“Why would he do what you tell him to do?” Matt challenged.
“I helped him arrange the financing on that restaurant and the two others he owns. Let’s just say he’s very grateful to me. If you want to keep the job, be in by ten.”
Matt looked stunned. “I don’t believe this.” He turned to Katy. “Are you going to let him issue orders like that? This is our house.”
Katy was too busy reeling from the shock of Luke’s interference to find her voice. “Uh…”
“Take off, Matt,” Luke ordered easily. “I’ll see you when I get back. Thanks again for looking after Zeke.”
“Jesus Christ,” Matt growled. He was clearly struggling to control his anger in deference to the fact that Luke was Katy’s employer.
“Don’t swear in front of your sister.”
Matt gave him one last furious glare and then slammed out of the cottage.
Katy sat fuming at the table until the front door closed behind her brother. Then she leapt to her feet. “Don’t you ever interfere like that between my brother and me again, do you understand? Our problems have nothing to do with you!”
Luke regarded her with unreadable eyes. “I don’t think you know much about seventeen-year-old boys.”
“And you do?” she raged.
“More than you do. I was one once.”
“Is that right?”
“Right. The thing to remember about seventeen-year-old boys is that you have to use the carrot-and-stick approach. And you always start with the stick.”
“This is my brother we’re talking about. I’ve been raising him by myself since he was eight years old, and I don’t need any help from you.”
“Simmer down, Katy. Your little brother is on the verge of becoming a full-grown man. He’s going through some tough times right now.”
“I’m well aware of the problems of peer group pressure and the desire to be independent that young men face at this age. Liz gave me a book to read on the subject.”
“Sometimes books overcomplicate matters. Seventeen-year-old boys need things real simple and straightforward I just made things easy for your brother.”
“Easy?” Katy nearly choked on her fury. “How can you say you made them easy?”
“Put yourself in his place. How can he look his friends in the eye and admit he has to be home by ten because his sister says so? He’ll sound like a wimp. No way he can avoid it. Much easier to tell them that the bastard his sister works for will get his ass fired if he doesn’t get in on time. The guys will respect that.”
Katy sank back down into her chair. Luke had a point. “This male thing is very difficult at times.”
“Only because you’re a female trying to figure it out.”
“All the same, you shouldn’t have interfered. It was none of your business.”
“Everything around here is my business,” Luke said. “If you don’t like it, that’s too bad. You’re the one who brought me here to the bosom of my family, remember?”
“How was I to know you’d act like this?”
“You should have guessed from all of the signs and rumors that I wasn’t going to be Mr. Nice Guy.” Luke put his coffee cup down on the counter and glanced at his watch.
Katy gave him a fulminating look. “You shouldn’t have handled it that way.”
“What way?”
“Making it sound as though you had the power to make the owner of that fast food franchise repay a business favor.”
Luke shrugged, showing no particular concern. “I do have the power to do it.”
Katy gritted her teeth. “Don’t you understand? It sets a very poor example.”
Luke looked surprised. “A poor example of what?”
“Of proper business ethics and procedures,” Katy snapped, totally out of patience. “I don’t want Matt to think such methods of getting your own way are acceptable or appropriate.”
Luke poured himself a second cup of coffee. “They work. That’s the bottom line in the business world. I’m surprised you’ve been able to work for Gilchrist, Inc. for this long without figuring that out.”
“I’m well aware that some people are willing to stoop to such methods,” Katy said, “but I will not have Matt exposed to the notion that they are the right methods.”
“Matt needed a face-saving way of telling the guys he has to be in by ten. I gave it to him. That’s all there is to it. Do you always get things this twisted up?”
“I’m not twisting them up. I’m trying to explain something very important to you.”
“Right.” He glanced at his watch. “Unfortunately, I’ve got to get going. I’m afraid we’ll have to finish this fascinating discussion on modern business ethics some other time.”
Katy sighed. “It’s obvious you haven’t had the responsibility of raising a teenager. I suppose you meant well.”
“Don’t be too sure of that. Meaning well is not one of my top priorities in life.”
“Why did you get involved, then?” she demanded
“For the sake of efficiency. Like I told your brother, I need your full attention in the office. I don’t want you worrying about your family problems.”
Katy tapped her irritation out against the edge of the cereal bowl with her spoon. “I’ve been worrying about my brother and managing to do my job at the same time for a long time now. It’s not nearly as distracting as worrying about your family.”
“Yeah, well, the job has suffered Gilchrist, Inc. is in a hell of a mess.”
Katy flushed furiously. “That’s not my fault, damn it. I’ve been trying my best. Once your grandmother started letting go of the reins there was nothing anyone could do. Besides, I’m a personal assistant. My job was to coordinate things for her, not run her company.”
“Uh-huh.” Luke didn’t sound convinced.
Katy bit her lip. “Are you saying things are in worse shape than I realized, or are you just being deliberately obtuse?”
“I’m saying we’ve got some real problems.” Luke leaned down to stroke Zeke. “I’ll know more about them when I get back from Seattle.”
