Snowbound with Her Mountain Cowboy, page 17
“I don’t know,” he admitted, scrubbing a hand through his hair.
“What if they aren’t actually offering to overpay?” She crossed her legs. “What if they want this place because they know something that I don’t—like the true value of the land?”
“I don’t think that’s the case.” Ben shook his head.
“Why not?” Angelina asked. “Why else would the King family suddenly be overcome with generosity...for me, of all people?”
Ben couldn’t help but feel a stab at those words. Was this Angelina’s personal bitterness toward the family, or was it a broader attitude that people around here had toward them? He wished he knew. But as he probed his scarred memory, all he seemed to come up with was that image of his grandfather in a cowboy hat, staring him down reproachfully. Granddad wanted this.
“I’ve been told about a possible connection between Blue Lake and the WWII Camp Hale training facility. Apparently, it’s possible that there were a few training marches out to the lake, and if there is a historical connection, the value of this property might go up significantly.”
“I didn’t know about that,” he said.
“Well, now you do.”
“My father didn’t mention it, either,” Ben said. “We have money, but that doesn’t make us monsters, plotting to take advantage of every business owner we stumble across. We’re people.”
Angelina angled her head to one side. “Your family has a reputation for getting what they want. The little guy seldom stands a chance.”
“We pay fairly,” he countered.
“Maybe.”
“I intend to pay fairly.”
“It’s not always about money,” she replied softly.
Ben sighed. “I’m just telling you what I know, okay? They’re willing to pay a lot for this property. And if there is a connection to Camp Hale, I’ll make sure that’s taken into account. I don’t want to see you taken advantage of. That’s why I’m here, apparently—to make sure you aren’t.”
“And what would I do if I sold?” she asked. “If I sold and gave up everything I’ve worked for here, what am I supposed to do then?”
“You’ve got more going for you than you seem to realize...” Ben shrugged. “I guess do it again, but with more money behind you.”
“Just do it again... As a businessman, you should know that some of this is pure luck. Just because someone has done it once doesn’t mean it will all come together a second time in the same way. You need more than a beautiful building and a scenic location, you need tourist traffic and timing. Everything came together for Mountain Springs Resort, but it isn’t something that happens just by willing it.”
“You don’t think you can make over another place?” Ben asked.
Angelina rubbed her hands over her eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t want to start over.”
She dropped her hands and met his gaze. “Is it possible that they just want to get rid of me?”
“My father told me expressly that he appreciated how cooperative you’ve been.”
“And if I agreed to this, I would be cooperating again.” Her tone was dry. “How lovely.”
“I think he was being genuine, not manipulating you to go along with this,” he replied.
“And how generous are you willing to be?”
“Very.” He felt a wave of relief to say it. “I care about your feelings, okay?”
“I need specifics, Ben.” She whispered, but there was a change in her tone. It was harder. She was considering this.
“Okay, well, I’m willing to take into account any debt you might need to pay off, the actual value of the property right now and if there is a connection to Camp Hale. Plus, I think you deserve some extra on top of that to make starting over worth your while,” he said. “That would be...a lot.”
“You do realize that if I take the money, I’ll have to go elsewhere...maybe even a different state,” she said.
Ben swallowed. “You could stay in Colorado,” he countered. “There are more locations in the Rockies here—”
“None quite so perfect as Blue Lake,” she replied. “I wouldn’t want to take a step down from this. I need to find something better. That won’t happen in Colorado.”
“I have to admit,” Ben said quietly, “I don’t like the idea of you leaving. You’re a part of things.”
“I hold you back,” she countered. “Hilaria would say so, at least.”
“Hilaria wasn’t right for me,” he replied.
“Hilaria was perfect for the heir to a fortune.” Angelina sighed and leaned back. “She knew the job of being a King wife, and she could move through those social circles easily. She could help you grow your family’s position. Hilaria is ideal—you’re just too stubborn to see it.”
How could Angelina pretend that she wasn’t miles above Hilaria in every way? She was toying with him now, and he knew it.
“Hilaria wasn’t right for me,” he repeated. “I’m more than the money I came from, Angelina!”
“You are!” she agreed, and her eyes flashed. “But you also have a unique set of needs when it comes to finding a wife, and Hilaria ticked those boxes nicely.”
Except for the one that mattered.
“I can remember her now,” Ben said. “Our relationship, the proposal, how pleased everyone was. But she wasn’t perfect.”
“No woman is, Ben.”
“She wasn’t you!” The words were out before he could think better of them, and Angelina caught her breath.
“Angie, maybe I am still hung up on you,” he admitted. “And Hilaria wasn’t the one to shake me free of you. No matter how much everyone, including you, thought she should.”
“Who you dated or married wasn’t my business,” Angelina countered.
“Did you want to see me fail?” he asked.
“Of course not!” she retorted. “I wished you well!”
“That—” He jabbed a finger at her. “That is a lie. Because if you truly wished me well, you would have told me not to marry her. I came to you and told you what I was planning, and you just looked at me with that cool, collected expression of yours, and congratulated me.”
