The Price of Passion

by Maureen Child

  “Right. So what’s going on?” She barely noticed the scenery flying past as she whipped her beloved BMW convertible down the road. And though she was managing to hold a conversation with Sutton, her mind was still on Camden. Unconsciously, she lifted one hand to her mouth, as if she could still feel his lips on hers. And, really, she could. It was as if he’d branded her.

  “Mom called the meeting.”

  “Mom?” Ever since the death of Beth’s father, Ava Wingate had stepped back from the company. She’d gone to Europe for an extended stay, along with one of her oldest “friends,” Keith Cooper. How Mom was oblivious to the fact that Keith was clearly in love with her, Beth couldn’t figure out. Then again, maybe Ava didn’t want to know the truth.

  “Did she say what the meeting’s about?” Beth asked, concentrating on the road again.

  “No. All she said was, attendance is mandatory. Hell, she’s even got Piper coming in from Dallas for it.”

  “Okay, that makes no sense.” Her mother’s younger sister, Piper Holloway, wasn’t even a part of the company.

  “Yeah. Look, all I know is Baz called to tell me about the meeting and ordered me to spread the word.”

  “Ordered?”

  He laughed. “You know Baz. He’s always ordering everybody around. Part of his charm.”

  True. Their oldest brother had stepped into the void left behind when their father, Trent, died two years before. Sebastian had a tight grip on the company and under his leadership, Wingate Enterprises, with WinJet in the lead, was growing like it never had before.

  “Fine,” she said, just managing to bury the sigh. “When?”

  “Now.”

  “Damn it!” She pressed harder on the accelerator. “I’m about twenty minutes out. Baz will have to be patient.”

  “Sure,” Sutton said with a laugh. “That’ll happen.” After a pause, he asked, “Where exactly are you?”

  Her mouth worked because she didn’t want to say the words, but then told herself she had nothing to be ashamed of. “I’m on Old River Road.”

  “Huh.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” Sutton’s voice was amused as he added, “Isn’t that where Camden Guthrie’s ranch is?”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Everybody knows that. What I don’t know is why you went there.”

  “It’s not what you’re thinking.” Beth winced. She’d known people would start talking about the two of them again.

  “How do you know what I’m thinking?”

  “Please.”

  “Fine. I’ll leave it alone.”

  “Thanks.” Beth sighed a little.

  “For now.”

  Way too many men were telling her that today.

  * * *

  Family meetings were an unavoidable fact in the Wingate family.

  Usually those meetings were at the company headquarters, but for whatever reason, Ava Wingate had insisted this meeting be held at the family ranch. Boasting forty acres of prime Texas ranch land that had never actually been worked, the Wingates kept horses for personal riding and plenty of chickens for their kitchen needs. The barn and stable were on one side of the property and the guesthouse on the other. The main house sat on the highest point on the property, affording views of untouched rolling hills, a private lake and stands of oaks.

  The house itself was sort of a mix of Southwestern and California ranch, made of cream-colored stone and stucco. There was a red clay tile roof, a wide front porch and a wraparound balcony on the second floor.

  Beth loved it. She lived at the main house, along with her mom, Sebastian and Sutton. The house was palatial in size, so everyone had privacy and plenty of space. The Wingate cousins, Luke and his twin, Zeke, lived in the guesthouse, so they were close enough to be a part of everything and far enough away that they could get space when they needed it.

  Sitting in the formal dining room at a table that could easily seat twenty, Beth glanced around. There were paintings of the ranch dotting the cream-colored walls and the heavy, dark wood beams added interest and a sense of timelessness.

  Beth’s brothers were on one side of the table while Luke and Zeke sat beside her. Everyone was waiting on Ava and wondering why they were there in the first place.

  “The gang’s all here,” Piper Holloway said brightly as she hurried into the room. She took a seat next to Sebastian and looked around at all of them in turn. Piper was forty, looked thirty and was Ava’s younger sister. She was more of a sister to all of them, too, than an aunt. Tall and slim, she kept her dark brown hair in a short, edgy style that looked perfect on her. She owned an art gallery in Dallas, but came home to Royal often. Her dark green eyes were filled with questions as she grinned at Beth.

  “Anyone know why we’re here yet?”

  “No,” Beth said. “Mom’s running late.”

  “Was there an apocalypse?” Piper’s eyebrows went up. “Ava’s never late.”

  That was true, too. Starting to get worried, Beth leaned into Zeke. “What time is it?”

  “Ten minutes past when she said she’d be here.”

  Beth sighed. She still had to meet with the owners of the local wine store about their donation to the TCC charity masquerade.

  “So fill me in,” Piper said, looking at all of them. “What’s new at the company?”

  Sebastian looked at Luke. “You’re the VP of New Product Development...”

  Luke grinned and leaned both forearms on the shining walnut table. “We’ve got some interesting drones coming out of R & D.”

  “Drones?” Beth asked. “They’re not new, right?”

  “These are.” Luke held up one hand, palm out. “They fit in the palm of your hand, and they’re so easy to use kids will love them.”

