Isabel
She stopped, realizing he was on the phone, then was about to turn away to give him his privacy when his words reached her.
"Baxter," Darius's voice rang out, clipped and cold. "I've told you over and over I'm handling this. It's my project. It has nothing to do with you. Attend to your own work and leave this alone."
"Darius, cousin, listen to me," Baxter said, sounding completely undeterred by the edge in Darius’s voice. "I have information on your special project's financial status. And I know the parties involved are starting to band together to block the acquisition."
The world special project had piqued her interest even more.
"That's not new information," Darius cut him off. "Now leave this project alone and concentrate on getting me the reports that are due on your own project. Don’t make me have to tell you again to stay out of this one."
"There's something you don't know," Baxter persisted. "Something about the land the property is built on."
There was a silence from inside the office, and through the crack in the door, Isabel saw her brother’s shoulders stiffen.
"What are you talking about?" Darius asked. "I had that land surveyed. I know this coastline. I checked for any historical designations on the hotel."
Isabel's heart had started to move faster.
The hotel.
This coastline.
"I’ve seen those reports, but you didn't dig deep enough," Baxter said, and she could hear the satisfaction in his voice.
"I also have it on good authority from a reliable source that they're renovating a swimming pool on the hotel grounds.
According to an academic contact of mine, there's a rumor that the site could have historical significance.
Something about an ancient settlement under the property. "
There was another silence from the office.
"Send me the details," Darius said, and Isabel could hear the shift in her brother's voice once again. This time, he’d started paying attention.
"I can do better than that," Baxter replied. "My contact and I are already in Sanibel. We arrived this morning. We can come to you and discuss this in person."
"Why are you here?" Darius's voice had gone very quiet. "That's rather presumptuous of you, Baxter. If the hotel owners were about to make a historical claim, they'd have done it already. As far as I know, they haven't."
"Not yet," Baxter said. "But I've gotten word that a call was placed to Dr. Anna Caldwell. The renowned archaeologist. And the call came from a member of the family that owns the property you're trying to acquire, which could only mean that they are trying another angle to stop the acquisition."
A silence that lasted long enough for Isabel to count her own heartbeats.
"Or, Dr. Caldwell could just be a family friend.” He sighed.
“But fine, fine," Darius said finally, and his voice was clipped in a way that told her he'd made a decision he wasn't entirely comfortable with.
"I'll meet you, but not in Sweet Blossom Bay.
There's a diner on the outskirts of town. Be there in one hour."
"Perfect," Baxter said, and his satisfaction was audible. “I’m glad I may be able to help you finally get to finish your father’s dream project.”
Isabel froze at her cousin's words.
Father's project.
What project was Baxter talking about?
“This still doesn’t mean you are on the project team,” Darius told him.
“I could help you, you know,” Baxter told him. “That way, your trip to Sweet Blossom Bay really could be more of a vacation than work.”
Isabel stiffened. So this really was a working trip after all.
Anger flared. He’d promised her that this trip was purely a vacation and had nothing to do with any of his projects…
The words trailed off as the harsh reality of it set in.
Their father’s dream project. Her eyes widened.
NO! Her mind screamed. Surely not. Flashes of their time here flickered through her mind, and as they did, her cheeks heated as her anger rose.
Of all the low-down dirty tricks. Red dots started to swim in her vision, and she was about to push the office door open to burst into the room, demanding an explanation, when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind.
She was spun around and pulled into the bathroom across the landing from Darius’s home office, the door shutting behind them with a soft click.
"Penny," Isabel hissed, in the lowest voice she could manage when she saw who’d grabbed her in the bathroom mirror. "What on earth are you doing?"
"Stopping you from making a terrible mistake," Penny hissed back.
From the other side of the bathroom door came the sound of Darius's office door opening, his footsteps crossing the landing, and his bedroom door closing.
They both held their breath until there was nothing but silence in the hallway.
Isabel let out a long, very quiet breath and looked at Penny.
"How long were you behind me?" Isabel asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Long enough," Penny answered, something flickering in her eyes that made Isabel draw a conclusion.
"You knew," Isabel said. It wasn't a question. “You knew the real reason my brother came here to Sweet Blossom Bay.”
