Fortune's Greatest Risk
“I’m already late for...something,” Dillon said evasively.
That would explain his constantly looking at his watch and his phone while she had been taking him on the tour, she thought. The pang that went through her was involuntary. Did he have a hot date waiting for him? Or maybe he was going to be meeting up with his next conquest?
It was none of her business, Hailey silently told herself. Whoever it was, the person was obviously enough to distract him.
Hailey bent over to pick up the fallen robe and slung it over her arm as he finished buttoning his still damp shirt. It seemed to cling to every ridge, every ripple, she couldn’t help noticing.
Keeping her face forward, Hailey fell into place beside him as Dillon started walking toward the front exit.
“Will we be seeing you at the grand opening?” she asked.
Focused on making his retreat, as well as on what time it was, Dillon hadn’t heard her. But by the look he saw on her face, the woman was obviously waiting for some sort of response from him.
“What?” he asked, still walking as he tucked his shirt into his slacks.
“The grand opening, it’s in a few days,” Hailey prompted. “Will we be seeing you there?”
“Oh. Right. Yes, of course. Wouldn’t miss it,” he assured her a second before he made good his escape.
“I don’t know about that,” Hailey murmured under her breath as she watched him hurrying down the front steps. “You seemed to have missed the tour, even though you were physically here for it.”
With a sigh, Hailey turned away from the spa’s large double-glass doors.
“So? How did it go?” Candace asked.
Hailey’s assistant seemed to materialize directly behind her the moment that the contractor had walked out of the building.
“It went,” was all that Hailey allowed herself to say.
Candace frowned. “Well, that doesn’t sound very good.”
Hailey tactfully walked back her initial assessment. “It could have gone better,” she amended. “I got the impression that Mr. Fortune’s mind was elsewhere during most of the tour.”
“His mind was probably on his next project,” the young woman guessed.
Or his next conquest by the looks of it, Hailey thought. She had seen men preoccupied with the women in their lives, or the women they were about to have in their lives. Dillon had all the signs.
But, for the sake of the spa and things moving forward on that front, Hailey decided to agree with her assistant. “You’re probably right. He was undoubtedly thinking about his next project. I guess I’m being just a little bit edgy.”
Still, despite her pep talk to herself to the contrary, Hailey couldn’t help being curious about who the person on the other end of Dillon Fortune’s phone had been. Whoever it was was wreaking havoc in what otherwise seemed like Dillon Fortune’s orderly world.
To her way of thinking, the butterflies that Hailey had experienced at the beginning of the week while she had waited to give the handsome contractor a tour of the spa were just a dry run for what she assumed she would be experiencing today, at the spa’s official grand opening ceremony.
But oddly enough, she turned out to be wrong. To Hailey’s surprise, when the big day came, she was completely calm.
Hailey had spent the days between then and now overseeing every single detail involved in the grand opening, then going over them twice, from the festive decorations to the extensive array of catered food. She’d even easily handled the last-minute shipments of some equipment. Mercifully, nothing rattled her.
She survived it all and when the big day finally did arrive, she was ready hours ahead of time. To her relief, the butterflies in her stomach seemed to remain subdued.
One of the first people to arrive to the festivities was Ellie Fortune Hernandez, Rambling Rose’s mayor and Steven Fortune’s recent blushing bride. As expected, Steven was at her side.
The mayor was scheduled to make an appropriate speech about how the spa was one of the projects that were already revitalizing the town and how she anticipated that this feeling would be on the upswing in the weeks to come, thanks to other projects that were in the works.
Waiting for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony to take place, everyone meandered around the front of the spa, availing themselves of the refreshments that were set up on tables before the front doors. Hailey was there to play hostess to the gathering crowd.
The slender dark-haired mayor and her six-foot-tall husband were still practically newlyweds. The striking couple definitely looked the part. Anyone looking at them could see that they still had that newlywed glow about them, although Hailey was willing to bet part of that glow was due to the fact that Ellie Hernandez was also pregnant. Her condition was just now beginning to show and no matter what the young mayor talked about, she seemed to be literally beaming.
