“Weren’t you the one who told me my grandparents’ work didn’t have to be mine?”
“Yeah, don’t quote me my wisdom when I don’t want to hear it.” She was so pretty when she smiled. “But several times this week, it felt like the inn was my heritage. Yet I didn’t grow up here like you.”
“You spent a lot of summers here. That counts.” Ben gulped his tea, still trying to cool off from the hot barn. “Funny how we’re debating our sentiments over brick and mortar and a patch of dirt. Life isn’t in things, is it?”
“No, but things make us feel connected to people. To the past.”
The waitress came around with their pie and ice cream. “Tina popped in to get something, saw you two and said it’s on the house. Said she’s sorry about your granny, Ben. You’re Ben, right?”
“I am. Tell her thanks”—he checked her name tag—“Alice.”
Cami took her first bite of warm pie and cold ice cream. She closed her eyes, and Ben watched her savor the flavors, then glanced away, feeling there was something oddly intimate about the moment.
“Maybe that’s what we’re debating, Ben. This. Free pie and ice cream because the owner of the local diner recognized you and offered it on the house. You don’t get that at a Viridian Jewel Resorts property unless you’re in the millionaire’s suite dropping ten thousand or more a day.”
“Connection,” Ben said, more from his heart than his head.
“Connection,” she echoed. “Maybe that’s why I’m here.”
They sat in comfortable silence, eating, sipping their tea. He’d have a sugar hangover tomorrow, but it’d be worth it. The waitress returned for refills, and Cami switched to water. Then as if on some cosmic cue, she asked for a helping of fries as the exact same words left Ben’s lips.
“Two orders of fries coming up,” Alice said. “Look, you want anything else? Tina said it’s all on the house.”
“No,” Ben said. “Fries are enough.” Cami agreed.
“All right, Ben Carter, tell me about you. When I last saw you, we were fifteen going on sixteen, heading into tenth grade.”
“Nothing exciting. Graduated from Rock Mill High. Went to University of Tennessee, which you know. Go Vols. Then I went to stay with Mom and Dad in Papua New Guinea. I’d felt disconnected from them for a long time, so I thought I’d help out in their ministry. They have a great team, Americans and locals, working with them, and I felt more in the way than anything.”
“I’m sure you were a big help.”
“It was good to be with the folks. But missionary life was never for me. The week before I came back here, a typhoon came through. Then it was all hands to the pump. People came from all over the world to dig people out from under mud and fallen structures. I felt useful then. One of the volunteers was from the Turquoise—the Viridian Jewel resort in New Zealand. He was impressed with my work ethic and offered me a job. Seven years later, I’ve opened and managed five VJ resorts, with my biggest job on the horizon—launching a marquee hotel.”
“What location was your favorite?”
He thought for a moment, stifled by a grip of emotion. Hearts Bend Inn was his favorite. No place like home…
“Budapest. Manhattan was fun too.”
Alice brought a very large plate of hot, steamy fries with a side of chili cheese for dipping.
Cami opened a fresh napkin roll. “I’m going to gain five pounds tonight.”
“After all that square dancing, you earned it.”
She raised her hand for a fist bump.
“What about you?” he said. “How’d you get into Akron Development? I figured you to be an artist, selling your prints at Nashville’s top galleries.”
“Art doesn’t pay the bills. Or buy my shoes.” She laughed. “Minus the typhoon and living in a foreign country, my story is a lot like yours. After Mama died, life sort of fell apart. I lost interest in painting. Mama was my mentor, my…”
“Muse?” Ben said.
“Yes. She was my muse. Dad buried himself in work. Annalise was busy with college, and even though she hovered, I was still on my own. Got into a bit of trouble—nothing serious. Pulled a Ferris Bueller, then decided I didn’t want to be a girl who messed up her life because something bad happened. Mama wouldn’t like it. As you know, I went to University of Georgia. Go Dawgs.” Ben made a gagging face. She grinned. “Majored in finance with a double minor in business and art. Graduated with honors. I worked for Akron in the summers as an intern. Believe you me, I didn’t have any privilege or favor. I had to apply for the internships like everyone else.”
“I have to respect that, but you’d think your dad would give you a bit of a break.”
“You’d think.” She munched on a fry dipped in chili cheese. “I think I just wanted to connect to him. In my mind, he replaced Mama as my mentor. If he said, ‘Apply,’ I did. He says, ‘Go to Indy.’ I say, ‘When do I leave?’”