  Zeke jumped in. “I’ve got our top guys working on ideas for digital ads as well as commercials already. Luke’s drones are awesome.”

  Zeke and Luke were the sons of Ava’s older brother, Robert, the product of his marriage to Nina, an African American woman. When Robert and Nina died in an accident, Ava had insisted that Luke and Zeke come to Royal to be with family. Now it felt as if they’d always been there.

  The twins were both tall and gorgeous, with caramel-colored skin, closely cropped black hair and bright green eyes. Zeke was the VP of Marketing while Luke was in charge of New Product Development. The genius of Luke’s creative mind was its flexibility, and Zeke’s inner adventurer kept everyone on their toes. Beth was nuts about both of them.

  Thankfully, they weren’t identical, because Sebastian and Sutton were sometimes hard to tell apart. Beth shifted a look at her brothers.

  They were tall and handsome, with dark blond hair and the Wingate green eyes. Sebastian was the CEO of Wingate Enterprises, Sutton was the CFO, and Beth was grateful the four guys did the majority of the worrying and working on the family business.

  Piper was nudging Sebastian, trying to coax a smile out of him. Meanwhile, Sutton was kicked back in his chair, grinning at something Zeke had said. Zeke elbowed Luke to bring him in on the joke, and Beth smiled to herself, just watching them.

  Sutton and Sebastian were as different as they were identical. Baz was always serious, all business, while Sutton had a ready smile and a relaxed attitude that put everyone at ease.

  The only ones missing now, she thought sadly, were her brother Miles and their sister Harley. But Miles had left Royal for Chicago and his own security company years ago and Harley and her son, Daniel, were living in Thailand while she ran her nonprofit, Zest. Beth missed them both. Especially at times like this.

  “Anyone know what this is about?” Sutton’s question hung in the air.

  “You guys would know more about it than I would,” Beth said, and looked at Luke.

  “Nope. Not a clue,” he replied, shaking his head. Then
he looked at Sebastian. “Aunt Ava hasn’t said anything to you?”

  “No.” He didn’t look happy about that, either. “Ever since Mom came home to work at the company again six months ago, she’s been moving around from section to section. Like she’s familiarizing herself with everything again.”

  “It’s a good idea,” Zeke said.

  “The question is,” Piper put in, “why did she call us all here?”

  “The answer is a simple...yet complex one.” Everyone turned to look at Ava as she entered the room.

  Everyone came to attention in their seats and Beth had to marvel at it. Ava Holloway Wingate commanded a room once she stepped inside it. Almost sixty, she was the picture of refined elegance. A slight touch of gray at her temples shone in dark blond hair that was pulled up into her standard chignon, and her gray-green eyes swept the room with a glance. She wore a pale blue business suit and black heels.

  She and Beth’s father had been incredibly close, to the point where sometimes it seemed as if they forgot they’d had five children together. But because of how they’d been raised—including Piper—the Wingate siblings had stuck together, and that closeness remained today.

  Ava took a seat at the head of the table and folded her hands together in front of her. “I won’t waste time on pleasantries...”

  Beth threw a glance at Sutton, who shrugged in answer. Ava never wasted time on pleasantries—like How are you? I’ve missed you. Or even I love you.

  “You all know I’ve been spending time at the company these last six months,” their mom was saying in her clipped tones. “I wanted to get to know each department in turn, get a handle on how things were running.”

  “Mother,” Sebastian interrupted quietly. “Why don’t you just tell us what it was that required this meeting?”

  “Fine.” She looked at all of them, her cool eyes appraising. “I’ve found a discrepancy in accounting.”

  “What?” Sutton sat forward, all pretense of casual disinterest gone.

  Sebastian, in charge of his siblings and cousins, as always, held up one hand to quiet everyone. His gaze fixed on his mother, he said, “What exactly did you find, Mother?”

  “In the simplest terms,” Ava told him. “I’ve discovered money missing. Being quietly, carefully, skimmed from several different accounts.”

  “How much?” Zeke’s question broke the stunned silence.

  Ava looked at him directly. “At this point, it’s difficult to be sure. But, at a minimum, several hundred thousand dollars.”

  “What?” Sebastian slapped one hand on the table and Piper jumped. “Sorry,” he muttered.

  “How long has this been going on?” Beth watched her mother’s face and noticed the tightening at the corners of Ava’s mouth.

  “From what I can tell at this early stage,” Ava said, “it’s been going on several years.”

  “Who the hell would do that?” Sutton demanded of no one in particular.

  “And how?” Luke asked.

  “It couldn’t have been easy,” Piper murmured.

  “Easier than it should have been,” Ava said with a quick look at her sister. “Every department is compartmentalized. Every section has their own bookkeeping division. No one knows what’s happening anywhere else.”

  “That was done deliberately,” Sebastian reminded her. “Breaking it up seemed the best way to keep everything from being centralized.”

  “I know. But that plan obviously has its flaws.” Ava looked at her oldest son, then included everyone else when she said, “I’ve decided to hire an outside auditor to go over the books. Once we know how long it’s been happening and how much has been stolen, we can look for the thief.”

