Everything was perfect.
The hotel was flawless for its big debut. The black-tie-attired crowd filled the lobby of The Bellamy, flowing into the ballroom and out to the courtyard surrounding the pool. Even then it was almost elbow to elbow. It seemed as though the whole town had shown up to get their first peek at the resort. Unfazed by the crowd, the waiters moved expertly through guests with trays of delicious tapas and signature cocktails.
Shane and Brandee were beaming, and rightfully so. Deacon had heard nothing but compliments on the hotel so far. People loved the design, loved the food and couldn’t wait to have guests stay at The Bellamy. Even people who at one time might’ve given Deacon dirty looks as they passed on the sidewalk stopped to congratulate him.
It was exactly what Royal needed, he was told. He certainly hoped so. He and Shane had a lot of money tied up in this place, and he hoped to get it back. If he could finally coexist with the upper-class circles of Royal, that would be even better. Maybe he’d be willing to stay a little longer than he’d planned after all. Deacon wasn’t ready to make any big decisions, but the more time he spent in Royal, the easier it became. Cecelia might just talk him into becoming a Texan again before too long.
The only wrong tonight was the fact that he couldn’t find Cecelia anywhere. Things had been crazy the minute they’d touched down in Texas. Their relaxing, romantic vacation came to a quick end with the final week of preparations that needed to be made for the opening of the resort.
He’d gotten used to having her in his bed and by his side, so it pained him to have her suddenly ripped away. He didn’t even know what she was wearing tonight or if she was even here yet. He thought he saw her blonde head in the crowd, but he hadn’t managed to get his hands on her with everyone wanting to congratulate him on the hotel.
“Mr. Chase?”
Deacon turned and found Brent and Tilly Morgan, of all people, waiting to speak to him. He made a poor attempt to mask his surprise, smiling and shaking Brent’s hand although he had no idea why they wanted to talk to him. They never wanted anything to do with him before, and they
certainly had never wanted him anywhere near their daughter.
“Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, so glad you could make it. How do you like the hotel?”
“It really is lovely,” Tilly said. “Cecelia refused to give us any hints about her design, but I can see her refined aesthetic here in the lobby. I would love to see one of the guest rooms. Are any of them open to view?”
Deacon nodded, ignoring the fact that all of Tilly’s compliments about the hotel were focused on their daughter’s work and not on anything that had to do with him. “There’s a gentleman near the elevators who is escorting guests to one of her suites on the second floor if you would like to take a tour. Cecelia really did an amazing job. Shane and I had no doubts in her ability to execute our vision here for The Bellamy. You should be very proud of her.”
“Oh, we are,” a man said from over Tilly’s shoulder.
It’d been quite a few years since Deacon had laid eyes on Chip Ashford, but he instantly recognized him. Tall, blond...the perfect golden boy with an arrogant smirk and a spray-on tan. The people in Royal saw him as some sort of god, but he just looked like a game show host to Deacon—all smiles and no authenticity.
Deacon wasn’t about to let Chip’s treatment of Cecelia go unnoted after he stood there gloating about her as though they were still engaged. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, Chip. From what Cecelia tells me, you two didn’t part very well. Something about her being an imposter.”
“That was just a little misunderstanding,” Chip said dismissively. “Wasn’t it, Brent?”
Cecelia’s father immediately nodded, as though he’d almost been coached with his response. “A little bit of nothing. Cecelia tends to get upset about the silliest things and make them into a bigger deal than they are. Nothing more than a little lover’s spat.”
Tilly nodded enthusiastically. Deacon was disgusted by how they sucked up to the Ashfords. The Morgans were a fine family on their own, and frankly, it was embarrassing.
“Brent, why don’t you take Tilly upstairs to see one of Cecelia’s rooms? I’d like to have a private chat with Deacon, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, not at all. Come on, Tilly.” Brent put his arm around his wife and escorted her through the crowd to the wall of brass elevator doors that led upstairs.
Deacon watched them disappear, curious about what Chip had to say to him in private. The two of them had probably shared less than a dozen words between them. He imagined there was only one thing that Chip wanted to talk about: Cecelia. She was the only thing they had ever had in common.
The friendly expression on Chip’s face vanished the moment the Morgans disappeared. When he turned back to look at Deacon, a scowl lined his forehead and drew down the corners of his mouth. “I’ve heard that you’ve been taking up with Cecelia.”
Deacon did his best to maintain a neutral expression. He didn’t want to give Chip any ammunition. “Have you? Good news travels fast.”
“I wouldn’t consider you making moves on my fiancée to be good news. Because of that whole dustup about the adoption, I am willing to be a gentleman and overlook the whole thing between you two. Especially since Cecelia has come to her senses.”
Deacon tensed up and frowned at Chip’s statement. “Come to her senses and realized marrying you was an epic mistake?”
Chip snorted in derision. “Hardly. You see, Chase, while you were busy getting ready to open this hotel, I was busy reconciling with my fiancée. I’ll admit I reacted poorly to her news, but I apologized to her and she’s accepted my apology. I presume, now that the hotel is open and the engagement is back on, that you’ll crawl back into whatever European hole you climbed out of.”
Deacon could hardly believe his ears. Chip couldn’t be serious. There was no way that Cecelia would take him back after the way he had treated her. Deacon had been the one who’d comforted her when Chip broke their engagement. Deacon had been the one who’d whisked her away to France to avoid the cutting gossip after Maverick’s revelation about her adoption. Deacon was the one who had held her in his arms, worshipped her body and accepted her for who she really was.
Would she really go back to the man who had shunned her after nothing more than a simple apology?
“You look surprised, Chase. I take it Cecelia hasn’t gotten a chance to break the bad news to you yet. I would imagine the truth smarts a little, but you can’t really be surprised. We all know who gets the girl in this scenario. I don’t care how much money you’ve made over the years or who you’ve conned to get it. She wants a man from a good family with the connections and the power that only someone like I can give her. You might be a fun diversion in the sack, but you’ll never be enough of a man in her eyes for anything more serious than that.”
Deacon tried not to flinch at Chip’s expertly aimed barb. Without fail, it hit him right in his most tender spot. He had worked hard to make more of himself, to be the man Cecelia always thought he could be. But he had always wondered if that was enough. It hadn’t been enough back in high school when she broke up with him. She hadn’t given him any reason to doubt her, but what really made him think that anything had changed?