“The caption said you were his successor. It must be wonderful, working with a powerful man like that.”
“Oh, yes,” Kate said. “Particularly when magazines start mentioning you as his successor. He loves that.”
“I envy you. Living in the city. On the cutting edge. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to lose my mind, being stuck down here,” Valerie said.
“Why do you stay?” Kate said.
Valerie shrugged. “This is where Will wants to be. And we’re making this resort really take off. It’s something we’re doing together.”
“Together,” Kate said.
“Oh, yes,” Valerie said. “And we’ve got so many ideas. Don’t tell anyone,” she added, dropping her voice, “but our next project is a real country bar. With jukeboxes and everything.”
“Well, that sounds like fun,” Kate said, trying to figure out why a country bar should be top secret.
“Isn’t there a country bar in town?” Penny said.
“That’s Nancy ’s,” Valerie said. “She doesn’t count. She doesn’t have any idea how to run a business. She just opens the door and people come in and buy beer.”
“Isn’t that pretty much the idea behind running a bar?” Kate asked.
“Listen, that place could be a gold mine if she’d get her act together. Since she isn’t,” Valerie said, sitting back and smiling, “Will and I are going to open our own gold mine.”
“What’ll happen to Nancy?” Penny asked.
Valerie shrugged. “That’s business.”
“My father would like you,” Kate said, drawing away from Valerie.
“Thank you,” Valerie said.
“So when are you and Will getting married?” Penny asked.
“Soon,” Valerie said. “I’m being recruited by a big East Coast chain. When they make me an offer, I’ll just tell Will. He’s a very fair man. He couldn’t possibly expect me to stay here indefinitely without some kind of commitment. And he can hardly run this place without me.”
Kate and Penny looked at each other again.
“Are you actually a partner here?” Kate asked, confused. “I’m not following you.”
Valerie frowned, annoyed at being pinned down. “Will started this place over ten years ago. Five years ago, he expanded it with a silent partner who does absolutely nothing to help him run it I came here three years ago when Will was about at his wits’ end and saved him and the hotel by planning something besides golf for the guests. Remember the luau last night?”
Kate winced, remembering the luau, and nodded.
“Well, that was my idea. I have a lot of ideas like that. They bring a lot of people to this resort I’m indispensable.”
“Lucky you,” Kate said uneasily. She felt a sudden need to get far away from Valerie, as if she had something contagious that she might catch. Like maybe rum-less ambition and a total lack of humanity. She smiled brightly at Valerie and pushed back her chair. “Well, I’ve got to run. I’m late to play golf.”
“Who are you playing with?” Penny asked.
“Peter somebody.”
“Oh, he looks rich,” Penny said. “Good luck.”
“Good luck?” Valerie raised her eyebrows at Kate.
“On my golf game,” Kate said. “I’m going to need all the luck I can get.”
“Well, then, I’ll wish you good luck, too,” Valerie said. “Let’s get together again later and talk. We’ve got so much in common.”
“That would be wonderful,” Kate said, trying not to look appalled. “Really.”
“Really,” Valerie said. “I consider you as a role model.”
“Wonderful,” Kate said as she backed away. “I can’t tell you how that makes me feel.”
Chapter Four
I do not have anything in common with that woman, Kate told herself as she crossed the lobby. And I am not her role model or anything else. Then she caught sight of Peter waiting for her and stopped, startled by how familiar he looked as he came toward her. Who did he look like? Derek? Terence? Paul? All of them, she decided. Tall, distinguished, graying at the temples, determined, aggressive. He reached her with the same long strides her father always took and put his arm around her and looked down at her, smiling. She hated it when men did that. She always felt small.
“You look fantastic. I’ll have to show you off to everyone,” Peter said, and she stared up at him for a moment, speechless with dismay. Now that he was close, he didn’t really look all that much like any of the men she’d been engaged to. It was more the way he moved, looming over her, beaming at her. As if she was something he’d achieved.
“Um, wait a minute,” she said, and automatically backed off toward the lobby desk to get away from him. When she backed into the desk with a bump, she realized she’d left him standing in the middle of the lobby, confused and annoyed. Snap out of it, she told herself. You‘re acting like a fool There is nothing wrong with this man. What’s wrong with you?
He cheats, Jake had said. And for some reason, she suddenly trusted Jake in his dumb cowboy hat and ratty shorts more than she trusted this man in tailored flannels.
On an impulse, she called Will over to the desk.
“Do you have any field glasses?”
“Just small ones.” Will reached under the counter for a pair of miniature folding binoculars. “They’re no good for bird-watching. I can hunt up some bigger ones for you if you’re not in a hurry.” He gave her an open, friendly smile that confused Kate. What was a nice man like this doing destroying neighborhood bars with a barracuda like Valerie?
“Kate?” Will said as she stared at him.
“These will be fine,” she said. “The bird I’m watching is pretty big.” She slipped them in her pocket and went back to Peter, who was pointedly looking at his watch.
They walked toward the course, Peter nodding right and left to acquaintances, always keeping a proprietary hand on her back as if she were his entry in a particularly prestigious pet show. He’s in public relations, Kate remembered. Maybe he considers me good for his image.
“The flat Toby’s Corners course is a good amateur course,” Peter informed her when they reached the hill course. He signaled to a couple of caddies. “However, if you’ve had any experience at all, we should golf on this course.” He smiled down at her, patronizing her and challenging her at the same time. “This one is more demanding.”
Kate smiled back warily.
“Of course, it’s not as impossible as everyone claims it is.” Peter chuckled and handed his bag and the bag he’d rented for her to the caddies without looking at them. “In fact,” he added, “I’ve been scoring under par pretty regularly here.”
The caddies were about twenty, and the redheaded one looked familiar. Kate saw them look at each other and grin when Peter announced that he played under par. Score one for Jake. How did she find these men?
These men are what you’re looking for, aren’t they? Tall, distinguished, successful, and rich. You just forgot to put “honest” in your job description.
“How about a little bet?” Peter was looking at her guilelessly. “I’ll even add ten points to my handicap.”
Her father always smiled like that just before he closed a deal. She had always hated that smile. How could she get out of this date?
“You have played before?” Peter asked.
“Oh, once or twice,” she said, adding silently, since college when I was on the golf team. The problem was that college was fourteen years ago.
“How about fifty bucks?” he asked.
I can’t believe this, Kate thought. He’s trying to set me up. And then he’ll probably try to make me. Well, the hell with you, Peter-Derek-Paul-Terence. I’m tired of being used by men like you. This time, I’m going to win. And I’m not just talking about golf.
She beamed up at him. “How about a hundred?” she countered.
Peter beamed back. “Fine, fine.”
Her redheaded caddie was gently shaking his head at her, and she winked. His eyes widened and he exchanged glances with the other caddie.