A Woman's Touch

woman’s touch,“ Rebecca admitted.
    Kyle groaned. „Thanks for ruining my image, Darla. I almost had her convinced I’d put this whole scene together through brilliant planning and executive ability.“
    „How could you have done it? You were running around Denver, trying to talk her into marrying you,“ Darla pointed out.
    „I’m amazed he succeeded,“ Glen said. „You struck me as such a smart lady, Becky. How’d you let a guy like Stockbridge here talk you into marriage?“
    „Watch your mouth, Ballard,“ Kyle warned equably.
    „To tell you the truth,“ Rebecca said, „he didn’t actually ask me to marry him. I had it on the agenda for next week or the week after that, but Kyle sort of took things into his own hands last Friday.“
    „Some things,“ Kyle observed with lofty male arrogance, „cannot be entrusted to an executive assistant.
    Sometimes the boss has to take charge. I suppose you want some of my expensive champagne, Ballard?“
    „I sure as hell didn’t come here to drink water.“

    Kyle nodded brusquely. „That’s what I figured.“ He led the way through the crowd to the table where champagne and punch were being dispensed with lavish hands. People stood aside as the two men strode toward the table.
    Murmurs of astonishment and speculation could be heard.
    „Absolutely incredible,“ Darla said with relieved satisfaction as she watched Kyle and Glen depart. „Before you arrived on the scene, I wouldn’t have bet a penny that those two would ever be civil to each other. Now they’re business partners, thanks to you.“
    „They’re just a couple of hard-headed males who needed to have their heads knocked together a couple of times so they could be made to see the light of sweet reason.“
    „Too bad some other woman didn’t realize that a couple of generations back. A lot of blood and heartache might have been saved.“
    „Who knows?“ Rebecca said thoughtfully. „It’s possible their fathers and grandfathers were every bit as ruthless and intransigent as Alice Cork and everyone else claimed they were. Maybe no one could have changed them. But Glen and Kyle are two intelligent, modern businessmen who, deep inside, know better than to perpetuate a quarrel that started three generations back. The fight wasn’t theirs. It was their ancestors’ battle.“
    „You may be right,“ Darla said slowly. „I guess Glen and Kyle just needed a reasonable, face-saving way out of a highly charged situation. Neither of them could back down but neither really wanted to go on battling forever.“
    „That’s what Alice Cork said toward the end of her journal. She predicted that maybe with Glen’s and Kyle’s generation, the old warfare could be put to rest. She said Glen changed when he married you. He turned out not to be the womanizer his father and grandfather had been, after all. He just needed an excuse to turn into a home-and-hearth type.“
    „And Kyle needed a woman like you,“ Darla murmured. „Someone who could handle him, draw him out of the darkness and not be afraid of his temper. Someone he wouldn’t have to worry about loving and losing. Someone he knew he couldn’t scare half to death.“
    „I understand they’ve actually started making concrete plans for Harmony Valley,“ Rebecca said with satisfaction.
    Darla laughed. „Would you believe it? They agreed to go with Kyle’s idea of a ski resort. Glen is really excited about it. Says it will do a lot of economic good for this area. People in town are already getting enthusiastic.“
    „I wonder how long before they get…“ Rebecca’s sentence died in her throat as the crowd went eerily silent.
    Alarmed, she whirled toward the champagne-and-punch table.
    „Oh, no,“ Darla groaned. „I knew it was too good to last.“
    Kyle’s voice floated over the crowd, loud and clear as he stood glaring at Glen. „Are you crazy? What the hell do you mean, you want to hire Duncan & Crampton for the excavation work? That outfit is fifth-rate. Look at the job they did on that mall last year. I happen to know for a fact that the developer paid an arm and a leg and still had the schedule slipped three times. We’ll go with Rymont’s outfit.“
    „We damned well will not. Rymont’s on the edge of bankruptcy. We can’t be sure his operation could even finish the job. Shut up, Stockbridge, and stay out of this end of things. I’ve had a lot more experience with this kind of development than you’ve