The Hamilton Heir

Tim swept his arm in an arc and gave a slight bow. “After you, ma’am.”

Dawn shook her head and chuckled. That pleased him. He was still trying to get over the shock of finding out she didn’t see him as the kind of man who kept his word. He was determined to show her his true character, though he wasn’t sure how. Granted, he could be rather ruthless in business if the situation called for it, but in his private life he wasn’t so bad, was he? Introspection didn’t show any major flaws that he was aware of. Therefore, he planned to prove to Dawn what a great guy he really was.

Why? The surprising question gave him pause. Why, indeed? He was Dawn’s boss, not her date. Why should he care about her personal opinion of him as long as she continued to do her job well?

DAVIS LANDING:

Nothing is stronger than a family’s love

VALERIE HANSEN

was thirty when she awoke to the presence of the Lord in her life and turned to Jesus. In the years that followed she worked with young children, both in church and secular environments. She also raised a family of her own and played foster mother to a wide assortment of furred and feathered critters.

Married to her high school sweetheart since age seventeen, she now lives in an old farmhouse she and her husband renovated with their own hands. She loves to hike the wooded hills behind the house and reflect on the marvelous turn her life has taken. Not only is she privileged to reside among the loving, accepting folks in the breathtakingly beautiful Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, she also gets to share her personal faith by telling the stories of her heart for Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired line.

Life doesn’t get much better than that!

The Hamilton Heir

Valerie Hansen

To Joe, who loves me unconditionally. And to John and Karen, who first inspired me to find a church home. They are all three so dear, it brings tears to my eyes.

The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice; and he that begets a wise child shall have joy in him.

—Proverbs 23:24

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Dawn Leroux tensed the moment her boss pushed open the door of his private office and entered hers. She was hard at work, as usual, so no one could question her diligence. Just the same, there was always a niggling feeling of intimidation associated with being in the presence of Timothy Hamilton.

“I left a short list of personnel on my desk,” Tim said. “I’ll want their files updated and waiting for me when I get back. It shouldn’t take you too long.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Hamilton. Anything else?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Fine. I’ll take care of it right away.”

Dawn smiled inwardly. She wished she had a nickel for every time she’d told her boss that very thing. Being his administrative assistant wasn’t a bad assignment as long as she was quick to respond to his orders—and do things his way. The man was predictable, if nothing else. Whatever he wanted done, he wanted it done yesterday.

“Will you be out of the office long?” she asked, pen in hand, as he breezed past her desk.

He pushed back his cuff to check his Rolex. “I have a ten o’clock meeting with Ed Bradshaw in the Dispatch office downstairs, then lunch with my mother at twelve. If you need me, we’ll probably be across the street at Betty’s. Mom prefers the Bakeshoppe.”

“I can understand why. The food is delicious.” Dawn was making notes. “Is that all?”

“For the moment,” Tim said. He tapped the breast pocket of his immaculate gray suit. “If I think of anything else, I’ll phone you.” He paused. “You’ll be here?”

“All day,” Dawn said pleasantly, knowing exactly what he meant. “I brown-bagged it today.” She gestured toward a lower drawer of her desk to reassure him. Knowing Tim Hamilton, he’d chain her to the stupid desk 24-7 if he thought he could get away with it! The man was so focused on business he made a normal workaholic look like a hopeless slacker.

“Right.” Tim was already striding away and disappearing through the door as he spoke.

Dawn heard the outer door close and sighed with relief. She stretched, fingers laced together, hands raised over her head. She loved her job, she really did, but ever since his older brother Jeremy had left town in a huff and Tim had moved up in the Hamilton Media corporate hierarchy, he’d acted as if his every act was of monumental importance. He even drank his morning coffee with deliberateness. The poor man was more of a machine than a human being, although she knew he’d be incensed if he suspected that anyone, especially a member of his staff, felt sorry for him.

