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> Once in the elevator, Ashley was alone. She closed her eyes and moved her head from side to side, hoping to relieve some of the tension in her shoulders.
Pushing through the glass doors of the building housing the firm of McMichaels and Lee, Ashley stepped into the subdued winter sunlight. A slight breeze caught in her hair and chilled her to the bone. She had just started down the short flight of steps to the street when Claud accosted her. Ashley braced herself for the confrontation that was sure to come. Ever since her falling out with her father, Claud had been groomed to inherit the presidency of Stephens Timber. No doubt his feathers were more than slightly ruffled.
“You knew about the change in the will, didn’t you?” he charged, falling into step with her.
“Of course not.”
“I don’t understand it—”
“Neither do I. Not really, but the fact is that father left the company to me.” When she reached her car, she turned to face her cousin. “Look, Claud, I know this must be a shock and disappointment to you. The thing of it is that I’d like you to continue to run the corporation just as you did for Dad, but you’ll have to report to me. I’ve told Alan exactly what I expect from you.”
Claud tugged uneasily on his mustache. His dark eyes bored into hers. “You won’t interfere?”
“Of course I will—if I think you’re doing an inadequate job. The next few days I’ll be at the corporate offices, looking over your shoulder. We can get any of the more pressing problems ironed out then. I want to know everything that happens to Stephens Timber Corporation.”
“Then you’re moving to Portland?” Claud asked, shifting from one foot to the other. He pulled at the knotted silk tie and found it difficult to look Ashley in the eye.
“Maybe after spring break, if the school administration can replace me. I expect you to send me reports and call me if you have a problem.”
“I think I will handle everything,” Claud stated with his cocky self-assurance. “Your old man didn’t bother to oversee what I was doing.”
“Well I am,” Ashley stated, her eyes glittering with determination. “Because now it’s my reputation on the line.”
“Don’t tell me you believed all those rumors.”
“Gossip is a cheap sort of entertainment for idle minds. What I believe happened in the past doesn’t matter. But, from here on in, we keep our corporate nose clean. Stephens Timber can’t afford any more bad press.” She added emphasis to her words by tapping her fingers on the hood of her car.
Claud grinned broadly. He reassessed his first cousin and his eyes slid appreciatively down her slender body. Ashley Jennings was a woman with class. It was too damn bad she just happened to be Lazarus Stephens’s daughter. “We do have one particular problem,” Claud speculated aloud.
“What’s that?” Ashley had pulled the keys from her purse and her hand was poised over the handle of the car door. She and Claud had never gotten along, but because of the situation, she was forced to trust him, if only temporarily.
“Trevor Daniels.”
“Why is he a problem?” Ashley looked unperturbed and gave no indication of her suddenly racing pulse. After eight years of living with the truth, she was able to react calmly whenever Trevor’s name was mentioned.
“If he gets the senatorial seat in the fall, he’ll put us out of business.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible, Claud.” She turned to face her cousin. Her green eyes were still clear and hid the fact that her heart was pounding erratically.
“He’s always been out to get the family. You, as well as anyone, should know that,” Claud stated.
Ashley felt her body stiffen, but she promised herself not to let Claud’s insensitive remarks affect her.
She straightened before crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on her sporty BMW. “Trevor’s family, as well as ours, is involved in the timber business. We’re competitors—that’s all. There’s no way he would be able to ‘put us out of business.”’
Claud’s hands were spread open at his sides. “But you know how he is—he’s trying to get the government to make all the forests into designated wilderness areas. If he gets elected—”
“He’ll try harder.” Ashley’s small hands pushed her away from the car. “But not to the point that it would destroy the timber industry. If he did that, Claud, he’d not only thwart his own family’s business, but he’d also put a lot of his constituents back in the unemployment lines. He’s too smart to do anything of the sort.”
“I can’t figure it out,” Claud said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“What?”
“Why the hell you still stick up for that bastard!”
Ashley raised an elegant eyebrow and smiled confidently. “What happened between Trevor and me has nothing to do with Stephens Timber.”
“Like hell! When are you going to face the fact that the bastard used you, Ashley? And all for a chance at the timber company. He thought you would inherit it all, didn’t he? And then, when your father cut you off, he split! Swell guy.”
