Destiny Unleashed

by Sherryl Woods

  He couldn’t help wondering yet again if there was a link between Harcourt and Destiny he didn’t know about. He’d asked Destiny before if she had known the man years ago, but she’d avoided giving him a direct answer. Ben had managed to finagle an admission that she’d known Harcourt, but had gotten nothing more. That rather incomplete acknowledgment had raised Richard’s suspicions that there was more going on with Harcourt than business, but without proof he hadn’t been able to call her on it. He needed to try again.

  “Does this have something to do with Harcourt?” he asked her.

  “No, it has to do with me,” she insisted, regarding him with an unblinking gaze that gave away nothing. “It’s time to find out what I’m made of.”

  “You’re an incredible woman!” Richard said impatiently. “Why are you questioning that now? Don’t start spouting some nonsense about low self-esteem to me. I’ll laugh you right out of here.”

  “Darling, it’s not that I don’t think I did a good job raising you and your brothers or that I haven’t made a contribution to the community, but I don’t know who I am, not really. I don’t paint anymore. I’m not your surrogate mother. I’m bored by running events. Somewhere along the way I’ve lost myself.”

  Richard was completely bewildered by her claim. “That’s crazy.”

  “Is it? I was very young when I first went to Europe. I had plenty of money and virtually no responsibilities. I painted because I enjoyed it, not because I was passionate about it. I was surrounded by people who were as irresponsible as I was.”

  “Including William Harcourt?” he asked again, wondering if she would finally give him an honest answer.

  She gave him a sour look. “Yes, if you must know, including William.”

  When Richard began to press her on that, she held up her hand. “The point I’m trying to make is that when your parents died, I came back here and had the responsibility of a family thrust on me. I think I lived up to that responsibility reasonably well—”

  “Of course you did.”

  “But,” she added with a trace of impatience, “those years were a gift, something unexpected, that shaped my life for a time, but now I’m ready to move on. I need to find out who Destiny Carlton really is.”

  “And you think you could be a successful businesswoman?”

  “Why not?” she asked. “It is in my genes, after all.” She gave him a hard look. “I honestly don’t know why you’re making such a fuss or why you’re so surprised by this. I’ve been talking about it for months now, ever since Ben’s wedding. I’ve been waiting for you to come up with this idea on your own, but you’ve ignored every hint I’ve dropped.”

  “I honestly didn’t think you were serious.”

  “In other words, you were certain it was just another one of Destiny’s flighty whims,” she scoffed. “And that says it all, doesn’t it? Is it any wonder I want my family to start to take me seriously?”

  He could see that he’d hurt her, but he didn’t know how else he could have reacted to this crazy idea. He couldn’t just turn over an entire division to her because it was what she wanted. He had as much responsibility to the company as he did to her.

  “Destiny, why don’t you think it over for another day or two? Or take a vacation, go to France and see if that fits you the way it once did,” he suggested finally, hoping to buy himself enough time to formulate a plan to steer all this energy in a different direction. Surely there was some other satisfying pursuit she could take up that would keep her right here at home. Maybe they could encourage her to accept one of the marriage proposals constantly being tossed her way by high-profile men in the region. The prospect of a little turnabout meddling struck him as a fine idea.

  Meantime, though, he gave her a placating smile. “Think about it for a few days or even a few weeks and we’ll talk again.”

  “Meaning you want to check with your brothers to make sure I haven’t gone round the bend,” she said dryly. “Okay, fine. I’ll compromise, but I won’t put this off for weeks. For one thing, William is nipping at our heels on another deal, and this time there’s a good chance we can lose if we don’t act quickly. I can wait twenty-four hours while you hold a family powwow, as long as it gets me what I want. Trust me, Richard, I won’t change my mind.”

  It wasn’t the delay he’d hoped for, but he could see she wasn’t prepared to bend any further. “Fine. We’ll get together at the end of the day tomorrow.”

  She gave him an innocent look. “I really do hope you’ll see this my way.”

  “I promise to give it serious consideration,” he told her.

  “I know you will,” she said cheerfully. “I’m sure you’re aware that I’d hate to have to pull rank on you.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Meaning what, exactly?”

  “Meaning that I’d prefer not to go straight to the board to explain that the European operation has been in a shambles for some time and that you haven’t taken any definitive action to shore it up and turn it into the gold mine it could be.”

  As her words sank in, Richard stared at her. If he had ever doubted Destiny’s business acumen or her ability to be a tough negotiator, he didn’t any longer. She’d obviously done her homework rather thoroughly before coming to him. And she’d delivered that threat without so much as a blink of her steady gaze.

  “You would do that?” he asked, stunned by her audacity.

  She beamed at him. “I don’t think it will be necessary, do you?”

  With that, Destiny swept out of his office, looking as regal and smug as a queen.

  Richard watched her exit and sighed. Heaven help the European division! There was little doubt that Destiny was taking over. He considered himself to be a tough-minded businessman and a seasoned negotiator, but she’d put him in his place in no time flat. He’d just have to find some way to keep her on a tight rein.

  But even as he reached that conclusion, Richard had to laugh. Keeping his aunt under control was going to be a little like trying to contain a hurricane. It simply couldn’t be done.

