‘Like beauty.’ Her eyes were steely.
‘Yes. Like beauty. One man’s “character” is another’s rubbish.’
‘You think this is rubbish?’
‘I think it’s past its sell-by date.’
He got up from his seat and crossed to his desk, grabbing the rolled plans and spreading them out on the low table between them.
‘Here. These are my plans.’
She leaned forward despite herself. He counted that as a small victory.
‘It’ll be a hotel catering to wealthy guests, giving them everything they need. They’ll have money to spend in the shops we’ll have here —’
‘You mean the shops you choose,’ she interjected.
‘— and outside,’ he finished, ignoring her tone. ‘They’ll spend money on art, books, crafts.’
‘We only have a handful of those kind of shops,’ Lucy said. ‘And that’s mostly because people use the front room of their houses. The other shops are proper village shops. Butchers, greengrocers, dairy, hairdresser. Your fancy people won’t be buying mince and milk. You’ll push our shops into supplying your rich guests. We’ll end up with a street of boutiques no one local can afford.’
This was not going as he’d hoped.
‘Villages develop,’ he said.
‘Our community likes this one exactly as it is.’ She sat back, arms folded again. ‘It’s been this way since the 1920s. I don’t see any reason for it to change. If we become a service strip for your top-end hotel, we’re completely dependent on it. What happens when you sell it and the next owner wants something different?’ She shook her head. ‘No. This won’t fly, Oliver.’
‘The hotel has got to go, Lucy. It’s not cost-effective to do anything but bowl it over.’
She was silent for a moment. For half a heartbeat he let himself hope he’d changed her mind.
‘I’m not surprised you think that way,’ she said at last. ‘From what I’ve learnt, money is your motivating force. And you’ve got a lot of it riding on getting this hotel demolished.’
He didn’t look away. ‘It’s true. I have.’
‘Then you’re going to have to find a different way out. Because if you destroy the hotel, you destroy the heart of MacLeod’s Cove.’
‘Nonsense. That’s just backwards-looking talk. You need to look to the future.’
‘Don’t tell me what I need to do.’
He sighed, frustration edging his voice. ‘Lucy. We need to find a way forward. I bought this wreck with one intention — to demolish it. It’s falling down and sitting on prime real estate.’
‘It needs refurbishing. Then it’ll be an asset again, like it always was.’ Her eyes flashed. ‘You’ve got plenty of money. Use some of it for the benefit of the community and then we’ll talk.’
‘It might have been an asset once,’ he said, temper slipping, ‘but it stopped being one years ago. You lot are too blind to see it. It’s an eyesore, a wreck, a ruin. It needs replacing with something fit for purpose.’
She stood, turned as if to go, then stopped and faced him again.
‘You know what I don’t understand?’ she said. ‘Why you thought a flash dinner and some flattery and — whoosh — my objections would vanish.’
‘Strangely, I thought you might see reason,’ he replied, jaw tight. ‘I have a job to do, and I was trying to do it in the most pleasant way I could.’
‘Ha.’ She folded her arms. ‘Don’t tell me: you were going to inform me who you really were, what you owned, what you wanted from me — right after dessert?’
He shoved his fingers through his hair. To think he’d once found this woman uncomplicatedly desirable.
‘I’d appreciate it,’ she went on, ‘if you’d stop taking me for a fool.’