Penny met her eyes and didn't look away. "I suspected," she said carefully. "I didn't know the full extent of it. I warned him that if he was lying to us, it would be the last time I'd work with him."
"And yet here we are," Isabel said.
"Here we are," Penny agreed, her jaw tightening and eyes darkening with anger.
"He bought this house as part of it, didn't he?" Isabel said. "Bay View Beach House. It's not a holiday home. It's part of the acquisition plan."
Penny didn't answer immediately.
"Yes, it is," Penny said finally, shaking her head. “When we came here, he told me that he was thinking of maybe keeping the house as a holiday house, and while I was skeptical, I gave him the benefit of the doubt about this trip.”
Isabel blew out a breath, regaining her composure as the anger simmered down. She pressed her fingers against her forehead for a moment while she thought before looking at Penny.
“Is it true?” Isabel asked. “Is Darius trying to make my father’s vision for Sweet Blossom Bay come true?”
"Yes," Penny said. “Only, bigger than what I believe your father had envisioned.”
“What?” Isabel spluttered. “My father wanted to turn this part of the bay into a family-friendly and affordable holiday resort, spa, and a huge amusement park for kids. A sort of Disneyland-type place.”
“Well, Darius certainly wants to do that,” Isabel told her. “Minus the theme park thing.” She pulled a face and shuddered. “He wants a space camp type place and…”
“And?” Isabel asked.
“A mall.”
“A mall?” Isabel looked at her in disbelief.
“Here in Sweet Blossom Bay. A big ugly shopping complex.” Anger spurted through her again.
“They have already got a lovely, tasteful, shopping area that suits this small town perfectly.” Her cheeks grew hot.
“And they don’t need a resort and spa, family friendly, affordable or not. ”
“I agree,” Penny told her. “Especially having been here now.”
“Then we need to march right up to my brother and ask him what the heck he thinks he’s doing,” Isabel growled.
“No!” Penny shook her head. “That is not the way to handle this.”
“Then how do you suggest we handle this?” Isabel leaned back slightly and folded her arm in front of her. “Because we both know that there is no way I’ll let him do this. Especially not now.”
Her mind flashed to Emma and how happy her granddaughter had been since arriving in Sweet Blossom Bay.
How she’d come back out of her shell and had made good friends.
Even Isabel had made friends, and she sure as heck was not going to let her brother spoil that.
Wayne Group did not need another resort and spa.
Besides, before her parents died, she remembered a conversation between them.
One that she wanted to march up to her older brother and slap him with.
"I want to go in there right now and tell him exactly what I think of this," Isabel told her.
"I know you do," Penny answered. "And you will.
But not yet. Not until we know who Baxter has brought with him and why.
" She paused. "If we go in now, all we know is what we overheard.
We don't know what Baxter's plan is. We don't know who this academic contact is or what they're claiming about the hotel site.
We don't know what Darius has already agreed to. "
Isabel looked at her, noting the cunning look flashing through Penny’s eyes, and smiled. She always had the best plans.
"What are you suggesting?" Isabel asked.
Penny's expression shifted in the way it shifted when she'd already thought three moves ahead.
"I know the diner Darius agreed to meet Baxter and his academic advisor at," Penny told her.
"The one on the outskirts of town. I stopped there a few days ago when I went to look at a property near there.
A waitress spilled coffee on me. The owner came out personally to apologize and told me to eat there whenever I liked, on the house.
He was genuinely lovely about it." A smile curved her lips. “We got talking, and he even introduced me to his wife. By the time I’d left, it was like we were old friends.”
"I remember you coming home with the stained blouse," Isabel said slowly.
"Yes, well," Penny answered. "It turns out that was a fortuitous accident, it seems.” She glanced at her wristwatch.
“If we leave now, we can get there before Darius and Baxter.
We can have a word with the owner and see if we can position ourselves somewhere out of sight or close enough to hear what's discussed. "
Isabel stared at her.
"You want to spy on my brother," Isabel said.
"I want to know what we're dealing with before we confront him," Penny replied. "There's a difference."
A pause.
"We'd need a recording device," Isabel said.
"There's an electronics shop two blocks from here," Penny told her. “We can stop on the way.”