But it was the larger font centered in the middle that caught Lila’s eye. It read, Passing the torch.
“Read it out loud,” Edie suggested.
“The future of Fireside Cabins is bright with the announcement of our new operator, Lila Evans…” Lila looked up. “What?”
Eleanor held up the stack of papers she was holding. “This is the sales contract for Fireside Cabins.”
Smash held up his checkbook. “I just did a tour to raise enough money to pay Theo back for all that I took from him. But he said he didn’t need it. And someone else did. So Theo and I have decided to buy a resort…” Smash opened the checkbook and ripped out a check, handing it to Eleanor. “It’s the escrow payment. I’m finally investing in something great,” he said.
“You’re buying Fireside Cabins?” Lila asked, in shock.
“Yes. But I need fantastic people to run it, and I thought you and Eleanor together would be the perfect team.”
Theo pulled out a little Christmas bag and held it toward her, the gift hanging from his finger. “You’ll have to work the cabins sometimes, Dad. Lila’s going to be busy with the children.”
“Children?”
Piper giggled. “We told him how much you love working with kids.”
He pushed his finger forward and she lifted the gift off of it, pulling out two keys.
“One key is to your cabin, which will be completely remodeled to your specifications, per our budget,” Edie said. “The other key is for the Children’s Cabin that we’ll be using for after-school care for underprivileged children. They’ll come here for activities, and also learn how to run the grounds so that when they get older, they’ll have work experience and we’ll offer them a job if we have one, or find them a job that uses those skills. There will be tutors for homework and activity directors for our new ropes course, hiking trails, and off-campus outings—whatever you want to plan.”
Lila put her hand over her gaping mouth, tears filling her eyes.
Piper held up her envelope next. “Looks like I’m the last one to share my gift,” she said. “Smash and I called some national media outlets and let them know where Theo was.”
“What?” Lila asked, aghast.
“We gave them exclusive interviews with Smash and Theo. We told them that Theo hadn’t done a thing wrong—that everything people had written about him and Alexa were all rumors, and they could be the first outlets to break the real story straight from Theo and Smash’s mouths. And we also told them how Theo’s been in Pinewood Hills, living among friends to escape all the drama, which is where he’ll be staying to run the coffee shop and help underprivileged youth. The press is running the stories starting next week.” She handed Lila the envelope. “Here’s a list of all of them.”
“When I first told Nikki Mars about this, she called her attorney Trevor Michaels, who was so interested in this case that he’s going to take it on pro bono,” Charlotte told her. “Mr. Michaels says this one is huge, and that he could go after Alexa for slander.”
“But I told him not to do that,” Theo added. “He can threaten it to keep her quiet, but all I want is a divorce. Remember the photo you took of the note on your door that you sent to Piper? That was all we needed to keep Alexa quiet and get her to comply.” He grinned.
Lila twisted in her chair to face Theo. “Do you think she’ll try to bother you?”
“I know Alexa,” he said. “And her main motivation for all this is clearing her reputation. Once my name is clean in the media, she’ll let it go. And she knows that if she doesn’t, it’s her own reputation on the line.”
Lila was stunned.
“What about you, Eleanor?” she asked. “Are you okay with all this?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “Tell her my role, Smash.”
“Eleanor will stay on with us and be our resident historian,” Smash said. “She’s going to be in the new gift shop on the premises, and she’ll narrate the three-dimensional video history in the new wing we’re building.”
“It’s very cool,” Edie added. “When guests take the tour, they’ll begin in seats in a state-of-the-art viewing room where the history of the area is projected on all the walls around them, taking them from the first settlers to the modern resort where they will be spending their vacation.”
“Nikki and I are gathering a production team to shoot the footage right now,” Charlotte added.
Lila’s mouth dropped open