Katy dropped her spoon in alarm. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”
“Not all of the losses Gilchrist has suffered lately are due to the state of the economy and lack of leadership at the top. I think that in the case of two of the restaurants and Gilchrist Gourmet, someone at the management level has helped dig the holes they’re in.”
Katy was horrified. She leapt out of the chair. “Are you saying Gilchrist has been the victim of embezzlement or something?”
“Or something. I’m not certain just what is going on yet.”
“Good grief.” Katy stared at him. “Who would do a thing like that?”
Luke gave her a mildly disgusted look. “Katy, I’ve got a news flash for you. There are a whole lot of people out there in the real world who leave their wings and halos at home when they go to work.”
“Yes, I know. I’m not naive. But Gilchrist, Inc. is not that large a company. If someone has been deliberately sabotaging the firm, it’s probably someone I know personally.” Katy felt a little ill at that thought. “A friend.”
“Probably.” Luke straightened away from the counter and put down his cup. “Could even be a member of the family.”
“Good grief.” Katy sat down again. “You don’t mean that.”
“I told you, I don’t know enough yet to say who’s behind it. But the possibilities definitely include members of the family.”
“It’s outrageous even to suggest that family members might want to hurt the firm. That’s the last thing they would do. Good Lord, I’m a more likely candidate than one of the family.”
Luke smiled briefly. “For the record, you’re the last person I’d suspect.”
For some reason Katy felt warmed by that co
mment. She felt herself blush with pleasure. “I suppose I should be grateful you have some respect for my years of loyalty to Justine and the company,” she said gruffly.
“The hell with your years of loyalty. You don’t exactly have a poker face, Katy. You’re as easy to read as a newspaper. Everything you’re feeling is right there in your eyes. If you were involved in something shady, I’d know it.”
The warmth she had been feeling turned to ice. “You make me sound like a five-year-old kid who couldn’t organize a candy heist.”
“I think you could organize it,” Luke said thoughtfully. “You’ve got the brains to do it. I just don’t think you could lie about it later.”
His condescending attitude was really beginning to annoy Katy. “You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
That possibility did not appear to worry Luke. “We’ll see. Don’t mention this little matter to anyone until I get back. Not even Justine. I’ve got a few more questions I want answered before I make any general announcements.” He glanced once more at his watch. “I’d better get moving.”
“So go. Nobody’s stopping you.”
“You’re really pissed, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am, as a matter of fact.”
Luke nodded. “Right. Well, I apologize. Didn’t mean to insult you by telling you I think you’re basically honest. Hell. And you think men are complicated.” He walked to the door. “Zeke, stay here, boy. They’ve got food.”
Zeke whined and sat down in the middle of the kitchen floor next to his bowl. His bushy tail thumped heavily as he watched Luke prepare to depart.
Luke stopped in front of Katy. He caught her chin on the edge of his hand and tilted her face upward. “Whether you know it or not, we’ve made a bargain, Katy.”
“A bargain?” Katy stilled. Her pulse was suddenly racing. Some part of her was afraid that if she moved she might fall off a cliff and sink into the bottomless green pools of his eyes.
Luke smiled whimsically. “I’ll explain it to you later. In the meantime, take care of my dog.” He bent his head and brushed his mouth lightly, possessively across Katy’s startled lips.
Then he was gone.
Katy sat where she was for a long moment. She took several deep breaths to calm her disordered senses. When she thought she had herself under control again she turned to eye Zeke.
“I don’t want any trouble out of you,” Katy said firmly.
Zeke focused intently on her half-full bowl of cereal.
“What do I have to do? Bribe you?” Katy got up and dumped the remainder of her breakfast into the dog’s bowl. “There. Take the food right out of my mouth. See if I care. I’m just the hired help around here.”
Zeke downed the cereal and milk in one large gulp. Then he sprawled in the middle of the floor next to his bowl and promptly went to sleep.
Katy hesitated, wondering if she should try to tie the dog up outside before she left for work at the mansion. Zeke did not appear inclined to move, so she abandoned the notion.
She cleared the table and filled Zeke’s bowl with dog food. Then she checked herself in the mirror. The long-sleeved green dress she was wearing fell softly to midcalf. The wide belt accented her narrow waist. She ran a brush through her hair one more time, hitched the strap of her leather bag up over one shoulder, and went out the front door of the cottage.
A brisk breeze made Katy’s hair snap as she walked along the cliffs toward Justine’s big house. She watched the morning light on the calm sea, aware once again of just how fortunate she was that Justine had offered her the job of personal assistant all those years ago. Not only had it provided financial security, it had also given Katy the opportunity to raise Matt in a small, quiet, safe town rather than the city.
Dragon Bay was only an hour out of Seattle, but it might as well have been on a different planet. The town was large enough and trendy enough to provide the amenities of life, such as supermarkets that carried fresh basil. But it was small enough to have a low crime rate, good schools, and a sense of security. It had been a good place to raise Matt.
