Chapter 12
Cami’s Dior slingbacks clicked against the wooden floor on the top story of the Akron Development building, echoing along the quiet hall of the executive offices on Thursday morning.
The normally active and busy office was quiet.
Did the entire office know she was going to confront the boss and had hightailed it somewhere safe?
She wore her eggplant-colored power suit and had slicked back her hair into a businesslike chignon. Her makeup was bright but not overdone. Pink lips, not red.
After telling Ben she couldn’t buy the inn, after carrying her father’s gentle please around in her heart for two weeks, she’d done what Dad had asked.
So what did she find out as she tried to clear the inn from the project board?
Brant Jackson had locked it with his codes, and she could not undo them without his permission.
What was supposed to have been a single conversation in one day had dragged on all week.
But today she was going to send Ben a message to let him know the contract was dissolved.
The inn was still technically under contract.
Stepping off the elevator, she walked down the hall past Jeremy before he could stop her.
Cami marched into Brant’s office with every ounce of experience and courage she could muster. “We need to talk.”
Dad stood, gestured to his earpiece, then motioned for Cami to have a seat in one of the tan leather chairs by his desk.
She remained standing. She wanted to be ready for him the moment he ended his call.
“Not what I was looking for, Marv—”
Cami focused her eyes on her dad. He leaned forward. His shoulders drooped. Frustration deepened the lines around his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Cami glanced at his walls. Still blank. She’d told him she could get some artwork for him to hang last time she’d been here.
She looked back at her father, and for a moment, she saw the fun, sweet, loving dad of her childhood. The one that had splashed in the pool with her at the inn.
The longing to escape to the inn whispered across her heart again. But next time she visited, a new owner would greet her—once she could get the project unlocked from Akron’s systems. The notion made her uneasy.
“Good. Today.” Dad was ending his call. “Yes, Hearts Bend.”
Cami rolled her shoulders back. Who was he talking to about Hearts Bend? Was this why he’d locked up the inn’s file?
When he hung up the phone, he took command of their conversation. “I see things are progressing well in Indy. Did you find an apartment yet?”
“No, but I will. Dad, why is the inn contract locked in the system?” Cami faced him, arms folded, guard up.
“What I want to know is how it got into the system in the first place. I asked you not to buy it.”
“Astrid saw the signed contract and loaded it. She knew Ben needed a quick turnaround. By the time I found out, project management had locked it for processing. When I talked with them, they said you locked it. I’ve told Ben we’re not buying it.
I need to delete it so he can put it on the market. Why is it still locked?”
“I decided to go ahead with it. We’ll close on the fifteenth, and Ben can go back to his real life. I think we’ll clear the land and put it up for sale or build something new and modern.”
“Why? Why would you do that? The inn is a beloved landmark.”
“It’s falling apart, under revenue, and has a lien on it from the bank. Time to put up something else.”
“If we buy it from Ben, we cannot destroy it. I promised him we would preserve it. You know your reputation in Hearts Bend is to bulldoze everything.”
“Shows you how small-town people think. I only wanted to knock down the old Wedding Shop, which was a disaster at the time.”
“It’s beautiful now. Dad, the inn remains. Either that, or we let it go and Ben sells to the Grangers out of Georgia.”
“Last I looked I was still head of this company, Cami.”
She lowered her arms and stepped closer to his desk. “Then let’s talk about what this is really all about. Mama.”
“Don’t bring up her name.”
“You hate the inn because that’s where Mama died and you know you’d let her down—”
“Camellia, I’d watch your words.”
“Did you know one of her paintings is in the lobby?”
He didn’t answer but turned his back and stared out the window.
“You’re not tearing down the inn. Period,” Cami said. “I’ll resign if you do. I gave my word on behalf of Akron Developments, and that’s gold. Isn’t that what you’re always preaching? So, free up the file, or let me handle this project my way.”
Thursday afternoon, Ben read Cami’s text.
Dad says to go through with it. We’re buying the inn. Do you feel like a yo-yo?
So, the inn was sold to Cami after all. He felt relieved. Cami would love the place like he loved it.
