Page 50 of Until Daddy

“Here are updated projections now that we’ve wrangled agreements from a few of the property owners. We’re still in negotiations with them for the price, but they are willing to move out.”

“The shelter isn’t willing,” Carissa said from her seat behind Jamison. He pushed his chair toward the right, affording her a better view and giving his father a better idea of where he himself stood on the topic.

“The shelter will be willing. We just haven’t found the right price. Everyone has one.” Jamison’s chest tightened when his father spoke. Barron didn’t even look at Carissa when he did so.

“Carissa’s right. They aren’t going to sell, and I don’t think they should.” Jamison took the reports from his father and walked over to his desk to dump them down.

“Oh, they will.”

“That shelter has been there for over fifty years. It’s a part of the community.” Carissa maintained her tone, but it was starting to waver.

“Isn’t there another location you could look at?” Jade added, and Jamison noticed how she scooted toward the front of her chair and kept glancing at Carissa. His little girl had almost everyone in the room watching out for her, even if she didn’t know it.

“No. There isn’t.” Barron’s smile dropped and his lips pinched together in a long, thin line. His patience was at an end.

“There needs to be,” Garrick entered the conversation.

“Don’t worry about the shelter. I have friends on the city council, and they have assured me that evoking eminent domain will not be a problem if they won’t sell.”

Carissa bounded from her chair. Jade tried to grab her but missed. Jamison managed to catch her when she stepped to him. He didn’t shove her behind him, but rather laced his fingers through hers. She needed grounding at that moment, something to assist her out of her rage.

“You corrupt—” She took a deep breath and looked up at Jamison. Tears were building in her beautiful eyes, but not from hurt. No, his little girl was fighting back every bit of her anger. For him. She was not unleashing her fury on his father for him.

She took a deep breath. “You would force the shelter to close its doors by using your friends on the board to declare the city would be better benefitted by your hotel than by them?”

“That shelter can do its work anywhere.” Barron shrugged.

“Your hotel can be built anywhere!” Although she raised her voice slightly, she didn’t yell.

“Jamison. Seriously, let the girls have coffee in the library so we can talk about this reasonably.”

He wasn’t sure if anyone else heard it, but there was a bit of a snap somewhere. A sharp sound signaling an official break.

“No need. It’s time we left. We’ve wasted enough time already. Father, I have no intention of joining you with this project. I won’t force that shelter to close its doors. It benefits too many people. It actually makes the city a better place, makes those women’s lives better. I won’t be part of anything that destroys that. Your hotel will be profitable. It will bring in elite clientele, I have no doubt. You’ll have your name on the front page of the Tribune when it opens, but you have never and will never do anything that makes this world—or hell, even this city—a better place. If you really wanted to leave your stamp, you’d do something that built up the community, not just your bank account.”

When Jamison turned away from his slack-jawed father, he found Carissa staring up at him with wide eyes. Surprise, awe, a mixture of both? She recovered much quicker than Barron. She turned with him, switching hands to continue holding his.

“I think Jamison summed that up nicely. Thank you for dinner, sir.” Garrick put his brandy down on the side table and took the few steps required to collect Jade before opening the door and leading them all out.

“You’ll be back!” Barron finally recovered enough to sputter the single sentence.

Jamison collected Carissa’s coat and helped her into it, taking extra care to button her up and even put on her gloves for her, no longer caring if anyone could see. Let them see. Let them gawk, but he was taking care of his girl.

“Well, that was different than I thought it would be,” Jade said as both couples reached their cars.

“He can still get enough investors, and he does have those friends he talked about.” Garrick shoved his hands into his gloves.

“I’ll deal with him if he does.”

“You won’t be able to stop him. I’ve seen men like him, I’ve seen him and what he’s done to communities.” The dejected sound of Carissa’s voice tore at his heart. He bundled her up in his arms and kissed the top of her head, ignoring the chill of the February air.

“I will handle this. I don’t want you to worry about it.”

She looked up at him, uncertainty lingering. “Okay, Daddy,” she whispered and pushed her face back into his chest.

He’d never made a promise before that he wasn’t one hundred percent sure he could keep. But he’d never loved anyone with such ferocity before Carissa, and he’d move the earth off its axis for her. And going up against his father could prove just as large of a task.

Chapter 14

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