"I'll reach out to her right away, sir," Melinda promised, ending the call.
Darius set the phone down, pulling the thick leather folder closer into the circle of desk light. He recalled the exact expression on Isabel's face when her eyes had scanned the campground site plan. Her quick, architectural training had registered a structural discrepancy that had completely eluded his executive focus. He stared at the faded ink lines, wondering what secrets his parents had hidden in the margins before their lives were cut short.
Penny
The elevator doors glided open on the second floor of Hearts Hotel, the soft hum of the mechanical tracks fading into the quiet, carpeted hallway. Penny walked beside Isabel, carrying her small overnight leather bag, her fingers tightening around the handle as her mobile phone began to buzz violently against her palm.
She lifted the screen, her dark brows drawing together when she saw the Miami executive line flashing on the display.
"Hello," Penny answered, keeping her tone clipped and entirely professional.
"Hello, Ms. Rawlings," Melinda greeted her over the line, her voice carrying a cautious, hurried tone. "Mr. Wayne requested that I reach out to you immediately. Please don't hang up, Ms. Rawlings. I need you to hear me out on behalf of Mr. Wayne."
Penny paused near the entrance of the suite, glancing toward Isabel where the Hearts Hotel staff member who’d brought them to their suite was unlocking the door.
"Melinda, what is this about? I’m really busy," Penny hissed impatiently, keeping her voice low.
"Please, Ms. Rawlings," Melinda insisted through the speaker. "Mr. Wayne wants you and Mrs. Graham to meet him at the café down on Bay View Drive in exactly one hour. He needs to speak with you urgently regarding a development threat to Hearts Hotel. He explicitly specified that he isn't attempting to challenge your contract resignation or force you or Mrs. Graham to alter your ultimatum."
Penny raised her eyebrows, a ripple of skepticism moving through her mind. "What exactly is so urgent that it couldn't be routed through a standard legal brief, Melinda?"
"He didn't provide the corporate details, Ms. Rawlings, but to be completely honest, he sounded frantic," Melinda explained, her tone dropping into a confidential whisper. "It's that specific pitch his voice takes on when a major project is about to go horribly wrong."
The description made Penny freeze, her jaw tightening. Having managed Darius's executive office for nearly as long as Penny had been with Darius, Melinda knew his professional temperaments better than anyone alive.
"Fine," Penny grated, her teeth clicking together. "Tell him we will be there in one hour. But if this turns out to be an underhanded corporate ploy to handle us, I will walk out within the first two minutes."
"Thank you, Ms. Rawlings. I truly believe there is an actual problem," Melinda murmured, ending the call.
Penny let out a long, slow breath, sliding the phone back into her pocket before turning back to join Isabel at the threshold of the suite.
"What's wrong?" Isabel asked. "Are you not happy with our three-bedroom suite? We were lucky to get it as the regular client is not here this summer, and the other one is occupied, I believe.”
"That's excellent news for Emma," Penny said, following her friend into the expansive living room. While the suite definitely required a modern cosmetic refresh, the furniture, crisp whitelinens, and sweeping views of the glittering bay through the glass panels were exceptionally beautiful.
The young bellhop deposited their luggage near the interior hallway, accepted the tip with a polite nod, and closed the heavy wooden door behind himself when he left.
The moment they were alone, Penny rested her hands flat against the back of an armchair, cutting straight to the point. "Isabel, that corporate call I just accepted was from Melinda."
Isabel stopped unpacking her tote bag, her eyes narrowing to tiny slits as an angry flush touched her cheeks. "Let me guess, Darius is weaponizing his assistant to deliver a rehearsed apology because he knows we've blocked his personal number."
"Not exactly," Penny told her, keeping her tone steady. "He wants us to meet him at the café down the road. He claims it's an emergency that directly involves the financial safety of this hotel. Melinda feels there is a severe problem developing behind the scenes."
"No," Isabel said stubbornly, her chin lifting with a defiantly sharp motion. "This is nothing more than a calculated corporate play designed to butter us up and soften our stance before the twenty-four-hour deadline expires."
"I don't think so, Isabel," Penny countered softly, her gut instinct screaming that a real crisis was unfolding. "I've worked alongside Melinda for years. She is exceptionally staunch about keeping company boundaries in order, and she would never describe Darius’s tone as frantic unless she picked up something during their call."
Isabel remained completely still for several seconds, studying Penny's face with a discerning gaze. "You genuinely believe something is wrong?"
"I do," Penny replied with a firm nod. "I think we need to walk down there and at least listen to whatever he has to say."
Isabel let out a long, defeated sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly as her rigid posture eased. "Fine. But he is buying us each one of those decadent specialty coffees and a massive slice of cake."
Penny laughed. "I’m entirely on board with that."
Isabel
The walk down the sun-bleached avenue leading toward the marina was peaceful. The warm Gulf breeze moved through the sweet pines with a rhythmic, calming quality. As they neared the glass entrance of the cafe, a small, handwritten cardboard sign taped securely to the corner window pane caught Isabel's attention.