Hailey found that she was both very happy for Ellie as well as just a little bit envious of the woman. Hailey could only imagine what it had to be like to be that in love with someone and to be that loved in return. In Hailey’s estimation, anticipating the birth of a baby only added to that perfect scenario, increasing happiness by a hundredfold.
She sincerely doubted that it would ever happen for her.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew, Hailey.
Just as she was about to say something to Ellie, the mayor beat her to it. Ellie came up to her, gestured about the immediate area and said, “So I see congratulations are in order.”
Hailey’s eyes dipped down to the mayor’s waist. It was still very trim looking, but Hailey could see that it was just beginning to widen in order to accommodate its new little boarder.
“I hear the same can be said to you and your husband, Madam Mayor,” Hailey responded, looking over Ellie’s shoulder and catching a glimpse of Steven who was talking to someone.
Ellie offered her a serene smile, the kind that was so commonly seen gracing the faces of expectant mothers.
“Thank you,” Ellie responded, her eyes shining. The next moment, the mayor’s husband came up to join them. He rested his hand protectively on Ellie’s shoulder.
“Don’t you think you should be sitting down?” he tactfully asked her.
“I feel fine,” Ellie assured him. “Really.” Looking at Hailey, the mayor decided she needed to explain her husband’s display of concern. He wasn’t just being a typical nervous husband. “I had a touch of morning sickness earlier, but it’s gone now. Really,” she repeated, underscoring the word for her husband’s benefit. “I’m not a fragile little flower, ready to wilt at the slightest provocation,” Ellie insisted. “I never have been.”
“Well, between you and me, Ms. Miller, my wife wouldn’t say a word even if she was at death’s door,” Steven confided to Hailey.
Ellie laughed, waving away her husband’s obvious concern.
“Luckily, I’m not,” she insisted. “I—” She pulled up short as she pointed at two men who’d just arrived. “Steven, look. Aren’t those your cousins?” she asked.
Hailey and the mayor’s husband both turned to see who the mayor was referring to. The two men who had just walked up the spa’s front steps definitely bore a striking resemblance to not only Steven but to several other Fortunes, as well.
But while the two men looked vaguely familiar to Hailey, Steven recognized the duo almost immediately.
“You’re right,” he agreed. “That’s Adam and Kane Fortune. They’re my Uncle Gary’s two oldest sons,” he said for Hailey’s benefit since he knew she wasn’t as up on the Fortune family tree as he and his wife were.
“Are they in the construction business, too?” Hailey asked, making what seemed like a logical assumption to her.
Steven laughed under his breath. “I think they probably think they are.”
Hailey was trying to follow what Steven was saying. “So they’re not part of your construction company?” she asked the mayor’s husband.
She knew that Steven as well as Callum were both part of the same company that Dillon was part of. All of them had helped make the spa and several other new projects in Rambling Rose a reality in the last few months. The Fortune brothers were responsible for breathing life into the fading town.
“No,” Steven said with feeling. “They’re most definitely not part of the company. They’re recently in from New York, but I think they’re here to get the lay of the land and they either plan to eventually ask to join up with our company, or to form one of their own. To be honest,” he confessed, “it’s not exactly clear to any of us yet.” And by us, Hailey knew he was referring to Callum, Dillon and himself.
The next second, Adam and Kane came up to join them.
“Hey, you guys did a great job here,” Adam announced in a loud voice. “Too bad we didn’t arrive here sooner so we could have gotten in on the ground floor with all this.”
“There’ll be more projects,” Steven answered vaguely. “Right, Dillon?” he asked, looking over his cousin’s shoulder toward his brother.
The latter had just arrived and was silently taking all this in.
Ellie turned around to face her brother-in-law. “When did you get here? I don’t remember seeing you when we got here a few minutes ago.”
“That’s because I just arrived,” Dillon answered. For some reason, he felt it prudent to avoid Hailey’s eyes. Instead, he nodded at his two cousins. “Kane. Adam.”
