Family Man

getting a decent job anywhere in the restaurant industry in the entire Northwest. One call from me and any future employer is going to think twice about hiring you. Keep that in mind, Stanfield.”
    “I'll do that. And while I'm thinking about that, you think about the fact that the reason I got as far as I did in the scheme was that I had plenty of help from Katy.”
    Luke restrained himself from hurling Stanfield through the plate glass windows in the lobby, but it wasn't easy. It required a considerable amount of self-discipline, the kind that took years of training.
    After Fraser had left the building Luke took the elevator back upstairs and went down the hall to his office.
    “Hold my calls,” he ordered as he went past his secretary's desk.
    He closed his office door, sprawled in his chair, and sat staring out the window for a long while. Katy would probably have accused him of brooding.
    Stanfield was wrong, he thought. Sure, a Gilchrist might have plotted revenge for what had happened between the Gilchrists and the Quinnells thirty-seven years ago. But Katy? No way. Katy was the self-appointed guardian angel of the Gilchrist clan. She would never deliberately try to destroy the family business.
    But she would do just about anything for her brother Matt, Luke reminded himself. If she honestly believed that Matt had been deprived of his inheritance by the Gilchrists, there was no telling what she would do in retaliation.
    A Gilchrist in that sort of situation might conceivably conclude that because Justine had reneged on the merger thirty-seven years ago, someone was owed something.
    Any self-respecting Gilchrist would have had no qualms about bringing down an entire company for the sake of a brother who had gotten the shaft on his inheritance.
    Luke felt a cold chill go through him as he contemplated whether or not Katy had the same taste for vengeance.

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN
    “H ello, my name is Bill, and I'll be your waiter for this evening.”
    Luke looked up slowly from the wine list. He regarded the earnest young man in front of him with a basilisk gaze. “My name is Luke Gilchrist. And if I ever hear you announce yourself like that again in a Gilchrist restaurant, you'll be looking for another job. Wait staff in Gilchrist restaurants do not form a personal relationship with the patrons.”
    Bill, the waiter, flinched and turned a painful shade of red. “I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Gilchrist, I mean. I didn't…that is, I'm new here, and at the other place where I worked we—”
    “Forget it. Give us the menus and leave.”
    “Yes, sir.” Bill's hand trembled as he handed the menu to Katy.
    She smiled at him warmly. “Thank you.”
    “Yes, ma'am. I'll, uh, be back in a few minutes to explain the specials.” Bill cast another nervous look at Luke, who was ignoring him, and departed hastily.
    Katy glowered at Luke as soon as the waiter was out of earshot. “There was no call to snap at the poor man. He was just trying to do his job. Can't you tell he's nervous? You should make allowances.”
    Luke scowled at the back of the retreating waiter. “I hate wait staff who introduce themselves as if they were your new best friends.”
    “Try not to take it personally,” Katy murmured dryly. “I'm sure he doesn't consider himself your good buddy. Not now, at any rate.”
    Luke sighed inwardly. Things were not starting off well. He glanced around, trying for professional detachment.
    The Pacific Rim was the premier establishment in the Gilchrist chain. It was a true Seattle-style restaurant featuring an eclectic menu of seafood and meat entrées served in a casually chic atmosphere. The menu showed evidence of Asian and Italian influences blended in the unique and sometimes eccentric manner created by Northwest chefs.
    The restaurant was also a cash cow.
    In addition to catering to local residents, the Pacific Rim enjoyed a highly profitable long-standing relationship with the concierges of most of the major downtown hotels. That relationship guaranteed it a never-ending stream of out-of-town visitors and conventioneers.
    Luke started to open a neutral discussion with Katy on the subject of the Pacific Rim's success. But before he could even say a word the bus person hurried over to fill the water glasses. The wine steward appeared at the young man's elbow. The bus person was startled and jumped. Water spilled on the white tablecloth.
    Luke muttered in disgust and brushed water droplets off the sleeve of his