Taking Over the Tycoon

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  The girls jumped up from the table. “Can we get started on it right now, Mommy?” Sally asked.

  Kristy nodded.

  “We’ll draw him pictures, too!” They raced inside the lodge to get their crayons, pencils and some paper, while the adults around the table breathed a collective sigh of relief.

  “Sorry about that,” Kristy said.

  “I completely understand,” Winnifred said empathetically.

  “So do I,” Harry agreed.

  “I’ve never really stopped wanting to talk to my late husband,” Winnifred stated candidly.

  “Not that there are such things as ghosts,” Connor interjected as he picked up his fork.

  “I don’t know about that,” Eleanor said seriously, with an octogenarian’s wisdom. “I’ve seen a ghostly apparition of my grandmother often over the years. Winnifred has seen her, too—in her attic and around her home in Charleston. And Chase and Bridgett swear they saw her image above the ocean, on their wedding night, from the bow of their yacht.”

  Connor took that claim seriously. Neither Bridgett nor Chase were inclined to suggestion. “Have you ever communicated with her?” he asked curiously.

  “Not per se,” Eleanor admitted with a shrug of her frail shoulders. “But she’s left things for me from time to time—a handkerchief, a picture—to communicate what she wants me to know.”

  They were all silent, thinking about that.

  Connor didn’t know what to believe. Charleston was a city famous for its ghosts and apparition sightings. Where there was smoke, was there fire? Or were people just seeing and hearing and intuiting what they wanted to?

  Susie and Sally came barreling back out of the lodge. Connor noted with relief that they didn’t seem to have overheard anything the adults were saying.

  “We have our letters and pictures ready,” Susie said.

  “Already?” Kristy blinked.

  “We wrote real fast,” Susie explained.

  “And we already had some pictures drawed,” Sally said. “So all we need is an envelope and a balloon!”

  “That’s something I can do,” Connor said. He excused himself and, with Kristy’s permission, went to the nearest market and returned in short order with two helium balloons.

  ALL THE ADULTS went out to attend the letter sending ceremony at sunset.

  Everyone linked hands and watched solemnly as the balloons headed toward the heavens and finally disappeared from sight. Then Jack and Daisy said their goodbyes. Winnifred and Harry also left, to drive Eleanor back into town, to the grand home where she and Winnifred lived. Kristy and Connor were about to start back inside when another car drove up. Kristy’s mother and brother got out. Both hugged the girls and caught up on all the news, including the balloon messages that had just been sent.

  “I’m sorry I missed that,” Maude told her granddaughters sincerely. “But I’m sure your daddy will be glad to hear from you.”

  Susie and Sally nodded importantly. “We think so, too,” Susie said for both of them.

  “Can I get you two something to eat?” Kristy asked. The food from their holiday cookout had all been put away, but it would be easy to fix two plates.

  “Thanks,” Doug said, “but we’re going to continue driving on back to North Carolina tonight.”

  Kristy couldn’t hide her disappointment. She had been hoping to spend time with her family, show them all the improvements that had taken place since her brother and mother had been there. “You’ll get in awfully late.”

  “I know it will be one or two in the morning, but with Hurricane Imogene possibly headed this way, we figure we’d better get on home to Raleigh.”

  “I understand,” Kristy said. Both her mother and her brother had busy medical practices. Their patients would expect them back. If the storm continued on a northward trajectory, people would be cutting short vacations and leaving the coastal areas in droves, making the traffic along the I-95 and I-40 corridors slow to a crawl. A five-hour drive could easily take ten or twelve hours under those conditions. Besides, Kristy told herself, there would be other visits. Hopefully when the resort was completely renovated, and booked to the gills, her efforts a resounding success.

  Oblivious to the nature of Kristy’s thoughts, Maude looked around. “I worry about you, dear. If the hurricane hits here, all this work you’ve done could be for naught.”

