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instructed his secretary to make Mr. Linson
comfortable.
When he closed the door and turned around, the
other men stared at him in consternation.
"What are you thinking, John?" hissed Byron
Hedges. Byron was Oak s brother in law and Danni s
Uncle. "You know Linson is right, what are you
waiting for?"
The other three nodded in agreement.
"You know what will happen if he sells those
shares on the open market," grumbled Lars
Peterson.
"Gentlemen, I know your concerns," declared
Oaks. "But, have I ever steered you wrong before?"
His steely glare pinned them and dared them to
name one single time.
They all shifted uneasily and looked at one
another. They knew that OakHedges Corporation
had suffered some setbacks over the last few years.
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But Oaks had a nose for business that had built the
corporation and they still had faith in him. The
source of the setbacks could not be traced to any
one person or situation. It just seemed a series of
bad luck had plagued the corporation unmercilessly.
If they did not receive a major influx of monies& and
soon, they stood to lose several more ventures.
"We think you should take the offer,"
volunteered Peter Whitson, wiping his bald pate. "It
is above appraisal value as he stated, and it s
money we need to invest."
"Yes, John," agreed Lars. "The ski lodge has
been losing money for the last three years because
we have not had the funds to invest and make the
updates needed to move it into the 21st century. It s
become a white elephant for us, and we need to get
rid of it."
Striding around to his chair, Oaks picked up the
folder in front of him. "Gentlemen, I ve had a little
research done. I have a hunch Linson is bluffing. He
wants this lodge badly, although I haven t been able
to determine the reason as yet. I suggest we make
a counter offer at the end of the week and see what
he says."
His eyes gleamed as he looked around at the
other men. "I predict he will make another offer
raising the stakes once again."
"But what if he doesn t, John?" argued Byron.
"Then, we accept the offer he has made. But we
will lose nothing by holding out except a little more
time and putting him just slightly off balance. If he
thinks we aren t in a major hurry to get rid of it,
then he may be willing to up the ante if he wants it
as badly as I think he does."
The others looked around at each other and
then nodded. That was the John Oaks they knew,
and his reasoning was sound.
A half hour later, Byron stood at the 10th story
window looking out over the city. He turned as John
came in and poured himself a scotch.
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"What have you got in mind, John?" he asked
without turning around.
Oaks appeared beside him at the window,
swishing the drink around in his glass. "You know
me too well, Byron," he replied, his laugh rumbling
in his chest.
"Well?"
"I ve been doing some research on our Mr.
Linson. Seems he s worth a whole lot more than we
gave him credit for."
Surprised, Byron stared at his brother in law. "Is
that so?"
"Yes," mused Oaks, watching the scotch swirl in
his glass. "And another thing, I think he is
interested in Danni."
"Now that s something we can use," grinned
Byron, his teeth gleaming as he smiled. "I thought
you said he wasn t interested in meeting her and
scorned the suggestion?"
"Seems he met her all on his own. I saw them at
dinner Saturday night at the lodge. And I saw him
go into her condo."
Byron s eyes narrowed. "You don t say? That s
not Danni s usual behavior is it?"
"No, it certainly isn t," gloated John, a self-
satisfied smirk on his lips. "Perhaps all we need to
do is give a little push in the right direction." He
threw his head back and swallowed the shot.
"So you are thinking if he marries Danni, he
would invest in OakHedges as a future partner?"
guessed Byron.
"Something like that," agreed Oaks. "At any
rate, a rich son in law has all sorts of possibilities."
"It does indeed," murmured Byron, staring out
the window again. "But you know Danni won t help
you. In fact, she would run the other way if she
thought you had something to do with it."
"Leave it to me," responded John. "I ll figure
something out. This is too good an opportunity to
miss. It s just what we ve been waiting for, and I
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intend to work it very carefully to achieve maximum
benefit."
Byron grinned derisively at the smug smile on
John s face. Yes, John was good at getting the most
out of a situation. He had faith that he would this
time as well.
_______________________
"I m so sorry, Danni," exclaimed the white
haired woman just walking out of Danni s
apartment. I know I m late picking these up, but I
do thank you my dear. The children do so enjoy
homemade treats!"
Sanders put his arms out to stop the woman
who was due to turn any second and run right into
him& . which she did.
"Careful there," he warned, a smile curving his
lips as she gasped and gripped the big bowl she
held in her hands.
The jar caused the tin foil fold to open up a bit
and the smell of chocolate chip cookies wafted up
his nose.
He sniffed appreciatively as she stuttered, "I I m
so sorry, sir, I almost spilled these all over you!"
"That certainly is a delicious smell," re returned
with a lazy grin. "I ll forgive you if you take pity on
a bachelor and give me one of those."
"Of course," she blushed, charmed by his
endearing smile.
"Never mind, Macie," interrupted Danni. "I ll give
Mr. Linson one from the kitchen. Take those to the
kids."
"This must be the young man who sent those
beautiful roses last Sunday! How did you get
someone to deliver on Sunday?" she asked
curiously, her eyes bright with interest.
"Sanders Linson," he replied, chuckling. "I called
in a favor."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Linson," she
answered, smiling graciously. "I m Macie, Danni s
next door neighbor."
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"Allow me to get the door for you, and the
pleasure is all mine."
Danni watched in amusement as Sanders
opened the door for her gushing neighbor.
Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she
turned away from the door and headed for the
kitchen. The man positively oozed charm she
murmured to herself.
Suddenly, she heard an expletive, "What the
hell?"
Swiftly, she returned to the living room where a
fat orange ball was wrapped around Sanders leg,
hissing and spitting while Sanders was trying in vain
to shake it off.
"Down, Morris!" commanded Danni, clapping her
hands.
"Good grief, what IS that thing?" Sanders
demanded to know, watching Morris lick his paw
and wash his ear.
Morris seemed to take exception to the tone of
voice, and he stood on all four feet, tail twitching,
and hair standing on end. His golden eyes impaled
the upstart in a ferocious glare.
"Meet Morris, my attack cat," enjoined Danni
smugly.
"Attack cat?" returned Sanders incredulously.
"Yes, doesn t everyone have one?" blinked Danni
innocently.
"You ve GOT to be kidding!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]