Bachelor CEO. Michele Dunaway

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СКАЧАТЬ because I expected you to get one,” his grandfather pointed out, unclasping his hands and gripping his knees. “You’ve always done what was expected of you. Life’s too short to live that way. I want you to break the rules. Go forth and have some fun. Sail the seven seas. Hike Everest. See if there’s another career calling your name. I want you to be happy.”

      “I am happy,” Chase said, as the hopelessness of the situation became clear. His grandfather had made up his mind. He’d determined that he’d failed Chase, which meant he was immovable. Leroy was known for not backing down once he’d decided on a course of action.

      “I want you to be sure. I’m giving you the next year off with pay. If you decide McDaniel is where you want to be, this time next summer I’ll step aside and you’ll fill my shoes as CEO, no questions asked. But I believe you need time to think. To be really sure your heart is into running the company I built.”

      “Of course it is,” Chase insisted.

      His grandfather conceded with a tilt of his head. “You say that now, but that’s because you’ve never been truly allowed to make your own decisions. Don’t worry about disappointing me. I’d be more upset if you didn’t take this time to reflect and find out what’s right for Chase, not what’s right for McDaniel.”

      “But all the work I do…”

      “You aren’t indispensable. It can be handled. We have plenty of people who can cover for you.” Leroy leaned back and kicked his feet up again. “You know, I wish I’d had this opportunity. At twenty I was already running the family farm. Then I started expanding and producing, and your father was born two years after Heidi and I married. Don’t get me wrong. I loved every minute. I just want you to be sure.”

      “I am.” Darn Leroy for not seeing that!

      Chase wondered if his grandfather might be experiencing the onset of some kind of dementia. That would explain this sudden irrationality.

      The older man smiled and got back to business. “You’ll have a year to explore what you want to do with your life.”

      “Fine,” he snapped. His grandfather wanted to give him this opportunity. Chase had no desire to take it, but he had no choice. “In one year I’ll be back here and you’ll be stepping aside,” he declared.

      “I admire your spunk. You remind me of myself at your age. We’ll see if it’s still what you want by the end of the year. If it’s really what you want, I’ll step aside, as I said, with no questions asked,” Leroy promised.

      They fell silent, each lost in thought as they watched a pontoon boat motor by. His grandfather’s announcement had thrown Chase for a loop. He’d expected to be named CEO, not handed a one-year time-out. He’d been banished from the kingdom, so to speak.

      “So where will you go first?” Leroy asked.

      Chase frowned. That was the worst part of this mandatory sabbatical. His life had always been mapped out. Go to college. Go to work. Become CEO. Now he’d been set adrift. He answered honestly, “I have absolutely no idea.”

      Chapter Two

      Miranda checked the road map again, trying to figure out where she was. Getting from Chenille to Lone Pine Lake did not involve an interstate, and for the last several miles she’d been looking for Highway A, which according to her directions was just past a big red barn.

      So far she’d seen neither barn nor road, and she wished she’d splurged and bought one of those GPS navigators. Since she mostly took the train or the El in Chicago, she hadn’t realized how useful a GPS would be.

      As it was, she was a little hesitant about attending today’s birthday bash. But Mr. McDaniel—Leroy, she amended; he’d insisted she call him that—had wanted her to be there for some big announcement he planned to make.

      She rubbed the bridge of her nose and readjusted her sunglasses. She hated being the center of attention, and prayed the announcement wasn’t about her. She knew she’d have to get accustomed to the spotlight, especially given her new position.

      But that didn’t mean she had to enjoy it. She’d always been a private person, never wanting others to know she wasn’t quite like them. They’d known, though. In high school they’d looked down on her, called her names behind her back. In college she’d stayed out of the social scene.

      Miranda squinted behind her shades, thinking she saw a big red barn looming ahead.

      AFTER LUNCH WITH HIS grandfather and siblings, Chase paced the enclosed sunporch. Normally everyone retired for a siesta, but Chase had asked to talk with his brother and sisters.

      “You have to help me change his mind. Please.”

      “Maybe this will be a good thing for you,” Cecilia mused. She rubbed her stomach, her belly protruding with the baby due at the beginning of August.

      “How can this be good?” Even after sleeping on his grandfather’s decision, Chase had woken up not liking it one bit. “He’s supposed to be retiring. He’s eighty today.”

      “We know. We all sang happy birthday first thing this morning,” Chandy soothed.

      “He’s not going to live forever,” Chase protested.

      “And you have plenty of life left. He’s told you you’ll be CEO if you want. It’s only for one year,” Chris pointed out. His brother was the compromiser in the family, always looking for the silver lining.

      “Grandpa never breaks a promise. Remember when I asked for horseback lessons? It took awhile but he didn’t forget,” Chandy said.

      She’d been a toddler when their parents died, so Leroy was really the only parent she’d ever known. The youngest, Chandy had been raised like a little princess, with Leroy her hero. Because of that, Chase’s sister was blind to their grandfather’s flaws.

      “This isn’t like that. He’s feeling guilty. He thinks he’s held me back from achieving my dreams, from doing the things you all did. He wants me to have a choice about being CEO, but that’s not necessary.”

      “For some reason he thinks it is,” Chris said.

      “But why now? I’m ready. I don’t need to go find myself.”

      “Have you told him that?” Cecilia asked.

      Chase dragged a hand through his hair. “Yes. But you know how stubborn he is once he’s made up his mind.”

      “Well, it’s what Grandpa wants for you,” Chris replied pragmatically. He was smaller than his brother, topping out at five foot ten inches, but he had similar features. All the McDaniel children did. Blond hair was predominant and they all had blue eyes.

      “Well, I want to be CEO. That’s why I need your help,” Chase tried to explain.

      His siblings couldn’t understand, he suddenly realized. They’d moved out, moved elsewhere. They flew home for major holidays and family events. They phoned, e-mailed and sent cards.

      Only Chase had remained in Chenille. He’d stepped into their father’s shoes and the life their father had loved. СКАЧАТЬ