Free His Winter Rose and Apple Blossom Bride by Lois Richer

Summer Splash and Fall Fair. I’m thinking maybe Winter Festival, too. What do you think?”
    He was spared an answer by the arrival of their food. Piper wasn’t sure she could eat anything. Waiting for his response was like sitting on pins and needles.
    “Smells great.” He bowed his head for a moment. Piper followed suit, said a quick plea for help. Then Jason picked up his fork, then glanced at her, one eyebrow raised.
    “Yes, it does.” If he wanted to play it cool, she’d follow along.
    “I like the ideas you’ve proposed,” Jason said five minutes later. “There’s a real diversity that will mean people want to keep coming back. But I’m somewhat concerned that you’ve contacted so many people without running this by me first.”
    “But you knew the basic idea,” she said, stunned by his objection. “I showed it to you that first morning.”
    “This sounds much bigger than we first thought.”
    “That’s the nature of tourism. It grows and changes.” She sipped her water and tried to think of this from his perspective. “Some things that we try this year won’t work the way we expect and we’ll have to revise plans, even change midstream sometimes.”
    He nodded but she could tell he wasn’t convinced.
    “Is there something specific that bothers you?”
    He lifted his head, stared at her. “Do I sound critical? I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s all a little overwhelming.”
    Piper nodded. “That’s because I’m trying to get the ball rolling without the six to twelve months of prep work that should have gone before. We don’t have time to lose if we want to see results this year.” She fiddled with her napkin absently. “That is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
    He nodded. She continued.
    “It’s going to be hectic, but it’s doable. Don’t worry about details right now. It’s more important to get the big picture in place. Once we’ve got things nailed down, once we know exactly what we can handle this year, who will sponsor what and how we’ll handle whoever comes to town, that’s the time to start getting the details in sync.”
    “But some of those details are going to affect what we can do this year. For instance, a hotel. We have a couple of motels, an RV park and a number of campsites, but we just can’t handle the influx of people you’re talking about without a major hotel developer.”
    “Yes, we do need more accommodation. But I doubt anyone can get a hotel built and operational before summer so we won’t have to concentrate on that just yet.”
    “But that’s the thing,” he insisted, laying down his fork to accentuate his point. “Building a hotel takes time. I want to recruit a company who can provide the kind of amenities we’re asking for quickly.”
    “Once Serenity Bay takes off, there will be any number of prospective developers knocking down your door. But most of them want to see some of the potential first. I’m sure you know that from your work at Expectations.” One glance at his face had Piper wishing she hadn’t said that. “There are lots of hotel builders, Jason.” She heard a wariness creep into her own voice and paused. He didn’t need to know her worst nightmare.
    “There are. But I don’t want just anyone. If we show them your plans, perhaps we can lure one here.” Jason reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a paper. “I drew up a list of those I think would do a good job for us.”
    Piper took the list out, read the first name and swallowed.
    “I think we can cross off Wainwright,” she murmured.
    “But they are my first choice.” Jason was clearly not pleased by her comment. “They’ve done lots of developing, they know how to make a project take off, they’ve got enough resources behind them to keep their commitments.”
    “They’ve also had trouble on several projects recently,” she told him, remembering what Rowena had said about the London undertaking. “I don’t want us to get tied up with a company