A Date to Play Fore - Heidi McLaughlin Page 0,27
and I dating? If so, she’d be our only ally.
With her luggage in hand, I opt for the elevator this time and go back to my room. I start to pack and call Eli. I tell him about my encounter with Leah’s mom, and what my plan is and what I need from him. He promises to deliver and wishes me luck, which is good because I’m going to need it. I’ve done some crazy hairbrained things before in my life, but this one is going to take the cake.
Thankfully, the hotel sends a bellhop to my room to help in getting all my luggage downstairs. The only thing I don’t have are mine and Leah’s golf clubs, but we’ll be close enough to Charleston that we can drive back and get them. I force myself to think nothing but positive thoughts when it comes to Leah. One negative thought and I’ll start second-guessing myself. I do know for certain—she is worth it. She’s worth all of what I’m about to face. Not only today, but in the days and weeks to come. I want more than anything to run back to Vegas and sign our names on the dotted line, sealing our marriage as real.
While I follow the bellhop toward the elevator, I open my phone and look at my Instagram. I fully expect Bryan to have released a statement of his own about his sister and me. Media outlets are commenting that they want an interview. Women are commenting that they’re bummed. Men are giving me virtual high-fives, the likes on the photo are crazy, and the tags are too many for me to look through. I go right to Bryan’s account and find people leaving comments. He’s replied to a few by saying, “I have never spoken about my sister’s love life and I’m not about to start now. Please respect their privacy.”
Their not hers.
Is it possible Bryan has had a change of heart?
Nope, not in a million years. I’m not even remotely foolish enough to think he’s changed his mind.
“Mr. Jennings, we’ve brought your car around back. There is a lot paparazzi out front and we thought it would be better if you weren’t attacked as soon as we walk out of the hotel.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate this.” I reach into my pocket, pull out my wallet and open it, pulling out a couple hundred-dollar bills and handing them to the bellhop. “Share with whoever had the idea and is making this possible.”
He nods his head. “Thank you, sir.”
“No, thank you. I wouldn’t have thought about the paps being outside.”
He chuckles. “Ever since you and Mrs. Jennings returned, they’ve been camped out front.”
Mrs. Jennings. I really like the sound of this.
We take the elevator down to the basement, walk down a long corridor, and get into another one to go up one floor. When we step outside, the heat is suffocating. The bellhop and another employee load mine and Leah’s luggage into the back of my SUV and bid me goodbye before they shut the trunk door. After setting my GPS, I groan at the time it’s going to take me to get to Charlotte. Traffic is going to be a bitch.
“The things men do for love.” I sigh and head out of the parking lot but not before I glance at the swarm of photographers camped out in front of the hotel. I almost feel sorry for them, especially with how hot it is outside. Almost.
By the time I arrive in Charlotte, it’s late so there’s no choice but to wait until morning. My original plan of showing up at her door and falling to my knees has been scrapped and a new one set in place. Thanks to Eli’s super sleuthing, he discovered that Leah is at work just like her mother told me she would be, which could make things a bit more difficult. But thanks to Eli, my business manager, and my very deep checkbook, I’m hoping to pull off something rather epic.
When I arrive at the hospital, I call Chuck. He’s the orderly shift supervisor and has agreed to help me, along with his wife who is a nurse on Leah’s floor. Chuck meets me outside and ushers me into one of those non-descript doors people often wonder where they lead to. The one I’m in, leads down a very long hallway of concrete blocks.
We walk, turn down a hall, go through a door, walk some more, another door, turn,