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Everett sighed audibly. “Why?”

“I’m taking a little time off.”

“Now?” Everett rose from the chair and eyed his employer suspiciously. “But you can’t, Trevor. Not now. It’s just not possible.”

“Anything’s possible. You’re the one who gave me that advice when I first considered running.”

“Exactly why you can’t take a vacation now. Your schedule’s a mess as it is. All that time you were recuperating—”

“From the accident,” Trevor interjected. Everett opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. He knew just how far to push Trevor Daniels, and when to stop. “Think of my leave of absence as following doctor’s orders for rest, if it will make you feel better,” Trevor suggested.

“Is that what you want me to tell the press?”

The skin tightened over Trevor’s cheekbones. “I don’t give a damn what you tell them. Say whatever you want.”

“You’re not being very reasonable about this,” Everett cautioned.

“That’s because I don’t feel very reasonable at the moment.” Trevor hoisted the canvas bag off the bed and slung his jacket over his shoulder before turning toward the door.

“So, where are you going?”

“Away . . . alone.”

“Alone?” Trevor’s remark sounded dangerous to Everett and very much like the lie it was. Everett hesitated only slightly before playing his trump card. “I just hope you use your head, Daniels. And I hope that you’re not going out on some personal vendetta against Stephens Timber Corporation. That wouldn’t be wise—politically or personally.”

Trevor’s hand paused over the doorknob. He turned to face his concerned friend. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that Ashley Stephens can’t help you now,” Everett said kindly. He noticed the stiffening of Trevor’s spine and the sudden chilling of his gaze.

“Her name isn’t Stephens anymore,” Trevor stated. The tanned skin strained over Trevor’s rugged features.

“But you and I both know that she and Richard Jennings were divorced several years ago. We also know that she owns the majority interest in Stephens Timber. Claud could be replaced in a minute, if Ashley decided to let him go.”

The curse on Trevor’s tongue was restrained. “You’ve done your homework,” he observed, his voice cold.

Everett rubbed the tension from the back of his neck. “You pay me for that, too. Look, Trevor, I don’t want to step out of line. What you do with your personal life is your business. I’m only worried when it begins to affect your career.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

Genuine concern registered in the younger man’s gaze. “Just be careful. Don’t do anything, or get involved with anyone if you think there’s a chance you might regret it later.”

Trevor’s voice was calm. “I’m not about to forget what’s important in my life, if that’s what you mean.”

“The right woman sometimes can change a man’s way of thinking.”

Trevor frowned and turned the doorknob. “Then we really don’t have much of a problem, do we? I think that you and I both agree that Ashley Jennings is definitely not ‘the right woman.’”

With his final angry statement, Trevor jerked open the door and left his campaign manager to contemplate the half-empty bottle of bourbon.

Chapter Three

Ashley squinted into the darkness, watching warily as the snow piled around the edges of her windshield wipers. The mountain storm had come without warning and caught her off guard.

She had come to her father’s Cascade Mountain retreat seeking solace. More than anything right now, she needed time alone to think things out. Now that her teaching obligations at the college had been fulfilled, she would be able to devote all of her energy to the timber company.

For the past week she had been in Portland, trying to sort through the books of Stephens Timber Corporation. As each day had passed it had become increasingly clear that Ashley couldn’t trust her cousin Claud as far as she could throw him. There was little doubt in her mind that she would have to give him his walking papers as soon as she returned to Portland.

Armed with her briefcase full of financial reports concerning the operation of the vast timber empire, Ashley had spent the last two nights at the cabin poring over the accountant’s figures concerning profit and loss, assets and liabilities and projected timber sales for the next two years.

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