Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,14
this place with a crowbar,” he said, “but that doesn't mean you have to stay here with me. I like your plan. We’ll hire this Forrest guy to take over for you, and you can split your time between The Inn and learning the ropes of Sawyer Enterprises with Griffen. If you like the way it's going we can always ease you out of The Inn completely if that's what you want. Or you can keep doing part-time on both. And if this guy doesn't work out, we’ll find somebody else.”
“I'm planning on mornings at The Inn and afternoons with Griffen and Hope, but I may need more flexibility, depending.”
Tenn waved his hand, dismissing the problem. “We'll work it out, man. Seriously, we have enough to worry about without you stressing over the schedule.”
He wasn't wrong. “Did West have anything to say about cockroach guy?”
“Nothing useful. It was exactly like the guy who shot at Griffen. He was paid, doesn't know who sent the money, yada yada.”
Dumping cockroaches in our HVAC system was only the latest attempt at sabotage. So far, the problems had been more annoyance than catastrophes. Missing luggage, guest rooms broken into, room service orders diverted.
A few hundred cockroaches set loose in The Inn? That was far more than an annoyance. We had to figure out who was behind it before things got any worse.
A quick double-knock sounded on the door to my office. Tenn and I looked up to see our assistant hovering. This couldn't be good. Penny didn't hover. Penny threw problems at us like fastballs, usually followed by solutions of her own devising.
I wasn't surprised when she said apologetically, “The front desk called. Your aunt Ophelia has a… Complaint.”
Tenn and I shared a look. He called, “Tails,” pulling a quarter out of his pocket. I nodded in agreement. The quarter came up heads. Fuck. I guess that meant I was the lucky one who got to deal with Aunt Ophelia and our cousin, Bryce.
“Sorry, man.” Tenn clapped me on the back with a grin. “We can table the rest of this until you get back.”
Whatever it was, I was determined that it wouldn't take long. Ophelia and Bryce had been a time-suck since they'd shown up in Sawyers Bend fresh on the heels of my father's murder.
It might have been a simple matter to get rid of them, but nothing about my father's death was simple. He'd changed his will constantly, so often that none of us bothered to keep up with his latest machinations. Still, we'd all been shocked as hell when the family lawyer had proclaimed my oldest brother Griffen the sole heir of everything.
While he’d lived, my father had retained ownership of the various Sawyer businesses, The Inn at Sawyers Bend included. Tenn and I had been running the place for over a decade, but the company itself had been owned by our father. Despite our birth, Tenn and I were no more than salaried employees. That hadn't changed with our father’s death.
No, that’s not right. Everything had changed when Prentice died.
According to the terms of the will, my siblings and I had to move back into the family home, Heartstone Manor, and live there full-time for five years. If we did and Griffen was satisfied with our behavior, he’d release the contents of our trust funds at the end of the five years. Assuming there was anything left to release.
The will gave Griffen complete control over every penny we might inherit.
Griffen was as stuck as we were for the next five years. Only time would tell if he’d walk away at the end, free of his family, his pockets flush with the cash our father had left us.
If we didn't follow the terms set out in the will, our cousin Bryce would inherit everything, and we’d all be out on our asses.
It was an effective threat. Generations of Sawyers had made this corner of North Carolina their home, amassing vast wealth and standing in the community.
Bryce would drain the coffers dry in less than a year.
He was exactly the kind of asshole who’d buy a mega-yacht and a fleet of exotic cars. Who’d attract hangers-on and throw lavish parties until there wasn't a penny left.
I don't think a single one of us felt any loyalty to our father. He sure as hell hadn't shown any to us. The town was a different matter.
Sawyer Enterprises owned most of the real estate and businesses in the town of Sawyers Bend. If Bryce