As she started to get up, little Beth’s hand shot out, stopping her. “More, Gram. Did the beast ever return?”
“No more tonight, my darling. It’s time for dreamland.”
“Do you think Mommy and Daddy are living happily ever after in heaven?”
The simple question had the old woman blinking back a rush of scalding tears. The loss of her son and his wife on the slick, curving highway in California was a hole in her heart that would never close. “I’m sure of it, love.”
“When I grow up I’m going to tame a beast who is really a handsome prince and we’ll live happily ever after like Mommy and Daddy.”
Evelyn bent over to kiss her granddaughter, looking like a tiny princess in the pretty canopied bed. “That is my hope for you, too. But remember, darling girl, that handsome isn’t what matters. He must have a good heart.”
“How will I know if his heart is good?”
“As we get to know people, they reveal their true selves. Our job is to listen and learn all we can, and then we must trust our own heart.”
“I will, Gram. I promise. ’Night.”
“Good night, my darling Beth.”
“I love the stories you make up, Gram.”
The old woman stood a moment beside the bed, watching as her granddaughter drifted into sleep.
If only she could do the same. But sleep, as well as peace of mind, had eluded her since the accident and the arrival of her precious grandchild.
To add to her pain, just today the doctor had confirmed the dreadful diagnosis, telling her she had little time left. And when she was gone, her son’s last wish would be denied.
He had left behind a letter, written shortly after the birth of his child, asking that his mother assume custody of Beth should anything happen to him and his wife. He had specifically requested that his daughter never fall into the hands of his sister, Darda, with whom he’d had an explosive relationship his entire life.
Richard had been a loyal, loving son. An athlete who also embraced academics. A lawyer who championed the down-and-out. His wife, Cybil, had supported his causes and had worked tirelessly alongside him in the law firm that carried their name.
Darda, on the other hand, was the pampered darling of her father and his first wife. From an early age she’d shown a tendency toward cruelty, and had learned how to wrap her weak father around her finger and obtain her every wish. And, oh, the exotic, outrageous, selfish things she’d wished for. Despite Evelyn’s repeated pleas to her husband to stop giving in to his daughter’s demands, he had adamantly refused. It had brought a painful end to their marriage, and Darda had grown up a spoiled, self-absorbed, bitter young woman.
Evelyn Campbell sighed as she walked from the room. When her illness became too advanced to care for little Beth, she feared what would happen to this sweet, innocent child, since there was no other family member to care for her. She couldn’t bring herself to consider offering her only grandchild up for adoption. There seemed to her only one road left open. As distant as they had become, Darda was all the family left to her.
Evelyn could only hope that the years had changed the spoiled, mean-spirited girl Darda had been into a more compassionate, caring woman who would see the goodness in this child. In the meantime, Evelyn vowed to spend whatever time she had left preparing Beth to resist the temptations of this sometimes selfish world to become a fine woman her parents would be proud of.
She fervently hoped the lessons of childhood would stay with the girl for a lifetime.
CHAPTER ONE
NEW YORK, PRESENT DAY
“Beth.” Darda Campbell ushered her niece into an exquisitely appointed office. “I’d like you to meet Alan Connifer.”
Beth’s eyes widened. “Of Connifer-Goldrich?”
“The same.” The handsome, prematurely gray-haired man offered a handshake before indicating a pair of chairs across from his desk.
Following her aunt’s lead, Beth sat.
She could feel the top executive studying her. “Darda and I have had several long, intense meetings, both here in New York and at my firm in London.”
Beth folded her hands primly in her lap. Since joining her aunt’s firm, she’d worked harder than any of her contemporaries, hoping to prove to Darda that she was worthy of the position. Darda had taken over her late brother’s small law firm and turned it into one of the most prestigious in the state. As president and sole owner of the Darda Campbell Agency, Darda had a reputation for being a tough, take-no-prisoners negotiator who showed not a drop of mercy. Now, with a contingent of top foreign firms paying court, rumors were rampant that they were about to be swallowed up by a giant conglomerate and half the firm would be sent packing. A second rumor speculated that they would all receive promotions and huge bonus checks to go along with the firm’s expansion.
Beth figured the truth lay somewhere in the middle.
Without preamble Alan announced, “The Darda Campbell Agency has accepted our offer to merge with Connifer-Goldrich.”
Beth blinked. So, it was true. Her father’s once-tiny firm would now be part of a multibillion-dollar international conglomerate that specialized in negotiating impossible deals for developers coveting exotic properties around the globe.
Alan fixed Beth with a look. “I’m sorry to say we’ll be cutting back on your department, since we already have enough in-house lawyers.”
Beth braced herself for the ax that was about to fall on her head.
Instead, Alan’s next words had her looking up in surprise.
“But, since you’re part of Darda’s family, we’d like to keep you on.”
He turned to Darda. “Why don’t you tell her the rest?”
Darda’s lips were carved into her famous ice-princess smile. A smile that never reached her eyes. “You’re being offered the deal of a lifetime. The firm is sending you to Scotland to meet with a . . . difficult client. He happens to own a huge tract of land that a client of Connifer-Goldrich wishes to develop. There are stepsiblings, I understand, who very much want to sell, as the will states that they will be given one-third of any profit from a sale. But the client has sole discretion on the entire estate, and right now he’s resistant to any sale. If you can get him to sign a contract, you’ll be given a title with our new firm and a very generous bonus.”
Beth didn’t bother to ask what would happen if her impossible mission failed. One fact had been drilled into her from the time she was a little girclass="underline" If she wished to please Darda Campbell, failure was not an option. “Do you have the particulars?”
Alan picked up a USB flash drive and passed it across the desk. “This is everything we have on Colin Gordon, whose nickname is the Beast of the Highlands. He’s called that because he’s known as an angry, no-nonsense loner who would rather hike the mountains or fish in an icy stream than sit by the fire in his grand lodge. We’ve tried in the past to entice him to sell, but he has no need of more money, and he’s impossible to deal with.”
“The stepsiblings?” Beth looked hopeful. “Can they be counted on to persuade him?”