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in her plans. It was true she had lost her temper with him, but he had deserved it.
    “You wouldn't believe how he's living,” she said. “He just sits there all alone in that awful old house and makes money day after day. He doesn't even seem to be enjoying it. The place needed painting, and the furniture was old and shabby. As far as I can tell, his only friend is a large, vicious-looking dog.”
    “Good Lord.” Justine sounded genuinely alarmed for the first time. “I do hope he isn't turning into another Howard Hughes. Did you notice if his hair and fingernails were getting overly long?”
    Katy smiled wryly. “Don't worry. He hasn't flipped out completely, at least not as far as I could tell. He needed a haircut, but other than that he looked reasonably normal.”
    For a Gilchrist .
    Hah. Who was she kidding? Katy asked herself silently. She had been fascinated by him. Another of those unsettling little chills of sensual awareness went down her spine at the memory of Luke's sorcerer's eyes and coiled grace. She was still having problems dealing with the realization that he had affected her so strongly.
    For one thing, she simply did not understand her own reaction to him. Never in her wildest dreams would she have envisioned herself attracted to such a man. And she could not believe he had been attracted to her.
    Rumors about his beautiful wife had circulated among the Washington State members of the Gilchrist family at the time of Luke's marriage. Katy had once seen a photograph of the pair in a trade magazine. Luke and Ariel had obviously been perfect for each other, a dark, brooding warlock and his exotic witch of a wife.
    “So his inheritance means nothing to him after all.” Justine rested her head against the back of the chair. “I must admit I had rather hoped to lure him to us with the promise that I would reinstate him in my will and turn complete control of Gilchrist, Inc. over to him.”
    Katy cleared her throat. “I did not exactly offer him Gilchrist, Inc., Justine. To be perfectly honest, I didn't tell him that you were willing to put him back in your will, either.”
    Justine's brows rose slightly. “But I thought that was the whole point of trying the personal approach, my dear. He has steadfastly refused to have anything to do with me, but when he agreed to see you, I was certain we had a foot in the door. He seemed prepared to listen to my proposal delivered through you.”
    “Well, he didn't exactly agree to see me, either,” Katy admitted. “I know I gave you the impression that he had, but the truth was, I got so annoyed with him when he didn't bother to respond to my calls and letters that I just decided to get in the car and drive down to Oregon to confront him.”
    There was a pregnant pause. “I see,” Justine finally murmured. “How did you locate him? All we had was a phone number and a post office box address. Did you hire a private detective?”
    “No. I stopped in the town where he keeps the post office box and started asking questions. It wasn't that hard to find him.” Not with the distinctive description she had been able to provide thanks to her knowledge of the Gilchrist clan. The attendant at the town's single gas station had been very helpful. “ Tall? Black hair? Looks sorta like one of them Wild West gunslingers? Sure, I know him. He works out at the gym sometimes. Does some kind of weird martial arts stuff, you know? He drives a honey of a black Jag .”
    Justine nodded. “You are ever resourceful, my dear. May I ask why, once you were actually face to face with him, you failed to make him my offer?”
    “Damn it, Justine, I just couldn't do it.” Katy closed one hand into a small fist. “He doesn't deserve to have everything you've worked and fought for turned over to him just like that. He shouldn't come back because you're offering him Gilchrist, Inc. on a silver platter. He should come back because it's his duty to the family.”
    “You told him