Page 31 of The Magical Bed & Breakfast

“Not that I’ve heard. Would it matter?”

Kate could feel Ivy’s eyes on her as she made a point to nibble unconcernedly on her truly scrumptious blackberry scone.

“Omigosh, you like him! You’re falling for Rory!” Ivy clapped her hands in delight.

Kate set her scone down and shook her head. “Of course not. We barely know each other.” But Kate had to stop and reconsider. They’d known each other a short time, yet already they’d experienced so much. The top of Kate’s head began to tingle. Ivy was right. If she wasn’t falling for Rory, why would it matter if he had any scandal in his life?

Except it did matter—a lot. It would be a terrible idea to fall for someone who spent their life on tour. Kate moved to Hazard to put down roots, make a home, build a business. She craved a livelihood in a peaceful community. She didn’t dare fall for a nomad—a big, bad idea, that. Worse still would be falling for a celebrity and all the drama they embodied. She had worked hard to escape that scene. She’d never willingly dive back into it.

After Ivy hopped up to serve more customers, Kate finished her scone and took her time walking back. She moved across the green, kicking up the crunchy brown leaves in her path and watching them swirl into eddies here and there. As she reached the center of the square, the wind calmed. She halted before the statue of Captain Edwin Hazard, and read the inscription etched into brass near the base.Thou who loveth.Well, that wasn’t her, because she wasn’t falling in love—unless it was with her inn.

Be blest amongst us.Blessing was good. Kate decided she could use being blessed. So, yes, she determined that shelovedher inn and would accept a blessing for that.

With breath bestoweth.Hmm, she’d have to ponder that one.

Thy heart.She thought of Rory again and frowned. Her heart was her own. Her heart, if it belonged to anyone or anything, could belong to her inn. She gave a nod. She tilted her head and read through the inscription again. It was lovely, but seemed incomplete somehow, like there should be more to it.

She hummed the tune from the musical score. Walking thoughtfully now and deep in thought, she arrived outside her inn to find a tall, dark-haired man in a tailored suit on her doorstep pounding her newly installed bumble-bee-shaped knocker against her door. Kate walked up her cement walk and stopped about five feet back. She cleared her throat and was about to greet him, when he turned. Something in his manner made her swallow her words.

The man loomed.

Chapter Thirteen

Kate took astep back, suddenly wary. She recognized the scowling, clearly unhappy man in his black business suit as someone she had seen around town a few times. His dark piercing eyes, imposing height, and aggressive manner left her with a sudden inclination to flee and enter through the back of her inn. But that was ridiculous. This washerinn. Her little litanyI am the innkeeperrang out in her mind, just before his angry expression smoothed into cordiality.

“Derrick Cross.” He thrust out a hand. “We haven’t formally met. I sent you a letter with an offer.” His smile, while outwardly affable, had a slick, oily undercurrent.

Kate blinked. Her mind ran through the day’s most recent offers for services from landscapers to painters. Everyone in Hazard knew she was remodeling the inn. Everyone with any kind of business whose services might interest her had inched flyers into the crease of her door, but they didn’t usually show up at random, pounding her brass bumble bee and dressed in Tom Ford.

Kate shook her head at him and took a step closer, unwilling to be intimidated. She thought to step around him, but he blocked her path. She hesitated. Kate met his eyes straight on and kept her voice steady. “I’m not interested.”

“Did you read my letter? I’m offering you more than you paid.”

Kate stilled. This washim. The man who offered her financial solvency if she was willing to part with her inn. The financial salvation that only required a piece of her heart. She’d saved his letter because it represented a kind of insurance, despite her recent furniture acquisition and single half-price paying guest. But it baffled her that it hadn’t come through a Realtor like a legitimate offer. Something he said made her pause. He’d saidstill like to purchase it.

“Wait, you’re the other contender. The other person who made an offer on the inn.”

He nodded, seeming relieved she understood. His smile transformed from oily to charming. It was so sudden, Kate could’ve almost believed she’d been mistaken about his earlier demeanor, but she had encountered his type before, too, working for her father.

“Yes, I would have countered but wasn’t given a chance. All that is to your advantage. I’ll pay you what I would have paid the previous owners.”

He turned and looked back at the inn for a long moment. Kate read tension and angst in his body language. She could tell by the set of his shoulders that he wasn’t pleased. That he was taking a moment to decide on his strategy. Knowing his type, Kate really just wanted him gone. She had work to do and a lot on her mind that did not include the man who had lost out in purchasing her inn, but she couldn’t afford to be rude—if she didn’t find a way to solve her financial situation, she might need to accept his offer.

Still facing away from her, he said, “The costs to remodel must be excessive. Surely, you’re having second thoughts.”

Those thoughts were none of his business, nor was the stack of bills on her kitchen counter. Certainly, her budget was tight. She had hired Jaxon, as the local architect, to design bathrooms into all the guest rooms. He was the best in town, and it hadn’t come cheap. Her contractor, Dartagnan, had cost a small fortune just on his own. On top of that, her last installment to the plumbers had nearly made her cry. But she had come this far and wasn’t willing to give up. Not yet. Besides, she had furniture. It felt as if Fate was rooting for her success.

“I’m sorry. I’ve sunk a lot into the remodel. It’s ongoing.”

“How much?”

The man acted like he would whip out a checkbook to buy the inn on the spur of the moment. Like something out of an old black-and-white movie. And, worse, in that instant Kate imagined all her financial difficulties swept away in a windfall. That was where types like him succeeded. They swept in with sudden solutions. Overwhelmed by their sheer overbearing presence, people sold out and gave up on their dreams.

Kate shook her head. She hated people like this, who felt entitled to whatever they thought up. She had worked for too many clients who acted the same way. She wasn’t ready to quit. She swallowed and couldn’t help but ask. “What would you do with the property?”

His smile grew larger. “Offices, of course.”

Offices! No way. Kate would see her project through. If at the end she was financially strapped, she could make a profit perhaps by selling to someone who also wanted to be an innkeeper. This guy was starting to seriously tick her off. “Not interested,” she stated firmly.

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