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Chapter 1
She was looking forward to going back to work. The vacation in the South of France and a stopover at the London bookfair had been the cherry on top of a very successful and relaxing two weeks. But she was ready to return to her office and dive into the manuscripts inside the steel gray cabinets behind her desk.
She had some ideas and had jotted them down while she walked the different booths. Jerry Gallagher, the man in charge of Gallaghers Publishing, was a stick in the mud and usually shied away from anything resembling changes, but they would have to step up to the plate. The world was changing rapidly, and Gallaghers would have to change.
Rising from the table she had been working on her laptop, she stretched languidly and wandered over to the window. It was spring, and instead of opting for a flat in London, she had booked into a tiny cottage surrounded by the most gorgeous landscape she had ever seen.
Wrapping the sweater around her, she went to open the door to inhale the clean and sweet air. Flowers were in full bloom, and even though she could not identify most of them, she could appreciate the dazzling beauty against the carpet of luxurious green.
She had laughingly told her two best friends, Angeline and Sara, that she had idly contemplated putting down roots in the tiny village, and they had laughed in derision.
“You are a city girl, honey.”
“I might be tempted to be converted.”
Her friends were right; she was a city girl. She loved the hectic pace of walking on the sidewalks and bumping shoulders with others hurrying to get to their destinations. She even enjoyed taking the train to work.
She loved the theaters, the trendy restaurants, jogging in the park, and even the sinister underlying crime and mugging. She would not exchange it for anything.
She enjoyed traveling as the editor for a reasonably successful publishing house. Most of all, she enjoyed delving into a raw manuscript, looking for the extraordinary, and changing an author's life by declaring that this would be a bestseller.
Moving away from the window, she went to get the glass of wine she had poured to go with her meal. She had decided to try the shepherd's pie and decided it was all right.
Taking the wine with her to the sofa in one corner of the small living room, she sat and stared into the fireplace, a frown knitting her brow.
Her job was in jeopardy. Jerry had been trying to reassure her, but she had heard the rumors. Gallaghers was in financial trouble, and a huge conglomerate was sniffing around. In her opinion, that would spell disaster for the publishing company.
They would be looking for the bottom line - profit, and if that did not happen in the allotted time, they would have no qualms about disbanding the company.
She had been impressing upon Jerry and the board members to take the publishing house to another level without success. She had had the frustrated and unsuccessful task of doing her research and bringing facts to the various meetings, but the crusty old members of the board were stuck in their damn ways and refused to budge.
At times, she had felt like hitting them over the head with a stack of thick manuscripts. She had had offers from other publishing houses but was loyal to Gallagher's, and now it appears it might be taken over.
Sipping the wine, she stared into the fireplace, her frown deepening. She had no idea what she was going home to, and it was bothering her. Jerry was a sanctimonious ass, but at least she knew where she stood with him. Her position in the company was one of power, and she wielded it like a sword.
With new players coming on board, who knew what would happen? She might be in danger of losing her position. She had autonomy to a point, and she loved having that. Her word regarding which books were to be published was not only accepted, it was encouraged.
What if that was going to change? Did she have the heart to leave a company she had worked at for ten years? She was thirty-two and married to her job, and there was nothing wrong with that as far as she was concerned. Finishing the wine, she rose to go to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. When in England....
*****
"Mr. Manchester, thanks for seeing me on such short notice." Jerry felt dwarfed by the large and sumptuous office of the dynamic CEO of the company.
A discreet look around the room showed carved antique furnishings, an expensive Jackson Colby hanging over the massive fireplace, and floor-to-ceiling windows revealing the spectacular view of the corporate office's skyscrapers.
"I can spare ten minutes." Deacon Manchester waved a hand to one of the chairs surrounding his large baronial desk.
Jerry sat on the plush and padded blue and green chair, trying not to show nerves. "That's more than enough time.
The man behind the desk leveled expressionless silver eyes on him and made him want to squirm.
"Are you going to begin?" There was a hint of impatience in the deep baritone that had goosebumps popping out on Jerry's skin.
"Yes, of course." Jerry made a show of opening his folder. "As you know, Gallagher's has been in my family for more than a hundred years-"
"Spare me the family history, Mr. Gallagher. The acquisition team has brought me up to speed on everything." Deacon leaned back in his leather chair and gave the man a cool, assessing stare.
"You are here to find out what Manchester Enterprises has in store for the publishing house, and could not wait for us to get to you on Monday. We still have an appointment with your board at ten sharp. Is that correct?"
