Read Online The Inn at Eagle Point by Sherryl Woods - Free Book Online Page B

We were friends, Trace. Why wouldn't I be glad to see you
again?" she asked, though she knew the answer. She'd just hoped to finesse
her way past the awkwardness. The simmering anger in his eyes suggested that
wasn't likely.

"Friends?" he echoed with a lift of one brow. "That's not
exactly the way I remember it. Maybe my memory's faulty, but I thought we were
more than that."

Heat stained Abby's cheeks. "It was a long time ago, Trace. A lifetime, in
fact."

He hesitated for what seemed like an eternity, his gaze level, then finally he
looked away and reached for a folder with an ominous red sticker on the front.
"I imagine you're here about this," he said, his tone suddenly abrupt
and very businesslike. "Jess has gotten herself into quite a mess."

Taking her cue from him, Abby opened her briefcase. "We're aware of that,
and we're prepared to give the bank every reassurance that things will change
from here on out."

"You'll have to do quite a bit of tap-dancing to pull that off," he
said. "She doesn't have any management skills. I think that's plain. I
have no idea why the bank approved these loans in the first place. I imagine
they did it as a courtesy to your father."

Just then the door to his office opened again, and Jess stepped in. She frowned
at his words. "You couldn't be more wrong, Trace. They did it because it
was a sound investment. That's exactly what your father said when he called me
to tell me the mortgage and the loan had been approved." She regarded
Trace unflinchingly and added, "It still is."

"Not according to these papers I have in front of me," Trace
countered. "It's time to cut our losses, and that's exactly what I intend
to recommend to the board tomorrow."

"No," Abby said fiercely. "Not until you've heard us out."

She tried not to notice the alarm on Jess's face or the brick-red color that
flamed in Trace's cheeks. Instead, she plunged on, throwing diplomacy to the
wind. "If you have even an ounce of business savvy in that rock-hard head
of yours, you'll see that this plan makes sense."

"Why should I believe anything you tell me?" he asked.

Abby swallowed hard. This was all going to blow up just because she and Trace
had a history. Why hadn't Jess warned her? If she had, Abby would have stayed
far, far away from the bank. But since she was in the thick of it now, she
refused to let him goad her into backing down.

"Don't make this about us, Trace," she said quietly. "It doesn't
reflect well on you or the bank."

Trace scowled at her. "Well, aren't you full of yourself? Trust me, you
had nothing to do with my decision. It's all right here in black and white.
People might lie, but numbers don't."

Abby knew he was right about that, but she wasn't giving up without a fight.
She'd seen the flicker of guilt in his eyes when she'd accused him of letting
his feelings for her get into the equation. She intended to use that to force
his hand and make him reconsider.

She tempered her tone. "Will you at least hear me out? You owe us that
much."

"Really?" he said quizzically. "How do you figure that?"

"You want to prove that you're making a totally unbiased decision, don't
you? Then you have to consider all the facts. Otherwise I'll have to insist on
meeting the board myself, and you'll wind up with egg on your face after barely
a week on the job."

Again, he gestured toward the file. "The facts are in here."

"Not all of them," she insisted. She handed him a set of the papers
she'd spent all Sunday afternoon preparing, partly because she'd wanted them to
be strong enough to make her case and partly as a way to steer clear of Mick.
"Take a look. As you'll see, there's a new investment partner. Jess has
more than enough cash now to make good on the loan payments and to capitalize
the running of the inn for the first six months, longer if she's careful.
There's a solid business plan on pages two and three. And on page four there's
a plan for refinancing that egregious interest-only mortgage that should