The town hall emptied faster than Dustin had fled Seattle for a less hectic life—a life that was anything but simple.
Rhonda cut him off at the edge of the curb outside of the courthouse. “You’re not giving up, are you? You’ve got money. Hire your own lawyer. That woman works for Trace and her gang.”
Dustin rubbed his head trying to alleviate the headache he thought he’d left behind in corporate America. “Lawyers take time and money. I’m sure Kat did this case pro bono.”
“Bone what?”
“Never mind.” He shuffled forward, wanting to find some quiet, but Rhonda wasn’t going to allow that.
“I thought I chose a winner.” Rhonda maneuvered in front of him, arms and attitude crossed in front of him. “I thought you had a spine. You’re nothing more than a jellyfish.”
“Original. Really. I hate the ocean and I understood that cliché.” Dustin looked to Trevor, smiling as he stood with the ladies on the other side of the road. It looked happier on their side. “As you said, I’m a businessman, and that means I know when to work with someone and when to fight them. I achieved what I wanted to here today. The stop order has been lifted.”
“What did I get? That dilapidated building remains an eyesore, and it’s blocking my future. I need that land.”
Dustin took in a deep breath and knew in that moment he had to choose to either continue placating Rhonda or to tell her the truth that she didn’t have a prayer to legally beat Trace. “The land isn’t mine to give.”
Rhonda turned all shades of angry and thrust her arms down at her sides. “You can get it for me, though. I won’t let you give up. We’re in this together. We’ll fight her with delays until the town forces the place to be demolished. It’s what you want, right? Our project to move forward, a beautiful area for your guests and me to enjoy?”
“Yes. No.” Dustin didn’t want to hurt the woman who’d tried to help, even if she was misguided and ruthless. He guessed the poor woman had always wanted to be a member of the Trace friend group but was never invited so she lashed out and had never stopped, despite thirty-plus years.
“Which is it?”
“As I said, it isn’t mine to give. And it never will be. I won’t play dirty to push a person from their home. I’m sorry.”
Rhonda spun in a dust storm of salty air and curses. “Coward.” She was madder than he’d ever seen a woman. And he’d made plenty mad in his past.
“I have money and time invested in this. I won’t let you give up.”
“I’ll reimburse you for the T-shirt printing.” Not that he’d ever wanted the darn shirts in the first place.
“You owe me more than that.” Rhonda stormed off.
He knew that wouldn’t be the last he’d hear from her. But for now, he decided it was time to face Trevor and the women and the fact that he’d be working with the one woman he knew he’d want to throw in the ocean within the first five minutes.
After two horn honks, a shout from a Team Trace supporter, and heatstroke, Dustin managed to cross the street, tugging his arms out of his coat. Sweat pooled at his lower back. His heart beat in his temples.
“Don’t make me regret this.” Kat shoved a legal-sized envelope into his chest. “Documents to sign off for you.”
Trace already clutched an envelope of her own to her stomach as if to keep from hurling her breakfast at the thought of working with him. “Looks like we’re going to be a team,” she said with a sagging, politically correct smile.
“Guess so.” Dustin shifted between his Italian leather shoes.
“Get changed and meet at my house.” Trace’s smile turned to military straight-lined lips.
“Your house? Why there?” Dustin had no desire to run into Rhonda again today. He was scared she’d throw him over the retaining wall into the canal.
“You didn’t think we’d start with the hotel,” Trace huffed. She whirled on Kat, who didn’t even flinch. The woman was stronger than a president in a political debate. “I told you he’ll never work with me. What were you thinking?”
Kat looked between them before she pulled another sheet out of her burgundy designer briefcase. “I figured that would be an issue for you both.”
Trace glanced over the itemized schedule. “Mornings at the hotel and afternoons at my house?”
“Yes.” Kat gave a curt nod.
“Why not the other way around?” He knew Rhonda would be doing her morning walk and didn’t want to run into her when he didn’t have to.
“Because there isn’t shade at the hotel to work under in the afternoons. There’s plenty of shade near Trace’s place.”
“Looks like Kat thought of everything.” Jewels held tight to Trevor with a look of relief soothing the tension around her crow’s feet.
“I’ll go change, grab my ladder and tools, and then we can start on the sagging roof of the porch since it’s a hazard.”
“No. We’ll start with the support beams. That’s the bigger issue.”
Kat slid another piece of paper from her briefcase and handed a copy to each. “You’ll start by clearing everything out of the first room you’ll be working on at the hotel and the house. After that, you’ll work systematically down this list. You’ll see where permits need to be filed and when inspections must be completed.”
Trace scanned the list. “Where will we put all the stuff when we clear it out? It’s going to get ruined if furniture and stuff are left outside.”
Wind pointed to the starred item at the bottom.
“You’ll store it all in the hotel rooms you’re not actively working in.” Wind laughed. “Leave it to Kat. She’s got everything categorized and organized.”
Trace glanced over the paper at Dustin as if to confirm that he agreed to it. “That means we’ll have to carry all the stuff from her house through the woods to the hotel. That’s a lot of unnecessary work. We should get a storage bin delivered or put a tarp over everything.”
“A tarp? Sure.” She shoved the extra papers in her envelope, and her eyes went wide and wild. “Let’s throw all my father’s belongings out into the elements and forget about them like we should forget about the history of the hotel.” She narrowed her gaze at him as if to pinpoint the best place to strike him down. “Don’t think you’re going to cut corners while I’m involved. I won’t allow you to break laws, twist truths, and disregard all that’s important to save a little cash and hard labor.” Her small pointer finger jabbed him in the chest. “You’ve got just as much—if not more—to lose as I do.”
“Or I could just sell the hotel and be done with all this,” he blurted.
Trace’s expression turned from combative to content. Her long, dark eyelashes framing her ocean blue eyes fluttered. The corners of her mouth jerked upward into a bone-chilling angle. “You can’t run from this fight. No one wants that hotel. You’ll never be able to sell it unless you fix it up. The only way you’re going to get it fixed up is by doing what I say. And I say we’re following Kat’s list and doing things right.” She turned on her heels and marched away with a sway of her hips, bounce of her hair, and stomp of desperation.
That woman was passionate. A fighter for all. All except the ones she couldn’t even see needed her dedication instead of her disdain. And he wanted to know why Trace Latimer hated him. Why, since the day they met, he could sense a connection with her yet they were still on opposing sides.