She didn’t need to turn around to know who it must be. Since this session of camp contained mostly local children, Tracy had to know all their parents—except one.
“How can I know who it is if you won’t let me turn around to look?” she asked.
Tracy’s eyes widened. “He’s coming this way! Unless my eyes deceive me—and I don’t think they do, trust me, I’ve got radar for these things—I can’t see a ring. How’s my hair?”
Sage studied her polished friend. Her makeup was perfect and not a strand of her highlighted blonde hair dared escape its trendy style.
In contrast, Sage didn’t need a mirror to tell her what she must look like. Her dratted hair was probably falling out of the ponytail again, her skin felt tight and itchy, probably from a slight sunburn, and she didn’t doubt she smelled as if she’d been chasing thirteen active elementary school students all day.
She sighed. “You look beautiful, as always.”
“Liar!” Tracy purred, then her white teeth widened and she thrust out a hand, complete with the French manicure Sage knew she drove to Astoria to get and no trace of a callus or wrinkle.
“Hi there. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Tracy Harder with Harder Realty. Welcome to Cannon Beach! Are you a summer visitor or are you moving in? Before you answer, let me just say how much I sincerely hope it’s the latter. We just love new faces around here, don’t we, Sage?”
“Uh, sure.”
Eben blinked a few times at her gushing warmth, but finally held out his hand. “Hello. Eben Spencer. I’m afraid my daughter and I are only here until the weekend.”
Tracy’s face fell and she didn’t look like she wanted to let go of his hand, as if she could change his mind just with her force of will. Eben finally managed to slip it away.
“Too bad for us. But if you ever think about moving back permanently, give me a call. Let me give you my card. Now you hang on to that, promise? I have listings up and down the northern/central coast, from Astoria to Newport. From luxury beachside houses to small two-room cottages, I can hook you up with anything you want. Anything.”
Sage certainly didn’t mistake the intent in that single, flirtatious word and Eben obviously didn’t either.
“Uh, thank you.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. For instance, I just picked up two new listings today in Manzanita. The master suite in one of them is huge with one full wall of windows overlooking the ocean. Truly stunning and it’s listed at several thousand dollars below appraisal. At that price, it’s not going to last long. And the other one has four bedrooms, including one that would be perfect for an in-law suite.”
Before Tracy could get revved up into a full-scale sales pitch, Sage took pity on Eben’s glazed expression and stepped in. “Mr. Spencer, I imagine you’re probably looking for the hiking trail guides we talked about this morning, aren’t you?”
He looked baffled for only half a second, then seized on the excuse. “Yes. Exactly. I’m very anxious to see the area.”
“I’m sorry, I meant to have them ready for you when you arrived to pick up Chloe, but it’s been a rather busy day. It won’t take me a second to dig them out of my files, though. They’re back in my office, if you want to come with me. Tracy, will you excuse us?”
Tracy opened her mouth to object, but Sage didn’t give her a chance, she just led Eben through the center to her office.
“Trail guides?” he murmured when they were safely out of earshot.
“I couldn’t think of anything else. Sorry. Tracy’s a sweetheart but she can be a bit of a piranha if she smells fresh meat.”
He raised an eyebrow and Sage could feel herself flush. “Completely in the real estate sense of the word, I mean. Potential customers.”
“Right.”
He looked tired, she thought. His shirtsleeves were rolled up, his tie loose and that hint of disreputable stubble was back on his jawline. No wonder Tracy went into hungry mode.
“Uh, long day?”
He shrugged. “We’re having some labor issues with a couple of our European properties. It took some serious negotiations, but I think we’ve finally got a handle on it.”
He studied her for a long moment, a light in his eyes that left her suddenly breathless. “How about you?”
“It’s been a good day. The kids seemed to enjoy Ecola. What’s not to love? The place looks prehistoric, like dinosaurs will come stalking through the plants any minute now.”
“How was Chloe today?”
“Tired, I think.”
“I suppose that’s what happens when she wakes us both up before five o’clock.”
“Probably. She was a little bit cranky, but we didn’t have any real problems. She fell asleep for a few moments in the van on the way back.”
“She’ll probably zonk out right after dinner, which will be good since I’m suddenly slammed with paperwork my assistant sent by courier.”
She had a sudden fierce longing to run a finger down the tired lines at the corner of his mouth, as if she could soothe them. The impulse appalled her. “And are you the proud owner of a certain Cannon Beach landmark yet?”
“Not yet. They’re stalling with every possible tactic they can come up with.”
“Yet you’re not giving up?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. At this point, I’m not sure what else I can do. I can’t force Stanley and Jade to sell, nor would I want to.”
“Someone unscrupulous probably could figure out a way to do just that.”
To her surprise, hurt flickered in his gaze. “Is that what you think of me?”
She considered the idea then rejected it. “Not at all. I think you’re very determined but I don’t believe you’re ruthless.”
“We need The Sea Urchin. I’m afraid nothing else will do.”
“You need it or you want it? Big difference, Eben.”
“Both. The more time I spend in Cannon Beach, the more I know this is the ideal location for another Spencer Hotel. It’s perfect.”
