Chapter 15
Two days later, Ben climbed the ladder for the last time. The shutters were repaired, painted, and rehung.
Two men exited the truck, talking and laughing, stopping at the truck bed to grab tool belts and tools.
“Those boys look to be far from home.” Myrtle May gestured at the men and called for Bart to follow her. “I’m going inside, but you holler for me or Walt if you need backup.”
Ben handed Myrtle May his empty glass as she passed, then went to meet the men. “How can I help you today?”
The older man lifted his clipboard and glanced over the paper. “I’m Dean Wicker. Akron Development hired us to do an environmental study. Need to see how many buildings they can put on here.”
“Excuse me?” The ground shifted beneath Ben, a personal earthquake. “Akron hired you? To do an environmental study?”
“Test the soil and water so when they knock this place down—”
“Dean, I’m Ben Carter, the owner. Akron does not own this place.” Not yet anyway.
“Says here they do.”
“We haven’t closed yet.”
“Don’t know about that, but we got our orders.”
“Look, can you just give me a minute?” Ben pulled out his phone. “Let me make a call.”
Had he been a complete fool? All that mushy sentiment from Brant and how Macie had dreamed about him and Cami. And where was Cami on this? She’d promised she would protect the inn from her father. They’d not even closed, and Brant had sent an environmental crew.
Cami’s phone rang without an answer. So he left her a message. “Cami, it’s me, Ben. Call me. It’s important.” He hit End and turned back to the men. “Listen, you’ll just have to come back later.”
“Not until we get a call from someone at Akron.”
Ben started for the barn. He’d sort of liked Brant Jackson the other day as he’d waxed about the past. He’d given him Cami’s painting. But Brant had just been on a scouting mission. Seeing what he could put over on Ben. Cami would be powerless to stop him.
Ben felt like the kid his parents had dropped off in Hearts Bend, promising they’d return for him in the summer. But he’d never lived in Papua New Guinea again. Not until after college.
His phone buzzed with a call from Cami. “Hey, sorry I missed your call. What’s wrong? You sounded upset.”
“You promised.” He didn’t bother to moderate his voice. “You promised to protect the inn. You weren’t going to let your dad destroy this place.”
“He’s not going to destroy the inn. Ben, what’s going on?”
“Two environmental surveyors showed up to take soil samples. Akron hired them. Said that Akron was going to tear down the inn.” Ben paced in frustration. Did he have a big L on his forehead?
“Ben, slow down. What are you talking about? Dad hired an environmental team?”
“Dean Wicker.”
“Dean? Oh, Ben, I’m sure this is a misunderstanding.”
“The misunderstanding is that you thought you could control your father. Cami, he can do whatever he wants without telling you, especially if you’re in another state. And here I thought he was kind of nice when he showed up here the other day.”
“He showed up at the inn?”
“Yes. Was our relationship just a ploy for Akron to get its claws into Hearts Bend?”
“Ben.” Cami’s whispered voice broke. “There’s no ploy, I promise. I’m not out to get you or the inn. I can’t believe you’d think that about me.”
“It’s clear you cannot protect this place from your dad.” He knew what he had to do. “I want out of the deal.” The words came out like a sword and dagger.
“Are you serious? What about Sydney?” Her sweet voice oozed with compassion and concern, but why should she care? The tenderness only added fuel to the anger burning inside Ben.
“I’ll figure it out, but the deal is off.” He’d have Mr. Graham look over the contract, find a loophole.
A beat. Two. “If that’s really what you want, Ben, fine. I’ll cancel the contract. I won’t be able to pay the earnest money since—”
“I don’t care about the money. Just make it happen.” Ben ended the call before she said something else in her calm, tender tone. She sounded sincere. She sounded hurt.
He found Dean and his man walking the property and taking pictures. “There’s been a change of plans. The deal is off, and Akron won’t be purchasing this property. You can leave now.”
Dean reached up and scratched at his hair under his ball cap, then pulled the bill back down. “I told you someone from Akron needs to call.” His phone pinged, and he glanced at it. “I guess you’re right.” He held up the phone to show an Akron number. “Have a good day.”
When they’d gone, Ben made his way to the pond. Man, he probably owed Cami an apology. He hadn’t realized how much being left here as a kid had defined him.
If anyone lied to him or put one over on him, he never trusted them again. But he should call Cami, try to work things out. He lifted his phone, but before he could call her, Jordan rang.
“G’day,” Ben said. “It’s early there. Please tell me you have good news.”