“You wanted me to talk you out of it?” Angelina shook her head. “As your former wife? That was my job? Then I’d just be your bitter ex trying to ruin your happiness. Hilaria was perfect on paper, and if she wasn’t perfect for your heart, then it was your business to figure it out. Besides—” Her voice broke. “Do you think it’s going to be easy for me when you do find the perfect fit for you?”
“We’ve been playing this game back and forth for a while,” he said. “We keep coming back to each other.”
“But nothing has changed, has it?” she asked. “Even if I could match the social demands you live with, I don’t want to.”
He felt his throat tighten at those words. Maybe he needed to hear it out loud. He caught her hand and brought it up to his lips. He pressed a kiss against her fingers.
“No woman is going to match you,” he said, his voice tight.
“And I’m not ever going to be your perfect society wife.” She tugged her hand free. “Where does that leave you, Ben?”
“Where does it leave you?” he countered.
Angelina blinked, emotion flitting across her face, and he could tell that he’d finally shaken that icy shell of hers.
“It leaves me refusing to find a good man,” she said. “I’ve been holding back, too. I’m in my prime, and I can’t bring myself to move on. That’s not right... It’s time that I found someone to share my life with. We both need to find someone who can make us happy.”
Like Hilaria? Any woman he met was going to be the same—wonderful in many ways, but not Angelina. No one had warned him that a first wife could lodge in a man’s heart like that.
“Does that mean you’re considering the offer?” he asked at last.
“Maybe,” Angelina said. “But before I consider it, I need two things from you. The first is a dollar amount, broken down into those categories you mentioned, including the value if there is a connection to Camp Hale. I’d have to discuss it with my lawyer.”
“And the second?” Ben asked.
“The second is maybe even more important than the first,” she said slowly. “I want to know why your grandfather wants this property back so badly. I need an explanation that makes sense. And I need the truth. Without that, I won’t even consider it.”
Ben nodded. “Okay.”
Angelina met his gaze and he could see the pain in her eyes. Was he really trying to talk her into leaving?
“I want to know why, too,” he added. “I’ll feel better knowing the whole story.”
Angelina smiled faintly. “What happens if the reason is that they just wanted to get rid of me?”
Honestly, right now, that wouldn’t shock him. Maybe she was right, and this whole thing was about shaking Ben’s heart loose so that he could move on.
“I’ll tell you that,” Ben replied. “I’m not keeping secrets, Angie. I’m being completely honest with you.”
Angelina rose to her feet. “Okay. So, get some answers, and we’ll see.”
Did he want her to leave Mountain Springs? This resort wouldn’t be half so successful under different management, and he knew it. Angelina brought something to this place that no one else could.
He’d never move on in his own life with Angelina here, either. He could see that now.
It would have to be her choice. He couldn’t hold her here and be the reason she gave up some real, lasting happiness, either. Ben was determined that he wouldn’t be one of the Kings who got his way at other people’s expense, especially Angelina’s.
CHAPTER TWELVE
AFTER THEIR BREAKUP, but before any papers were signed, Angelina had sat in her parents’ California kitchen with a mug of tea in front of her and her heart in shreds. One year was all it had taken for her hopes and dreams to be dashed. One year.
Her mother’s answer had been to feed her—cookies, toast, leftover roast beef, anything that came within reach. Her father’s response had been silence. He’d just sat there in the chair opposite her, his hands folded on the table in front of him.
“What do I do?” Angelina had asked hopelessly.
“You carry on,” her mother had said, sliding another plate of buttered toast in front of Angelina. “You’re young still, Angelina. You have your whole life ahead of you.”
“I still love him...” she’d confessed.
“Well, turn that love into hatred, my dear,” her mother had said passionately. “Because it’s over—and he’ll move on. So you’d better, too. He used you, and then he allowed his family to treat you like garbage. I didn’t raise you to accept that kind of treatment from anyone.”
“He asked what I wanted,” Angelina had said, her voice thick. “And I didn’t know what to ask for.”
“Money,” her mother had said fervently. “I know you’re in pain right now and that cash won’t help with a broken heart, but trust me, my girl, it will help you put your life back together. You ask for money. Ben can afford it.”
“No...” For the first time, her father broke his silence. “That’s not what she should do.”
“If you have better advice,” her mother had said, offended.
“She should ask for property,” he’d said.
“Why?” Angelina had asked woodenly.
“Because back before you married him, your big dream was to open a bed-and-breakfast,” he’d said. “Well, you might have a broken heart, but you can still have your business. And that will support you for a lifetime. Invest in your own future, Angelina. This is painful, but it’s not the end of you.”
Angelina had taken her father’s advice, and when she next sat down with her soon-to-be ex-husband, she’d told him that she knew what she wanted. How little she’d known then what a big part of her this piece of property would become.
