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the window of Justine Gilchrist's glass-walled living room and watched the fog roll silently in off the ocean. The gray mist crept inevitably closer, slowly but surely consuming the world. In another few minutes the beach below the window would disappear. Then the magnificent old mansion that was Justine's home would be lost in a gray void.
    Normally Katy enjoyed the drama of incoming fog, but today it disturbed her. The relentless approach of the gray void made her think of the disaster that was threatening to overtake Gilchrist, Inc.
    “You tried, Katy,” Justine Gilchrist said. “It was good of you to do so, but the outcome is not entirely unexpected. It's obvious my grandson is just as proud and unforgiving as his father was.”
    Katy turned her head to look at the regal, silver-haired woman seated in the wingback chair. At eighty-two, Justine Gilchrist was still a striking member of the clan.
    In spite of her recent problems her shrewd green eyes were young in her patrician face, and her figure was trim. Today she was wearing a black silk blouse and a black skirt. A simple strand of pearls graced the neckline of her blouse.
    Lately an assortment of ailments had begun to plague Justine. None of them appeared to be imminently life-threatening, but during the past two years they had robbed her of the driving energy that had enabled her to build and guide Gilchrist, Inc. for nearly six decades.
    “I'm sorry, Justine. I don't think I handled the interview with Luke very well. I'm afraid I lost my temper.”
    “Don't blame yourself.” Justine smiled wearily. “You are so very open and forthright, my dear. Just like your grandfather, Richard. He always said exactly what he thought, too. You always knew where you stood with him. I have missed him these past few years. I owe him more than I can ever repay.”
    Katy thought wistfully of her loud, laughing, boisterous grandfather. Richard Quinnell had been a self-made man in every way.
    Lacking a formal education, money, and family, he had come west to make his fortune. He and his wife had opened a fish-and-chips restaurant on the Seattle waterfront and had prospered quickly. The Quinnells had been in a position to help the young Justine Gilchrist when she had been left widowed and alone in the world with her two small sons and her husband's failing waterfront café. The Quinnells had kept her afloat financially until Justine, working night and day, had managed to turn a profit.
    The friendship between the Quinnells and Justine had endured over the years in spite of a friendly rivalry between the two growing restaurant chains. When Justine's son, Thornton, had asked Katy's mother, Deborah, to marry him, Justine had made no secret of her satisfaction. She had even broached the possibility of a merger between the two restaurant corporations. Richard Quinnell, who had recently lost his wife, agreed.
    The marriage and the merger had been big news in Seattle's business community. The combined events had filled the papers, and the guest list for the wedding had been impressive.
    When Thornton Gilchrist failed to show up at the church, Justine was deeply ashamed. The Quinnells and the Gilchrists had gone their separate ways after the debacle. Both businesses continued to thrive, but there was no more talk of a merger.
    When Richard Quinnell had collapsed from a heart attack sixteen years ago, his West Coast chain of innovative fast food restaurants had been on the verge of going into the international market.
    Unfortunately, Richard's successor, Katy's father, had not had Quinnell's magic touch when it came to running a business empire. Under Crawford Wade's control the Quinnell chain had floundered, eventually going bankrupt.
    “I probably should have been more diplomatic with your grandson.” Katy turned back to the scene outside the window. “But he really annoyed me, Justine.”
    “I can imagine.”
    Katy considered the approach she had taken with Luke, searching for flaws