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That Summer at the Shore
Callie Endicott
That Summer at the ShoreAs if Zack has any right to come on to Jamie Conroe’s property and demand she sell to him! So what if he wants to buy this land for the guests at his high-end resort? This shoreline property is her fresh start. Still, Zack is persistent and gorgeous, but, no matter how many kisses they steal, he can’t have her land or her heart.
“Jamie, have dinner with me at the resort.”
Zack sounded tired. “We can discuss everything without disruption. I’m really not a morning person—I can be much more charming at night.”
“We don’t have anything to discuss and I have no interest in your ‘charm.’“ Jamie didn’t want to accept the invitation, but not doing so would likely only delay the inevitable. Zack wouldn’t give up until she made it clear it was pointless to pursue the land.
“Indulge me. At worst, it will cost you an evening, and you’ll get a gourmet meal out of it.” It seemed Zack intended to stand there as long as it took to convince her.
“Okay,” she agreed, and was amused by the surprise on his face.
“Excellent. Does Thursday work for you? I can pick you up at seven.”
There was no way she’d let herself be dependent upon him for transportation. “No, I’ll meet you there. This isn’t a date—it’s business.”
“Right. See you then.” And with a small nod, he got into his car.
Before he turned onto the paved road, she saw him halt and stare back at her, no doubt evaluating how he’d handled the encounter and what else he’d have to do. Well, too bad. She might not have his experience in the business arena, but she held the trump card; she owned the land, and no one could force her to sell.
That Summer
at the Shore
Callie Endicott
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
As a kid, CALLIE ENDICOTT had her nose stuck in a novel so much it frequently got her into trouble. She majored in English in college to support her addiction to stories, but it wasn’t enough. Out of desperation she turned to writing, and now when she isn’t walking on a beach or taking a mountain forest trail, she usually has her nose stuck to a computer screen. That is, when she isn’t feeding her cat, scooping the litter box … and listening to Myna purr. The guy in her life doesn’t appreciate the distractions, but that’s another story.
For Mom and Dad.
Contents
Prologue (#u1ea294b0-aa07-512a-8239-cd4b3b9fd20c)
Chapter One (#u4ed0d4a2-fea3-527b-872d-6153af95d8d1)
Chapter Two (#u907fb4e5-b9fd-5184-9546-9bd82223b047)
Chapter Three (#ue292231d-82f2-5922-89a3-3b405ef14a55)
Chapter Four (#u79ee84dd-c8ea-5834-815d-34ac02a8026d)
Chapter Five (#u4d6c1a91-2ce9-526d-8391-689e39014779)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Excerpt (#litres_trial_promo)
PROLOGUE
ZACK DENNING BREATHED in the tangy scent of seaside vegetation as the bulldozer bit deep into the soil. For seventeen years he had worked for this moment.
Mar Vista. My own resort.
He’d saved, invested, made the right contacts, learned along the way, calculated for everything imaginable...and now he was finally breaking ground.
“It’s a big day,” said Phillip Atchison, his architect, during a lull in the noise from the heavy machinery.
“Yes.” Zack nodded, holding his triumph at bay. This was just the beginning, with the greatest risks and challenges still ahead. Nevertheless, he could see it all in his head, the way he’d been seeing it since he was a kid and everyone thought it was a pipe dream.
Phillip understood his ideas and had been excited by the opportunity to design classic architecture that recalled an era of gracious stability. Equally important, they’d incorporated luxury amenities, state-of-the-art electronics and a killer resource center. A guest could run an international company from Mar Vista...or forget the outside world existed.
Leaving the bulldozer, they walked toward the trailer, which would serve as Zack’s home and office while the construction phase progressed. Later he would have an apartment over the administrative offices.
“It’s too bad your family couldn’t be here for the groundbreaking,” Phillip commented.
“My folks were going to come, but something...came up.”
Zack’s mood chilled. He didn’t want to explain his brother’s damaged body and the months of surgeries and therapy yet to come. Brad had gone through hell since being hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Their parents were in Bethesda, Maryland, where he was being treated at National Naval Medical Center. The doctors kept saying they had to be patient, but it wasn’t easy.
“Maybe they can come for the grand opening. And you’ve taken lots of photos that you can send them,” Phillip said, dropping his arms. “They’re on the internet, aren’t they? Or do they resist using computers and email like my folks?”
It took a second for Zack’s brain to refocus. “No, they love email,” he answered, patting his digital camera. He’d already sent dozens of pictures to his parents and brother, hoping it would raise their spirits. His jaw hardened. The resort had to be a success—the family needed something to go well.
They climbed onto the landing in front of the trailer and studied the terrain leading down to the Pacific Ocean. Weather reports indicated relatively dry conditions for the next several months—ideal for contouring the acreage for the golf course and completing the major structures. They were disturbing as few of the natural features as they could, which helped their timeline. Mar Vista would nestle into the land as though it were always meant to be there.
The golf-course design also employed existing features, while still creating eighteen holes that each had its own unique challenge. Zack didn’t care much for playing golf himself, but he’d paid close attention to what the enthusiasts of the game had to say about a good course.
“It would be nice if there wasn’t a public road on the north end,” Phillip said.
Zack kicked a clod of dirt from his shoe. “True, but I’ve examined similar issues at other resorts. It doesn’t seem to be a problem if the atmosphere is right, and the situation here is better than most because the road only leads to the public beach.”