  Not to mention, Kristy thought morosely, all the life savings and insurance money she had put into it, right down the drain. She forced herself to put on a cheerful face. “The chances of the hurricane hitting here are small, Mom.” They always were.

  “Still…” Maude frowned cautiously.

  Kristy smiled and, putting aside her disappointment, leaned forward to give her mother a hug. “We’ll be all right, Mom, I promise. Now, how about some cold drinks and sandwiches to take with you on your drive?”

  “YOU’RE UPSET THAT your mother and brother didn’t spend the night, aren’t you?” Connor asked an hour later. The twins were asleep, and Harry and Winnifred had called to say they would not be back until later.

  Kristy settled into one of the wooden Adirondack chairs on the piazza. “It showed, hmm?”

  The night was blissfully warm and quiet. A brilliant moon shone against a velvety backdrop of stars and sky. Hurricane Imogene seemed very far away.

  Connor dragged a chair close to hers and sank down into it, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “You’ve done a tremendous job here, Kristy, pulling this place together.”

  Kristy reveled in the pride in his voice and the respect in his eyes. “I wish the rest of my family could see that,” she murmured, even though she knew simply yearning for something didn’t make it happen.

  Connor took the now paint-stained Carolina Storm cap she had given him off his head and let it rest on his knee. He smoothed his rumpled hair with the flat of his hand, then shot her a reassuring look. “They will, given a little time.”

  “And a lot of success,” Kristy added. Unfortunately, that success was going to take time, maybe even years, and she needed the full support of her loved ones. Unfortunately, the only people she knew who were fully in her corner, besides her girls, were the friends she had made here—like Jack Granger and Connor’s sister Daisy, and Winnifred and Harry. She reached over and touched Connor’s hand. Looking into his eyes, she stated sincerely, “Thanks for all the help you’ve given me this week.”

  “Hey—” he flashed her an easygoing grin and turned his palm up, so their fingers were now intricately meshed “—we had a bet that I am still trying to win.”

  Kristy melted at the soothing warmth of his touch. “You know what I mean,” she murmured, letting her head fall onto his shoulder and settling against him as closely as the arms of their chairs would allow. “What you have done here the past few days has been way beyond the call of duty or the terms of any wager.”

  Connor lifted their joined hands to his lips and tenderly kissed the inside of her wrist. “It’s been my pleasure.”

  Tingles swept through Kristy as a poignant silence fell between them. She wished she could invite Connor up to her room, to her bed. She knew it was selfish of her, but she wanted and needed his arms around her. She yearned to feel as thoroughly wanted and loved as only Connor could make her feel, if only for a little while. But she couldn’t do that, not with the twins underfoot. They had their eye on making Connor a member of the family already. And as much as he desired her, he really hadn’t done anything to indicate that he was thinking about marrying again, ever. Never mind being a full-time father. In fact, his life, his home, seemed to be set up for just the opposite result. And she didn’t want her girls hurt with expectations that might or might not come true in the long run. So, for now anyway, the intimate side of her relationship with Connor would have to be conducted outside the bounds of her family. There would be no hand-holding, kissing or snuggling when the girls were around to see.

  “Well…” Kristy stood reluctantly, wis
hing, at least for the moment, that her life were a lot less complicated.

  Connor rolled to his feet. “Headed to bed for the night?” he guessed as he tucked his hat into the belt of his jeans.

  It was either that or make love with him right here, right now, Kristy thought wistfully. She nodded.

  “Well, I guess I’ll head off to bed, too,” Connor said, moving forward until they stood toe to toe. He braced his hands on his waist and looked down at her with mock seriousness, cautioning, “But not before I get one more thing.”

  Kristy’s heart began a slow, thudding beat. “What’s that?”

  He grinned and pulled her all the way into his arms. Locking both arms about her waist, he tugged her close, so they were pressed together from the waist down. And she had no choice but to feel the depth of his need for her, or hers for him. “My good-night kiss.”