And now, Ben was offering her the money she hadn’t asked for back then—a replacement for everything she’d built, for the healing atmosphere of this place, for the memories here. It might make financial sense, and if she sat down with an advisor, they might tell her to jump at it. But there was something inside of her that resisted. Mountain Springs Resort was more than a financial investment, and it always would be. The fact that the Kings would overpay for it was proof enough.
After dinner was served that evening, Angelina headed down toward the employee lounge to check on their rabbit patient. Her mind had been on Ben’s offer all day. She’d been right that the return of his memory would change things, but she wasn’t prepared for feeling that heartbreak all over again. For a little while, she’d had the old Ben back, and losing that sweet man was just as hard this time around.
As Angelina approached the lounge, the door opened and Elizabeth came out.
“Hi,” Angelina said, but then she saw Elizabeth’s red-rimmed eyes and she slowed. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah... I just...um...made a little pen for the rabbit. She’s staying pretty still, but rabbits do well with more freedom.” She blinked quickly.
“Elizabeth,” Angelina said softly. “You’re crying.”
“Maybe a bit.” She sucked in a breath. “It’s going to sound stupid, though.”
“Try me,” Angelina said with a small smile.
“I called my mom.” Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her middle. “And I had to explain that Brad had brought his buddies on this trip, and that he hasn’t even hinted at an engagement. And that was...hard.”
“I’m sorry,” Angelina murmured. “And it isn’t stupid. It’s entirely understandable.”
“He’s not going to ever propose, is he?” Elizabeth asked.
“I don’t know,” Angelina said.
“He hasn’t exactly been doting this trip.”
“To be fair, he’s come to find you a couple of times,” Angelina replied. “And you looked pretty cozy when I saw you coming out of the dining room the other day.”
“I know how to keep up appearances.” Elizabeth shrugged. “I really wanted the engagement ring. I know it sounds so shallow, but that mattered to me. I have these friends who are all getting married and they keep asking me what the holdup is with Brad. And they give advice about how to get him to propose.”
“Like what?” Angelina asked with a wry smile.
“Oh, leaving ads for engagement rings where he’ll find them, and watching movies with him that end in romantic engagements and telling him I won’t do certain things until he makes a commitment. I had one friend who wouldn’t travel with her husband until they were engaged, and he really wanted to take her to Paris, so he proposed, and then took her. I already tried that with that trip with his family to Europe. It hasn’t worked yet.”
“I don’t think manipulating a man into an engagement is the kind of relationship you want,” Angelina said. “Just a guess.”
“It isn’t,” Elizabeth agreed. “But I do want to get married and start a family. I want to start that part of my life. I’m ready for it.”
“You’re young,” Angelina said softly.
“Maybe I am, but I’m still ready!” Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t have to have huge career ambitions, you know. I can want to make a life out of loving the ones who belong to me. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Of course, there isn’t,” Angelina agreed.
“But I imagined marrying someone a little more eager to marry me,” she added.
Angelina chuckled. “There is that.”
“What should I do?” Elizabeth asked.
Angelina’s smile slipped. “Sweetie, I can’t really give advice.”
“You have an opinion,” Elizabeth pressed. “I just want to hear it. What’s your honest advice?”
Dare Angelina give it? It didn’t make good business sense to meddle, but Elizabeth looked up at her with such pleading.
Angelina blew out a breath. “Okay, I’ll probably regret this, but I’ll give it. Go find something that makes you happy—not a man, something else. A career, a hobby, an ideal, a mission, a project... Create a life that makes you happy in and of itself.”
Elizabeth was silent for a moment, then she asked, “What about Brad?”
“Dump him.”
Elizabeth blinked. “What?”
The girl’s doe-eyed look was exactly why Angelina had held back. Elizabeth wanted some secret to change Brad, but there wasn’t one. Brad had to choose who he wanted to be, and if Elizabeth didn’t like it, she had a choice to make.
As if on cue, Brad and a couple of buddies came out of the fireside room laughing raucously at something on one of their phones. Brad saw Elizabeth down the hallway.
“Betsy, can you grab us something to eat and bring it upstairs?” Brad called.
“Sure, Brad!” Elizabeth called, a trifle too brightly.
Was this the life this young woman really wanted? And should it matter to Angelina? How many women made choices that Angelina wouldn’t make? It wasn’t her place to judge. She was forty-three and very, very single right now. If Elizabeth wanted marriage and children that badly, she shouldn’t pattern her life after Angelina’s.
“I should get going,” Elizabeth said and walked away without a goodbye. Angelina followed a little more slowly. Once upon a time she’d been young and hopeful, too. Maybe Elizabeth was willing to jump through hoops for Brad, but Angelina hadn’t been any wiser at that age. She’d married a man she met on a cruise after two weeks of knowing him.
Wisdom came with age...and some tough experiences.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Angelina startled when she saw Warren standing at the entrance to the fireside room, his hands plunged into his pockets.
“Hi, Warren,” Angelina said with a smile. “Just remembering being that young.”