  “I’m on board with an auditor,” Sebastian murmured, “but we need to keep this quiet. Wingate Enterprises is big business. WinJet alone is a billion-dollar firm. We don’t want outsiders worried about the health of Wingate. Until we get to the bottom of this,” he added, looking at his siblings and cousins, “we keep this in the family.”

  “Agreed,” Ava said, then looked around the table.

  Everyone else concurred and apparently that was enough for Ava. She stood up and added, “Once we know more, we’ll meet about this again.”

  She walked out of the room, and the rest of them were left sitting at the table, staring at each other. Beth looked at Piper. “Did you know about this? Did Mom talk to you first?”

  Piper held up both hands and shook her head. “Not a word.”

  “Auditors,” Sutton muttered. “If this is as big as Mom thinks it is, we could be in serious trouble.”

  “Let’s wait for the reports before we panic,” Piper told him.

  “No one is panicking,” Sebastian put in, dropping into his chair again. “But we damn well should start some planning.”

  Four

  Later that day, Cam followed Olivia Turner around the yard and watched her making notes, taking measurements and so many pictures that he wondered why she didn’t just take a video and leave it at that.

  But he appreciated her thoroughness, too. Olivia’s construction company had a great reputation for coming in on time, on budget or under, and her work was always top grade. So whatever estimate she gave him, he’d accept it. Of course, she didn’t know that.

  “Okay,” she said, and turned to face him. She tapped her tablet a few more times, then lifted her gaze to his. “I’ve got a good idea of what you’re going for here, and it’s a good plan.”

  “Thanks. How long to get your estimate on the job?”

  She tipped her head to one side, and her bright red braid swung out and across her shoulder. “For the whole job? I mean, for the remodel on the house as well as the guest cottages and everything else?”

  “Yeah. All of it.”

  Her eyebrows shot up and her green eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “That’s a big job. You’d basically be hiring my crew for the next six months or more.”

  He nodded. “I would be. Can you handle that?”

  She took a breath, sighed and looked around the land. He knew what she was seeing. Live oaks, open space filled only with the potential of what it could be, and his house, about two hundred yards from where they were standing. He knew she was seeing it as it would be when the job was completed. He liked that. In his experience, a contractor needed to have imagination and vision as well as talent. Hell, he could see it, too, and wanted it done sooner rather than later. Finally she turned to look at him.

  “I’d have to hire on more help—and there are two or three jobs I’ve already lined up,” she warned. “I can’t leave those people hanging.”

  “I respect that. The question is,” he continued, “can you juggle those jobs and mine, and still give a hundred percent to all of us?”

  At that, she straightened up, lifted her chin and assured him, “I always give a hundred percent. If we take on a job, it gets our best.”

  “Good to know.” He nodded, taking the sting out of his question. He had already known about her reputation, but it was good to have it confirmed. “So. The estimate?”

  She laughed. “In a hurry?”

  “Yeah,” he said, and looked down the path toward the barn and the stables and the fields beyond. He wanted to get going on the next chapter in his life and wasn’t one to just stand around waiting. “I am. Can you handle that?”

  She laughed. “I grew up with brothers. I can handle pretty much everything.” Glancing at her tablet again, she added, “I’ll go over these figures and get back to you by day after tomorrow with a firm number.”

  “A number,” he reminded her, “that also includes another stable capable of stalling twelve horses.”

  She laughed again, shaking her head. “If I stay here much longer, are you going to keep throwing more jobs at me?”

  “You never know.” Cam turned to glance at his
house. “You can leave the remodel of the house to the end. I’d rather have the rest up and running as soon as possible.”

  “Okay, that works.” She paused, then said, “Seems to me, you’re rushing to get back into the swing of being in Royal.”

  “Yeah, you could say that.” He’d missed this place while he was in California. And the sooner he was in business and a member of the TCC, the sooner it would feel like he’d never really left.

  “Well, if you want to see half of Royal, you should come to the Fire Department Open House this Saturday.”

  “Is that right?”

  Olivia shrugged. “They’re raffling off a new truck to raise money to fix up the station and maybe get some new equipment. But there’ll be a band and free food and, like I said, no place better for you to mingle with all the people you want to see.”

  “It’s a good idea,” he agreed. And it sounded like something Beth would be attending. He wanted to cross paths with her again, and doing it while surrounded by half the town seemed like the safest way to go.

  “Great. I’ll see you there. You can probably meet most of my crew, too.” Then she turned to look at his stable. “Are you wanting basically a copy of the building you already have?”

  He grinned. “Basically, but on the interior, I’ve got a few ideas.”

  Olivia tossed her braid back over her shoulder, took a breath and said, “Of course you do. Okay, let’s hear ’em.”

  * * *

  The following day, Beth stood at her office window, staring out at Royal. Her mind was whirling with the implications of her mother’s discovery. In fact, the whole family was in an uproar. Who could be stealing from them? She didn’t believe for a minute it was anyone in the family. But that meant one of their employees was a thief, and that was hard to fathom, as well.

  Her brothers, cousins and mother had been talking about nothing but this situation, and while Beth couldn’t blame them, she’d happily come into work and put the worry aside for a while.