The Hutton Series Part 3: The Second Generation

Chapter 1

Angela

I ruined everything.

Shattered my father’s dream.

Obliterated the family legacy.

I’m supposed to be the one who drives us forward, into our future, but with one hastily scrawled signature, I delivered a killing blow to The Hutton Hotel.

The knowledge keeps me awake at night and waits for me each morning. Taunting me. Teasing me. Tugging at my heart the way a child tugs at his mother’s hand.

Needy. Insistent. Incessant.

You ruined everything, Angel. Nothing will be the same and it’s all because of you.

I’ll do whatever it takes to solve the problem I created. I’ll sacrifice my time, my energy, my entire life if that’s what it takes, but I will not let the hotel go down without a fight.

I’m a Hutton. That’s what we do.

“Angela.” Dad’s frown says he’s called my name more than once.

Sitting across from him at his desk, I shuffle through a stack of papers—projections, estimates, the financial future of our hotel laid out in black and white. I’ve spent the last week going over them. Tweaking them. Looking at the numbers from different angles.

No matter what I do, it’s not good.

“Yeah. Sorry.” I blink, tap the papers on my father’s desk to straighten them, then lay them flat. “I’m listening.”

Lucas Hutton is an intimidating man. A Marine, injured in the line of duty, he approaches everything with a “take the hill or die trying” attitude. Fatherhood. The hotel.

Fixing the mistake I created while reminding me he still trusts me.

“You’ve got the lead in tomorrow’s meeting with Garrett Cooper. Wyatt and I will be in the room with you, but you’re in charge.”

So, basically my worst nightmare.

I sigh. Pinch the corners of the papers, straightening them even though they’re already straight. “Dad, I—”

The slow lift of his brow stops my rebuttal in its tracks. “You’re taking the lead.”

So much swims in the undercurrent of his words. Dad wants me to know he still has faith in me. He still believes in me. He wants me back on the horse before fear stops me from believing in myself.

Too late for that.

A few months ago, I thought I had everything under control. I thought my education meant I was infallible. That my dream of expanding our hotel into other markets couldn’t fail.

Overconfidence joined hands with naivete and blinded me to the truth. Now I second-guess every idea I come up with. Like this meeting with Garrett Cooper from Vision Enterprise.

Another company, so much like the one that set this disaster in motion. I researched the hell out of them before reaching out and found nothing but positives, but I’m still nervous. What if I’m making another mistake?

Dad steeples his fingers under his chin, staring me down as if I was a Marine under his command rather than his daughter.

As a kid, his intensity overwhelmed me. As I got older, I understood that under his stern face hid a heart that adored his only child and a mind so full of deep thoughts, he couldn’t always find the words to let them out.

“Let’s go over the plan of attack one more time. Lay it out for me step by step.”

I square my shoulders. Back straight. Chin up. Don’t let him see the doubt. I will fake it ‘til I make it and The Hutton Hotel is safe. “Lesson one. Assume Garrett Cooper is the enemy, from the start.”

Pleased, Dad nods. “He’ll promise us the stars and the moon, but at the end of the day, he’s here to make money for his company. We can profit off that if we’re smart, but these investment guys are—”

“All about themselves. I know that now.” I cross my legs and fold my hands in my lap, painting a picture of calm. Of confidence. “A wise man once told me, ‘Lessons learned the hard way are lessons that stick.’”

Dad smiles as I repeat the advice he gave me every time I ran into trouble as a kid. The crinkles in the corners of his eyes reassure me. No matter what happens, he will always love me.

“What else?”

“Everything Mr. Cooper says, everything he puts into writing, it’s designed to make me think he’s on our side, but he’s not. Verify everything until he proves himself trustworthy.” It’s a shitty way of operating in the world, but one I’m going to have to get used to.

“I know that’s not natural for you, Angel. You trust everyone to be exactly who and what they say they are. And sometimes they are…”

“Just not in business. I know that now.”

And I should have known it then. If I hadn’t been so trusting, so overconfident, so stupidly na?ve…

“What else?” Dad’s voice is gentler now, like he knows what’s going through my mind and wants to soften the blow.

I hang my head. This is so remedial, so humiliating.

I know this stuff. I do. It’s all so basic.

And yet, I trusted everything the man from the last investment company said, saw him as a friend just like he wanted me to, then failed to vet a contract change and here we are.

Staring at the end of a legacy instead of the beginning of our future, in a private meeting with my dad, brushing up on the basics before the most important meeting of my life.

“All contracts, all revisions, everything, it all goes through the lawyers before a signature hits the line.”

Dad sits back in his chair, threading his hands behind his head. “Exactly.”

And just like that, my mask of professionalism falls and I’m a little girl talking to her father, mortified to have let her family down.

“I’m so sorry I messed up and I hate that this conversation is necessary.

I know you wouldn’t even meet with this new guy if I hadn’t put us in a position to need the money—”

I feel physically sick, swiping at the tears forming in my eyes. For the hundredth time that hour, I inwardly promise to devote all my energy into turning the ship around. I’ll sacrifice everything if I have to.

“Angel.” Dad leans forward to take my hand. “Mistakes are part of life. You aren’t perfect, and no one in this family expects you to be…except yourself.”

“I just feel like such an idiot.”

“Good.”

“Good?” The word bounces into the conversation on a laugh. That was not the response I expected.

“You’re an intelligent woman and you know that. But that feeling? The one that keeps you awake at night, reminding you that you’re better than the situation you’re in?”

I nod. I haven’t told anyone I’m having trouble sleeping. Somehow, Dad knowing brings me comfort.

“Rocket fuel, Angel.” Sunlight cascades through the window behind him, like a smile from the universe.

“That’s what that feeling is. You have a choice in how it affects you.

You can wallow in it, let it eat you up from the inside out, then let it destroy you when it finally explodes.

Because it will explode. Or you can harness that power.

Let it propel you forward, boosting your momentum while you put one foot in front of the other, until you bring your dream to fruition.

It’s your choice, but you have to make it. Nothing happens without action.”

Fear whispers that the last choice I made put us in this situation, but I brush it away. After all, I’m the daughter of Cat and Lucas Hutton, people who don’t understand the meaning of the word quit.

“I’m gonna harness it.” Pride surges through me.

I can do this. I can fix the things I’ve broken.

Every time I look at this Garrett Cooper from Vision Enterprise, I’ll remember he’s not a friend.

I won’t even see him as a person. I’ll imagine him as the vulture he is, ready to profit off someone else’s blood, sweat, and tears.

He’s not here to help.

He’s here to make money off us.

Sure, we might arrive at a mutually beneficial deal, but only if I remain vigilant.

And I will remain vigilant.

I refuse to be the Hutton who ruins the family.

“Good.” Dad’s smile says he knew that’d be my answer. “Now, walk me through the pitch and projections one more time.”