The Millionaire's Wish. Abigail Strom

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СКАЧАТЬ problem is that my only grandson is still a bachelor! You don’t think I dream of the day you’ll settle down here with your wife and children?”

      Here meant the Hunter estate, of course. The beautiful old mansion his great-great-grandfather had built in 1890. Not the house Rick had grown up in, but the only place he’d ever thought of as home. The only place he’d ever truly been happy.

      “The fact is,” she went on, “I’ve been thinking things over. And I’m considering giving Hunter Hall to your second cousin.”

      Rick’s hand froze over the keyboard. “What?”

      “You heard me. Jeremiah and his wife are planning to have children, and they’d like to raise their family here. They’ve said so.”

      Rick’s jaw tightened. “If Jeremiah’s shown any interest, it’s because of what the house might be worth on the open market. He and his wife don’t give a damn about the place. They’ll sell it, Gran.”

      She sniffed. “That’s not what they’ve told me. And even if they thought that at one time, things change once you decide to have a family.”

      She paused, and Rick thought about what it would mean to lose Hunter Hall. Maybe he’d never told Gran, but he loved it more than any place on earth.

      “This house cries out for children. If I thought there was a chance you might change your ways …”

      His grandmother had been hoping to marry him off for years. He, on the other hand, had never been interested in marriage. His own parents hadn’t exactly been a shining example of the institution, and he had no intention of repeating their mistakes. Better to stay clear of all that and focus on things you could actually control. Like work.

      Even if work hadn’t been very satisfying lately.

      Rick leaned back in his chair, staring at his computer screen. If work was getting stale it was his own fault, and was therefore something he could fix. He owned the damn company, after all.

      A marriage, on the other hand, wasn’t something one person could control. Two hearts, two minds, two egos—and way too much risk. Date for fun, that was his motto—and when the fun started to fade, end things quick and clean, before either party had too much invested. And yes, that meant that he tended to date women he wasn’t likely to fall for.

      “I just want to see you happy, Richard.”

      “I am happy.” Or content, anyway. He’d never expected happiness. His life was going according to plan, and he had no desire to make any changes. The only thing he wanted that he didn’t already have was Hunter Hall.

      “Won’t you at least think about what I’ve said? It wouldn’t kill you to date a woman of character for once.”

      Rick smiled at the old-fashioned phrase. “And what would a ‘woman of character’ want with me?” He’d meant it as a joke, but his voice sounded a little bitter in his own ears.

      His grandmother sighed. “If you don’t know the answer already, it won’t do any good to tell you. I’m sorry about Hunter Hall, dear, but I need to believe that this house will echo with the voices of children someday.”

      Rick looked at the opposite wall, where the original advertisement for “Magician’s Labyrinth” hung in a mahogany frame. He’d modeled the magician’s house after Hunter Hall, and the image had been part of the game’s cover art ever since.

      “It’s your house, Gran. You can do whatever you want with it.”

      “I just wish you’d consider—”

      “Yeah. I have to get back to work, okay? I’ll talk to you soon.”

      But he didn’t get back to work. He leaned back in his chair, frowning at his spreadsheet without really seeing it.

      Maybe this was for the best. Wanting something you couldn’t achieve through your own efforts was a weakness, and Rick had never tolerated weakness.

      His paperweight was a replica of the magician’s house carved out of stone, a gift from his gaming programmers a few years ago. He picked it up now, feeling the smooth, compact weight of it in his palm.

      The thought of losing Hunter Hall made something clench inside him, as if his internal organs were being put through a wringer. His grip tightened. The peaks of the roof cut into his skin, and he knew this one childhood dream still had a hold on him.

      His private line lit up. He set the paperweight back down on his desk and put his assistant on speaker. “What is it, Carol?”

      “I’m sending a woman in to see you.” She sounded irritated, but then she always did. After six years, he still wasn’t sure if the irritation was for the world in general or him in particular.

      He frowned. “You know I’m preparing for the product review tomorrow. Who is it you want to send in?”

      “Someone from that foundation. The one that runs the Wish Upon a Star program.”

      He felt a twinge of guilt. That girl—Jenny or Julie or something. She was undergoing cancer treatment, and she wanted to meet him. Her request had come in a letter from a nonprofit agency, explaining who they were and what they did, and asking if they could arrange a hospital visit on the girl’s behalf.

      “I told you to decline their request and send them a check.”

      “Which I did, mon capitaine. But someone has come in person to speak with you about the matter. A Ms. Allison Landry.”

      “Ms. Landry is out of luck. Send her on her way.”

      “No.”

      His eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean, no?”

      “Look, boss. There may be assistants out there who could turn away a righteous woman trying to help a girl with cancer, but I am not one of them. I’m sending Ms. Landry in.”

      Rick felt another twinge of guilt, but he refused to give in to it. He had no desire to visit a cancer ward and his reasons were no one’s business. And he’d had it up to here with righteous women today, between his grandmother and Carol and now this latest interruption.

      He pictured her as a woman with iron gray hair and an iron gray demeanor, and the thought of her invading his inner sanctum and scowling at him in disapproval was too damn irritating to deal with.

      “I’m in a bad mood. If she comes in here I’ll just snarl at her.”

      Carol snorted. “This one can take it. She’ll snarl right back.”

      Definitely iron gray.

      Rick sighed. “Fine. Go ahead and send her in.”

      He barely had time to rise to his feet before his door opened and Allison Landry stepped into his office.

      Never in his life had a preconceived image been so off the mark. The woman coming toward him was hardly more than a girl—a girl whose short, silky haircut made her look like an angry pixie.

      She СКАЧАТЬ