Sighing, she breathed a quick prayer for her boss’s mental health—and her own—then rose and went into his private office to retrieve the list he’d mentioned.

She paused at the window overlooking the meandering Cumberland River. Fall had already touched this part of Tennessee. The trees along the water were bright and bold, soon to lose their leaves.

Dawn wrapped her arms around herself and gave a little shiver. Her home state of Louisiana might stay hotter in the summer than a bowl of Mama’s homemade jambalaya but it made up for it with mild winters. Though she loved Davis Landing and the Nashville area, there were still times when she longed for a cup of rich Café du Monde coffee and one of their famous beignets dusted with powdered sugar. Thankfully that terrible hurricane had spared the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Her stomach growled. Thinking about food was making her hungry far too early in the day. She swung her long blond hair back with a toss of her head, smoothed her skirt and returned to her desk. At five foot three she didn’t have a lot of room to store extra pounds and she didn’t want to lose control of her eating habits. There weren’t many areas of her life over which she had complete control and she wasn’t about to relinquish what little she did have.

The heavy, brass doors of the elevator slid open and Tim stepped out on the ground floor. He knew better than to pass through the lobby and engage either Louise or Herman Gordon in casual conversation so he whipped around and ducked into the newspaper office. The elderly Gordons took their jobs as Hamilton Media greeter and guard far too seriously to suit him, and both were terrible gossips. Unless he wanted to listen to their opinions on everything from the weather to their favorite TV shows, he knew it was best to avoid them entirely.

He waved to his sister, Heather, in passing. She absentmindedly returned his greeting with a nod and a smile while toting an armload of paper out the door toward the elevator. Tim figured she was probably headed back up to her Nashville Living office on the second floor. He was pleased to see her applying herself. It was never easy to manage staff and he sure didn’t want to have to reprimand anyone in his own family. There were times when he secretly envied his father’s unwavering sternness. Wallace Hamilton was not a man to trifle with. All six of his children knew that, even Jeremy.

Thoughts of his older brother made Tim’s jaw muscles clench. Now that they all knew the truth about Jeremy’s parentage it explained a lot. No wonder he’d never had the inherent drive or the business savvy of Wallace’s other children. The biggest puzzle was why a perfectionist like Wallace had allowed a laid-back guy like Jeremy to run Hamilton Media at all.

Tim brushed aside his troubling musings and headed straight for the editor’s office. Bradshaw’s desk was so piled with papers it looked like a copy machine had exploded on it. Tim would have chastised him for his lack of organization if he’d been present.

Frustrated, Tim whirled and accosted the first Dispatch employee he came to. “Lyle. Where’s Bradshaw? Have you seen him?”

“Sorry. Don’t have a clue, boss,” the seasoned reporter said. “Maybe Felicity knows where he’s at.”

Wondering what the man’s grades in English class had been, Tim scanned the half-walled cubicles in the newsroom. Heads down, fingers flying on keyboards, everyone was so busy looking busy it was hard to tell who was who.

He finally spotted Felicity Simmons, his brother Chris’s girlfriend, returning from the company break room. “Felicity!”

“I was just getting a cup of coffee, Mr. Hamilton,” she said quickly as she glanced at her watch. “I was only gone twelve minutes, so technically I’m coming back early.”

“I don’t care about that,” Tim said, annoyed. “I want to know if you’ve seen Bradshaw.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Ed? I passed him in the hall. He was just leaving. Said something about a sick cat, I think. I suppose he was going home.”

“Terrific.” Tim scowled. “Okay. Maybe I can catch him in the parking lot. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Hamilton. Have a good day.”

Tim’s scowl deepened. A good day? A good day was when things flowed smoothly, not when you had unforeseen changes foisted on you. If Bradshaw really had gone home to look after a sick animal instead of keeping their appointment, Tim was going to mention more than his poor office housekeeping. He wasn’t about to try to run a publishing empire like Hamilton Media without the complete support of his staff, from the senior editors all the way on down to the likes of Louise and Herman Gordon. Wallace had always understood that and so did Tim. There was no other way to ensure success.

