Katy shot Luke a warning glance and then gave McCoy another reassuring smile. “Mr. Gilchrist and I were just noticing the addition of a couple of interesting vegetarian entrées to the menu. He commented that it was a terrific idea, because the Northwest has become something of a haven for vegetarians.” She looked straight at Luke. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Gilchrist?”
Luke drummed his fingers on the tablecloth and studied her from beneath half-closed lashes. “From your lips to heaven’s ears, Ms. Wade. If you heard me say that, then I must have said it.”
McCoy turned a dull red, pleased at having found favor with the boss. But it was the bright color in Katy’s cheeks that amused Luke. Angels had a hard time with lies, even white lies.
“The new chef and I decided to try the vegetarian entrées as an experiment,” McCoy confided proudly. “So far they’ve gone over surprisingly well. It’s amazing how many of our regular restaurant patrons have stopped eating meat. Not that we’ll be abandoning the traditional menu any time soon. Tourists and conventioneers still want their steaks and chops, of course.”
“Of course,” Katy said, still pink-cheeked. “Benedict Dalton is the new chef, isn’t he?”
“Yes. Great credentials. The man is truly brilliant in the kitchen. We’re lucky to have him with us.” McCoy turned to Luke. “I’ll rein in the wait staff. Sorry about that. They’re a good bunch. Just a little overeager at times.”
“Right.” Luke nodded in dismissal, and McCoy hurried off toward the kitchen.
“Honestly, Luke, you have been in an absolutely rotten mood lately, and it’s getting worse.” Katy frowned in concern. “Is something wrong?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? Are you worried about how we’ll manage without Fraser? Is that what’s bothering you?”
“Trust me, we’re going to get along just fine without Stanfield.” Luke picked up his menu. “McCoy had better not let his new chef get carried away with this vegetarian kick. Most of the population still wants meat.”
“I’m sure he won’t get carried away,” Katy said soothingly. “Gilchrist has always given the individual chefs and restaurant managers a lot of freedom to create their own menus.”
“Everyone knows you can’t turn a chef completely loose in the kitchen. They’re temperamental prima donnas. You’ve got to control them, or they get all kinds of crazy ideas.”
Katy grabbed her napkin and used it to muffle the sound of her laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Luke looked up from the menu.
“A Gilchrist complaining about someone else’s temperamental nature.” She managed to stifle the laughter, squashing it to the point where she was only giggling. She put down the napkin. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
“I’m glad you’re amused.”
“When one hangs out with Gilchrists one has to get one’s jollies where one can. By the way, where is Fraser going?”
Luke blinked slowly. “Why?”
“Because he’s a friend, and I’ve been working with him closely for the past six months, and I thought it was odd that he left with so little notice. That’s why.”
“Beats me. He just told me that now that everything was under control at Gilchrist he was going to accept a long-standing offer from another firm.” Unlike Katy, Luke reflected, he could lie without blushing.
Katy looked thoughtful. “Are you certain that was the reason he left?”
“You think there might have been another reason?” Luke asked smoothly.
“Well, no, I suppose not. It’s just that he kept asking me what your plans were. He wanted me to keep him fully informed.”
“The hell he did.” Luke closed his menu and folded his arms on the white tablecloth. “He asked you for inside information?”
Katy’s brows drew together in a tiny frown. “I wouldn’t put it quite like that. After all, he was an insider himself.”
“No,” Luke stated, “he was not. He was an employee. Nothing more. What did you tell him? Did you mention the investigation I was doing?” But he already knew the answer to that, Luke thought. Katy had obviously not warned Stanfield of the computer investigation. Stanfield would have either tried to cover his tracks or resigned before being discovered.
“You told me not to say anything about it,” Katy said equably, “so I didn’t. But if you want my opinion, Luke, I think you’re inclined to be much too secretive.”
“Katy, I think it’s time we had a talk,” Luke began determinedly. But before he could complete the statement he spotted a familiar couple advancing through the crowded restaurant. “Damn.”
“Now what’s wrong?” Katy followed his gaze. “It’s Maureen and Hayden. They must be here for dinner.”
“You were right,” Luke muttered. “Coming here tonight was a mistake.” He resigned himself to the inevitable as his aunt and uncle approached the table.
Maureen and Hayden, both dressed in their customary black, sauntered like royalty through the restaurant. They walked straight toward Luke and Katy, pulled out the two extra chairs at the table, and sat down.
“We were told you were dining here tonight,” Hayden said without preamble.
“Is that right?” Luke arched a brow. “Who told you that?
“Your secretary at the corporate office.”
“That’s the last time I ask her to make reservations for me,” Luke said. “Maybe it will be the last time she does anything for me.”
“Now, Luke,” Katy murmured.
“I need a secretary who can keep her mouth shut.”
Katy gave him an exasperated look and turned to Hayden. “Was there something you wanted to talk to Luke about?”
Hayden looked at Luke. “Yes, as a matter of fact, there was.”
“Can’t this wait?” Luke asked impatiently.
“No. Darren came to see me yesterday. He told me you had helped him out of a rather unpleasant situation.”
Luke shrugged. “He got himself out.”
