But at the end of it all, could he sell? He felt like he’d be selling his childhood. His teen years. He’d had a lot of laughs in this place. Football team cookouts. The prom after-party. Summer pool parties, if the inn hadn’t been too booked.
Helping the thousands of guests who came through the tourist town. Working weddings, and even funerals. He’d saved a toddler who’d fallen into the pool. He’d walked an elderly woman down the path to the pond to spread her beloved husband’s ashes.
He’d spearheaded Summer Movie Night, where he’d set up a big screen on the lawn and played classic films like Battle of Britain or North by Northwest.
Then there was Christmas. The inn was beautiful at Christmas. Romantic. And that was saying something for Ben to use the word. People came from all over to see Granny’s decorations.
But the memories were in him, not the bricks and mortar. Nothing could take them from him. To keep the inn, he’d have to live in Hearts Bend and run it. He supposed he could hire someone to manage things, but how could he oversee everything from Sydney?
“What are you thinking, son?” Mr. Graham said.
With the old man’s words, the nagging question walked right up and stared Ben in the face. “I don’t know.” He tucked the inspector’s list in the folder. “This was my grandparents’ legacy.”
“True, but their legacy goes on in your life, in your parents’ work. They live on because you live on. Your grandparents’ dream doesn’t have to be your dream. To be honest, their life’s work is just beginning. They got themselves new bodies and are singing praises to the Good Lord with old David and Paul. They might even be making plans to have an inn up in heaven, and I betcha dollars to donuts, they’re not even thinking about this place.”
Ben laughed. “Betcha you’re right.” He reached for the photo on the desk. Granddaddy looked so content with the love of his life in his arms, the inn behind him. Granny gazed up at him with so much admiration.
In the private movements of his heart, he knew. This was what he wanted more than anything. A love like his grandparents’. More than the adventure of opening hotels around the world, more than the adventure of spearheading the Emerald, he wanted love. True, honest-to-goodness love.
In the last six, seven years, he’d been busy building a life he hoped to give the love of his life. But the job left him without roots, without a chance to find the one. Somehow, selling the inn felt like giving up on the hope of lasting love.
Yet would he find love in Hearts Bend? Granddaddy had met Granny during a recess game of tag at Hearts Bend Elementary. He’d claimed she’d been one in a million even then. Dad had literally bumped into Mom, spilling coffee all over her, at a mission conference in Johannesburg.
I knew the moment she looked up at me with those wide brown eyes, I loved her.
Too bad love didn’t happen like in the movies, where the woman of his dreams would cruise down the inn’s driveway looking for a room to rent.
Ben focused on the kind lawyer. “I love this place, Mr. Graham. It’s a part of me, and I feel like Granny put its heart and existence in my hands. I can’t see a way forward. I can’t see a way back.”
“Well, in my experience, Ben, and I’ve had plenty, the answer will make itself known. It might not hurt to talk to Stan at the bank, see what kind of payment scale the bank would take in lieu of foreclosure. Or maybe a refinance. Or…” Mr. Graham slid another folder across the desk. How many of those things did he have? “You could look at this.”
An offer to buy the inn. Two hundred thousand. From Frank Hardy.
“Two hundred grand? Is he serious? Just who is this Frank Hardy?”
“Local businessman. He’s done a lot for Hearts Bend. He’s also Sam Hardy’s father.”
Ben knew Sam from high school. Sam had been a year ahead, but the superstar had always been good to Ben. Now he was the Titans’ quarterback and winning Super Bowls. How had Ben never met his father? In HB, folks knew everyone either from the PTA, the chamber of commerce, the stands of Rock Mill High Friday night football, or sitting next to them in church.
“He wants to buy it for the price of the loan? That’s a lowball offer.”
“It might be the best you can do with all the repairs. This is prime property, being so close to the new highway connection. Frank will probably tear the place down for something new.”
“No.” He shot the offer back to Mr. Graham. “I know this place is a mess but, shoot, the land alone is worth more than two hundred grand.”
Was that what his grandparents’ lifework boiled down to? A debt payoff?
“I can ask around, see if there are any other interested buyers.”
“What about Myrtle May, Walt, and Ray?” The front desk receptionist, the cook, and the groundskeeper. They needed something for their loyalty. Not to mention they’d been like family to Ben.
“You hope they managed to save enough for retirement.”
If he sold the inn, he’d find a better offer than this Frank Hardy’s. He’d want enough for the staff as well as his parents. However, if he didn’t sell, he’d have to figure out how to keep this rundown but beloved Hearts Bend landmark running.
That’s when Myrtle May burst into the office.
“Ben, you need to— Larry Graham, why, hello.” Myrtle May waved, and her brightly colored blue nails wiggled in the air. “I didn’t know you were here.”
