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Authors: Linda Conrad
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thinking as a kid that the mill resembled a giant beehive, always busy with activity and noisy with people making a living. It was the center of commerce for the whole town, sometimes for the whole parish.
In his memory he saw lines of trucks hauling in rawrice twenty-four hours a day, and seagoing barges leaving from the deep-water port to take the milled rice all over the world. But today, on a sunny Saturday morning, it looked deserted and forlorn.
The people of this town and the surrounding countryside once had employment and prosperityâway back when Kateâs grandfather ran things. But the old man had died when Chase was a teen and Kateâs father had taken over. Now, thanks to years of mismanagement, the citizens had nothing but layoffs and a huge rusting derelict of a building.
Chase had originally come home ready to destroy the mill, thinking that because it had once been run by Kateâs despicable father and represented his incompetent power, it deserved to go up in smoke. But Henry Beltrane was dead and buried. And Chaseâs anger at the town for turning their backs on him when he needed them the most seemed like an ancient bad dream.
The childhood hometown he had hated and loved was now twisting in the wind, left to rot away all by itself. And the thought of that gave him absolutely no pleasure. It only made him sad.
His attitude toward Kate was much more conflicted. Sometimes when Chase looked at her, ice water ran through his veins, freezing his heart to her predicament. At other times, just one glimpse flamed his blood and burned a path right through his hardened soul.
Somehow when she was near, old half-remembered dreams assailed him with soft sighs and warm waves of staggering desires. He didnât know what to do about the weakness she brought to him. But destroying a whole town just to hear her beg would make him every bit as contemptible as old Henry Beltrane had ever been.
Chase shook off both the anger and the desire. There were no easy solutions here.
Looking back at the rotting hulk of the mill, he still had to wonder if it was worth trying to save. Or if he had the expertise to even try. He was a well-known turnaround magician when it came to bringing casinos and resorts back to life. But he wasnât sure at all that he could be a miracle worker for a dying rice mill.
Slowly Chase pulled the Jag back onto the blacktop road and headed toward Live Oak Hall. For today he would not think of the mill. He would not consider his narrow choices on that account.
For today he would take the step that had always seemed so unimaginable when heâd been the boy from the wrong side of town. Today was the day when he would move into Live Oak Hall and make his mark as the richest man in town.
Deep down, somewhere in the very dark recesses of his mind, Chase knew that just the change of address would not really give him the social standing and admiration he so craved. But he brushed the knowledge aside along with the rest of the cobwebs in his dusty memory. Today was his day. There could be no room for second guesses or self-examinations.
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A few minutes later he guided the Jag down the oak allée toward the portico of the plantation. With a deep breath of early-spring air, Chase pulled up at the front door and climbed out of the car.
He was home.
Dragging his luggage from the narrow backseat, Chase let his mind go blank, allowing himself to just feel. Being here felt right. Though, he remembered a time when he would have been arrested for trespassing if Kateâs father had caught him anywhere on the property. Getting to see Kate back then had been tricky, full of secrets and sneaking around behind her fatherâs back.
Chase shook out the remnants of memories and walked toward the house. The veranda was bathed in comforting shade as he moved up the front steps. Sun had warmed the air, birds chirped, bees stayed busy at the flowers.
But when he set his bags down to
In his memory he saw lines of trucks hauling in rawrice twenty-four hours a day, and seagoing barges leaving from the deep-water port to take the milled rice all over the world. But today, on a sunny Saturday morning, it looked deserted and forlorn.
The people of this town and the surrounding countryside once had employment and prosperityâway back when Kateâs grandfather ran things. But the old man had died when Chase was a teen and Kateâs father had taken over. Now, thanks to years of mismanagement, the citizens had nothing but layoffs and a huge rusting derelict of a building.
Chase had originally come home ready to destroy the mill, thinking that because it had once been run by Kateâs despicable father and represented his incompetent power, it deserved to go up in smoke. But Henry Beltrane was dead and buried. And Chaseâs anger at the town for turning their backs on him when he needed them the most seemed like an ancient bad dream.
The childhood hometown he had hated and loved was now twisting in the wind, left to rot away all by itself. And the thought of that gave him absolutely no pleasure. It only made him sad.
His attitude toward Kate was much more conflicted. Sometimes when Chase looked at her, ice water ran through his veins, freezing his heart to her predicament. At other times, just one glimpse flamed his blood and burned a path right through his hardened soul.
Somehow when she was near, old half-remembered dreams assailed him with soft sighs and warm waves of staggering desires. He didnât know what to do about the weakness she brought to him. But destroying a whole town just to hear her beg would make him every bit as contemptible as old Henry Beltrane had ever been.
Chase shook off both the anger and the desire. There were no easy solutions here.
Looking back at the rotting hulk of the mill, he still had to wonder if it was worth trying to save. Or if he had the expertise to even try. He was a well-known turnaround magician when it came to bringing casinos and resorts back to life. But he wasnât sure at all that he could be a miracle worker for a dying rice mill.
Slowly Chase pulled the Jag back onto the blacktop road and headed toward Live Oak Hall. For today he would not think of the mill. He would not consider his narrow choices on that account.
For today he would take the step that had always seemed so unimaginable when heâd been the boy from the wrong side of town. Today was the day when he would move into Live Oak Hall and make his mark as the richest man in town.
Deep down, somewhere in the very dark recesses of his mind, Chase knew that just the change of address would not really give him the social standing and admiration he so craved. But he brushed the knowledge aside along with the rest of the cobwebs in his dusty memory. Today was his day. There could be no room for second guesses or self-examinations.
Â
A few minutes later he guided the Jag down the oak allée toward the portico of the plantation. With a deep breath of early-spring air, Chase pulled up at the front door and climbed out of the car.
He was home.
Dragging his luggage from the narrow backseat, Chase let his mind go blank, allowing himself to just feel. Being here felt right. Though, he remembered a time when he would have been arrested for trespassing if Kateâs father had caught him anywhere on the property. Getting to see Kate back then had been tricky, full of secrets and sneaking around behind her fatherâs back.
Chase shook out the remnants of memories and walked toward the house. The veranda was bathed in comforting shade as he moved up the front steps. Sun had warmed the air, birds chirped, bees stayed busy at the flowers.
But when he set his bags down to
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