Free The Chosen Heir (The Bolles Dynasty Book 3) by Susie Warren Page B

he shut the door.
    He maneuvered back into traffic and she said, “This is not about me facing the past. I was never an owner of The Donne. But given everything I know about the resort, I highly doubt you will turn it around.”
    He sounded amused. “Ah. You have so little faith. The hotel needs to be upgraded, but I’ve hired a gifted landscape architect and the course has been reimagined.”
    “So have you been able to list the course in any of the major golf events?”
    “The work has to be finished before it can qualify. This is why I need a local person to help with the negotiations.”
    “From everything I remember, the terrain was rocky and treacherous. I don’t know how you will manage to make it work.”
    “The course has to be challenging or it won’t inspire top players to come.”
    “I doubt the run-down hotel will inspire those top players to stay.”
    “You would be surprised. With the right course, they would probably stay in a tent. That was the mistake your father made... trying to upgrade the facilities first and then allowing those who do shoddy work to have control.”
    “If he made so many mistakes, why do you insist on meeting with him?”
    “Your father has a connection to the local contractors. We need someone who can negotiate for us.”
    “He is a dreamer. I wouldn’t put him in charge of negotiating with anyone.”
    “Without a dreamer, it would be hard to complete the project. Someone had to see the good in it. I played the course many times as a teenager and it was magical. The way it drops off and you can see the ocean from every part of the course.”
    William surprised her. Discussing the course, he was about more than merely profit and loss. He had some sort of nostalgic connection with the land. Like her father.
    “Does your management team agree with seeking out Tom?”
    “They are somewhat defeated at the moment. The Donne is hemorrhaging money. We have never taken on a long-term company or project that had this much risk. They need to dig in and find talent and expertise that they didn’t know existed within themselves to make this work.”
    “Maybe you are asking too much of them?”
    “They are well compensated to succeed where others have failed. We have turned around several companies that are now doing unimaginable sales. I know this will happen for The Donne.”
    He turned down the private road towards The Donne. It was more beautiful than she remembered. The sweeping lawns were more dramatic and she could see work happening in the distance.
    “It has changed considerably, but I don’t share your enthusiasm. You probably shouldn’t bring me in because I’m not able to be a cheerleader. I don’t see success as a likely outcome.”
    “You haven’t been here in years. I’ll ask you to withhold judgment. If you approach this with an open mind and give it a chance then tell me you can’t help – I’ll send you over to Breen.”
    “William, I belong at Breen. I have experience in the fashion industry.”
    Her words were met with silence and she began to feel uneasy. He had just asked her to withhold judgment and have an open mind. Surely she was capable of that? Even if this horrible place brought back terrible memories for her. Her father had spent the last few years of her mother’s life throwing himself into this place and it was all for nothing.
    ***
    William parked the vehicle near the conference center. Getting out, he breathed in the fresh scent of grass being cut. He waited for Bridget to climb out of the Range Rover and walk towards him. Why did he find her so alluring? She would be impossible to work with. Why couldn’t she accept direction and decide to throw herself into something unexpected? Her negative thoughts about The Donne were making him uneasy. Fionn has visited a few months back and had counseled him to give up and pull out of the project. The course might be a beast, but he wanted to see it come alive again. He was doing it in memory