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Taylor felt tears in her eyes. It was a curse, the money. Everyone thought you were so lucky, could have the best of everything, and yet you were no more powerful with it than you were without it when your number came up. Taylor often wondered if the money made people torture themselves longer, try every experiment and try every regime money could buy, all in the name of hoping for more time.
“I see you accepted my son’s ring,” Simon said, drawing Taylor back to all the other craziness that was happening around her.
Taylor looked at Simon and saw he looked brighter at the mention of this development. But despite all this horrible turn of events, she wouldn’t be swayed into a ridiculous marriage. She had to stand her ground. “I said I would get engaged, Simon, but it still isn’t right,” Taylor said to him. “It isn’t fair to me or to Derrick. He should get to pick who he marries. He shouldn’t get forced into it,” Taylor said. “It should be about love.”
Simon smiled slightly and scanned the expanse of his grounds in front of him. It gave Taylor a sinking feeling, as if he was trying to commit everything to memory. When he looked at Taylor, he said, “He found you, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Taylor said, disgruntled, regarding Simon coolly.
Simon took a deep breath, a kind of you-have-no-idea breath, and shook his head. “Maybe you do, but I suspect not.” The cryptic response irritated Taylor. “I approached Derrick about marriage two years ago, said he should find someone and get married. I explained how it would improve his business presence, make him seem to the public like he had sewn his wild oats, like he was ready for responsibility. And he told me everything you’ve just said: I’m not in love, I won’t be forced, so I let it go.”
Taylor shot him a see-I-told-you-so look, but then Simon continued.
“But the next day he came to me, and he said he would only do it if it was you.”
Taylor stopped short, assessed Simon, then shook her head. “That’s only because I wasn’t here, I was out of touch. I was the perfect choice because he couldn’t find me,” Taylor rationalized, but she wasn’t sure whom she was convincing.
“Buthefoundyou, Taylor.”
“Because Preston Corp. needed me, and he thinks he needs …”
Simon shook his head. “He found you over a year ago, Taylor.”
Blood drained from Taylor’s head, and she felt dizzy. “What?” she croaked. Suddenly Simon was guiding her to a stone bench among the hedges.
Once they were seated, Simon went on, “It took him a year, but he found you. He spent endless time, effort, and money, but he found you. It consumed him. It was the only thing he could think about.”
“How?” Taylor had been so careful. She had literally dropped herself off the grid. How could he have found her?
“He never did say,” Simon replied thoughtfully. “But when he did, he went to see you, went to that coffee shop, saw you working.”
No way, Taylor thought. If Derrick had been in the coffee shop, she would have known. She would have recognized him. Wouldn’t she? She imagined him ordering from her—she would have known. Who wouldn’t have recognized Derrick Fletcher? “No, no he couldn’t have … I mean why …”
Simon shrugged at Taylor’s stuttering and smirked.
“Why didn’t he talk to me?”
“He said you were happy, said you looked so happy,” Simon said softly and then grinned. “He told me all about your disguise and how great it was.” Then the grin slowly slid from Simon’s face, “But even after that he said he wouldn’t do it, he wouldn’t reveal you. You’d had so much pain and unhappiness that he couldn’t take you from the happiness you had found.”
Taylor felt nausea and confusion and apprehension creep all over her. He had found her. She couldn’t believe it. And then just left her. He wanted her to be happy. Every time Taylor felt like she was getting close to something familiar and finding some peace with this situation a new nugget of information popped up and had her feeling sick and weighed down. This nugget felt like Jupiter was sitting on her chest.
“I don’t tell you this to make you feel bad, Taylor. I know you are overwhelmed with things,” Simon said, holding her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, “but this was all before we knew anything about the trouble at Preston Corp. Todd came to us with the debt sums nine weeks ago and asked for financial assistance. I refused. It killed me to do it, but I could not and would not undertake with the corporation under the rule of Cedric. He was out of control,” Simon bit out Cedric’s name. He sounded angry when he spoke about him, but his eyes were sad at the mention of her uncle.
“I thought it was done, but then Todd came back with a new proposal a week later. If they could find you, if they were to get you to come back, to take over, would I help,” Simon said, “and I said yes.”
“Why, Simon?” Taylor asked desperately. She was on a crazy crash course in her head, and it was hard to keep all this information straight. Derrick had found her and taken her from the Roasted Bean kicking and screaming, and now Simon wanted her to take over Preston Corp? It was a lot, and it had to be why Taylor was whining as she went on, “Why me? I don’t know anything about this corporation or business, or …”
“I did it for my son, Taylor,” Simon interrupted.
Taylor looked at Simon, perplexed. “I don’t understand. Why?”
“He missed you.” Simon said, his expression almost painful. “And I figured that I could wheel and deal, like I do, and get you back for him. I want to do whatever I have do to see he is happy.”
Great, so now I’m cattle, Taylor thought. “You wheeled and dealed for me?” Taylor repeated softly, anger raging through her. “You know, this isn’t the time of knights and fair maidens, Simon, I can’t be bought and sold and traded—” Taylor was cut off by Simon’s roar of laughter. “What is so damn funny?” she demanded.
“That is what Derrick said. That is exactly what he said,” Simon replied, wiping tears from his eyes he was laughing so hard. “He was so angry when I told him we needed to bring you back, he absolutely refused to say where you were. He didn’t even care why we wanted you to come back. I believe his exact words were ‘Abso-fucking-lutely not’.”
“Oh yeah? Well then why am I here? Huh? What changed?” Taylor was challenging Simon’s explanation.