He took an incoming cell phone call with his usual efficiency, waving at the Gordons in passing but not slowing his pace as he left the building. “Oh, hi, Mom. How’s Dad this morning?” He knew the answer but felt he had to ask.

“There’s been no change,” Nora said sadly. “Are you sure you can spare the time to have lunch with me? I know how busy you are and—”

“Nonsense. I always have time for you, you know that.” He slid behind the wheel of his silver BMW, slammed the door and turned the key in the ignition.

“I know, but…”

“Where are you now?”

“At the hospital. Where else?”

“Exactly,” Tim said. “You’ve been spending way too much time there for your own good. You won’t do Dad any good if you ruin your health, too.”

He slipped the car into Reverse and started to back out of his reserved spot in front of the old brick building they’d renovated to house Hamilton Media. Before he headed for Bradshaw’s house he’d cruise the employee parking lot and see if the editor’s car was still there. Felicity might have been wrong. There was no sense running all over town if he didn’t have to.

Tim had the tiny cell phone pinned between his chin and shoulder. He felt it starting to slip and made a grab for it, leaning to one side in the process. “Oops!” He recovered. “Sorry, Mom. Almost dropped you.”

That moment of inattention was all it took to ruin his morning completely. He glanced up, never dreaming he’d see another car so close. The sun was in his eyes, half blinding him. His foot twitched instinctively, only it was poised over the accelerator, not the brake pedal. In the split second it took for him to realize his mistake and switch to the brakes, his bumper had smashed the other car’s grille.

Astounded, Tim bit back a colorful comment. That idiotic driver had come out of nowhere! Why didn’t people watch where they were going?

“Tim?” his mother said, “are you okay? I thought I heard a crash.”

“Fender bender,” Tim said. “I’m fine.”

“Oh, honey. I’m so glad you’re all right. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Call me if we’re still on for lunch?”

“Sure.”

Flipping the phone closed, Tim climbed out of his luxury car, fully expecting to confront the careless driver who had run into him. He shaded his eyes from the glare that had temporarily distorted his perception during the accident. His jaw went slack. There was no adversary to argue with. He’d smashed into an empty parked car! How embarrassing.

He removed his suit jacket as he circled the accident scene and hunkered down to assess the damage. The car he’d hit looked like a clunker but its owner probably valued it just the same. He’d better jot down the license number and drop it off for his administrative assistant to deal with before he left the lot.

Rather than phone from there and possibly have to explain his stupidity in the presence of passing employees, he decided to return to the office and make sure Dawn understood his wish to assume complete responsibility for what had occurred.

He still couldn’t fathom how he’d made such a careless mistake but he had. Naturally he’d pay for whatever repairs were necessary. The poor old junk heap he’d hit was probably on its last legs, anyway. Chances were, taking the little dent out of his bumper would cost as much or more than fixing the crumpled fender and grille of the car he’d hit!

Moving the BMW into the nearest available slot, Tim headed for his office. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could get his packed schedule back on track.

Dawn was seated at her computer, transferring the requested personnel files to paper, when Tim rushed through the door and startled her. “Did you forget something?”

“Yeah,” he grumbled, “My common sense. You won’t believe what I just did.”

She swiveled her chair to face him, noticing that he was carrying his jacket and looked a lot less GQ than usual. “Excuse me?”

“Out there.” He nodded in the direction of the parking lot. “I was talking to my mother and I fumbled the phone. By the time I caught it, I’d run into another car.” He tossed a scrap of paper onto Dawn’s desk. “There’s the license number. It wasn’t much of a car to start with but it’s less of one now. See if you can find out who it belongs to and offer to fix it, will you?”

“Of course.” She picked up the paper. Her eyes widened. Her hand began to tremble. “How—how badly is the car damaged?”

