LITMIR.BIZ

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been anxious to see her face, to see the whole town’s collective and astonished face, when they figured out their former whipping boy was the person behind the corporate facade who’d bought out the mill. He’d wanted that revenge. They owed it to him.

      But it hadn’t occurred to him that he would feel other things beyond satisfaction. Kate had never married, and according to town gossip had never had a lasting serious relationship over the past ten years. Chase figured that must be because she thought she was too good for the men around her, the way she’d apparently felt about him all those years ago.

      Cold. Frozen. Man-eater. Those were the words used on the streets of Bayou City to describe his former girlfriend.

      But that wasn’t what he felt when he looked at her now. No, Chase felt the flames licking at his libido as strongly now as he ever had as a randy teenager.

      His conflicted emotions raised the stakes for this game.

      “What I decide to do about the mill in the end will be all about business,” he finally told her. “It’s my deal now, Kate. I hold all the cards.”

      “I see,” she said as she tilted her head to question him. “Then what do you want from me? Am I just to go home and never return to my family’s mill again?”

      “Not at all, bébé.” He watched her carefully. “In the first place, I’ll need your assistance in going over the mill records and reports and will pay you for that time. I suspect you’ll be needing the money.

      “And in the second place, you no longer have a house to go home to. I will expect you to pack and be out by the first of the week.”

      “Live Oak Hall?” Her voice rose three octaves, but her panic didn’t thrill him as it should have. “You can’t mean…”

      “I mean that I own it, or rather I hold the mortgage on it, too. Your father left nothing that wasn’t in debt, and I’m calling in your mortgage at the end of the week.”

      She blinked her eyes and he saw her chin tremble. “I knew the mortgage was behind, but I thought the bank would give me more time. Where will I go? Where will I stay if you kick me out of the plantation that’s been my family’s home for over a hundred years?”

      He felt a niggle of pity stirring in his soul, but he tried to ignore it. “Blame your father for your troubles, not me. Perhaps I’ll consider renting you one of the guest cottages. If you can afford it, that is.”

      Tears welled in her eyes, but instead of crying she set her chin defiantly. This was his time at long last. But now that it had finally arrived, he found that her pain gave him absolutely no satisfaction and her pride turned him on.

      And he almost hated her for it.

      Almost.

      Two

      A wicked wind blew black storm clouds up from the Gulf and threatened to tear new leaves off the ancient oaks lining the allée drive in front of Live Oak Hall. Standing in the kitchen and looking out the window, Kate knew cold late-spring rains would come in a few more minutes. Right before sunset.

      But even with Kate’s vivid imagination, she was positive those rains didn’t have the power to wash away the sting of memories, the heartbreak of wanting things to be different. Lord, how she had dreamed of having the opportunity to make other choices in her life, to go back in time and change what had happened.

      Now that Chase had come home, it was clear that she would have to face some of those old poor choices. He wouldn’t let her escape them any longer.

      She knew her secrets and her mistakes would eventually come out. But there was one cruel secret that she would never give up. No matter what.

      Nothing could ever pry that one from her heart. Not even to save her from Chase’s hatred. It had to stay buried. Where it belonged.

      “I can’t believe Chase Severin owns the mill now.” Shelby Rousseau, Kate’s oldest and best friend, frowned once then smiled as she captured her toddler daughter and lifted the little girl into her high chair.

      “Well, I’m afraid he does, Shell.” Kate wasn’t sure how to explain the rest of it to the one person who had stuck with her through the worst of times. And far in the back of her mind, Kate still had hope of a reprieve.

      Sitting down at her huge kitchen table to watch Shelby finish preparing their supper, Kate agonized over what she knew she had to say. How could she tell her friend that her home was lost? That the young single mother would soon be evicted from the guest cottage where she had been raising her daughter.

      That Kate herself would soon be homeless was irritating enough. But to think of throwing out Shelby and her baby…

      Her dearest friend made the very best mother Kate had ever known. Shell loved her child enough to do anything, go through anything, to keep her daughter safe and to keep the two of them together.

      “Would you please hand Madeleine a cracker to get her by for a few minutes until supper is ready?” Shelby asked as she dipped up the shrimp étouffée from the ancient pot on an even older stove.

      Kate reached over and put a cracker into the baby’s hand. The little girl stared up with a big, mostly toothless grin on her face.

      The toddler’s cheeks glowed a rosy, healthy pink. Her curious blue eyes were wide and spoke volumes about how smart she was. Sweet Maddie looked just like her mother. But she made Kate think of another baby from long ago. A baby whose smile Kate would never know.

      As much as Kate loved Maddie, it hurt a little bit to be near her. But for today, just like most days, Kate buried the pain.

      “How’s your catering business coming along?”

      Shelby served the étouffée and sat down. “It’s been good recently. After I booked that party over in New Iberia, I’ve had several calls about future engagements.” Shelby poured ice tea from the frosty pitcher. “I don’t know how great things will be if the mill goes out of business, though.”

      Instead of picking up her spoon to eat, Shelby laid a hand over Kate’s. “I’m most worried about you, chère. What will you do if Chase shuts down the mill?”

      Good question. But not one Kate was prepared to consider just yet.

      She shrugged in answer and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “I’m a survivor, Shell. I can do lots of things. I’m only worried about the town. There isn’t much else for people to do around here. But maybe Chase will find a way to keep it open.”

      Hesitating for a second, Kate decided to let her friend in on just a small slice of her fears and questions. “I can’t understand why Chase bought out the mill at all. The debt load is tremendous. If he decides to put any money into it, it’ll be like throwing the cash down a gator hole.”

      Shelby smiled at her. “Maybe he bought the mill and came back here because of you. I bet he’s still in love with you.”

      Kate shook her head so hard the curls jumped out of their clip and flew wildly about her face. “Not a chance in hell of that. You didn’t see his eyes when he first came into my office this afternoon. There was such…hatred. Such bitterness in them when he looked at me.”

      “Well, there has to be some reason that he would come back to this poor town,” Shelby said as she spooned mashed stew into the baby’s mouth. “The rumor mill has it that he’s really rich now. Drives a Jaguar. Owns houses in St. Thomas and Vail. Made it all by gambling, they say.”

      “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

      “Do you know something different? Like how he really made his money?”

      “No,” Kate mumbled. “But I know the rumors of why he left town in the first place have been a bunch of lies. So why should all the rumors about his return be the truth?”

      Shelby wiped

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