibly searching her memory, Casey replied, “I don’t know where it is?”
“Maybe in the box? You never opened it.” Casey had said it was too bright and would call attention to her figure.
“Oh yeah—I almost forgot!” Racing across the room, she yanked out an ivory-painted dresser drawer and pulled the dress free. Tags dangled from its spaghetti shoulder straps, wrinkles creased lines down the skirt. “Do you think it will be too much?”
Annie smiled. “I think it will be adorable.”
Casey lashed her with a dose of suspicion. “You’re not just saying that, are you?”
She chuckled. “No, I’m not just saying that. I think you should wear those silver hoops Cal gave you for your birthday, too. Maybe a pair of sandals?” she prodded, unsure if any of her open-toed shoes still fit. Casey practically lived in her boots these days.
“I’ll try it on.”
“Okay.” Pleased she’d been able to help, Annie re-traced her steps. “Let me know when you’re ready. I’d like to see it.”
“Okay,” Casey replied distracted by the row of shoes on her closet floor.
Annie returned to the living room where Cal was reading the Sunday morning paper, folds of newspaper piled by his side on the sofa. Comfortably dressed in jeans and T-shirt, legs kicked up on the coffee table, reading glasses perched on the end of his nose, he looked up. “Well? What did she say?”
“Nothing. I wasn’t about to bring it up.” Annie circled the couch and dropped to a seat next to her husband. Reaching for her cup of coffee, she cradled the warm ceramic in her lap.
“Why not? I thought you were curious.”
She chucked a sideways glance at him. “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”
“Old wives’ tale,” he countered.
Most of which were true, Annie wanted to retort. But it was neither here nor there. Heaving a sigh, she replied, “Casey wouldn’t have heard me, anyway. She’s in a whirlwind over having breakfast with Troy, trying to decide what to wear.”
Cal lowered the newspaper in hand. “Ah.”
“Do you think Troy’s going to tell her about the incident with Delaney?”
“No reason for him to tell her.”
Annie nodded, relieved. Casey didn’t need the added stress. “Do you think Jack will really press charges against him?”
“Doubt it. It would open him up to a lita
ny of charges from Delaney, and I think he’s smarter than that. Evil, but smart.”
At the sound of Casey’s bedroom door opening, Annie turned in her seat, watching her daughter breeze out into the living room of their small apartment. Their new house wasn’t finished yet, the plans for which Cal had surprised her with over Christmas. They were building it on Casey’s half of Ladd Springs with her daughter’s blessing. Not only had she changed her mind with regard to family ties, she seemed eager to stay close. Cal must have seen it, too, refusing to rent a larger place for the interim. He insisted living here would give Casey a sense of stability, continuity. The quarters seemed cramped to Annie, but at the moment, she was grateful. The arrangement kept her close to her daughter.
“Well, what do you think?” Casey spread the skirt with her hands. “Do you like it? Do you think it’s too much?”
Cal pulled the glasses from his face and let out a slow whistle. “That’s a mighty pretty dress on you, really brings out your eyes.”
Pleased by the compliment, she asked her mother, “What do you think?”
Warmed by Cal’s response, Annie agreed. “I think Cal said it all. It suits you perfectly and Lacy was right. It does make your eyes pop.”
Casey beamed. “Do you think Troy will like it?”
“If he doesn’t, he needs to have his head examined,” Cal said, matter-of-fact.
Casey giggled, a sound filled with girlish delight. “I’m meeting him at ten.”
“Care if we join you?”
Casey and Cal both looked to Annie in surprise.
“Well...” Casey hemmed, holding the lengths of her skirt close to her body. “It is our first breakfast together since I told him about the baby.”
“What do you say your mother and I find our own booth,” Cal said, silently urging Annie to agree.
“Of course,” she said. “You two will have a lot to talk about.” Like your high blood pressure, your lack of weight gain, his family medical history—none of which would likely make it into the conversation. “We’ll find our own booth,” Annie muttered under her breath.
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