“Under your guidance,” Maureen said. She flicked a quick glance at Katy and then looked back at Luke. “I also understand from my daughter that you had a long talk with her ex-husband.”
“It was a short talk, not a long one, and I really don’t want to discuss any of this tonight,” Luke said.
Maureen did not even flinch. “You did her a great favor, Luke. I knew that terrible man was pestering her again. I was afraid he wouldn’t go away quietly after Justine’s lawyers got through with him. Eden said he was demanding money from her.”
“Blackmail,” Hayden said in sepulchral tones. “Outright blackmail.”
Luke glanced at Katy, who was looking surprised. Then he frowned at Hayden. “Eden told you?”
“Yes.” Hayden shook his head sadly. “The whole story came out when Maureen confronted her about the fact that she was seeing Nate Atwood again. I think Eden was so relieved that he was off her back, she broke down and told her everything.”
“My poor, brave daughter had been keeping that awful secret to herself all these months.” Maureen shuddered. “When I think of what she must have been going through I could just weep. Her growing fear, her sense of desperation, her anxiety must have been nearly unbearable.”
“It wasn’t doing much good for the bottom line of either of the two restaurants involved, either,” Luke said dryly.
Katy frowned at him. “Eden was desperate, Luke. You know that.”
Maureen sighed. “She had no choice. She did what she thought she had to do to protect me. If only she had come to me in the beginning, I could have helped her.”
“Yeah?” Luke gave her a skeptical glance. “How?”
“For one thing, Hayden and I could have assured her that those clippings about my conviction were extremely misleading.”
Hayden patted Maureen’s hand. “Mauree
n was the victim of another unscrupulous gallery owner who took advantage of her trusting nature.”
“I lived in New York at the time,” Maureen explained. “I was young and naive and new in the business. It was Hayden who helped me get myself out of that terrible mess.”
“I had just met her,” Hayden said. “I’d gone to New York to find myself as an artist, and I found Maureen instead. We were both wildly in love. I knew she wasn’t guilty of deliberately selling the forged works. She had been set up.”
Maureen’s eyes glittered briefly with tears. “Hayden believed in me. Unfortunately, no one else did. My career was in shreds. Hayden suggested I come out west with him. The rest is history.”
“Couldn’t possibly explain all that to Justine, of course,” Hayden muttered. “She would never have understood. She was already furious because I wasn’t showing any signs of business acumen, and she hated the whole notion of my having a career in the art world.”
“The idea that Hayden was marrying someone who had once been embroiled in criminal charges would have sent her through the roof,” Maureen said grimly.
“You know Justine,” Hayden continued with a rueful shake of his distinguished head. “Later, after Thornton ran off with Cleo, I knew we had to keep quiet forever about Maureen’s past. I saw what Justine did to Cleo. I couldn’t allow her to treat my wife like that. I thought everything was safely buried.” He frowned. “I wonder how Atwood discovered those old press clippings.”
“Probably just went looking through some newspaper indexes,” Luke said. “Atwood is no fool. He knows the value of information, and like me, he survives by being able to gather it. He knew enough family history to figure out where to start digging.”
“So he went looking for some old scandal material that might be useful,” Hayden concluded.
“And found me,” Maureen said tightly. “While he was married to Eden he learned a lot about us. He knew what Justine was like. He knew it wouldn’t take much to upset her.”
Bill the waiter appeared at the table. He looked extremely nervous. “Uh, I thought I’d see if Mr. and Mrs. Gilchrist would care for anything.”
Maureen looked up. “Why, yes. My husband and I will be joining this party. I’ll start with a martini, please.”
“You can bring me a manhattan,” Hayden said pleasantly.
Luke swore silently, aware that he had lost whatever privacy he might have had left in which to talk to Katy. When he looked at her he saw the laughter in her eyes and knew she was once again being amused by the overbearing Gilchrist clan.
It occurred to him that if she found them so humorous, she could not possibly hate them.
Or could she?
Hayden settled back and assumed a thoughtful expression. “Maureen and I have decided it’s time to get a few things out on the table, Luke. It’s obvious from what you’ve done for Darren and Eden that you aren’t out for revenge against the entire family. But I must insist on knowing what your plans are for the company.”
Katy spoke up quickly. “He’s told you what he’s going to do for Gilchrist, Inc. He’s going to put it back on its feet.”
Hayden frowned. “Yes, but are you still intending to take the Pacific Rim as your fee? That’s what I want to know.”
“Sure,” Luke said. “Why not?” He glanced around the interior of the restaurant again. “I think this is going to be a damn good investment, although I may have to get rid of the chef.”
Maureen gathered herself for an impassioned speech. Hayden looked funereal.
Katy tapped her knife crisply against the edge of her plate and gave Luke a quelling glance. “I think it would be best if we all avoided that topic of discussion tonight. Luke’s plans have not been finalized.”
Luke’s brows rose. “They haven’t?”
“No,” she said firmly. “And I think we should all wait until the end of the six-month period before making any rash statements.”
Maureen gave Katy a shrewd glance and then nodded. “Very well. Perhaps it would be best to wait.”