“They were just saying how much they regret not having arrived in Rambling Rose sooner, that way they would have been here to help work on the various construction projects that are either going up or being renovated. Seems that they think this is a good place to invest in and build up,” Steven told his brother pointedly.
Ellie picked up on her husband’s tone and looked from him to his brother. “Am I missing something here, boys?”
Steven smiled. “Dillon’s the family Cassandra,” he explained. He continued despite the frown on Dillon’s face. “You know, the woman in Greek mythology who always foresaw all the bad things that were going to happen.”
“I didn’t say something bad was going to happen,” Dillon insisted. “I just don’t wear the same rose-colored glasses that you and Callum do,” he said flatly.
Hailey was trying to follow what was being said. “You didn’t want to renovate this spa?” she asked him.
Rather than attempt to deny the statement, Dillon tried to explain his thinking. “I just didn’t think the town was ready for it. The bottom line was profit and I just didn’t think that there was going to be that much profit to be made here, not the way my brothers did,” he explained.
“Let me put it this way,” Steven responded. “Callum and I see the glass half full and getting fuller by the minute, while Dillon here—” he glanced at his brother with an affectionate smile “—well, his glass is always half empty. Not only that, but the glass is leaking, as well. Am I right, Dillon?”
Dillon didn’t believe in washing dirty laundry in public. And even if he did, this wasn’t the time to do that or to argue, not at an important grand opening ceremony and definitely not in front of his cousins and a stranger, even a very attractive, sexy one. He decided to let the topic go. Any actual discussions he needed to undertake would be conducted with his brothers in private.
Smiling at his brother, Dillon inclined his head. “Close enough, brother,” he said to Steven.
Chapter Four
Steven Fortune inclined his head in close to his wife’s ear and whispered, “Looks like it’s time, Madam Mayor.” When Ellie turned her head to look up at him, he asked, “Are you ready, or do you need a little more time? I can stall if you’d like.” Taking nothing for granted, Steven was concerned that, even now, his wife might be battling another wave of morning sickness.
Her husband’s thoughtfulness touched her each and every time he displayed it. Once again, Ellie thought how very lucky she was that the two of them had found one another. When she thought of the odds against that happening, against her finding her soul mate, especially when she was already carrying another man’s child, Ellie was nothing if not humbled.
Grateful, Ellie squeezed her husband’s hand. “I’m fine,” she told him.
Taking her at her word, Steven moved over toward Dillon and gave his brother a thumbs-up sign.
“Looks like it’s time,” he told his brother in a quiet voice.
Watching them interact, Dillon found himself envying their closeness, and wishing he could find someone to love him who loved him back the way Steven had.
Ordinarily, Dillon didn’t welcome being in the spotlight. However, Ellie would be the one with all eyes on her and he knew his brother’s new wife thrived on the favorable attention.
“Everyone,” Dillon said, raising his voice as he addressed the people in front of the wellness spa. “If I could have your attention for a moment, please,” he began.
Slowly, more and more people turned to look in Dillon Fortune’s direction, their conversations halting until relative silence reigned.
“I want to welcome all of you here today and thank you for coming,” Dillon said, addressing the gathering. With that, he turned the proceedings over to the town’s mayor. “Madam Mayor, they’re all yours,” Dillon told her.
All eyes turned toward Ellie, waiting for her to cut the white ribbon and officially open up the spa to make it become a part of the townspeople’s lives.
“I’m not going to bore you with a long, fancy speech or a lot of rhetoric,” Ellie began warmly. “We all know why we’re here.”
“Yeah, for the refreshments,” someone in the back of the crowd called out.
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
“Exactly,” Ellie agreed. “Refreshments for our bodies as well as for our souls, which is exactly what this spa with all its new techniques and amenities promises to deliver,” the mayor told her constituents. “Paz Spa brings what all of us would agree is a much needed shot in the arm to the residents of Rambling Rose. I for one can’t thank the Fortune family enough for having traveled here and bringing their ideas and their revitalizing energy to our heretofore sleepy little town. Though in the beginning, some of us weren’t quite convinced about the merits of this undertaking, you,” she said, pausing to smile at her husband and at Dillon, “have shown us the error of our thinking. Believe me when I tell you that you have earned our undying gratitude many times over.
