One More Taste (One and Only Texas #2)(33)
Haylie breezed past the receptionist, all the while spouting factoids about the spa and the various cutting-edge treatments it offered.
After a right turn at a wall of spa pedicure chairs, they arrived at a brightly lit hairstyling space. Only two customers were being fussed over at the moment, both draped in hot pink leopard print capes. Haylie walked up to the one with the long hair cascading down her back in shades of gold and white blonde.
“Hi, Mom.”
Eloise’s face brightened at the sight of her daughter through the mirror. Two slender arms appeared from beneath the cape and clasped together. Nearly every finger was dripping with jeweled rings. “Darling! What a nice surprise.”
The hairstylist pivoted the salon chair so Eloise could face her guests. She did a double take when she saw Knox. Beneath her tan, her face paled. And then she sneered at him. An actual, ugly sneer that had Knox wondering what he’d ever done to piss her off or if this wasn’t about him, but his dad. Had she hated Knox’s dad? They’d all been schoolmates together. Was this about the rift? Knox’s gut was telling him it was.
“Tracy, I need a martini,” Eloise said. “Would you be a sweetheart and call the order up to the bar?”
“Mom, don’t be so distracted. Come meet Knox. He’s family. Plus, he gave me a job as his secretary, remember?”
She kept her focus on Haylie as she rose from her chair. “I do. But listen, honey, I’m late for my next treatment. When you’re on your lunch break, maybe we could meet in the bar and catch up.”
Knox decided to test Eloise’s resolve in ignoring him. He stepped forward, almost getting in her personal space, his arm extended for a handshake. “So great to meet you, Aunt Eloise.” Extra emphasis on the aunt.
She afforded his offered hand only the slightest glance before turning away from him. “Likewise,” she tossed over her shoulder in an exaggerated Texas drawl as she strutted down the hall into the recesses of the spa.
“Your mom doesn’t like me. Any idea why?” Knox said, curious about Haylie’s take on the situation.
“Of course, she likes you. You’re family. It’s just that when she gets a couple martinis in her early, she’s not herself.” If her mom’s before-noon martini swilling bothered Haylie, she did an ace job of hiding it. “Now, come on. I have so much more to show you on the tour. Next up, my favorite secret place to eat lunch. Our amphitheater.”
As opposed to the spa or the catering kitchen, the shady, inviting amphitheater that was nestled against the southwest corner of the main resort building was humming with activity in preparation for a one-hundred-guest wedding that night, according to the resort’s in-house wedding planner, whom they found on the amphitheater stage. She looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties and clearly knew how to command an amphitheater full of resort workers and wedding vendors. Knox approved of her immediately.
“Remedy Lane,” she said, extending her hand.
“It’s great to meet you, Remedy,” Knox said, shaking her hand. “You’ve got yourself quite an operation here.”
Remedy stood tall, pride and competence shining in her eyes. “We get the job done.”
“I’ll say. I’m discovering that weddings around here are a very big deal,” Knox said.
Haylie leaned in towards him. “They’re our cash cow.”
Knox’s analysis of the company’s books had proven that to be true. The weddings at Briscoe Ranch had been the only thing keeping the place afloat. “How far out are you booking?”
Remedy nodded her agreement. “We’re on target to break the resort record for number of weddings held here this year. Next year, as well.”
“You already have projections for next year? That’s good,” Knox said.
“We’re already booked solid for next year,” came Remedy’s reply.
God, the untapped potential of this place. If he could retain the charm, he could quadruple the profits in half the time proposed to the private equity investors. “What do you think it is about Briscoe Ranch that makes it such a popular destination?”
Remedy’s attention was momentarily snagged by two workers who were stringing white lights across the top of the theater. She called out a directive to them.
“Magic,” Haylie said to Knox, grinning broadly.
Remedy tore her focus from the workers. “Haylie’s right. There’s something magical about this place that makes people fall in love and stay in love forever. Especially if they get married at the resort during December.”
How could there be magic in a place so full of dark family history? He looked from Haylie to Remedy. “You’re both serious?”
“I know what that sounds like. Crazy, huh?” Remedy said. “I was a skeptic at first, but now I’m the biggest believer in the magic of Briscoe Ranch. I’m getting married here in December.”
“To Dulcet’s most eligible bachelor, if I do say so myself,” Haylie added. “Just like my Wendell was before we fell in love. And my sister met Decker here. And my parents met here, and my grandparents. Well, our grandparents, I guess. It’s been a family tradition since Granny June and Tyson’s wedding almost sixty years ago. Did your parents meet here?”
Knox searched his memory but drew a blank. “I don’t think I know the answer to that. They got married here, though. But in November, not December like the family tradition.” Which was just as well. There was nothing particularly magical about his parents’ utilitarian marriage, and neither of them had ever pretended there was, so it wasn’t as though they sat around basking in their romantic days of yore.