Page 34 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

They were in a good place right now—and not just because they were in his bed and about to get naked, but…personally and emotionally. They were both strong personalities and he knew things could change in an instant, but for now, he wanted to savor their time.

Just like this.

He touched her, she sighed with pleasure.

He kissed her, she hummed with need.

He needed her. He ached for her, and he was certain he was going to lose his damn mind if he didn’t claim her right now.

But she surprised him by giving him a shove that sent him rolling right before she straddled him. And he was no longer convinced that he was the one in charge.

Not that it mattered.

They were going to get exactly where they wanted to go and they’d enjoy the hell out of the journey.

Harlow’s week was extremely busy.

With new communities being built just one town over, there was suddenly a renewed interest in Harbortown. There was talk about a new mall coming to Pineview, along with several popular restaurant chains, and some of the commercial businesses were looking for space here at hopefully cheaper prices.

There were several vacant storefronts in town—which she still blamed on Dale and Peggy closing the resort—but word was getting around about Walker and his friends too.

And she was partially to blame for that.

After her initial tirade all over town about her opposition to what he had planned, word traveled.

Apparently, she had been rather convincing because she had gotten calls from at least a dozen people asking if there was a way to block this new version of the Lakeview Harbor Resort.

“Me and my big mouth.”

Fortunately, she’d put some minds at ease and explained that they all needed to give Walker and his team the benefit of the doubt and have faith that they’d do the right thing. She knew he’d be more than a little upset that so many people were getting vocal, but she hoped she calmed them down.

As a way of easing her guilty conscience, she had put together a list of rentals for all of Walker’s friends to look at, even though none of them were prepared to commit to anything just yet. Still, she promised she’d do it, and she did.

After compiling the list, she emailed it over to Walker for him to share with everyone. Now she needed to search for large parcels of land near the resort. Nothing had been on her radar for years. There had been no listings and no interest in the area.

Unfortunately, with all this fresh interest in Harbortown, there was also interest in land.

Large parcels of land.

Her inbox currently had three inquiries asking if she could find unused land in the area for both residential and commercial use.

Charlene came out of her office to get some coffee and smiled at her. “Hey, what are you working on?”

“You’re not going to believe this, but over the weekend, Walker and I talked a bit about finding several acres near the resort for a possible expansion.”

“Expansion? With 1,500 acres he still needs more?” she asked with a laugh.

“It’s for future use,” she said evasively. “But I just got several emails asking the same thing. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

She shrugged. “Not really. With all the building going on in Pineview and with word spreading about the resort reopening, it’s no wonder people want to get in before prices go up.

Once the resort opens, the price of property will go up.

Right now, sellers might be more motivated to sell and maybe avoid dealing with the construction noise or just finally ready to let the land go. ”

“You think? I don’t remember anyone being interested before. Not while the resort was open and doing well and not in recent years.”

“There was interest years ago, long before you came on as an agent. I seem to remember interest in both buying and selling. Unfortunately, it never happened at the same time.”

“Any chance you still have the owners’ names?”

“I doubt it. It was a really long time ago,” Charlene said with a small shrug. “What about when you did all your research on the resort? In any of that, did you look into the surrounding parcels?”

“Um…”

“When’s the last time you really looked?

All the clients who came to you about the resort only wanted the resort property.

No one wanted anything outside of it because it wasn’t zoned and it would have required more of an effort.

And with the way Dale and Peggy had let the resort property go, it may have put people off.

After all, who wants to build a neighborhood or a shopping mall next to a deserted resort? ”

“I guess.”

“Plus, nothing was being done in Pineview, so this entire area was just sort of seen as unworthy of investment. Now it’s a different story.”

“So you think if I researched who owns the property out that way, they might be interested in selling?”

“It can’t hurt to ask.”

“I don’t know. It feels weird to just cold call like that.”

“Harlow, the first time you reached out to Dale and Peggy Bradshaw, it was a cold call.”