“What about the section north of the road? I noticed the old for-sale-by-owner sign is still there. That strip of land is too narrow for the main resort, but the view is spectacular and your guests would love exclusive access to the water.”
Zack suppressed a laugh. Phillip “noticed” that for-sale sign whenever he came to Warrington. “Actually, my real-estate agent is contacting the owner with an offer.”
“Wonderful.”
Zack saw the wheels turning in his architect’s eyes. “Don’t get busy with blueprints,” he warned. “Even if the seller accepts, I can’t afford to develop for at least two years.” If it wasn’t for a recent investment in his portfolio panning out better than expected, he wouldn’t have been able to consider buying the property in the first place.
“What if the owner decides not to sell and builds something that clashes with Mar Vista?” asked Phillip.
Zack grimaced. “My landscape architect and I have a contingency plan. We’re leaving green space with trees where we can plant one of those tall evergreen hedges as a buffer if necessary. It isn’t a great solution, but it would help.”
Phillip whistled. “That’s expensive, particularly if you put in mature bushes.”
“Less expensive than losing the right atmosphere.”
“Can’t argue with that. Well, best of luck. I’ll be back regularly to meet with the contractor and monitor the progress.”
They shook hands, and Zack watched the architect drive away. The roar of the bulldozer drowned out the roar and crash of the ocean, but it was sweet music. In due time Mar Vista would be open for business. He already had stacks of prospective reservations from people who knew him through his years of management at other resorts.
His cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID. It was his real-estate agent.
“Yes?”
“Hi, Zack, it’s Janet Trent,” she said. “I met with George Jenkins, and he’s willing to sell. I floated the lower figure by him so we’d have leeway for bargaining, but he accepted without countering.”
“That’s terrific,” Zack exclaimed.
“George wants the deal to close fast. As I told you, he’s a nutty old coot. Not stupid, though. I tried to convince him to list the property with me several years ago, only he didn’t want to pay the commissions. Now to speed things up he said he won’t ask for a reduction of the agent’s commission for representing the buyer. So, are you sure you want to go ahead?”
Zack rubbed the back of his neck. Spending the majority of his financial reserve was a huge risk. “Will he sell to someone else if I don’t?”
“There’s no telling. The resort is going to raise property values. George hasn’t been well and obviously wants to sell, so he could decide to cash in with another developer.”
Zack winced. A motel or subdivision might be tolerable, but what if it was worse? Images of a cheap trailer park filled his imagination, complete with neon signs and rusty, single-wide trailers crowded too close together. It wasn’t impossible, and something like that could destroy the five-star rating he hoped to earn. He couldn’t risk it happening, even if buying the land left him with little financial cushion.
“Let’s do it,” he told Janet. “Get the documents to me as soon as possible. It’s interesting that he didn’t quibble over the lower offer.”
“Yes. As we discussed, I started at fifty thousand under your top number. I expected to dicker with him for a while, but he just wrote out the parcel numbers and signed the papers.”
An extra fifty thousand in his pocket wasn’t much when it came to a project as big as Mar Vista, but every bit helped.
Zack ended the conversation and switched off the phone with a satisfied smile.
Nothing stood in his way now.
CHAPTER ONE
ZACK CROSSED THE golf course in a loping stride. Now that the resort was open for business, he was too busy for the lengthy runs he liked, so he fit in exercise whenever he could.
The rising sun shot gold rays across the landscape. It was a favorable time of day to take promotional pictures, and he made a mental note to mention it to the photographer. A webcam on the website might also be worthwhile—a long-view camera that showcased the elegant sweep to the Pacific Ocean.
“Hey, boss,” Rick Lopez, the senior groundskeeper, said as Zack got to the seventeenth hole and surveyed the yellow blotches of dying turf, glaring against the surrounding green.
“Have you figured out the issue?”
“Too much fertilizer and it burned the grass. We’ll lay fresh sod immediately. We’re lucky this happened toward the end of the course or the early players would catch us working.”
Zack scanned the nearby scenery. “Are you positive this is the only site?”
“Yep. All clear.”
“Find the idiot responsible and send me a memo.”
Rick bent and pulled at the grass, examining a few blades. “Two of my guys were out here Monday night. The equipment could have malfunctioned. It’s hard to see in the dark and the burns aren’t critical. In most cases I’d let the grass come back on its own. But I’ll follow up.”
Zack nodded and sprinted to his SUV. He knew there wouldn’t be an idiot report. Rick hired his own crew and was loyal to them. He also came as a package—his wife, Trudy, was a top-notch office manager. Zack had lured the duo from a prestigious golf course on the East Coast. It wasn’t easy persuading Rick to make the move, but a hike in salary and the chance to build his reputation at a new California resort had finally won him over. As for Trudy, she was happy as long as she could work in the same location as her husband.
Sliding behind the wheel of his Mercedes SUV, Zack seized the radio microphone.
“Base,” he snapped.
“Good morning, boss,” Trudy answered.
“Has anyone teed off yet?”
“Several went a quarter of an hour ago.”
Zack tensed, despite the situation being under control. “Rick says he’ll resod before they get that far.”
“I can delay them with my Lady Godiva impression,” she offered.
“We don’t have a horse available,” Zack told her, trying to choke down his annoyance. Trudy’s lighthearted approach usually made him smile; lately it was wearing on his nerves. Didn’t anyone else understand how critical it was that the resort run perfectly? It wasn’t just his money on the line—his parents had invested their retirement savings in Mar Vista.
“I’ll take the riding mower. My alabaster skin will look fabulous in the rising sun.”