“I don’t know.” He was pacing. “Those things always look worse than they really are. That particular car wasn’t in very good shape before I hit it. The owner will probably try to stick me with an exorbitant repair bill but it can’t be helped. The fault was all mine.”

“Oh, dear.” When she looked up at her boss she knew he had no idea whose car he was talking about. Unshed tears misted her vision. She needed that car. Desperately. Not only was it her sole means of transportation, others were depending on her, too.

Tim paused, approached the opposite side of her desk and leaned over it, frowning. “Are you all right?”

“No,” she said honestly, “I’m not.” Without explanation she grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

Not taking into consideration that her boss might decide to trail after her, Dawn reached the elevator at a run and smacked the button for the ground floor with the heel of her hand. The heavy brass door was closing as Tim approached and she was too distracted to hold it for him.

She was nearly to the parking lot when her breathless boss finally caught up to her.

He reached for her arm. “Wait a second. What are you doing?”

She wrenched free. “Looking at my car.”

“Your car?” He had to hustle to keep up with her.

“Yes, my car.” Dawn’s mouth dropped open as she got her first look at the mangled vehicle. It was worse than she’d imagined. Not only was her grille smashed in, there was greenish fluid in a widening puddle beneath the front end. With a punctured radiator, that car wasn’t going anywhere. Not even in an emergency.

“You killed it!” Without taking time to censor her words she spun to confront Tim. “You killed my car!”

“Don’t get hysterical,” he said calmly. “I told you I’d fix it and I will. Just have it seen to and send me the bill.”

“It’s not that simple. You have other cars. I don’t. I need this one.”

“Okay, rent one somewhere. That’s no problem. I’ll pay for it, too.”

“Rent another car? I hadn’t thought of that.”

“You would have, once you settled down. You’re just upset right now.”

“You can say that again!”

“Look, I told you I was sorry and I meant it. Why don’t you call the garage that takes care of our delivery vans and have them tow it to their place for you? Even if they can’t fix it they’ll undoubtedly know someone who can.”

Though she was still trembling, Dawn had to admit he was making sense. “Okay. I’ll do it right away. Maybe it isn’t as bad as it looks.”

“That’s right. And even if it is, they can probably give you something you can drive till it’s fixed. If not, go ahead and rent yourself some nice wheels, like I said. On me.”

“Thanks.” She managed a wan smile. “I guess that will solve my problems.”

“Of course it will.” His jacket hung over his shoulder on his thumb. He swung it around and put it back on, straightening his tie. “Well, then, if you’re satisfied, I’ll be on my way.”

“How about your Beamer?” Dawn asked belatedly. “Was it badly damaged?”

Tim shook his head and glanced at the slot he’d pulled into after the accident. “Just a scratch and a little dent in the bumper. Nothing serious.” One corner of his mouth turned up in a cynical smile. “The only real casualty was your car.” His smile spread to include both sides. “Hey. While you’re at it, why don’t you have the whole thing repainted? Looks like it’s pretty rusty in places.”

Her left eyebrow arched as she shaded her eyes with one hand and stared up at him, her other hand fisted on her hip. “And charge it to you?”

“Well…sure. Why not? Have to keep the help happy, don’t I?”

Dawn immediately rued her rash suggestion. “You don’t have to do that, you know. I’m not about to quit over a little dented metal.”

Tim’s smile widened, his eyes twinkling in the bright autumn sun. Dawn didn’t think she’d ever seen him smile that broadly, especially not since his father’s illness. There was an appealing charm to his expression that gave her heart a little jolt.

You’re just overreacting because you’re pumped full of adrenaline, she told herself. And Mr. Hamilton is just being this friendly because he’s at fault. There’s nothing more to his smile than that, so simmer down, girl.

Dawn backed away, giving him plenty of extra room in which to return to his car. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go back up to the office and call the garage.”