“In the famous words of Humphrey Bogart at the end of the classic film Casablanca, ‘I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’ And I can say that we are all looking forward to watching that friendship unfold and thrive.
“So now, without any further ado,” Ellie declared, taking hold of the over-sized scissors that Dillon had handed to her, “let me cut this ribbon and declare Paz Spa officially open for business!”
With that, holding onto the two large halves of the scissors, one in each hand, the young mayor cut through the fabric. The two severed white halves of ribbon fluttered to the floor amid enthusiastic cheers.
Steven put his arm around Ellie’s shoulders as he pressed a kiss to her temple. “Well done, Madam Mayor,” he told her with a pleased laugh.
“Actually, holding onto those two ends and getting them to cut through the ribbon isn’t all that challenging,” Ellie cracked.
“Well, you pulled it off with grace, the way everyone knew you would.” Hailey knew that some women had a tough time coordinating the demands of their jobs with pregnancy. But Ellie seemed to sail right through things, unaffected.
“I wasn’t worried,” Ellie said, glancing over her shoulder toward her husband. And then her dark eyes twinkled. “I had a backup waiting in the wings.”
“Everyone, please, there’s a lot of food waiting for you to do justice to it. So eat, drink and—well, you all know the rest of that saying. Now go do it!” Hailey instructed, waving the crowded gathering to move into the spa’s reception area where a buffet had been set up.
There were all sorts of sandwiches as well as several kinds of tortillas to choose from. Alongside that were different cuts of fried chicken. They were sitting next to french fries, pizza slices and so many different kinds of pastries, Dillon lost count when he’d tried to catalog them. There were also a selection of salads, smoothies and fresh fruit for the dedicated purists.
When he’d instructed the spa’s manager to spare no expense for this celebration, he hadn’t thought that much of his words, but she had obviously taken them to heart.
Coming up to Hailey, Dillon felt that he had to tell her what he thought of the tempting array.
“You certainly do know how to put on an inviting spread.”
Hailey turned toward the sound of the deep male voice and smiled warmly up at Dillon. She appreciated him telling her that.
“Thank you, I’m glad you approve. I wasn’t sure exactly what you had in mind,” she confessed, “so I figured that if I got a little of everything, I’d wind up covering it.”
“Yes, I noticed,” he said with a laugh. “If we get locked in here for a week for some reason, we certainly wouldn’t starve,” Dillon commented. “By the way, I didn’t see a bill for all this.” He felt he had to bring that up because he didn’t want her getting stuck footing the bill for this celebration. From what he gathered, she wasn’t being paid enough for that.
“That’s because I haven’t forward it to you yet,” Hailey told him.
She had been so completely immersed in all the preparations there’d been no time to pull the tab together. But it was nice of him to make that point.
“Well, just make sure you do,” Dillon told her. He looked around the huge salon again with all the people milling around, enjoying themselves. “Everything really looks great, Hailey,” he repeated with feeling, as well as an element of approval.
Hailey could feel that same warm sensation spread out all through her again. “Thank you, Mr. Fortune.”
Dillon looked surprised that she had used his surname. “I thought we decided you were going to call me by my given name,” he reminded her.
“Sorry, I forgot.” She hadn’t, but by the time he’d left the spa last time, wearing his not-quite-dry shirt and hurrying off to his car, Hailey felt that their relationship had reverted back to its previous formal standing.
“Well, call me Dillon,” he instructed.
The next moment, someone else was calling out his name. It turned out to be one of his cousins and Hailey got the impression that he didn’t look all that anxious to respond.
“I guess this is a case of careful what you wish for,” she said, taking a chance that her observation wouldn’t sound too familiar.
Rather than take offense, Dillon laughed softly to himself.
“You can sure say that again.” He sighed. He could see that his cousin was not going away. “I’d better go see what Adam wants.”