“We need a new head of housekeeping. Jenna resigned. Her husband has been transferred to Perth. I’ve listed it but wanted to keep you in the loop.”
Sirens sounded in the distance, growing closer.
“Can we promote someone under Jenna?”
“We have a few who want to apply. I think we can fill the position from in-house. Ben, the place is looking amazing. You won’t believe the progress since you were here.”
“You deserve all the credit.”
The sirens cut off, and Ben focused on finishing up the call.
“Oh, there’s one more thing, Ben. The men’s sauna isn’t functioning, and the company is sending a replacement, but it won’t be here until after we open.”
“Send the information. I’ll try to speed things up.” He hung up and headed for the kitchen. He needed another iced tea and a cookie. And to make sure the sirens didn’t herald more bad news.
He bumped into the fire chief and an electrician. “What’s going on here?”
Walt, wrapped in his big, stained apron, stepped around the chief. “Just a small fire. Nothing to worry you about.”
“Except I’m shutting down the kitchen,” the chief said. “The electrical is out of code, and your appliances are at the end of life. Between the two, you’re lucky this place didn’t burn to the ground years ago.”
“Are you shutting us down? We’re hosting a big wedding next week.”
“You can still have guests, but you won’t be serving any meals from this kitchen until the wiring is updated and the appliances replaced.”
Ben thanked the chief and the electrician, then turned to Walt. “Please don’t tell me you knew about this.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you.”
“He knew,” Myrtle May said. “So did your Granny. It was in that inspector report.”
How could Ben have forgotten about that?
Why hadn’t he done something about it? Ben headed to the coffee bar and poured a cup of Walt’s rock-gut.
They’d formed a conspiracy. Granny, Walt, Cami, Jim and Jordan, Ray, the bullfrog who sang outside his basement window every morning at five. God. Surely He was involved somehow.
He stepped into the office and slammed the door before sitting at the desk, trying to shed his frustration. He could use the money from the wedding to cover the rewiring and the new appliances. Then what?
He could call Stan at the bank and try for a refi. He’d need to pay something, but maybe he’d use some of the wedding money to ease a bit of the debt.
Or, or, or… He wanted to talk to Cami. He needed her advice and friendship. But he’d just called her a liar, and maybe he should give her time to cool off. Give himself time to cool off.
He sat at Granddaddy’s desk. “Okay, God, what do I do now?”
Ben squeezed his eyes as if it might aid his spiritual hearing. After a few moments when he heard nothing, he reached for his phone.
“Mr. Graham, Akron fell through. I need a buyer for the inn.”
Unbelievable. Cami stared at the phone in her hand. She wanted to call Ben back, but he’d sounded so upset. As the packers moved about her, she tried to analyze this call from Ben.
This was Dad with Mama’s death all over again. Ben blamed her for something she hadn’t done. She hadn’t called Dean and his team. But if Ben wanted to blame her, then he could take himself to Sydney without so much as a goodbye.
Except she’d have to see him for Vicki’s wedding. What she really needed to do was have it out with Dad. What was he up to now? If he hated the inn, if it reminded him of everything he’d lost, why had he kept it in the system?
Meanwhile, the new condo owners wanted to move in this week, so she had to move out. She’d thought she’d have to put things in storage, but Max had called two days ago with the perfect downtown Indy apartment, and she’d signed the lease.
The movers were going to move her into her new place. She’d unpack when she got there. In the meantime, she’d sleep in Annalise’s spare room.
Standing in the middle of her living room, a burly man wrapped a glass sculpture she’d picked up at an art fair with Annalise three summers ago.
She felt hot and stuffy, overwhelmed, and in need of a quiet place to think.
A shatter arrested the movement in the room as the man wrapping the figurine dropped it. Shards scattered across the hardwood.
“I’m sorry, ma’am.” The foreman made a note on his clipboard. “Mike, get this cleaned up. Was it a special piece?”
She shook her head, tears budding. “Just the reminder of a fun summer with my sister.”
The figurine was a symbol of her life. Shattering.
A couple of men hoisted the couch as Cami wandered down the hall, passing empty rooms. In the spare room where she’d kept her shoes, she closed the door and sat in the middle of the empty space.
Only a few pairs had been moved to Annalise’s last night. The rest would travel with the movers. Her new place was downtown in a “highly sought-after area” and within walking distance to shopping and restaurants and a coffee shop. Astrid had also found an apartment in the same complex.
The place needed a bit of work, but she liked the idea of putting her stamp on her new place.