Page 42 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

Chapter Fourteen

It was eight o’clock on Sunday morning, a week after Walker’s trip with Harlow, when his phone rang. Seeing his grandmother’s name on the screen was a definite surprise.

Sitting up in bed, Walker gently cleared his throat before answering. “Hello?”

“Walker! How’s my favorite grandson doing?”

That made him smile. “Hey, Gram. How are you?”

“Oh, you know, can’t complain. How are things going at the resort? You haven’t sent me pictures in a while.”

“Yeah, things got a little hairy for a while and I’m not gonna lie, I got completely overwhelmed.”

“That’s how I felt any time anyone told us we needed to repair something. It was never anything small. Always an extensive project. That’s why so many areas of the resort ended up just getting roped off. It seemed like too much work to take on.”

“Well, I’m sure it would feel that way if you had guests staying here while the work was happening. It’s kind of nice knowing we can just make a mess and that it will get cleaned up eventually.”

She laughed. “I’m sure it is! So, give me some updates!”

Walker went through each section of the resort and told her what they’d been doing and then promised he’d send pictures after they hung up.

“It sounds amazing. I’m so excited just picturing it all!” She paused for a moment. “But I thought I remember you mentioning doing some new stuff. What happened to that?”

He sighed and explained how the guys weren’t on board with it.

“I suppose I understand, but why couldn’t you just leave one section roped off and do what you wanted down the road sometime?”

He considered keeping these plans to himself, but this was his grandmother, and she was still a majority owner in the resort, so…

“I was actually looking to buy some land adjacent to the resort,” he began slowly. “I figured I could purchase it and then…down the road…I could build what I wanted to build.”

Then he held his breath and waited for her reaction.

“Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea! I don’t think you should have let your friends bully you out of doing what you wanted now, but I guess with the scope of everything that needs to be done, I understand. So what’s going on with the land? Have you found anything?”

“Sadly, no. I got outbid on the lot I really wanted, and then others were too large and the owners didn’t want to divide it up. Harlow’s been searching for me, but…”

“Harlow? Harlow St. James? Walker! Why on earth are you working with that woman?”

Uh-oh…

Yeah, in all the chaos and drama, he had sort of let that whole situation go.

“Walker?” she demanded.

“Um, okay, look…I heard everything you said when I first arrived here and in the beginning, Harlow and I had words and I put her in her place.”

“Good. I hoped that was why I hadn’t heard from her in months.”

“But…we kept running into each other…” In bed. “And it turns out that we really like each other. She’s a beautiful woman and she’s really great once you get to know her.”

“Pfft…”

He rolled his eyes and fluffed the pillows behind him. “Look, I’m not saying that what she did to you was right, but it is what she does for a living and you weren’t firm with her.”

“I was…”

“Gram, you weren’t, and you know it. That’s just not who you are. And Harlow’s job is to sell homes and properties so she can make a living. She might have been a bit overly aggressive or eager…”

“She was.”

Grinning, he went on. “But there was no malice there, okay? We’ve talked about it a lot and I think if you gave her a chance, you’d see she’s a good person.”

“Hmph. If she’s so good, why hasn’t she found you anything, huh? Maybe she doesn’t want you to expand the business. Maybe she’s holding a grudge about losing out on selling my resort!”

“Gram, I thought those same things, but it’s just not true. It was her idea to buy more property so I could do what I wanted to do,” he said gently.

“Again, why hasn’t she found you anything?”

“Because all the property is either too big, too expensive, not conveniently located next to the resort, or…” He cut himself off because he didn’t need to bring up the grandparent thing.

“Or…what? Come on, Walker. You had one more thing to add, now what is it?” she urged.

“It was nothing,” he assured her. “Honestly. None of the pieces of land will work for me. That’s all. And some owners don’t want to sell or can’t be located.”

“I can call the county clerk’s office and find out who owns all the property. My friend’s daughter works there and I’m sure she’d be able to get me the information and help you. And if the cost is too much, your grandfather and I will help you buy it!”

“Gram, no. Absolutely not! I’m doing this on my own. You’ve already given me and the guys an incredible deal on the resort. I don’t expect you to do any more than that.”