One more reason why she was indebted to Justine, Katy thought.
It was a short trip to the mansion, no more than a ten-minute walk. The route took her past the cottage she knew Luke would be renting. She realized that when he was home he would be able to see her kitchen window from his kitchen window. She would have to remember to pull the blinds in the morning.
Katy spent most of the ten minutes between her cottage and the mansion mulling over what Luke had told her. The possibility that someone she knew and trusted might have been deliberately sabotaging Gilchrist, Inc. was hard to swallow.
She recalled Liz talking about the basic paranoid personality profile. Katy wondered now if paranoia might be Luke’s problem. Surely only a paranoid person would look for suspects among the members of his own family.
That’s all she needed, Katy thought with a grimace. The notion of spending the next six months working for a paranoid boss was not pleasant to contemplate.
But the most unsettling thing of all was the fact that she had been kissed by a sorcerer.
Katy heard her own car in the drive at five minutes to ten that night. With a small sigh of relief she turned off the food processor. Matt was home. Regardless of his tactics, she felt a wave of gratitude toward Luke. This was one night when she would not have to worry about where Matt was or whom he was with.
She spooned the batch of parsley and green olive pesto she had just made into a plastic jar. She stuck it in the refrigerator and went to stand in the kitchen doorway. She realized she was tense as she waited for Matt to come into the cottage. He would probably be in a surly mood because of what Luke had done that morning.
Zeke had carried his bowl into the living room earlier and was stretched out beside it. The dog rolled leisurely to his feet as the door opened and Matt ambled into the room.
“I’m home,” Matt called, sounding surprisingly cheerful. “Hey, how you doin’, Zeke, old buddy?” He leaned down to pat the dog. Then he glanced at Katy. “Maybe I’d better take him outside for a few minutes.”
“That would probably be a good idea,” Katy said cautiously. “How was the film?”
“It was okay. Nothing special. Come on, Zeke. Let’s go, pal.” Matt opened the door again. Zeke scooped up his dish and bounded out into the chilly night.
“Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“I appreciate the fact that you got home on time tonight.”
Matt shrugged. “It’s not like I had a lot of choice. Your new boss is one tough son of a—”
“Matt.”
Matt grinned. “Well, he is. I think you’re right. If anyone can save the Gilchrists, it’s probably him. See you in a few minutes.”
Dog and boy vanished into the night.
It occurred to Katy as she went back into the kitchen that Matt’s voice had held genuine respect, not sullenness or anger. She relaxed and told herself the incident was merely an example of one of those mysterious male bonding rituals she had heard about.
She went over to where her notebook lay open on the counter and made a few entries. This latest pesto recipe showed genuine promise. The thick, zesty sauce would be especially good over buckwheat pasta, Katy decided. If it passed the taste test tomorrow, she would definitely include it in her lineup of specialty pestos destined for her gourmet take-out establishment.
Her plans for Pesto Presto were still on hold, but only for six more months. She would soon be free. Her brother would be safely off to college, and her commitment to Justine would be fulfilled.
And there would be no stopping Katy Wade. She would be her own boss at last, captain of her fate, in command of her own destiny.
Freedom.
The word was like nectar on her tongue.
CHAPTER FIVE
Katy reached the pool wall, turned smoothly beneath the water, and launched herself back toward the opposite end. She swam hard, working off the tensions of the day.
Luke had returned this morning looking grim and preoccupied. He had gone straight to his new office next to Katy’s and had immediately begun issuing orders. Katy and Liz had skipped lunch to plow through the enormous pile of work he was generating.
Liz had begun to worry that the new boss was a compulsive overachiever. Katy had assured her it was more likely that Luke simply enjoyed giving orders. It was a typical Gilchrist trait.
There would be another few hours of work tonight, but not the kind Katy could do in her office. A royal command had been issued from Justine’s suite: Mrs. Gilchrist was entertaining the family in her quarters. All family members and Katy were expected to attend.
Katy did not enjoy such gatherings. There was no getting around the fact that she was definitely not family. Far too often she found herself playing the role of peacemaker among the temperamental Gilchrists.
She soared through the water, reveling in the sensation of freedom it provided. The glass-enclosed pool room was attached to the back of Justine’s mansion. It had been a conservatory until Justine had ordered the blue-tiled pool installed. Many of the exotic hothouse plants still thrived in the humid atmosphere.
Justine swam punctually at seven o’clock every morning. The pool was empty for the rest of the day until Katy arrived at five for her own swim. This was definitely one of the perks of working for Justine Gilchrist, she thought as she slipped through the water. She did not know what she would do without the release of her afternoon swim.
There were days when, feeling the pressures of a life that seemed to be permanently on hold, Katy tore through the water at five o’clock. On such days she would swim until she was exhausted, churning the water into a white froth as she swam up and down the length of the pool. When she was finished she would climb out and stand on legs that trembled from exertion while she dried herself.
Today was not one of those days, she reflected. Today all she needed was the sense of exhilaration the water provided.
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