Page 123 of A Soldier's Return

He knew exactly who deserved the credit for the remarkable transformation—the stunning woman sitting beside him. Sage caught his gaze again and smiled in a conspiratorial way and his heart seemed to stutter in his chest.

Emotions tangled in his throat as he looked at her—tenderness and admiration and something else, something deeper he wasn’t sure he could afford to examine closely.

“You should ask your father first, of course.”

Chloe grabbed his hand and pressed it between both of hers in her dramatic way, as if she were pleading to save a life instead of only asking permission to bake a cookie. “Oh, please, may I, Daddy?”

“Of course, as long as Mrs. Wu doesn’t mind showing you and you do exactly what she says.”

She kissed his cheek and Sage smiled at him again. For some silly reason, Eben felt as if he had just hand-delivered the moon to both of them.

“Sage, would you care to come with us?” Jade asked her. “I will find an apron for you as well.”

“I’d love to see how it’s done,” she answered. “But I believe I’ll just watch, apron or not.”

Eben rose when the three lovely females did and watched them head for the kitchen, Jade in the lead, leaving him alone with Stanley.

The other man didn’t seem in any hurry to resume his seat even after the door closed behind the women, so Eben stayed on his feet as well. “Thank you for dinner. It was exceptional, as usual. Tonight, I especially enjoyed the duckling.”

Stanley continued to study him out of impassive eyes. Just before the pause between them would have turned awkward, Stanley turned and headed away from the table. “Come with me, Eben Spencer.”

Baffled and more than a little edgy, he followed Stanley to the suite of rooms that contained the hotel’s administrative offices.

Stanley sat behind his elegantly simple desk and with a solemn look in his eyes he gestured for Eben to take a seat.

“My wife and I have loved this hotel,” he said after a long moment. “It has been our home and our lives for many, many years. We have raised two strong sons here and had hoped one of them would choose to carry on for us, but our sons have chosen other paths to follow.”

Eben wasn’t quite sure where Stanley was steering the conversation so he opted to remain silent and let the man lead.

“My wife and I are old and we are tired. We spend so much time caring for those who stay here that we have no time to enjoy our older years. The moment has come for us to make a decision about the future of this place we love.”

Eben held his breath, doing his best to contain the nerves shooting through him.

“I know you have been impatient with us for the delays. But I hope you understand how difficult it is for us to let go and surrender our dream to another. We needed to be certain. Completely certain. Tonight, seeing you with your beautiful daughter, we are sure of our decision. A man who could raise such a delightful child will take good care of this hotel, the child of our hearts.”

The other man pulled out the file Eben knew contained the paperwork for the sale of The Sea Urchin to Spencer Hotels. He signed it in his small, neat script, then handed the papers over to Eben.

He had negotiated hundreds of deals in his dozen years at Spencer Hotels, but Eben couldn’t remember any victory tasting as sweet as this one. He wanted to laugh out loud, to throw his fists in the air.

To find Sage and kiss her senseless.

She deserved every bit of credit for this. If not for her and her miraculous effect on Chloe, he wouldn’t be sitting here watching Stanley Wu hand him exactly what he wanted, ownership of this graceful old hotel.

Instead of leaping up to go in search of Sage, he settled for holding his hand out across the desk to shake the other man’s hand.

“Thank you, Mr. Wu. I give you my solemn vow that you will not regret this.”

They would have to go through this again in the morning with attorneys present, but Eben knew Stanley would not change his mind now, not after he had given his word.

They spent several moments discussing a few of the myriad details involved in the sale. He tried his best to focus, but inside he couldn’t wait to find Sage and tell her.

Stanley must have finally sensed his impatience.

“All this can wait until tomorrow with the lawyers. Tonight is for being with those we love,” Stanley said, then paused. “Our Sage, I have never seen her looking so lovely.”

An odd segue, he thought, rather discomfited. “Uh, right.”

“And she is just as lovely on the inside. A man would be a fool to let such a rare and precious flower slip through his fingers.”

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