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CHAPTER ONE

Josie Gallagher gripped the letter froht hands

She already knew the contents Cruz Maldonado, her cousin Rory’s husband and a lawyer, had called with a heads-up the night before She’d lost her battle against the hotel giant erecting a five-star resort just south of her popular lakeside barbecue joint Her little place stood in the way of progress, which meant she’d have to relocate the Bayou Barbecue She tore open the envelope, and her gaze landed on four distinct words “Eranted”

Gone

Just like that Her hard work, dedication and years of working with some of the best chefs in New Orleans had dissipated like a whiff of hickory smoke because the boat-launch site on her land was a better match for the major hotelier Her lake access was about to becoton Hotels & Inns for a tidy sum to help her launch a new spot, but new spots weren’t exactly a given along the waterfront, and real estate had gone sky-high in Grace Haven, New York

“Bad news?” Her cousin Kih the side door of Josie’s tiny apart quarters was attached to the Southern-style eatery she’d spent years building, which meant she wasn’t only out of a job She was also out of a home “Is that from the county?”

Josie fought back a wealth of angry words she’d like to say Clutching the stupid paper, she nodded “Yup”

“Oh, Josie” Kied “I’ht? Take it further?”

They’d already gone the legal route Cruz had reco If the county saw a need for this strip of land to provide the proper spacing for a ton pay fair market value and take the land End of story “It’s done”

“How long have you got to vacate?”

“Thirty days”

“Thirty days?” Anger darkened Kinant with her second child, and Josie didn’t want to tip her into labor, but at least a new baby would be a happy end to an otherretched day “They can’t possibly expect you to take care offrom your home and business and find a new place in thirty days Can they? That’s preposterous, Josie, even for Southerners”

A deep and distinctly Southern drawl interrupted them from the screened door “It would seem less preposterous had you taken the initial offer six o”

The woood-looking He had an official-looking folder in his left hand, which ton Hotels hench because she folded her arher posture

Josie Gallagher moved forward, determined to save Ki, and I’m pretty sure you weren’t invited, sir”

Thebut courteous about this whole thing We approached you personally, and you laughed at our representative, and from what I’ve heard, possibly also shut the door in his face”

She’d done exactly that, and she would have done it again if they had reapproached with that nu she was stupid She wasn’t “The original offer was deserving of that, I believe”

“It was too low, and I apologize for that,” the man said He looked honest, but Josie had found out the hard way that honesty should never be taken at face value, and despite this guy’s classic good looks—tall, broad-shouldered, curly light brown hair and blue eyes—she wasn’t going to be fooled this tiain

“I wasn’t in on the initial negotiations,” he continued “If I had been, the offer would have been quite different But fighting over this corner property has made for costly delays…”

“And has negatively affected your client’s bottom line” Josie pretended to yawn “I’ve read the briefs and you’ve gotten the county to side with you, so why is Carrington sending another lawyer to my door? You won I have to diswigs like you, it’s a huge deal to small-town businesspeople like me Take your celebration elsewhere We’re closed”