Family Man

success.”
    Fraser was a good-looking, likable man in his late thirties. He was also a natural clotheshorse. Everything he put on looked terrific on his athletic frame. His light brown hair had a casual windblown style that gave him the appearance of having just stepped in from a walk on the beach. His dark eyes were warm and friendly and sincere, and his teeth were white beneath his mustache. Put him in a leather bomber jacket and he could have modeled for an armed forces recruitment poster.
    “No, it was not,” Katy said. She grabbed the coffeepot off the burner and poured herself a cup. Then she went around behind her desk and threw herself into the chair. “For the record, Luke Gilchrist is a cold-blooded, heartless, unfeeling, arrogant rat. The man is pond scum. A snake. Lower than a snake. He is a cruel, callous, stubborn, impossible bastard .”
    “In other words, he didn't fall all over himself when you got down on your knees and pleaded for him to return to the bosom of his family, get reinstated in Justine's will, and take complete control of Gilchrist, Inc. forever, huh? Amazing. The man must be blind.”
    “Well, I didn't exactly put it to him like that.”
    Fraser grinned. “That figures. I'll bet you went down there and lectured him on his duties and responsibilities, didn't you? Katy, when are you going to learn you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar?”
    “I don't think honey would work with a Gilchrist. They tend to go for blood, and I didn't feel like offering up a ritual sacrifice.”
    “That's beside the point.” Fraser put down the newspaper and moved away from the desk. He shoved his hands into his pockets and went to stand at the window. “The point is, you need him.”
    “We all need him.” Katy leaned back in her chair and gazed gloomily at the stack of folders on her desk. She was supposed to summarize the various reports and give them to Justine. But why should she bother? she wondered. Justine hardly even glanced at them anymore. “But he isn't coming home, so we're going to have to find an alternative.”
    “There is no alternative,” Fraser said quietly. “Not unless you can get Justine to agree to start selling off the assets. Gilchrist Gourmet has got to go first. It's starting to flounder.”
    “I know. I'll keep working on it.”
    Fraser rubbed the back of his neck in a gesture of defeat. “Why not give up and pack it in?”
    “I can't. Not yet.”
    “Eventually we're both going to have to cut our losses with Gilchrist. You know that as well as I do. You want out anyway. You can't keep your personal plans on hold forever.”
    Katy glanced at his handsome profile and smiled. Fraser had been with Gilchrist, Inc. for the past five years, but she had not gotten to know him well until recently. After Justine had appointed him as her operations manager, Katy had been brought into increasingly frequent contact with Fraser. She was starting to think of him as a friend, and she knew Justine was relying on him to hold things together at headquarters.
    But Fraser was intelligent and ambitious. He had his own future to think of, just as she did. He had responsibility at Gilchrist, Inc., but no real power, and he knew it. Unless things changed, he would have to move on.
    “I know, Fraser. But I'm not ready to walk out on Justine just yet. She needs me.”
    “And you feel you owe her.”
    “I do owe her.”
    “Katy, your sense of loyalty does you credit, but it's not realistic.”
    The intercom buzzed before Katy could respond.
    “Katy, Her Highness wants to see you immediately,” Liz informed her.
    “I was just with her.”
    “I know. Something's come up.” Liz paused for effect. “It seems Luke Gilchrist has arrived unexpectedly.”
    “ What ?” Coffee slopped over the edge of Katy's cup as she straightened abruptly in her chair. “Are you certain?”
    “That's what the housekeeper said a minute ago when she called. Of course, she made it sound like the arrival of one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but you know Mrs. Igorson.”
    “I don't believe it. He's here.” Katy released the intercom button and leapt to her feet. “Fraser, we're saved. The stubborn son of a gun came through after all. Everything's going to be all right.”
    Fraser eyed her. “You really think so?”
    “Of course. You heard Liz. Luke Gilchrist is right here in the house. If he's here, it can only be for one reason. He's decided to come home and assume