Before she could answer, Chloe skipped in and threw her arms around Eben’s waist. “Hi Daddy. What are you doing in here?”
“Just talking to Sage.”
She seemed to accept that with equanimity. “I’m hungry. Can we have dinner at Brambleberry House again tonight?”
Eben looked taken aback at Chloe’s question and sent a swift look toward Sage. Her first inclination was to go ahead and extend the invitation Chloe was angling for in her not-so-subtle manner, but she quickly checked the impulse. Eben said he had paperwork to finish.
Beyond that, she needed a little space and distance from the two of them to see if she could rebuild the protective barriers around her heart.
She forced a smile to Chloe. “I’m sorry, honey, but I’ve got other plans tonight.”
It wasn’t a lie. She was supposed to have her monthly book club meeting at By-The-Wind tonight, though all day she had been planning to do her best to wiggle out of it.
“What about tomorrow?” Chloe asked.
“We’ll have to see,” Eben stepped in. “Come on, Chloe. We’d better get out of Sage’s hair and it looks like you need to get cleaned up before dinner. What do you say to pizza tonight?”
“I say yum,” Chloe chirped.
Sage walked them to the door of the center. “Bye, Chloe. Don’t forget your hat tomorrow. Remember, it’s beach day.”
“I can’t wait! Can we ride bikes again tomorrow morning while Daddy and Conan run and go to Hug Point?”
She’d had a tough enough time getting the image of Eben’s muscles out of her head all day today. She didn’t need a repeat performance in the morning. “Guess what? I get to sleep in tomorrow since Anna wants to take a turn running with Conan in the morning.”
To her surprise, disappointment sparked in Eben’s gaze but he said noth
ing about it. “Come on, kid.”
“Bye Sage,” Chloe said reluctantly. She hugged Sage then grabbed her father’s hand and walked outside.
* * *
This was becoming a habit Eben had a feeling would be tough to break when they returned to San Francisco.
Early the next morning, Eben stood at the deck railing watching the ocean change color with the sunrise, from black to murky blue to a deep, rich green. He was coming to depend entirely too much on these moments of solitude, when he had the vast beach to himself, sharing it only with the occasional shore bird.
He had intended to sleep in at least until six, but he woke an hour before his travel alarm had been set to go off. Restless and edgy, he had opted to come out here and enjoy the morning.
The beauty of the Oregon coast had somehow seeped into him. Despite the frustration over The Sea Urchin, he felt calmer here than he had in a long time. Maybe since those rough last few months of his marriage.
He shifted. He didn’t like dwelling on Brooke and all the ways he had failed her. The worst of it was that now he wasn’t even sure when he had stopped loving his wife.
She had been a friend of his sister Cami’s and he had known her since she was a girl. He had been her escort at her debutante ball, had dated her through college. Theirs had never been a grand passion, but in the early days at least it had been comfortable.
And then after Chloe was born, she had wanted so much more from him. She had become clingy, demanding. She had hated his work schedule, had resented the hours he spent rebuilding the company, then had started accusing him of a long string of affairs.
Her emotional outbursts had all seemed so much like his parents’ marriage—with the exception that his father had been having affairs, buckets of them, and no one could ever have called Hastings Spencer a workaholic. Alcoholic? Yes. Workaholic? Not a chance.
The last few years of their marriage had been miserably unhappy and he had worked even more to avoid the tumult he hated so much at home. He imagined if Brooke hadn’t died, they would have been well on their way to divorce by now.
And most of it had been his fault. He acknowledged that now. He had been consumed with proving he was not his father, that he had inherited nothing from his unstable mother. As a result, he had refused to fight with Brooke, had refused to show much emotion at all.
He had lived with that guilt for two years now. The past couldn’t be changed. Perhaps it was time to let it go.
He watched a black oystercatcher hop down the shore and his muscles hummed with a fierce desire to be out there on the hard-packed sand running for all he was worth.
He couldn’t leave Chloe sleeping alone inside their beach house, so he had to be content with watching the daybreak from the sidelines.
He sipped his coffee, remembering the morning only a few days ago when Sage had taken it out of his hand and sent him off running with her dog. Had it only been a few days ago? It seemed like forever since he had returned to find her asleep on the couch, warm and tousled and sexy, and had stolen a kiss.
He jerked his mind away from the memory and focused instead on the day ahead. He was meeting with Stanley and Jade that afternoon, for possibly the last time. If they still balked at the sale, he knew he would have to return to San Francisco and all the work waiting for him there. He couldn’t linger here indefinitely, hoping he could change their minds.
He sighed, depressed at the realization that this would likely be his last Oregon sunrise for some time.
It was a glorious one, he had to admit. The sun coming over the Coast Range to the east tinted the sky above the ocean a pearly pink, with shades of lavender and pale orange.
Sage would love this.
He sighed. Couldn’t he go five seconds without thinking about her? He was obsessed. He definitely needed to return to San Francisco soon so he could start shaking her from his mind.
As if in response to the direction of thoughts, he suddenly spied two shapes running down the beach, one of which was unmistakably a familiar shaggy red dog.