She was silent for a moment. “Fine. But I think you’re just being stubborn.”

“I can live with that,” he teased. “So how’s Grandpa doing? Anything new and exciting going on?”

They talked for a few more minutes and he promised to send her those pictures as soon as they were done.

“Love you, Gram!”

“Love you too, Walker. We’ll talk soon!”

He hung up and immediately began texting the pictures over.

It was now close to nine and he figured he might as well get up.

Connor was coming back today and they were all going to sit down and work on the plans for the coming month.

He’d rather be out with Harlow, but there was just so much to do around the resort that he knew he needed to stay focused.

Plus, she told him she had an open house that she had set up today, so it wasn’t like they’d get to spend much time together anyway.

Shifting against the pillows, he finished sending the pictures before scrolling through the ones he took last weekend with Harlow.

It was such a great trip and it had been nice to get away and not talk about work.

At first, he wasn’t sure if they could go an entire weekend without talking about the things they said they wouldn’t, but he was pleasantly surprised that they stuck to it.

Harlow had been completely relaxed; she did a short watercolor painting class and then came back to their tent looking beyond proud of herself. Then, they’d gone to play miniature golf and he saw her competitive side.

But apparently, his competitive side was worse.

They were asked to leave the course.

Just thinking about it made him grin because they had stormed off and gone back to their tent and had some wildly passionate sex.

He’d gladly get thrown off any golf course again if that was how it ended.

There were voices outside that sounded like they were coming closer, and before he knew it, someone was pounding on his door.

Dammit.

His relaxing morning was officially over.

“Walker!” Slater called out. “We got a leak up in the main building! All hands on deck!” He banged on the door a few more times for good measure.

“I’ll be up there in five!” he shouted, kicking the blankets off. There was no need to shower or even give a damn about appearances, so he quickly got dressed, pulled on his work boots, and was out the door.

Three days later, he was in bed, opting to get a late start.

The clock said eight, and he could hear the contractors working in various areas of the resort, but he just wasn’t willing to get up and join them yet.

This morning, he needed to check in with his actual job and go over some reports his boss had emailed to him.

He was going to enjoy a leisurely morning, sipping coffee, and pretend he was back at one of his luxury resorts, where everything was clean and quiet.

As usual, unfortunately, reality interrupted. And once again, it was in the form of a call from his grandmother.

“Hey, Gram! This is a surprise. Twice in one week!” he said with a small laugh. “I don’t have any new pictures to send you yet.”

“Good morning, Walker,” she said, but there was a weariness to her voice that he wasn’t used to.

“Is everything okay? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“Well, I debated whether I should call you. I talked to your grandfather and he said I should mind my own business, but…I just couldn’t. Not this time.”

“O-kay…”

She let out a long sigh before she said anything. “Harlow St. James is lying to you,” she said bluntly. “Now I’m sorry to be the one to break this to you, but you need to hear it. She is a liar, Walker.”

He didn’t take offense, but he was a little confused. “Gram, what are you even talking about?”

“She said she couldn’t find property? Then she’s not only a liar but a terrible real estate agent, because there are other lots for sale close to the resort and she is the recipient of one of them!”

“What?” Now she had his full attention. “What do you mean she’s the recipient of one?”

“Alan and Betty St. James. Her grandparents,” she went on.

“I never put two and two together and realized she was their granddaughter. Betty and I had served on several church committees together back in the day. Anyway, I called my friend’s daughter at the county clerk’s office and she told me who owned all the available parcels around our resort.

So imagine my surprise when she mentions Alan and Betty and how she just gave that information to someone with the same last name a few weeks ago! ”

He could see how this would look bad, so he needed to defuse the situation.

Fast.

“Gram, Harlow already told me about her grandparents owning the property and that she did not want to reach out to them because they have a…complicated history.”

“Lies! More lies, Walker!”

“Gram…”

“No, listen, I called Betty myself! Yes, I did. I called her right up and asked her about the property and if she would consider selling it to me. And do you know what she told me?”

He sighed wearily. “Nope.”

“She said that the property really belongs to…” She paused and made some sort of tsking sound. “She said the property is Harlow’s.”

“Um…”

“I’m not lying, Walker. Harlow is. That property is hers, according to Betty.”