Family Man

wall. Her fingers shook, and her face was strained.
    Katy sat down slowly beside her. “It must have been terrible for everyone.”
    “Cleo was the one I truly felt sorry for, if you want to know the truth,” Maureen said quietly. “That poor woman couldn't have known what she was getting into. I shall never forget the way she just stood there as Justine turned on her. Justine called her the most terrible names. Told her no child of hers would ever be acknowledged as a Gilchrist heir.”
    “What did Cleo say?”
    Maureen shook her head. “She stood there so bravely while Justine pronounced sentence. When it was over she looked at Justine and said she felt sorry for her. And then she said the Gilchrists were their own worst enemies. Thornton took her by the hand and led her out of the living room. We never saw either of them again.”
    “How very sad.” But a typically dramatic Gilchrist moment, Katy thought.
    Maureen stared straight ahead at a wide bowl that glowed pink and green in the light. “I learned my lesson that day. I knew then that Justine would not forgive a daughter-in-law who transgressed. I vowed to myself that I would never give her cause to turn on me the way she turned on Cleo.”
    Katy looked at Maureen's set profile. “I know this is none of my business, but why did you even go through with the marriage to Hayden? Why would you want to marry a Gilchrist after seeing what happened that day?”
    “I loved Hayden, and I saw the genius in him. I knew I couldn't walk away and abandon him to that old battle-ax. Justine would have tried to crush the talent in him, tried to force him to take his brother Thornton's place.”
    “So you married him to protect him from Justine?”
    “I loved him. I married him so that he could grow and develop as an artist. He would have hated running Gilchrist, Inc.” Tears glittered in Maureen's eyes.
    “Yes,” Katy agreed softly, knowing it was the truth. Without stopping to think about it she reached over and put her arm around Maureen.
    “You have no idea what it's been like trying to shield Hayden and at the same time placate Justine all these years. I was so certain that once I produced grandchildren she would be pleased with me. I thought she would focus her attention on them. It worked for a while. I think she was even starting to view Darren as a successor.”
    “Then Thornton and his wife died in that crash, and everything changed,” Katy concluded softly. She patted Maureen's shoulder.
    “Suddenly nothing would do but to get Luke to take over the reins.” Maureen sighed. “That bastard. After all these years, Cleo has had her revenge, hasn't she? Her son is now at the helm of Gilchrist, Inc. And I'm still struggling to protect my family from Justine.”
    Katy sat silently for a long while, thinking it over. “Are you absolutely certain Eden is involved with Nate Atwood?”
    “No.” Maureen removed a hankie from her pocket and blew her nose. “Not absolutely certain.”
    “See if you can find out for sure,” Katy said gently. “Call me when you're positive. I'll see what I can do.”
    Maureen blinked away her tears and smiled tremulously. “Thank you, Katy. I knew I could count on you. You're always so helpful at times like this. You won't say a word about this to anyone, will you?”
    “No, of course not.”

    Katy waited until Luke had the black Jaguar heading north toward Dragon Bay that afternoon before she tried to talk to him. One glance at his grim profile had already warned her that he was not in the best of moods. But she was accustomed to Gilchrist moods.
    “How did you meeting with Darren go?” she asked anxiously as the Jag merged seamlessly into the heavy traffic on the interstate.
    “Cousin Darren and I came to what is often termed a meeting of the minds.”
    “Oh, good. I'm so glad, Luke.” Katy relaxed in the seat. “I was very concerned. He meant well, you know. He was only trying to prove himself.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    Katy glanced at him. “So what exactly is the plan?”
    “He's still working on it.”
    Katy frowned. “But you're helping him, aren't you?”
    Luke's brows rose as he pulled out to pass a truck. “Let's just say I'm pointing him in the right direction. He's going to have to do the work.”
    “I don't understand.”
    “He's in this mess because he got suckered by an expert named Milo Nyle. It has all the earmarks of a scam designed to set up naïve fools like Darren who think they know how to