  Destiny thought her meeting with Richard had gone rather well. There was little doubt that he would come around to her way of thinking, eventually, at any rate. It might take a bit more persuasion, but she thought that subtle threat at the end of their conversation had probably done the trick. He definitely hadn’t been anticipating that. She had a feeling he’d been as impressed as he’d been shocked. Hard truths and uncompromising stands were something her nephew understood.

  She poured herself a cup of tea and settled into a chair in front of the fire, her feet tucked under her, and thought about what she would do first when she got to London, where Carlton Industries was headquartered.

  She’d been studying the reports for months now. Goodness knows, there was a lot to do and not all of it had to do with William. There were some very stuffy people in charge and the entire operation needed a good shake-up.

  She was still happily contemplating all that when the front door burst open and Mack and Ben called out to her.

  “In here,” she responded, not the least bit surprised by their arrival. “Having tea by the fire. If you want some, get cups before you come in.”

  They came in a few minutes later, not only with cups, but with another pot of tea and a plate of the housekeeper’s chocolate chip cookies, which were always on hand, especially for Ben. Not that there was any shortage of sweets in his life since he’d married Kathleen, who baked like a fine pastry chef, but he still loved Mrs. Darlington’s cookies.

  “I imagine you’ve been talking to your brother,” she said when they were seated. “If you’ve come to change my mind, you can forget it.”

  “Not to change your mind,” Ben said gently. “Just to see if we’ve done something to make you feel that you’re not needed here.”

  “Don’t be silly,” she said at once. “Why can’t any of you see that this isn’t about you? It’s about me and what I need to do.”

  “You really want to
move halfway around the world?” Mack asked doubtfully.

  “Yes. And it’s not as if we don’t own a corporate jet that can bring me home anytime I’m needed here.” She reached for Ben’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He was the real worrier, and she could see the concern in his eyes. “Darlings, this really is what I want to do. I’m looking forward to having a brand-new challenge in my life. Think how exciting that will be for me. If we don’t take on new things once in a while, we stagnate.”

  “Is this really about a new challenge or an old love?” Ben asked directly.

  “Perhaps both,” she admitted. “But I’m not hoping to reignite an old flame, in case that’s what’s worrying you. If anything, quite the opposite. William has made a nuisance of himself in our company’s business for far too long now. The fact that he has dared to become an increasingly serious threat to my family cannot be tolerated. I intend to see that he realizes that.”

  Mack regarded her intently, then slowly nodded. “You really are excited about this, aren’t you? You’re looking forward to busting some serious butt over there?”

  “Excited, stimulated, determined,” she said. “In fact, I haven’t felt like this in years. I feel young again, as if there are endless possibilities spread out before me.”

  Her nephews exchanged a resigned look.

  “I still don’t like it, but I suppose we have no right to stand in your way,” Ben said. “We’ll talk to Richard and convince him that you know exactly what you’re doing.”

  “Thank you, darling.”

  “Don’t thank me,” Ben said, his expression gloomy. “I still wish you weren’t dead-set on doing this.”

  “Me, too,” Mack said. “But I think I understand your reasons for wanting to. When that knee injury killed my football career, I was at loose ends for a while, too, until you and Richard convinced me that I could use my love of the game in a whole new way by buying into the team. If I could reinvent myself from a professional athlete into a businessman, then you can surely be anything you set out to be.”

  “Oh, Mack, what a sweet thing to say,” she told him, her eyes misting up.

  “Just one question, you won’t leave before Beth has the baby, will you? She’ll never forgive you,” Mack said.

  “Absolutely not,” Destiny assured him. “And once Richard agrees to this, I’m sure it will take weeks and weeks for him to drill me on all the little odds and ends he thinks I must know to be successful. I would like to be over there before Christmas, though.”

  “Christmas?” both men said, clearly appalled.

  “You could all fly over,” she reminded them. “I was there for the holidays years ago. There’s nothing quite like a Christmas in London.”

  Ben sighed. “I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here. Let’s take one step at a time. Let’s get Richard on board with this.”

  Destiny beamed at him. “Oh, I think once you two speak up, it will be a foregone conclusion.”

  “Oh?” Mack said. “He didn’t sound so convinced when I spoke to him.”

  “Let’s just say I left him with a little incentive to mull over,” Destiny said coyly. “I’m not surprised he didn’t mention it. I think he was caught off guard.”

  “An incentive? He didn’t mention any incentive to me,” Mack said.

  “Nor to me,” Ben agreed, giving her a sharp look. “Was it an incentive or a threat, Destiny? What are you up to?”

  “Nothing that an outstanding businessman like Richard won’t understand,” she assured them both.

  Mack began to chuckle. “Oh, Destiny, something tells me Europe is not ready for you.”

  She laughed with him. “Well, darlings, ready or not, here I come.”

  2

  William Harcourt was on a golf course in Scotland when he got word that the European office of Carlton Industries was soon to be operating under a new chairman. Sir Lloyd Smedley gave him the news just as William took his shot on the seventh hole tee.

  “Is that so?” William asked, distracted. The seventh hole was a tricky one. It had gotten the better of him yesterday, but he’d be damned if it would again.