He’d felt like a parent dropping his child off with strangers when he thought of the Georgia couple.
It had given him some sense of how his parents had felt leaving him in Hearts Bend with his grandparents.
He should cut them some slack. They’d done what they thought was best. His grandparents had been almost as good as being with his mom and dad.
Evening was settling over the grounds when Ben walked from the lobby onto the porch carrying a few tools to return to the barn. Myrtle May was checking in weekend guests, and Walt banged around in the kitchen with his next great tuna recipe.
Ben grinned. He had a sneaking suspicion Walt made the tuna just to mess with Myrtle May.
He walked down the porch steps and along the path to the garden, which was soaked in the setting sunlight. He paused by the lilies. “I could use a bit of your trust in the Almighty.”
One of the lilies swayed from side to side as if answering.
Ben continued to the barn. After he’d fixed Room Eight, he’d stored the tools in the office to return to the barn later.
Ray hated a messy work bench, so Ben wanted to wait until he had time to put everything in its proper place.
He’d left a few tools on the work bench in the barn yesterday that also needed to be put away. As he reached the door, Ray popped out.
“Ray, I thought you’d gone for the day.”
“Fixing to head that way now. Had to put someone’s tools away.” He arched his brow and gazed at Ben.
“I was on my way to clean up, so thank you.”
“Find a new buyer for the inn? Listen, son, don’t worry about me. If the new owners don’t want to keep me on, I’ll go on and retire. I’m set for it.”
“You’re in good hands. Akron is buying the inn. Specifically, Cami.”
“Really?” Ray shook his head. “Like I said, I’m all set to retire. I understand you got to do what you got to do.”
Ben leaned against the barn. “You sound like you don’t approve.”
“It’s not up to me.” Ray looked at Ben, one hand casually in his pocket, the other hanging by his side.
Not at all ruffled by Ben’s sharp tone. “Did you pray about it?” When Ben didn’t answer, Ray went on.
“If you don’t ask, He can’t answer. Ever think He might have something for you better than that fancy place Down Under?
That your yellow brick road is right here in Hearts Bend?
You can’t live your life running from the things you fear or trying to be somebody you’ve cooked up in your head.
You have to be the man God made you to be. ”
Afraid? Was he afraid? Somewhere in the twilight, a mourning dove cooed a hallowed lament. Ben wasn’t afraid to talk to God. But why bother Him when Ben already had a great plan for his life?
In Ben’s experience, God had a way of changing a man’s plans, and he wasn’t a hundred percent on board with that right now.
“Don’t be like your great-great-uncle Ned,” Ray said.
“He collected all sorts of grand stuff from around the world with the intent of building a hotel and a home right here in HB. He spent thousands when the estates were failing in England. Bought all sorts of rare antique pieces. You know what he did with it all?”
“Well, since there’s no big hotel or fine house in town, I’m guessing nothing.”
“Yup, packed a lot of the stuff in this barn. The rest, all that gorgeous furniture, burned when the old warehouse went up in flames in ’38.”
“I’m not Great-Great-Uncle Ned. I’m not acquiring and not building. I’m doing something with my stuff, as you put it.”
“You’re missing the point, son. Your uncle Ned was looking for happiness in grand things, in money. But none of it made him happy. That’s what I’m asking you, Ben. Are you happy?”
The question struck an exposed nerve. Ben had never asked himself that question, but suddenly his entire body resonated with it.
Of course he was happy. He was living his dream. He was successful.
But was he happy?
Ray nodded a good evening but after a few steps turned back. “Your granddaddy always used to sit at his desk with the door closed when he talked to God. Nine times out of ten, he came out with an answer. If not, he emerged with peace, believing God was taking care of him and your granny.”
Ben watched Ray walk away and stayed there, leaning against the barn wall until he had to follow the inn’s lights back to the porch. Guests filled the dining area, and the part-time girl, Lori, was taking orders.
Inside the office, Ben closed the door, then sat at his grandfather’s desk. The only light was that of the small desk lamp.
Bowing his head, he prayed, feeling every bit like one of the lilies in Ray’s garden, trusting God to take care of him and show him the way.