  The sigh of longing in Kristy’s throat was cut off as his lips covered hers once again. Groaning with a mixture of despair that this couldn’t last, and exultation that they had found each other at all, she returned his searing embrace with all her heart and soul. And for the first time all day, she realized, she was exactly where she wanted to be, doing exactly what she wanted to be doing. Aware of how good, how right, they felt in each other’s arms, Kristy moved even closer, surrendering as he increased the depth and torridness of the heated caress. And with every second that passed came the need to be much closer still.

  They just needed the right time. The right place.

  As if realizing this, too, Connor drew back, took in a rough, uneven breath, and looked deep into her eyes. And Kristy realized there was no longer any question about it. She wasn’t falling in love with Connor Templeton. She was head over heels in love with him. The question was how did he feel about her? Kristy wondered as he pressed a brief kiss to her temple, turned and walked down the steps toward his cottage.

  PRIOR TO THIS, Connor had never had a problem leaving a woman at the door with a good-night kiss. When the time wasn’t right, it wasn’t right. But tonight, even though all systems had not been go—in terms of the circumstances necessary for Kristy and him to be together again—he had still wanted to be with Kristy so badly it had been all he could do to let the evening end with one lengthy, passionate kiss.

  He could tell, even though he’d be hard-pressed to get her to admit it, that Kristy was feeling the same way. And that made him work all the harder to clear the way for a very public romance between the two of them.

  In the meantime, though, there were still some things he had to take care of for her. So the moment he got back to his cottage he telephoned the private investigator he had hired. To his disappointment, Harlan Decker had nothing substantive to report. “No one has been anywhere near those palmetto trees thus far, according to the surveillance videotape.”

  Connor frowned in frustration. “When did you last check it?”

  “About an hour ago. It’s possible something could happen tonight, of course, but…” Harlan’s voice trailed off in a way that told Connor they were just going to have to wait and see what developed.

  Which wouldn’t have been so bad, had Kristy not had her first group of guests coming in thirty-six hours. Plus her palmetto trees were obviously dying, and Fitts was a loose canon, to say the least. Who knew what he might try and do to spoil Kristy’s business? Connor bit back an oath as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “I was so sure Fitts was responsible for poisoning those trees with weed killer,” he said.

  “My guess is you’re right,” Harlan Decker stated bluntly. “Unless the guy owns some sort of lawn company, which he does not, there is no reason for him to have so much weed killer in his garage. And in fact, those plastic jugs could already be empty.”

  Connor paused. “That’s true.”

  “If he has poisoned Kristy Neumeyer’s palmetto trees, the arborist should be able to tell you that when the lab reports come back. In the meantime, we’ll keep up the surveillance and just see what develops,” Harlan said. “From what little I’ve noticed, that guy is a pretty nasty character. I doubt he’ll stop his campaign to force Kristy out until either he gets caught doing something nefarious and is forced to stop, or she leaves. So chances are we will catch him at something eventually and be able to use it against him, to force him to leave Kristy and her property alone.”

  Connor sighed. “From your lips to God’s ears.”

  “Yeah.” Harlan chuckled. “Well, I’ll work on that.”

  They said goodbye and hung up.

  Connor spent the rest of the evening alternately reading his e-mails and getting caught up on business, and thinking about Kristy and her girls. The three of them were a package deal. Any man who loved Kristy had to be willing to love her daughters. Was he ready to be a father? Less than a week ago he would have said no both to marriage and fatherhood. He would have said it just wasn’t his thing.

  But a lot had changed in the past six days, Connor had to admit.

  For one thing, he realized now what an insulated, pampered life he had always led. He didn’t want to go back to it. It wasn’t that he had a hankering to clean toilets; to be honest, he’d be happy if he never had to do that again. But he liked the physical part of restoring the lodge back to its former glory. Liked the instant gratification that came as they viewed the results of their hard labor. He liked being around to help take care of the twins, and the sense of multigenerational camaraderie he had enjoyed with Winnifred, Harry, Eleanor, Kristy and her girls as they gathered for dinner every evening in the hotel dining room. He had also enjoyed meeting her mother and brother and getting to know them a little.

