LITMIR.BIZ

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told him this was ludicrous. Completely, utterly impossible. And I know you’ll be glad that I stepped in and corrected him.

      “Why, you and I have talked about my appointment for years, ever since I was a little girl. Right, Daddy? And you know I have the highest credentials, not to mention more time with the company, overall. I mean, if you count the years I worked there in high school…”

      Realizing her dad hadn’t jumped to her defense, she let her voice trail off. A long pause followed. And then her daddy said the impossible, “It’s true, Ellie.”

      She barely heard what he said after that. Just a jumble of justifications, really. He suspected she was going to want to get married and have a family someday, he said, and that he didn’t want work to get in her way forever, since he loved her so much. He’d always felt badly that her brothers hadn’t done their share, so thank God for Robby. Besides which, her mother agreed Ellie needed to focus more on other aspects of life.

      “Like marriage? Having a family?” Her jaw dropped. Sure, she’d been about to propose to Robby, but that was when she was going to be president of her company, too. But now…

      “How far back in time did you have to go,” she finally managed, “to find a speech like that one, Daddy? The Middle Ages? The Dark Ages? Did you go to a museum?” How had her father, who had always been so supportive, morphed into a caveman? “Did Mom talk you into this?” she accused.

      “No, Ellie, and this has nothing to do with your qualifications. You know that. When it came down to brass tacks, I just want a man running my ship. And that’s my right.”

      “That’s illegal, I think,” she muttered.

      “Well, I doubt my own daughter’s going to take me to court.”

      “Don’t count on it.”

      “You don’t see it now,” he said firmly. “But you’re going to want more out of life down the road.”

      “I’ve been running your ship for years,” she ground out, her eyes now fixing on Robby’s. Seconds ago, those gorgeous baby blues had looked so sweet and nonthreatening. They’d turned her knees to water. Now they seemed cold and calculating, vicious and predatory. What had she ever seen in him?

      “Yes…I’ve been helping you for years, Dad. My good-for-nothing brothers, your lousy sons made sure of that!”

      “Ellie, please hear me out—”

      She slammed down the phone, fuming. Lee Polls was hers. It was in her history and her blood. Nobody was taking it away, not even her lover—ex-lover, she mentally amended—Robby Robriquet.

      Except he had.

      She grabbed her purse and headed for the door and when he grasped her from behind, she shook off his touch. “Bastard,” she muttered, hating that her body still tingled from his touch as she opened the door and stepped outside, into air that was crisp for November in Mississippi. “Get away from me.”

      “Ellie,” he called from the porch as she headed for her car. “You didn’t even let me talk. I want to be with you. Always. Forever. You and me. We can work this out.”

      “Yeah, right,” she shouted. “You want to get married and have kids and—”

      “Yes! Yes, that’s exactly what I want!”

      “And I’ll cook and clean for you while you go off to my office.”

      “Dammit, Ellie!”

      If it had been any other company but Lee Polls, maybe she could have gotten over it. Her heart stretched to breaking. “That company is mine! Mine!”

      “Come back, Ellie!”

      “No…you go back inside and put on some clothes, Robby,” she called over her shoulder. “Otherwise Sheriff Kemp might arrest you for indecent exposure. And besides, don’t you have to hurry up and put on your suit and tie? Don’t you have a job to go to? My job? In the company that belongs to my family?”

      “Dammit, I know this is sensitive.”

      “You’re just like your father,” she yelled, striking the lowest blow she could think of. “You wanted my job and you took it, but you’re not getting me, too.”

      Maybe he said something else, but she’d never know. She was already in her car. Tears were flowing freely, and she didn’t bother to stop them. By the time she’d become cognizant of her actions, she was sobbing deeply, her shoulders shaking. Through a haze of tears, she just kept moving. She stopped at her house and packed bags that would last her a while. At first, she had no idea where she might go.

      Hodges Motor Lodge was an option, but that was too local. Besides, everyone would know to look for her there, since it was the only motel in town. So she made a plane reservation. Yes, she needed a vacation. Screw Lee Polls. Daddy Eddie and Robby had decided they could run the place without her, so let them.

      “Just see how far they get!” she declared. They could never find the Thomas files, they didn’t have a clue about how to land that lucrative account with the Clovis family, or the contracts for upcoming national elections. Besides, her own client list was on her laptop, which she would take with her, and they’d play hell trying to decipher her notes.

      “Within a week, the whole place will shut down,” she vowed. Once her bags were piled high in her car, she sped toward Delia’s Diner. Thankfully, as soon as she had breakfast, and told her best friend, Susannah, about her plan, she’d be getting far away from Banner, Mississippi.

      But Susannah wasn’t at Delia’s yet. So Ellie sat in the car sobbing some more, which felt good, then she finally shoved on her sunglasses to hide her eyes. Delia’s Diner was gossip central.

      She waved at a few people inside the restaurant, ordered coffee and noted that Sheriff Kemp was at the counter, flirting with Delia again. Ellie had to concentrate on not crying now; otherwise, everybody in Banner would know something was wrong and start grilling her. So she stared into space, barely noticing when her best friend came in and seated herself in the booth.

      Susannah was the sister Ellie had never had. As much as Ellie loved her, though, she was always embroiled in some new drama surrounding her husband, J.D. Ever since he’d become a country star, the marriage had been heading south, and all the arguments about leaving the man had been discussed before today. So, even though Ellie was numb, her mind reeling from her own life-altering circumstances, Susannah didn’t even notice, due to her own difficulties. This made it easy to order breakfast while murmuring all the usual consolations.

      Even when Susannah announced she was finally leaving her husband, Ellie merely kept nodding. Susannah threatened this at least once a month, after all. Almost as often as she threatened to kill J.D.

      The man was still breathing, however, and Ellie doubted Susannah would ever free herself from the increasingly problematic relationship. Suddenly, Susannah pushed unruly wisps of blond hair from her eyes, and said, “You’ve been crying, Ellie.”

      Only then did Ellie notice she’d removed her sunglasses. She guessed she’d removed them when Delia had put down their breakfast plates. Eggs could be a little unappealing seen through dark lenses. “All morning,” she said, although it wasn’t strictly true.

      “I’m sorry. I’ve been so fixated on J.D. What’s wrong?”

      The story came pouring out. When Ellie was finished, Susannah gasped. “And Robby accepted the job?”

      Ellie nodded.

      “That snake in the grass! What are you going to do?”

      In that instant, Ellie knew. “Go to New York and start another polling business to compete with Daddy and Robby.”

      She’d been considering a vacation, but why not make it permanent? She’d done business in New York and had contacts there. Maybe such a plan would work. Had Susannah, herself, been sincere about her own plans to leave

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