Judging by the expression on his face, Hailey had a feeling that he already knew exactly what his cousin wanted to see him about. Adam and Kane Fortune had made no secret of the fact that they wanted to get into the “family” business, not because they harbored any desires to expand Rambling Rose commercially—or to expand any other town that way for that matter. What the cousins seemed to want to be part of were the resulting profits that would be coming down the pike.
Very soon, they hoped.
Hailey watched as Dillon made his way over to his cousin Adam. One minute the contractor had been smiling at her, the next he was withdrawing, as if folding his tent and all but disappearing into the night.
Not again, she thought.
She honestly didn’t know what to make of the man, but she did know that she really wanted the opportunity to be able to get to know him better so she could make an intelligent decision about him. That way she could see if they had anything in common outside of those sparks she’d felt the other day, as well as today. Some sparks fizzled while others, if fanned, could turn into a roaring fire.
But first, of course, she needed to get the man to stand still in one place long enough for her to make up her mind about him.
And this was not the right time.
Right now, she needed to mingle and promote the spa’s many services. This seemed like the perfect opportunity, while everyone was in a festive, receptive mood and the spa was brand new and at its most appealing.
In her new mindset, the first person Hailey came across was Ellie Hernandez who, for once, wasn’t surrounded by a gaggle of people. And the mayor’s husband seemed to be otherwise occupied, as well.
She had the woman all to herself.
“That was a very nice opening speech, Madam Mayor,” Hailey said, coming closer to the young woman.
“Thank you. It was impromptu,” Ellie confessed to Hailey.
“It didn’t sound as if it was,” Hailey told the woman in all honesty.
“Normally I prepare in advance,” she explained and then confided, “but I’m afraid this pregnancy is taking a toll on me and wearing me down more than I’d like to admit.”
“Really?” Hailey asked, her interest really piqued now. “Well, lucky for you, I just might have the answer for that.” Nothing gave her more pleasure than helping someone and advancing the spa’s clientele.
“The answer?” the mayor questioned. “I don’t think I understand.”
Hailey smiled. “Well, Paz Spa offers prenatal massages. They’re specially tailored to the particular difficulties that the mother-to-be—meaning you—might be experiencing. These sessions are guaranteed to make a brand new, relaxed woman out of you instead of having you feel as if you were hauling around increasingly heavier, not to mention exceedingly uncooperative, large cargo.”
“Right now, making a new woman out of me sounds like heaven,” Ellie told her with a deep appreciative sigh. “Where do I sign up?” she asked enthusiastically.
Was she kidding, Hailey wondered. Or didn’t she know? “For you, Madam Mayor—and especially seeing that you have this marital connection to the contractor—all the sessions would be free.”
Ellie looked surprised as she shook her head, turning down the offer.
“Nonsense, absolutely not. I’m not going to take advantage of my so-called connection to the Fortune family. Besides, how is the spa going to make any money if I do something like that?” the mayor wanted to know.
“Well, I am planning to have at least a few more clients than just you,” Hailey said with a laugh. “Not to mention that if you enjoy your sessions and, more importantly, find that they really help you, maybe you can pass the word along. You know, tell your friends. Word-of-mouth is a very good way to advertise the spa,” Hailey told her.
“Oh, I’m sure the sessions will help and I can definitely spread the word about the spa,” the woman agreed.
Hailey’s eyes sparkled as she put out her hand to the mayor. “Wonderful. In that case, I believe we have ourselves a deal,” she said, enthusiastically shaking the woman’s hand.
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Hailey saw Dillon go by. He was talking to his other cousin now. For a second, Hailey’s attention shifted to the contractor and she temporarily lost her train of thought.
The man did have a way of getting to her, even when she wasn’t expecting it, Hailey thought ruefully. She was going to have to watch that.
When she looked back at Ellie, the woman had an amused expression on her face.
“Something on your mind, Hailey?”
For a second, Hailey debated asking the question and then she decided, why not? She really didn’t have anything to lose and maybe, just maybe, there might be something to be gained.
“Well,” Hailey began cautiously in a lowered voice, “as a matter of fact, since you are married to Steven Fortune...”