Family Merger - By Leigh Greenwood Page 0,3

opposite him and felt some of his aggravation melt away. It couldn't be easy. She must relive what happened to her every time a girl came to her for help. Most people would want to put it behind them, to forget, pretend it never happened, but she'd had the courage to turn her personal tragedy into a benefit to the community. He had to admire her for that. And it was a real community service.

He wondered what had happened to her baby.

What did Cynthia mean to do with her baby? For the first time it hit him that he was about to become a grandfather. He had just turned forty.

"I want to see Cynthia."

"As I told you before, she's in bed."

"I heard you the first time, but you can't really think I'll just get up and walk out that door."

"It would be better if you waited until the morning."

"It would be better if this had never happened, but it has and I'll deal with it. Now I want to see my daughter."

Kathryn didn't move.

"You can get her for me, or I'll get her myself. It's your choice, but I'm going to see her."

"I won't let you yell at her, and I won't let you force her to leave."

"I hope I won't yell at her. I imagine she's extremely upset already, but I can't make any promises. How would you feel about leaving your only child in the hands of a stranger?"

"I wouldn't do it, but you've been doing that all her life."

This female didn't fight fair. "My work makes it impossible for me to be at home all the time. My staff has been with Cynthia for more than ten years."

Kathryn got to her feet. "I'll ask Cynthia if she wants to come down."

She left the room before he could make it plain that in this instance, at least, the decision wasn't up to Cynthia.

He was extremely tired, but he was too full of nervous energy to sit still. He got up and walked about the room. It was impossible not to notice that even though the furniture looked extremely comfortable and well used - the window treatments subtle, the carpets not new - everything had the look of being quite expensive. It was the kind of furniture that said I'm so expensive and well made I don't have to look expensive. Ron had studied such things. The trappings of success he made sure he acquired. He hadn't had anything when he was a kid. He was determined everybody would know that wasn't the case any longer. He finished his water and set the glass in what looked like a candy dish.

He wondered how things had gone with the meeting in Geneva. He was sure his colleagues Ted and Ben would do an excellent job of explaining why the two companies would do better under new management. It was just that he'd never before left the start of negotiations to anyone else. It was essential to know people's starting positions, prejudices and all, if he was going to bring them together in the end. Part of his reputation had been built on personal attention to every detail. If Ron Egan came after your company, you knew you were going to be meeting with Ron Egan all the time. He wondered what his absence now would do to his reputation.

Oh well, he'd be back in Geneva tomorrow. Or the next day. He could sleep on the plane if worrying about Cynthia didn't keep him awake again. This was one merger that wouldn't be easy. It wasn't merely a matter of money or paperwork. It was people and politics. You had to find a way to bring both together, and nobody could do that better than Ron Egan. It was how he'd raised himself from a kid whose parents didn't have enough money to buy him decent shoes or a winter coat to a man whose income had reached nine figures this last year.

He turned abruptly away from a mirror that showed him a much too realistic view of himself. He had the look of a successful man - the clothes, the carriage, the confidence - but right now that left a bad taste in his mouth. His daughter had become pregnant. Worse, she had turned to a perfect stranger for support rather than to him. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know something was wrong there. He was an expert when it came to analyzing people, figuring out what made