Resuming his usual businesslike demeanor, Tim nodded and approached the Beamer. “Good,” he said over his shoulder. “And don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

Arms folded, she watched him back out and drive away. When you had as much money as Tim Hamilton and his family did, you could fix just about anything, couldn’t you? Anything temporal, that is.

Musing, she pressed her lips into a thin line and jiggled her key ring in one hand as she started for her office. Even the Hamilton wealth might not be enough to save Wallace’s life, though she hoped it would. Medical science could be wonderful but it sure was expensive. She was still helping her parents pay the enormous medical bills left after her brother’s motorcycle accident. Sadly, in Phillipe’s case, the treatment had not been enough to give him back the power to walk again. Some things couldn’t be bought, no matter how rich a person was.

Dawn sighed, deep in thought, entered the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. If she hadn’t had her faith to sustain her she didn’t know how she’d have coped after her only sibling was so badly injured. The lives of everyone in her family had been changed that day. Putting her college education on hold and getting a job at Hamilton Media to help out with the enormous bills was the least she could do. She wasn’t sorry about that. The only thing that still bothered her was why her prayers for Phil’s total healing hadn’t been answered.

If she lived a hundred more years she knew she’d never understand that.

Chapter Two

By the time Timothy Hamilton had found his missing editor, chewed him out for leaving the office and returned around eleven, he expected Dawn to have settled the problems of her transportation.

“So, I see your car is gone. Did that all work out like I said?”

“No.”

He could tell by her grim expression that plenty was still bothering her so he paused at her desk instead of proceeding to his office. “No?”

“No. They towed the car all right. They just don’t have anything they can loan me.”

“So, rent a car.”

“I tried.”

Tim was getting perturbed. “And?”

“There are a couple of big conventions in the Nashville area right now and every car for miles around has either been rented or is reserved. Nobody could help me on such short notice.”

“That’s ridiculous. Somebody has a car available.”

“That’s what I thought till I tried to find one.”

“You called everybody in the book?”

“Everybody. Even the guys that rent clunkers.”

“I didn’t expect you to stoop that low.” The minute the words were out of his mouth he regretted them.

“Oh? Why not? It might be a step up from what I usually drive.”

“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” Tim said.

She pulled a face. “I know. I’ve just had a bad morning. Guess I’m a little cranky.”

“How long will the repairs take? Did the garage say?”

“No. They’ll get back to me with that, hopefully today, but it won’t be in time.”

“In time for what?” His brow furrowed. “If you need a ride home I’m sure we can arrange something.”

“It’s more than that,” Dawn said. “I volunteer for meals-on-wheels and it’s my turn to deliver.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes. Two nights this week.”

“Uh-oh.”

“My sentiments, exactly.”

Tim made a snap decision. “Okay. I’ll lend you one of my cars till you get yours back. I’d rather it be the BMW than the Ferrari, if you don’t mind.”

He was pleased to see a little smile starting. The woman was actually pretty, in a well-scrubbed sort of way. Funny he hadn’t noticed that before. He’d always seen her as an efficient adjunct to his office but hadn’t really paid much attention to her as an individual until today. That was usually the way he liked to keep his business relationships, but in this instance he could see there was need for a little more personal connection.

“You’d do that? Lend me a car, I mean?”

“Under the circumstances, yes,” he said.

Dawn shook her head. “I appreciate your offer but I can’t accept.”

“Why not?”

“Well, besides the fact that I’d be scared to death I might scratch your expensive car, I can’t very well show up driving anything like that.”

“Why not?”

Dawn huffed. “Because I’d be embarrassed, for starters. And I’d be worried sick to use it for deliveries. Suppose I spilled gravy or something in it?”

“Embarrassed? Why would you be embarrassed to drive a perfectly good BMW?”

“Because a car like that probably costs more than most of my clients earn in a whole year. Maybe more. I try to make them feel comfortable accepting help, not show them how the other half lives.”

“And I’m the other half?”