The man withdrew a card from the pocket of his suit. “I’m not a lawyer. I’m Jacob Weatherly, the project manager for Carrington Hotels.” He turned as a car door clicked shut from the parking area, and then he smiled. When he did, he looked almost human, which meant Josie was less likely to kick him in the shins for being on the winning team.
And then her heart stopped.
It didn’t pause. It didn’t skip. It came to a full-on stop as a strawberry blonde little girl came around the corner.
Adeline.
She stared at the girl, certain she must be seeing things. It had been three years, after all. Surely this child couldn’t be—
“Come here, Addie-cakes.” The man, Jacob Weatherly, put out a hand. “Was it getting warm in the car?”
The child shook her head. “I mostly wanted to see the big cow,” she answered softly. She aimed a cautious look at Josie and had no idea what that look did to Josie’s heart. “Why do you have such a big cow on your building? It’s kind of funny, isn’t it?”
Josie stared, unable to speak. Kimberly jumped in to help. “They serve barbecue here. Barbecued beef and pork and chicken.”
The girl nodded, but it was clear that she didn’t get the correlation, and that was probably a good thing. How does one explain meat eating to an impressionable child? Josie had no idea.
“So you like cows?” The child sounded excited by the thought of Josie liking cows, and seeing her delight, Josie was sure she could make herself like cows. “I do, too! Daddy said we’d get a cow someday, when we settle someplace, but I don’t really think that’s going to happen. Is it, Daddy?” She peered up at Jacob Weatherly before reaching up to grasp his hand. “Because his job moves him around all the time.”
Daddy?
Josie’s brain whipped through what she knew about her biological daughter’s adoptive parents. She’d kept the original information minimal on purpose, because she understood herself quite well. She wasn’t the “open adoption” kind of mother. If she knew where Adeline was, she’d have been watching from a distance all this time. As it was, when Josie was needed to save the child’s life, Addie’s adoptive mother had found her.
But then Josie had purposely slipped into the shadows again, moving back north to Grace Haven, avoiding the South on purpose. Only now, the South had come to her.
She swallowed hard. Brought a hand to her throat. It was no use. Words escaped her, which was probably a good thing because no one knew what had happened in Louisiana...and if Josie Gallagher had her way, no one ever would.
“Ms. Gallagher.”
“Yes?” She pulled her attention from the beautiful child and faced Jacob Weatherly with more than real estate consternation in her stance.
Who was this man? How did he get Adeline? And how did he end up here, virtually next door to her seized property?
Questions raced through her brain, questions with no answers, but once she was alone she’d hunt for information. While the county might have the right to seize her business, her land and her lakefront footage without her permission...no one had the right to pass a child around in similar fashion.
“I know this isn’t my place, but since development is my specialty, I looked around the lake at possible new venues for your restaurant.”
Talk about salt in the wound. She flinched because here was a stranger with her child, trying to exert influence over her business life after his firm emerged victoriously from her lawsuit. Her pulse spiked. So did her blood pressure. And still, she couldn’t speak. Or maybe she didn’t dare speak.
“We don’t want hard feelings, Ms. Gallagher.” He held out his card again. “That’s not how I do business. It’s not how I ever do business. Please believe that.”
Sincerity marked his gaze. He seemed to be totally up-front and earnest, but she’d fallen for that once, nearly seven years ago, and she’d vowed to never fall for it again.
Believe him?
Her gut quivered. Her fingers went cold, then hot, then cold again. Her palms became damp, but she ignored all of that and accepted the card because it would be her first step in finding out who Jacob Weatherly was and why Adeline was with him... And why did she call him “Daddy” when her adoptive father and mother were Ginger and Adam O’Neill from Georgia?
The only reason she knew that much was because when Addie needed a liver transplant at Emory, Josie’d flown up from New Orleans and donated the life-saving tissue to her beautiful child. She clasped the card, then slipped it into the back pocket of her jeans as if it wasn’t the least bit important. “I appreciate the olive branch, Mr. Weatherly.” She should have stopped there.
She couldn’t.
She looked down into the sweetest sea green eyes she’d ever seen. The tone had grown richer with time, giving Addie beautiful eyes, pale skin and hair that shone like a brand-new penny, much like her grandmother’s. She looked so much like Cissy Gallagher that Josie was surprised Kimberly didn’t notice. Maybe all freckled redheads looked alike?
But they didn’t, and Addie was special. She’d known that from the beginning, reason enough right there to give the child a clean start at life. Twice. “Nice to meet you, Addie.”
The girl offered a simple smile, the kind you’d offer a stranger. Josie’s heart broke more, because in a perfect world, her daughter would recognize her birth mother and come running.
But in a world rife with adult problems, it was better for children to be protected and beloved, and as soon as everyone left her alone, she was going to find out why the project manager from Carrington Hotels had her daughter in his care.
* * *
Jacob Weatherly faced the frustrated restaurant owner in front of him and wished he’d been on hand when Carrington presented its first purchase offer. They’d misjudged this woman, and it was a foolish mistake made by people who thought they were better than the small business owners making up a huge percentage of America’s workforce. They were wrong on that. Making enemies of the locals was a stupid thing to do.
She brought her gaze up from Addie and tried to hide the intensity of her emotions.
Atypical beauty.
The realization caught him off guard because he hadn’t had time to notice women in a while. Being a single dad had changed his personal landscape. It had been a pretty big surprise, but the bigger surprise was how much he loved this child who’d already been through so much.
No more, though. He’d see to it that Addie’s life was fairy-tale sweet from this point forward, although he wasn’t sure how he could manage the cow she seemed determined to get.
“If you need me, my number and email are on the card. It’s my cell phone.” He tapped his jacket pocket. “So you don’t have to go through automated prompts. I’d be happy to share the information I found at your convenience, Ms. Gallagher.”
“I’m pretty sure you understand that nothing about this whole deal has been convenient.” She faced him straight on, shoulders back, chin up. High cheekbones said there might be Native American blood mixed with her Celtic name. “But I think I’d like to hear what you have to say, Mr. Weatherly.”
She didn’t want to hear him out. He saw that instantly, but she’d conceded. Why?
He had no idea, but if she thought she might be able to talk him out of taking over the land, she was wrong,