“Yeah, and look how that went. Apparently, Peggy hates me because of it. I didn’t see it from her point of view because I was so laser-focused on what I wanted.”

Charlene made her coffee before responding.

When she came over and leaned on Harlow’s desk, she had her usual serene smile.

“The way I see it, you have multiple interested parties. It might not be a commission the size of the resort, but it could still be impressive. What can it hurt to just do a little research and see if you can find the owners? The worst they can do is say no. But if you don’t at least try for these potential clients, they may go to someone else in another town, at another realty group, who will. ”

“Okay, okay, okay…I’ll go through tax records and see what I can find. Sheesh.” She said it lightly and her boss smiled before heading back into her office.

She’d never had to go in blind before. It wasn’t like she knew an exact piece of land or how big it was.

There was a lot of land between downtown Harbortown and the resort.

She could go through the county clerk's office or use online search tools. All she needed was the property's address or legal description to start. She’d research online first and if she couldn’t find what she wanted, she’d go to the county clerk's office because they’d definitely have records like deeds, mortgages, and tax liens on file.

“Me and my big mouth,” she mumbled, but decided to reply to her emails first. She might not have any information handy, but she’d let them know that she would look into it for them and get back to them as soon as she could.

After hitting the last send, it felt like a good time to take a break. It was lunchtime and she was feeling a little hungry, so maybe grabbing some food now would help her get through her research later.

“Or maybe I’m procrastinating…”

It was crazy how those early conversations with Walker—the ones where he clearly hated her—were really playing on repeat in her head right now.

Suddenly, she was second-guessing calling people when that had never been a problem before.

Naturally, she knew she’d get over it because she had to.

If she was going to make a deal for either Walker or the people who emailed her, she was going to have to make some cold calls.

Dammit.

“Char! I’m going to grab some lunch!” she called out as she grabbed her purse and keys. “Want me to pick you up anything?”

If the diner was still open, they could have just called in their usual orders, but…that was no longer an option.

“I really wish there were someplace close by that makes a good salad,” Charlene said as she came to her office door. “Too bad the diner closed.”

“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing,” she murmured.

“Where are you going to go? I’m not picky. Whatever you decide, I’ll get something from there.”

“I’m not sure, but maybe I’ll just go to the grocery store and get stuff for us to make some salads. What do you think?”

“Ooh, fun! Yes! Let’s do that!”

“Any special requests?”

“I’m good with anything, but I’d love a low-fat ranch dressing for mine. And maybe a rotisserie chicken? You know, for protein?”

“That’s sounds yummy,” Harlow said, making a mental list.

“And croutons! Wait, don’t they have a salad bar? You know what, I’ll just come with you. I could use a break.”

And just like that, they were walking out to her car and driving across town to make their salads. Personally, Harlow had never paid attention to whether there was a salad bar in the grocery store, but when they got there, she was pleased to see that her boss was right.

Salads made, she made a quick run down a few aisles to pick up some things she needed at home and met Charlene at the checkout.

“Great idea!” Harlow said when they were back in the car. “I’d rather someone else make my salad, but now that I know this is an option at lunchtime, it may become my thing.”

“You know, maybe we should be actively pursuing new restaurants for the town. I can’t believe the Oakeny just shut its doors without selling.”

“I got the feeling it was a lot like Dale and Peggy. They couldn’t bear the thought of someone else running the place. But, unlike Dale and Peggy, I don’t think anyone was interested in buying it since the town was essentially floundering.”

“Let’s be honest, it still is. Even with Walker and his friends taking over the resort and all the new homes and businesses coming to Pineview, it’s going to be awhile before we start feeling the effects here in our neck of the woods.

It could easily be a year or two before we’re back on our feet and even longer before we’re thriving. ”

“It’s a vicious cycle,” she commented. “Like…we need the small businesses to draw people here, but they need the people here in order to stay in business. I just wish it could happen sooner rather than later.”

“Same. But at least we solved our salad problem, right?” Charlene teased.