Anticipation curled through him and he knew with grim realization this was the reason he stood here at the railing—not to watch the sunrise, but on the off chance she might run past with Conan.
As they drew closer, he saw immediately his subconscious hope of seeing her would be dashed. Conan’s companion didn’t have unruly honey-gold curls. Instead, she had dark hair scraped back into a sleek ponytail.
Anna Galvez was taking her turn with the dog’s morning run, just as Sage had told them the day before she planned to do.
The depth of his disappointment shocked the hell out of him.
How had a wild-haired nature girl become so important to him in a few short days? His fingers curled around the coffee mug. He should have done a much better job of keeping her out. What was the point of coming to care about her? He was leaving soon, tomorrow at the latest.
With sudden, hard dread lodged in his gut, he hated the idea of saying goodbye to her.
Conan barked an exuberant greeting and rushed over to his deck. Eben unlatched the gate and headed down the wooden stairs.
“Hey bud. No Chloe this morning. She’s still sleeping.” He scratched the dog’s chin and was rewarded by furious tail-wagging.
Anna arrived several moments after the dog, panting hard. “My gosh, he’s fast. I had no idea. Morning.”
He smiled. “Good morning.”
“How does Sage do this every morning? It’s torture!” She straightened and he thought again that she was a remarkably lovely woman, with her glossy dark hair and delicate features.
He could appreciate her loveliness on a purely detached basis but he realized she did nothing for him. The realization was unsettling. He wasn’t at all attracted to Anna Galvez—because all he could think about was Sage and her winsome smile and her untamed beauty.
“I guess you’re the reason he insisted on dragging me in this direction,” Anna said.
“Sorry.”
She smiled. “I’m not. At least he’s giving me a breather for a minute. Anyway, the ocean view is spectacular in any direction. I never tire of it.”
“You’re lucky to see it every day.”
“I think so, too.” She paused. “I never intended to stay here forever but I came a few years ago for a… vacation and I never left. I think seawater seeped into my blood or something. Now here I am a homeowner, a business owner. Settled. Life takes some strange twists sometimes.”
He sensed there was more to her story, but didn’t feel he knew her well enough to pry.
“I understand you may be joining the ranks of Cannon Beach property owners.”
“Your mouth to God’s ear.”
She smiled again. “Will you be sticking around if you buy The Sea Urchin?”
Three days ago he would have given an unequivocal no to that question. The fact that he couldn’t honestly offer her the answer he knew he should stunned him.
“Sorry. Not my business,” she said, her voice somewhat stiff and he abruptly realized he must have been staring at her without speaking for several seconds.
“No, it’s not that. I just don’t quite know how to answer. Our hotel corporate office is in San Francisco, so I would have to say probably not. But I have a couple of great people in mind to run the place after we finish a few upgrades.”
Conan barked and for some reason, Eben was quite certain that look in his eyes was disapproval. Did he need to consult a dog now on his business decisions?
“Well, Cannon Beach is a great place to raise a family if you should decide differently.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he answered.
“Good luck with the Wus,” she said. “I’ve read a little about Spencer Hotels and I think your company would treat The Sea Urchin exactly as it deserves.”
“Thank you. Now if you wouldn’t mi
nd stopping at the hotel on your run and telling Stanley and Jade just what you told me,” he joked, “maybe I could wrap things up here before Independence Day.”
She laughed. “I’m not sure they’d listen to me. I’ve only been here three years so I’m still very much a newcomer.”
Conan suddenly wriggled away from Eben and started heading up the beach. Anna gave a rueful smile. “I guess that’s the boss’s way of telling me it’s time to head off. Thanks for giving me a chance to catch my breath.”
“No problem.”
She waved and headed off after the dog.
Six hours later, Eben wished for a little of Anna Galvez’s encouragement as he sat in the elegantly appointed conference room of The Sea Urchin, frustration burning his insides.
He had been running his family’s hotel company since he graduated from The Wharton School in his early 20s. The company’s assets and reputation had increased exponentially under his command.
With a far-ranging strategic plan, he had worked as hard as he knew how, had sacrificed and planned and maneuvered Spencer Hotels to emerge from near-bankruptcy to its current healthy market share.
Through all the years of toil and negotiations, he had never felt as completely inept as he did right this moment, gazing at Stanley Wu’s smooth, inscrutable features.
The man was harder to read than the framed Chinese calligraphy hanging on the wall above his head.
“Mr. Wu, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what else you and Mrs. Wu want from me. I have tried to convince you Spencer Hotels doesn’t plan any radical changes to The Sea Urchin. You’ve seen our business plan and the blueprints for the minor renovations we would like to see. You have physically toured each of our two other hotels in Oregon as well as two in Washington and I’ve showed you multimedia tours of several others. I’ve given you my personal promise that I will treat this establishment with the same care and attention you and Mrs. Wu have showered on it for thirty-five years. I want this hotel, I’ve made no secret of that fact, but my time here is running out. What else can I do to convince you?”
The House on Cannon Beach Page 12
