Family Man

inviting to dinner will be impressed by a soufflé,” Luke said through his teeth. He ripped off another stem with a savage movement.
    Benedict tut-tutted disapprovingly. “My, we are wasting a great deal of spinach, aren't we?”
    “I can afford it,” Luke muttered.
    He grabbed another leaf out of the water and held it under the faucet. This was stupid, he told himself. Really stupid. He did not stand a chance of impressing Katy with one home-cooked gourmet meal. She would probably find his efforts hilarious. She found it so damn easy to laugh at Gilchrists most of the time.
    The plan to cook and serve a spectacular meal to her and then ask her to marry him was no doubt doomed before it even got of the ground.
    She would never marry a Gilchrist.
    On the other hand, his instincts told him she would not sleep with a man she did not love.
    She was sleeping with him. That had to mean she loved him.
    But she'd never said anything about love, he reminded himself.
    Luke set his teeth and rinsed another spinach leaf. This terrible sense of uncertainty was new to him. He didn't like it.

    Katy raised her brows when Liz told her she was wanted downstairs in Justine's suite.
    “She wants to see me alone? Without Luke?”
    “Uh-huh.” Liz narrowed her eyes with an air of clinical assessment. “If you ask me, she is in a state of anxiety. I wouldn't be surprised if she's on the verge of a panic attack.”
    “She called up here herself? It wasn't Mrs. Igorson?”
    “Nope. It was Mrs. Gilchrist. Sounds like she needs a dose of vitamin V.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Valium.” Liz chuckled. “A little professional joke.”
    “When do you start your new classes at college, Liz?”
    “In about six weeks,” Liz said. “Until then I'm your resident shrink.”
    “I was afraid of that.”
    Katy glanced at her watch. It was nearly four-thirty. She was looking forward to her five o'clock swim tonight. Luke would be coming over for dinner this evening, as usual, and she intended to try out another recipe on him and his dog. She needed to wash a lot of spinach leaves for her latest pesto creation.
    She hurried downstairs.
    The sight of Justine's drawn face was a shock. Katy frowned in concern as she walked into the living room.
    “Justine, are you all right?”
    “Calm yourself.” Justine smiled wearily. “There is nothing physically wrong with me. Sit down, Katy. I want to talk to you.”
    Katy sat. “What's the problem?”
    “My grandson, of course. When I think about it, he has been the problem one way or another for some time now. Some days I wish I had never taken the risk of turning Gilchrist, Inc. over to him. Other days I tell myself he is the only hope this company and this family have. But today is one of the days when I think I may have made a grave mistake.”
    Katy relaxed a little. Justine was always grumbling about Luke. It meant nothing. “What's he done to upset you now?”
    “He intends to ask you to marry him.”
    Katy opened her mouth, found no words, and closed it. She waited a couple of seconds and tried it again. “He what ?”
    “You heard me. He apparently plans to ask you to marry him.”
    “I don't believe it.” Katy surged to her feet. She felt shell-shocked and giddy. A part of her was soaring free with happiness. But another, more realistic part was sure there was some terrible mistake. Somewhere another shoe was about to drop.
    “It's true, all right,” Justine said. “The question is, how do you feel about it?”
    “I'm not sure,” Katy admitted.
    Justine's eyes turned bleak. “You're in love with him, aren't you?”
    “Yes.”
    “I was afraid of that. I knew you wouldn't have become so intimately involved with him if you didn't love him. Have you told him?”
    “No.”
    “My advice is that you refrain from doing so. Katy, he's different from you. You're honest, straightforward, and open. But Luke is…well, very deep.”
    “I know that. He's Gilchrist.” Katy turned to face Justine. “You're trying to warn me that he may be pursuing some objective of his own, right? That even if he asks me to marry him, he may not be serious about it?”
    “We must face reality, Katy. My grandson is still an unknown quantity to all of us. We knew at the beginning that his motive for assuming control of Gilchrist might be vengeance.”
    “How would marrying me fit into any revenge plan he might have concocted?” Katy asked.
    “It is entirely conceivable that his agenda is to