Page 106 of All I Want For Christmas

Theo also cleared his throat.

“My…emotions for the bayou are even deeper now. It’s beautiful and unique and definitely…requires a special approach.”

Theo shifted on his seat. Her emotions for thebayou? Really?

“And I feel I’m actually perfect for a project that involves bringing visitors to the area. I can understand how it feels to come in and experience this place as an outsider. As much as you all love it, I don’t think you even realize just how amazing it is. I can help highlight the things that will truly make Autre, and the bayou, special for someone who’s never been here before. And I can helpyouall understand what visitors need in order to be comfortable and feel welcome.” She cleared her throat again.

Theo sighed.

“As you all go about your usual life, living and working here where you’vealwayslived and worked, you take a lot of things for granted and don’t always think about the things that are different here.”

Got it, Savannah. Loud and clear. I was an inconsiderate asshole. Theo ran a hand over his beard.

“So you are still interested in going ahead with the plan?” Kennedy asked.

“I am,” Savannah said.

Theo frowned. She still wanted to go ahead with everything? He probably shouldn’t be surprised. But had she learned nothingabout the difficulty of building those cabins? Not to mention thatstaying in onewouldn’t be for the typical city guy or girl just trying to get away from it all?

“Theo? Do you have anything to add?” Kennedy asked.

“Oh, I definitely do.”

Theo rose and stepped forward to stand next to Savannah at the podium. He crowded into her personal space, on purpose. She gave an exasperated sigh and took a huge step to her left.

“I haven’t changed my mind either,” he said. “Miss Lee did as she promised. She did spend the night down there, but I guess she wasn’t paying attention to several important details.” He glanced at her. “For one thing, I’m not sure how she missed how difficult it will be to get people in and out.”

She sucked in a quick breath, and Theo kind of regretted the dig.

But how could she still think the idea of building luxury cabins was a good one?

He blew out a frustrated breath. “I think it would be a huge waste of money and time to invest supplies and services in building a bunch of cabins for people who are going to hate the entire experience once they’re here.”

“Well, hearing that, I assume the project can’t move forward,” Kennedy said with a frown.

Savannah stepped forward. “Just because Theo says no? His opinion is reallythatimportant?”

Kennedy looked surprised. “Are you downsizing the project then?”

Savannah shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll be building fewer cabins?” Kennedy asked.

“No. I’m not making any changes,” Savannah said stubbornly.

Theo just crossed his arms and waited. She was going to be really pissed in about three, two, one…

“But Theo owns just a little over half of the land you want to build on,” Kennedy said. “You won’t be able to build as many cabins if you don’t have as much land, right?”

Savannah looked at him.

“We didn’t discuss who owns the land,” Theo said to Kennedy without looking away from Savannah.

“I thought the city of Autre owned that land,” Savannah said, looking back at Kennedy.

Kennedy nodded. “We own roughly the first half that you have outlined. The half that’s closest to town. But when you get past the mile six line, it becomes private property. Theo’s specifically.”

Savannah let out a long breath. Her shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know that.”

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