  There had been love in his own family, particularly from his mother. But there had also been a stiff formality, insisted upon by his father, that had really constrained them and left them feeling like strangers to each other in many ways, until very recently. Kristy felt that way with her own mother and brother now because of her own interests and outlook on life.

  But the group at the resort had been different. Linked not by blood but by common purpose and congeniality. Connor didn’t want to let go of that. He didn’t want to let go of Kristy and her girls. Which could mean only one thing, he ruminated as he walked out to look at the beach. He was more of a family man—deep in his heart and soul—than he had ever dreamed.

  KRISTY COULD TELL there was something different about Connor the moment she saw him the next morning. It was as if he had made peace within himself, come to some sort of conclusion or decision that satisfied him greatly. And in a way, she knew exactly how he felt. With every day, every hour, every minute that passed, she knew she had made the right decision to revitalize the resort, rather than sell it for destruction. She might have even made the right decision in getting close to Connor, Kristy realized, as she accompanied the girls to the dining room for breakfast. Certainly, he got on great with her daughters, and seemed to enjoy spending time with them as much as Susie and Sally liked being with him.

  “Do you think we’ll get an answer from Daddy today?” Sally asked, as she picked up her fork.

  Kristy froze, her coffee cup halfway to her lips. Once again her girls had hit her with the unexpected. She sent a hesitant glance at Connor, letting him know he might have to help her out here, too. “What do you mean, honey?” she asked Sally gently.

  “You know, is he going to send us a sign or something to let us know he got our letters?” Susie explained impatiently.

  Kristy hitched in a breath, aware once again that she seemed to be fumbling along as a parent instead of automatically or instinctively knowing what to do or say. “It doesn’t really work that way,” she said with difficulty after a moment.

  “At least,” Connor interjected with a calm, reassuring look aimed at both Kristy and her daughters, “in the sense that you would get a letter back or something. Because as you know, that doesn’t happen. We don’t get letters from heaven.”

  Sally eyed Connor and Kristy thoughtfully. “Well, Mickey—o
ur friend at school? When his mommy died, she wrote him a letter and his daddy read it to him after the funeral.”

  Kristy regarded them, gently explaining, “Mickey’s mommy probably wrote that letter to him before she died because she was sick or something and knew that she wasn’t going to be around anymore.” Kristy reached across the table to squeeze their hands. “Daddy didn’t know he was going to have a heart attack, so he didn’t have time to do that for you girls. I’m sure, had he known he was going to have to leave us to go to heaven that day, that he would have written a letter to you girls first.”

  Susie and Sally nodded. They weren’t sad, Kristy noted. They were just struggling to understand, to make sense and come to terms with their father’s death. “Well, maybe he’ll send us a sign, anyway,” Sally murmured after a while. “Like, you know, a balloon or something on the beach that lets us know he got our letter and everything is okay with him, and that he doesn’t mind if we play with his Frisbee with somebody else, like Connor.”

  Ah, so that was where this was coming from. Kristy began to relax. “Honey, I really think it would be okay if you girls wanted to play Frisbee with Connor,” she said. “I think Daddy would be happy about that.” To see you running free. Full of love and joy, rather than continually haunted by the loss.

  “No. We have to ask him first,” Sally said seriously.

  Susie nodded. “You can’t use things without permission.”

  Kristy gave up trying to reason with them on that one. Fortunately, they had finished their breakfast and the school bus was due shortly. Outside, it was partly cloudy and very humid. But there was no sign of rain as Kristy walked them out to wait for the bus. While they were standing there, she looked up at her palmetto trees. The leaves on top were definitely getting browner by the day, she thought. At this point, she doubted whether the trees could be saved, the damage to them reversed. She sighed, imagining how the lack of tall trees around the building would impact on the visual appeal of the historic lodge.