  “Destiny Carlton is taking over,” Lloyd added, his expression totally innocent. “Believe you knew her, didn’t you?”

  William’s golf ball dribbled off the tee and died, which was precisely the result his sneaky companion had obviously been hoping for. Lloyd was losing today. He’d clearly intended his little bombshell to ruin William’s concentration, not just on this hole, but for the rest of the round.

  William felt a little zing in his blood, something that hadn’t happened nearly often enough since Destiny had walked out on their relationship twenty years before.

  Back then, he’d stubbornly resisted following her to the States, deluding himself for the longest time that a love like theirs wasn’t something she could possibly forget or abandon forever.

  But she had. He’d totally misjudged her sense of family loyalty. The Destiny he’d known in France hadn’t had a maternal bone in her delectable body. She’d been carefree, impetuous and a bit of a Bohemian. But to his shock, she’d thrown over all traces of her carefree ways to settle down and mother her three orphaned nephews.

  After a time, when he’d heard barely a word from her, his pride had kicked in. She’d chosen children who were virtual strangers over him, the man she’d claimed to love. It had grated.

  It had taken him a long time to catch on to the fact that nothing on earth was worse than a man more devoted to pride than common sense. If she’d abandoned those boys, as he’d anticipated, she wouldn’t have been the kind of woman he wanted in his life. That was what he should have realized from the beginning. He was the fool who’d forced her to make an impossible choice, rather than going after her and being supportive when her entire world had been turned upside down. All these years, he could have had her love and the love of three stepsons, plus maybe some children of their own. Any children of Destiny’s would have been astonishingly bright and handsome. Destiny hadn’t cost the two of them a future. He had.

  William had found his own shortsightedness to be so incredibly annoying, so completely perplexing, that he had spent the last ten years mucking up every business deal Carlton Industries set out to make in Europe. It wasn’t something he’d done to get rich. Hell, he had more money than he could spend in ten lifetimes. It wasn’t even the satisfaction of winning that had drawn him into the game. It was an idiotic, half-baked attempt to get Destiny’s attention.

  And now he had.

  He grinned as he set his ball back on the tee and slammed it straight down the fairway toward the green, gazing at its trajectory with satisfaction. About damn time she got the message. He’d wasted a lot of years waiting for life to get interesting again.

  Harcourt & Sons was one of those long-established London companies that dabbled in a wide variety of businesses, assembled over generations less with logic than with the various passions and needs of prior generations. William appreciated that aspect of the company’s history. It made his own acquisition tactics in recent years seem perfectly fitting. His ancestors had acquired whatever companies appealed to them, just as he was intent on acquiring those most likely to annoy Destiny.

  Harcourt owned a small chain of exclusive haberdashers, founded due to William’s grandfather’s girth and demand for excellent tailoring. The chain had begun on Saville Row, then spread through the countryside, thanks to his grandfather’s contacts in Parliament who wanted the shops that specialized in personalized service conveniently located in their home districts. It was also a small way to support their local woolen manufacturers.

  Another company was renowned throughout the country for its exotic selection of teas, acquired when William’s grandmother had had difficulty obtaining the blends she wanted. Those shops had later been expanded to serve an elegant afternoon tea, when his mother had wanted a place to take her friends after a day’s shopping.

  The whole conglomerate had begun
quite unexpectedly with an antiquarian bookshop, opened after his great-grandfather’s bookshelves were filled to overflowing with leather-bound editions of the classics, as well as the lighter novels preferred by William’s great-grandmother. This remarkable woman had not been content to sit idly in the country when her husband came to London. Far ahead of her time, she’d wanted something productive to do. She’d found a location and badgered her husband until he’d helped her to set up the shop. Their friends had been scandalized that Amanda Wellington Harcourt would ignore the family’s noble heritage and go into trade.

  To everyone’s surprise, except her husband’s, she’d made an enormous success of it. She, not William’s great-grandfather, was the Harcourt of Harcourt & Sons. H&S Books now had stores all over Great Britain, still dealing primarily with rare books and first editions, though a rack of current bestsellers was beginning to appear in some of the stores along with important biographies and books on travel.

  Recalling the oft-told tale now, William couldn’t help being reminded of Destiny. She and Great-grandmother Amanda had a lot in common. Both were bold, strong women, who refused to be confined by society’s constraints. They both had vision and the drive to succeed.

  He’d been little more than a toddler when his great-grandmother had died, but he could still remember the fire in her eyes and the enthusiasm in her voice as she’d talked about books and read to him from the classics. She, more than any teacher he’d ever had, had taught him to love learning and to be open to new ideas. She’d been the one who’d made him into the kind of man who’d be drawn to an unconventional woman like Destiny.

  Sitting behind the desk in his office, William pulled a signed volume of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol from the shelf behind him and rubbed his fingers over the fine, gold-embossed leather. This rare treasure had been a gift from Destiny when she’d discovered his love of old books. Inside, he found the card she’d written in her neat hand. “To my love. May you always know the true meaning of Christmas and feel the joy in my heart when I think of you. You, too, are rare and wonderful. Love, Destiny.”