Enchanted Heart Read Free Page B

drink then stared into the liquid as he swirled it in the glass. “I just want to make sure you’re set, Lance. I feel responsible for what happened to you, for what happened to our legacy.”
    â€œIt wasn’t your fault, Cole. It was time for change. You knew that. Heart is sold to Knight and Kraus. They’re doing a good job, and you have a lot of money to show for it.”
    â€œI didn’t want the money,” Cole said.
    Lance blinked. “Excuse me?”
    Cole met his gaze. “It was never about the money. When I ran Heart Federated I did it because it was what I was supposed to do, what I was called to do.”
    Not about the money? Everything Cole did was about the money. He’d always made that abundantly clear.
    â€œPreachers talk about being called, Cole. You were running a chain of department stores, not a church.”
    For a long time Cole didn’t say anything. Then, “Why do you think I’m so excited about this Bahia project?”
    Lance shrugged. “I don’t know. Your latest obsession, is how I see it. Just another way to make more money.”
    Cole shook his head. “There is that, I’ll admit. But I needed a new focus, something that was all mine. Heart Federated was all I ever wanted, for as long as I could remember. When I was a little kid I’d go into the office with my grandfather, sit in his big chair and dream of growing up and being chairman of the board. Mallory may have moved on, but it’s not that simple for me. Everywhere I go around here, there are reminders of what should have been my legacy and your legacy.”
    Lance hadn’t realized that Cole still harbored such bitterness over the family’s decision to sell the company. A secret deal Mallory Heart initiated with Knight and Kraus eventually led to the buyout. If Cole’s own mother hadn’t voted against him, there would still be Heart stores in Virginia and North Carolina today and Cole wouldn’t be obsessed with this Brazilian thing. But shoulda, coulda, woulda wouldn’t change the fact that they’d all had to move on. Mallory had. And now, in his own obsessive-compulsive way, Cole was trying to as well.
    â€œI didn’t know you felt so strongly about it. To me, Heart Federated was a job. But I had a life outside of work. You just worked.”
    Cole stared at Lance for a long moment. Then he sighed. “You think my life is boring, that I’m obsessive. But one of these days, Lance, you’re going to meet someone or stumble onto something that becomes an obsession for you. You’ll be consumed by it, so consumed that you’ll wonder how you ever lived before it.”
    Lance frowned. He wasn’t really feeling this conversation so he shrugged off Cole’s solemn words. “Don’t count on it,” he said. “You’ve been married to your work for as long as you or anyone else can remember. Me? I’m married to life. And I enjoy her sweet company.”
    Cole just shook his head. “There’s so much more for you to learn.”
    Already tired of their talk, Lance aimed to end it. “We’re two different people, Cole. People with different priorities. There’s no right or wrong. It just is.”
    But Cole wasn’t ready to end the discussion just yet. “Lance, you have an MBA from one of the best schools in the country. You can write your ticket anywhere. Just say the word and I’ll make some calls.”
    â€œI don’t want you to make any calls. You’re just not getting it, Cole.”
    â€œYou’re right. I’m not,” he said, finally losing patience with his nephew. “And neither are you at the rate you’re going. I’ve tried to help you.”
    Lance faced Cole, the mentor who had been more like an older brother than an uncle. The age difference between the two wasn’t great, but Cole seemed so much older, so stressed. Lance had no