A week later
VASHTI GLANCED AROUND the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Although she’d never returned to Catalina Cove, she’d flown into this airport many times to attend a hotel conference or convention, or just to get away. Even though Catalina Cove was only an hour’s drive away, she’d never been tempted to take the road trip to revisit the parish where she’d been born.
Today she took the time to recall the day she’d left fourteen years ago for college. Since this was the closest airport to Catalina Cove, her flight had left from here. Her parents and Aunt Shelby had been there to see her off and the parting had been bittersweet.
To this day she often wondered if her parents had forgiven her for the embarrassment she’d caused them when she’d gotten pregnant. They had thought sending her to that home for unwed mothers would have her coming around to their way of thinking, until she’d informed them she had no intentions of giving her baby up for adoption. That had caused a huge discord in the family. It seemed the only person who’d been in her corner had been Aunt Shelby. Vashti hadn’t caved in to her parents’ demand to know the father of her child. To this day, they still didn’t know. The only person who knew her secret was Bryce, and she knew her friend would carry the information to the grave with her.
“Welcome to Nawlins. Need help with your luggage, ma’am?”
Vashti smiled at the baggage handler. “No, I’m fine. I didn’t check in any luggage.” She just had her carry-on since she intended only to stay a couple of days.
As she headed toward the car rental counter she thought how different her life had become in a week. She was still absorbing the shock of having been fired from her job. Fired. There had been five of them in all—all part of the executive team—that had been given their pink slips.
There hadn’t been any warning, not a single word around the office that Mr. Nunes had had plans to sell off any of his hotels. No one had suspected a thing. The new owner hadn’t even let them linger. They’d been escorted out the door in the time it had taken to clear her desk and grab her purse. The only good thing, if you wanted to call it a good thing, was that Mr. Nunes had been awful generous with their severance and had even offered some jobs at his other hotels if you were inclined to move out of the country. Some had jumped at the offer. She had not. So here she was, in New Orleans and about to rent a car to drive to the town she thought never to see again.
With no job and more time on her hands than she really needed or wanted, in addition to the fact that there was ten million dollars dangling in front of her face, she had returned to Catalina Cove to attend the zoning board meeting and plead her case, although the thought of doing so was a bitter pill to swallow. When she’d left the cove she’d felt she didn’t owe the town or its judgmental people anything and likewise, they didn’t owe her a thing. Now fourteen years later she was back and to her way of thinking Catalina Cove did owe her something. The right to sell her land to whomever she wanted and for them to build whatever they wanted on the land.
“Welcome to New Orleans. What kind of car would you like to rent today?”
Vashti smiled at the young college-aged woman behind the counter. “Umm, what do you have?”
“A couple of sedans, some midsize vehicles and a couple of SUVs. And if you feel like being daring, we even have a two-seater sports car.”
“A sports car?”
“Yes, a candy apple red Corvette. It was ordered for one of the NFL players who had to cancel his flight.”
“A Corvette...” That was her dream car. She didn’t need a car to get around in New York since she lived in the city and the subway worked just fine for her. But she would love getting behind the wheel of a ’vette. “And it’s red?”
The young woman smiled. “Yes, and a convertible. It’s a beautiful March day to have the top down while cruising. I give you fair warning. My father is a police officer and he said red cars, especially convertibles, stick out like a sore thumb. You’re liable to get a speeding ticket if you even go one mile per hour over the speed limit.”
Vashti chuckled. “Thanks for the warning but I have no intention of speeding.”
* * *
“PLEASE, DAD...”
Sawyer Grisham drew in a deep breath, wondering at what point he would be able to give his daughter a firm no and truly mean it. She had the ability to wrap him around her finger and he had a feeling she knew it. With this particular request of hers he knew that he needed to turn her down, but...
“I’ll think about it, Jadelyn.” She knew whenever he called her by her full name that meant there wouldn’t be any more discussion on the subject until he decided to have it.
“Thanks, Dad. You’re the greatest. Love you.”
He shook his head, grinning when he clicked off the phone. Of course she would have to end the call like that. Like he’d already given his permission for her to get a job this summer. She could spend her summer doing volunteer work at either the hospital or animal shelter, but as far as he was concerned she didn’t need a job. He gave her a weekly allowance and a pretty darn generous one. All she needed to do was continue to make good grades in school. She would have plenty of time for employment later in life.
Sighing deeply, he pushed back the seat in his patrol car and stretched his legs out. This was the part of his job that he didn’t mind doing since it got him away from behind his desk and out of the office. He loved this expanse of highway that connected New Orleans to Catalina Cove. The picturesque scenery made the drive one of the most pleasant he’d ever known. Giant oak trees lined both sides of the highway and through the low hanging branches you could see the sea marshes.
The closer you got to Catalina Cove, the highway merged from four lanes to two and even more tall oaks were perfectly strung along the roadway, providing a countryside effect. In this particular area that he loved, a cluster of the huge tree limbs joined to form a canopy. This was the spot where he would park under the shade of huge trees, hidden from sight off the highway to clock speeders. On occasion he would steal away here just to clear his mind, think about important matters and to put a number of things in perspective. Right now the main thing on his mind was that his daughter would probably start dating soon. So far she hadn’t mentioned anything about it and he definitely was not going to put any ideas in her head.
He needed to call his office to remind Trudy Caldwell, his office manager, to make sure the Miller file was on his desk when he got back, which wouldn’t be too long. So far he’d issued six speeding tickets and had been here only a few hours. Didn’t anyone feel compelled to abide by the speed limit anymore? And some of the excuses they made while trying to talk their way out of a ticket were just downright ridiculous. As sheriff he expected people to operate within the confines of the law and not the other way around.
It was hard to believe he’d been sheriff in Catalina Cove for four years already. When he’d accepted the job and relocated here, Jade had been twelve. Not once had she complained about moving from their home in Nevada to Louisiana, although she’d left her friends behind. They’d decided to look at the move as an adventure. Thankfully, because of Jade’s outgoing and bubbly nature, she’d quickly made new friends.
Leaving Reno was necessary in order to move on with their lives after losing Johanna. Cancer had claimed her exactly three months to the day she’d noticed the discoloration of a mole on her thigh. He would never forget
