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“But imagine how great it will be when we pull it off,” Olivia said in a dreamy voice.
“What about Hope? Should we give her a call?” Charlotte asked.
“I spoke to her this morning,” Morgan said with a smile. “She said she’ll go along with the group’s decision. But she also reiterated that she needs a job so she can support herself and her daughter.”
“Again, what are we going to do about Fancy?” Callie asked with a moan. “Any decision we make has to include her point of view.”
“It sounds like we already know what her point of view is,” Olivia said with a pointed look. “She doesn’t want to be part of a joint inheritance with us. Fancy wants cold, hard cash.”
“She wants to punish us,” Charlotte muttered.
“I want this,” Morgan announced. “If we restore Savannah House I can have something of my own.” Tears gathered in her eyes. Pearl reached out and clutched her daughter’s hands. “When I left Savannah to go overseas I didn’t think there was anything for me here, but I was wrong. Somehow…some way…Miss Hattie knew that. It feels like she threw me a lifeline.”
This was as much as Morgan had ever said about the reasons she had left Savannah rather suddenly in order to study at culinary school in Paris. Six months after living in the city of light, she had been offered a position at a wonderful Parisian patisserie where she made all sorts of pastries and desserts. Pearl had told Callie all about it, although Morgan had not been forthcoming with the details of her Parisian life. It had surprised Callie to see Morgan leave everything she knew behind her. Although cooking had always been Morgan’s grand passion, the locale of Savannah had always been her focus in terms of building a career. Savannah had so much going on in the culinary department—chefs who were known the world over, the best restaurants in the country and a clientele that wanted to be entertained and well fed.
“To be honest, I think that I was on board the moment those words fell out of Mr. Mayhew’s mouth,” Callie admitted. “I think we’d be crazy to say no.”
“Charlotte? You’re the only one still on the fence,” Olivia pointed out.
Charlotte let out a tremendous sigh. “I have reservations, but as of late I’ve been trying to live more courageously. In the spirit of that, I’m going to say…let’s do this.”
Pearl clapped and let out a hoot. The women began celebrating by giving each other high-fives and clapping. There was a vibe of happiness floating in the air. New beginnings!
“Why don’t I go get Mr. Mayhew so we can tell him what we’ve decided,” Callie suggested. “After all, if we’re going to be up and running by next summer, we have to get a move on.”
“Next summer?” Charlotte’s expression was one of horror. “Who said anything about that?”
“Nobody,” Callie teased. “I’m just being ambitious.”
As laughter trailed after her, Callie sailed out of the conference room and down the hall. It felt like she had an extra pep in her step. She looked in every direction, hoping for a sighting of Mr. Mayhew. The low rumble of voices caused her to turn left down a side hallway. She spotted the attorney in a small office with windows. He looked up and met her gaze, beckoning her to join him. When she entered the room, a rustling sound caused her to look to her left. A man in a dark business suit stood there, looking more handsome than he had a right to look.
“Jax! What are you doing here?” She looked back and forth between Jax and Attorney Mayhew. Her mind was whirling with the implications. This couldn’t be chalked up to mere coincidence.
“I’m here on a business matter related to Duvall Investments,” he said. “Mayhew was just explaining things to me.”
“I told Mr. Holden that Savannah House is not for sale,” Mr. Mayhew said curtly.
Callie felt as if her legs were about to give out beneath her. She frowned at Jax. “For sale? You were trying to buy Savannah House?”
Attorney Mayhew held up his hand. “There’s no need to fret, Miss Duvall. I informed Mr. Holden that such a request is impossible. Since it’s a matter of public record, I told him about the inheritance and the specific stipulations.”
“So you did have your eye on Savannah House. Didn’t you?” she spit out.
“Excuse me,” Mr. Mayhew said in a fretful tone as his eyes wandered back and forth between them like a tennis ball. “I’ll let the two of you have some privacy.” Before they knew it, he had left, leaving an electrically charged silence in his wake.
“I can’t believe you!” Callie said.
“Callie, you’re jumping to conclusions,” Jax warned.
Placing her hands on her hips, Callie faced him. “Oh no, I don’t think I am. My father is once again trying to control me. And he’s using you and Savannah House to do it!” she said angrily. “For the record, I can’t even begin to express in mere words how furious that makes me at both of you.”
**
Jax let out a groan as Callie stormed away from him. What had just happened? He had been tried and convicted without even an opportunity to express himself. Leave it to Callie to think her father was up to no good. And she’d thrown him in there for good measure!
Jax strode after her, catching up to her quite easily. He grabbed her by her arm and led her into one of the empty offices. She glared at him, sticking out her lip the way she had done a hundred times or more as a child. More times than not, he had been the cause of her ire.
She shrugged him off. “I can’t believe you and my father are meddling in my inheritance from Hattie!” Callie said in a raised voice.
