Free Whitney in Charge by Diane Craver Page A

Adam.”
    “Hi, Mrs. Benson.”
    “Please call me Whitney.” Another step in the direction she needed to take. In order to have any kind of a relationship with Ben or maybe someone else, she needed to get rid of the Missus part of her name. “I like your karate clothes.”
    Ben eased out of the driveway. “Karate’s great, isn’t it Adam?”
    Adam gave a vigorous nod. “It’s fun.”
    “The kids learn to pay better attention and to follow directions so that carries over to school,” Ben said. “They develop confidence and many other things are learned that’ll help them later in life.”
    “Maybe Regan should sign Lily up for karate. I’ll mention it to her.”
    They chatted comfortably until arriving at the small dojo in town where the class was held. Ben walked Adam to the building and went inside with him. After a few moments, he rejoined Whitney in the car.
    Before starting the vehicle, he turned slightly in his seat and stared at her. “You look very pretty. Your eyes are such a brilliant green.”
    She felt the heat creep into her cheeks. “Thank you. Wearing green makes my eyes more noticeable.”
    “I thought we could go for a hike first, and then get something to eat. But if you’re hungry, we can eat first.”
    She shook her head. “No, I’d like to hike first. I ate some fruit and cheese not too long ago.”
    * * *
    When Ben introduced Whitney to Susan and Gary Myers, she was surprised to see how young they looked. She’d guess forties by looking at them, but since she knew they wanted to retire, she figured they had to be well into their fifties. Not quite the usual retirement age, but if they made good money from Wild Blossom Lake Resort, then they probably could afford to retire young.
    Which meant good things for her and her sisters if they purchased the resort.
    Gary smiled at her, causing small lines at the corners of his friendly eyes. “I heard you’re in the market for a business,” he said as he sat down at the rustic, worn table in the main hall of the resort.
    She nodded. “My sisters and I want to either start our own business or buy something like this that’s already established.” While looking around at the high cedar beams, she noticed the lovely Native American wall hangings. Brightly colored rugs were in several places on the hardwood floors.
    “You came to the right place,” Susan said. “It’ll be hard to sell because it’s been wonderful living here. And we invested time in improvements, especially since we built the five cabins ourselves. The resort was the only thing here when we bought this place, but—”
    Gary interrupted and said, “The restaurant was here and the boat dock with paddle boats and canoes. We fell in love with the beautiful view.”
    “Oh yes, be sure to go on that trail. It’s a little hard to climb but so worth it.” Susan glanced at her husband, her eyes sparkling with affection. “We’re selling because we want to travel to Europe and so many other places before we get too old.”
    “We tried to get our son and daughter interested in the resort so we could keep it as a family business, but I guess we worked them too hard when they were teenagers.” Gary laughed. “Seriously, it was great for our family. We had some fun times together.”
    “It’s a beautiful place. I’m definitely interested but the only problem is my sisters don’t want to run it during the winter months. I’m not sure if I want to do it myself.”
    “We never took any reservations for the month of January and half of February, so maybe you could close two to three months,” Gary said. “Just to warn you the card tournament is a big draw in late February.”
    Susan gave Gary a nudge. “What about the art show in March?” She grinned at them. “You can tell Gary thinks the card playing is a bigger attraction than all the creative people we have coming here to see art. We have several talented local artists, and I showcase their work in the main