The Wager. Metsy Hingle

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СКАЧАТЬ Jardine and for hotels of far greater value. Yet when it came to the Princess, the very first hotel built by Simon Logan, it was difficult not to let his emotions come into play. The Princess had always been more than brick and mortar and stone to him, Josh admitted. He’d fallen in love with the place as a boy while listening to his grandfather’s stories. To see the Logan Hotels banner flying over the Princess again had been his dream for as long as he could remember. And, once again, that dream remained just out of reach.

      “You have a good poker face. I’ll give you that.”

      “Are we playing poker, Duchess?”

      “In a manner of speaking.” She paused. “But before we go over the rules of this particular game, I could use a brandy. Why don’t you pour us each a glass?”

      Josh did as she asked, filling the heavy crystal glasses with the expensive vintage while he reined in his emotions. After he handed Olivia her glass, she took a sip, then leaned back in her chair.

      The urge to toss back the brandy was so strong, Josh deliberately drank slowly, savoring the bite of the liquor and wanting to wash away the taste of disappointment in his mouth. When he reclaimed his seat, his emotions were in check once more. Deciding there was no point in pushing Olivia, he remained silent and waited for her to continue the game.

      “I’m sure by now you’ve heard the rumors that the Princess is losing money.”

      He had. Despite the size of the city, New Orleans remained very much a small town in many respects. There was little that went on in the business or personal lives of its more prominent citizens that stayed a secret for long. And the Jardines had always been news makers. “I’ve heard the Princess has been feeling the pinch from the competition.”

      Olivia snorted. “You and I both know that the Princess has been feeling more than a pinch. I’ve lost a small fortune keeping the doors open this past year alone. And I’m sure you also know that my family and financial advisers believe I should sell it.”

      “Maybe they’re right, Duchess. I’ve offered you a good price. Why don’t we save ourselves some time and dispense with the game-playing. Just tell me straight-out what price tag you’ve set on her.”

      All humor faded in an instant. “There isn’t a price tag,” she told him. “The Princess is not for sale. At least not at this time.”

      “But—”

      “Hear me out,” she said, lifting her hand.

      Josh nodded, settled back in his seat.

      “When your grandfather built the Princess it was with the intention that she become the grand lady of New Orleans. After Simon…lost her to me in that foolish bet, I made sure that she lived up to his dream. I turned her into the finest hotel in this city,” she told him, an intense light in her eyes. “I want to see the Princess returned to her throne, Joshua. Once I see that happen, I’ll turn over the reins.”

      Josh couldn’t help it. Hope stirred in his blood again. “If it’s help you need, I can recommend a good management company, put together a team for you and help you turn the place around before you sell it to me.”

      Olivia shook her head. “I don’t want some stranger running the Princess. From the day your grandfather signed her over to me, she’s been run by a Jardine.”

      Josh sighed. “Katie told me she offered to take over running it for you months ago, and you turned her down.”

      “Katherine already has her hands full running the Regent. And before you suggest Alison, it’s out of the question. She has enough on her plate taking care of her daughter and helping her sister.”

      “And Mitch isn’t an option,” Josh added, referring to Olivia’s grandson.

      “Mitchell made it clear years ago that he wasn’t interested in the hotel business. Besides, it appears his security business is doing quite nicely.”

      “That leaves Adrienne.”

      “My daughter-in-law would be the first one to tell you that she’s far too busy with her charities and social functions to even consider working at the hotel, let alone trying to manage it,” Olivia informed him.

      “The only other Jardine left is you,” Josh pointed out.

      She sighed. “And as much as I hate to admit it, I’m getting too old to deal with the daily demands of running the hotel.”

      “Which brings us back to my suggestion—bring in an outside manager to get the hotel back on its feet before you sell it to me. It’s your only option.”

      “Not necessarily,” Olivia told him. “There is another alternative—one that would keep operation of the Princess in Jardine hands.”

      His curiosity piqued, Josh couldn’t shake the feeling that the old gal was up to something that he wasn’t going to like. “Do you intend to tell me who this mysterious Jardine relative is, or am I supposed to guess?”

      “My granddaughter. Or I suppose I should say, my other granddaughter.”

      “All right. You’ve got my attention, Duchess,” Josh said. “You care to explain that?”

      “It’s quite simple. I have a fourth grandchild.”

      Before Josh had time to recover from the shock of that statement, Olivia continued, “Recently I learned that Andrew has another child. A daughter, the result of a…a liaison that Andrew had with a young nurse in San Diego before his marriage to Adrienne.”

      Speechless, Josh could only stare at her. A Jardine with a child out of wedlock? While the rest of the world might have entered the new millennium, in this tight-knit corner of the South the moral climate remained stalled in another century—particularly when it concerned a member of one of the city’s most prominent families. The social mores simply didn’t allow for an admission to anything as potentially scandalous as the existence of a love child. And while, personally, he didn’t give a damn what the city’s holier-than-thou upper-crust members thought or wrote about him in their gossip columns, Olivia Jardine did care. She always had. A member of the city’s old guard, she lived by a different set of rules. So did most people in her circle. And Olivia had always insisted her family toe the line of responsibility that came with their good name. “I don’t know what to say.”

      “I don’t expect you to say anything. For now, I’d just like you to listen.”

      But as he listened, Josh couldn’t figure out why on earth Olivia had decided to tell him about what must surely be a great embarrassment for her. Nor could he believe that she could seriously be considering bringing this supposed granddaughter into the family fold.

      “The girl’s name is Laura Harte. She’s twenty-eight and lives in San Francisco. She works for a hotel there as an assistant general manager.”

      “She’s in the hotel business?” Josh asked, and wondered at the odds of Olivia’s illegitimate grandchild being in the same field of business. More than likely, the girl had been steered into that particular career direction by a clever mother with eyes on the Jardine fortune, he decided. Otherwise, he’d have to chalk up the ironic twist of fate as a coincidence. And he didn’t believe in coincidences.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