Hayden started to argue and then appeared to change his mind after exchanging looks with his wife. He sighed heavily as he turned back to Luke. “You know, my boy, I wouldn’t blame you if you did bring the whole damn company down. I’m hoping you won’t, of course. It’s my children’s inheritance, and I have a vested interest in protecting it. But I would understand.”
Katy wrinkled her nose. “Only a Gilchrist would.”
Hayden shrugged. “Perhaps. The thing is, what Justine did thirty-seven years ago was unforgivable.”
“And sure enough, Luke’s side of the family never forgave her.” Katy shook her head in amazement. “Typical.”
“That’s enough, Katy,” Luke warned. He was not in the mood for any of her Gilchrist generalizations.
“You know,” she continued, paying no attention to him, “I’ve always wondered about something. Since we’re getting all this juicy old gossip out in the open tonight, maybe this is a good time to ask.”
“What’s that?” Maureen asked.
“I understand why Thornton Gilchrist ran off with Cleo. He was wildly in love, and Gilchrists do dramatic things, especially in dramatic circumstances. But why do you suppose he never bothered to at least send a note to my mother so that she wouldn’t have to endure the humiliation of being left at the altar?”
Luke stared at her, aware that Hayden and Maureen were also staring. No one had an answer. For the first time in his life Luke felt some of his unquestioning loyalty to his parents waver. Katy was right. His father could at least have let poor Deborah Quinnell know she was going to be abandoned.
“I don’t know why he didn’t contact your mother,” Maureen finally said. “Probably didn’t even think about it. He was undoubtedly more concerned with marrying Cleo and protecting her from Justine’s wrath than anything else.”
Hayden squeezed Maureen’s hand gently. “It was unfortunate, but I can see how it would have come about. Thornton was probably afraid Justine would try to get rid of Cleo if she had any warning of his intentions. And if Deborah Quinnell had learned of the elopement in advance, she would have naturally said something to her father.”
“Who would have gone straight to Justine to find out what was going on,” Maureen concluded. “You have to understand just how powerful Justine was in those days. The whole family shivered when she so much as sneezed. Thornton was right to be afraid of what she might try to do to Cleo.
Katy looked at her. “What could she have done?”
“Who knows?” Hayden said. “Tried to buy her off, perhaps. Or threatened her in some fashion. Maybe even convinced her she would ruin Thornton’s life by marrying him.”
Maureen nodded. “The point is, Thornton obviously knew his primary task was to protect Cleo.”
“And Deborah Quinnell came in second on his list of priorities,” Katy murmured. “Just another Gilchrist road kill.”
Luke went cold with anger. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” Katy smiled wryly. “Shall we order? I’m going to try one of the chefs new vegetarian entrées.”
Road kill. Luke gazed unseeing down at the menu. He had never felt less like eating in his life. Road kill. Was that how Katy saw her mother? An innocent victim of Gilchrist passions? A mere thump under the wheels of a Gilchrist warrior’s chariot?
Every time he looked at the situation the way a Gilchrist would look at it he was forced to realize that Katy had grounds for revenge.
“I’ll try a damn vegetarian entrée, too,” Luke muttered. The last thing he wanted to do was get something on his plate that might even remotely resemble dead meat.
“Fate plays odd tricks,” Maureen observed philosophically. “Just think, Katy, if Justine had gone through with the merger thirty-seven years ago in spite of the wedding being called off, you and Ma
tt would be part owners of Gilchrist, Inc. today.”
“It boggles the mind,” Katy agreed with suspicious blandness.
Hayden dismissed the whole idea with an elegant wave of his hand. “There was never any chance of Justine going through with the merger after Thornton ran off with Cleo. The merger between Gilchrist and Quinnell was contingent on marriage between the two families as far as she was concerned. Justine would die before she would hand over part of Gilchrist to outsiders.”
Luke’s insides dropped another notch below zero. Stanfield had been right. It was easy to come to the conclusion that Katy’s family had lost badly thirty-seven years ago. The question was whether or not Katy saw it that way.
The uncertainty he was experiencing tonight about Katy’s true feelings was going to drive him mad, Luke thought.
“Well, that’s all water under the bridge,” Katy said with an odd smile. She sat back in her chair and gazed thoughtfully around the busy restaurant, “I’ve been thinking. One of these days Gilchrist is going to have to redo some of the restaurant lobbies. This one, for example, is very pleasant but starting to look a trifle dated.”
“Restaurant decor gets old, just like anything else.” Luke was more interested in his own roiling thoughts than in the subject of interior design.
Katy smiled brightly. “I’ve got a suggestion to make.”
“What’s that?”
“I think we should redo all five of the restaurant lobbies to take advantage of the company’s connection with a famous artist. We should display some of Hayden’s pieces. Maureen could supervise the interior designer to make certain the art was shown off to its best advantage.”
Maureen gasped. Her eyes gleamed with excitement. “Katy, are you serious?”
“Certainly. I’ve been thinking about it for some time. We could even underline the impact of the display by simultaneously creating an endowment for the arts. It would generate some terrific public relations. Great image stuff for Gilchrist.”
A gleam of enthusiasm shone briefly in Hayden’s eyes. Then it died. “Forget it. Justine would never go for it.”