Desperate Measures by Fern Michaels

say.”
    â€œIt’s okay, Miss Wardlaw. When Barney is ready, he’ll find me somehow. I know it.”
    â€œYou have such high hopes, and now you’re disappointed, aren’t you?”
    Pete nodded, his eyes miserable. “He’s not what I expected. He’s nothing like my dad. I wonder if he liked my mother? He didn’t even mention her.”
    â€œHe told Nathaniel they lost track of each other. It happens in the best of families, Pete. Look, I’m not saying you have to go with him if you don’t want to. It’s all up to you. Whatever you decide is okay with me. We want whatever is best for you.”
    â€œI appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Pete replied. “Nathaniel too. I’ll think about everything. I promise.”
    â€œTime to get you back to your room,” Miss Wardlaw said. “It’s getting chilly in here. Oh, Pete, I’m so happy for you.”
    â€œThanks, Miss Wardlaw, for everything.”
    â€œIt was my pleasure, Pete. I wish all my cases ended up this well. I’ll see you over the weekend. You have a lot of thinking to do. Think it through, Pete, and do whatever is best for you. Only you, Pete. Are we clear on that?”
    â€œYou bet.”
    He liked it when she pecked him on his cheek. He was reminded of his mother all over again. “Miss Wardlaw, what’s that stuff you wear? It smells ... like my mom used to smell.”
    â€œWhy, thank you, Pete. That’s one of the nicest things anyone ever said to me. It’s Lily of the Valley talcum powder. When I was a little girl, my mother had this wonderful garden and there were rows and rows of the little flowers. They grow on a stem and look like little bells. They’re as pretty as they smell. The whole garden used to smell so wonderful. I guess it reminds me of back home, of being a little girl. So long ago,” she said sadly.
    â€œBut it’s a nice memory,” Pete said.

CHAPTER THREE
    Pete settled back in the limousine, his leg stretched out so it could rest on the seat opposite him. Leo Sorenson sat next to him.
    They were almost to Ridgewood when Pete came to the conclusion his uncle was not a talkative man. It was okay, he didn’t feel much like talking. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what his uncle’s house looked like, what his life was like and what part he would play in it. Miss Wardlaw had said Leo’s house was on an estate that sat back from the road, almost a mile, and protected by twelve-foot-high iron gates. Supposedly there was even a small guardhouse where people had to be announced before the gate was opened. She knew this, she said, because she’d gone there to talk to Leo. She’d gone on to say there was a housekeeper, a cook, a butler, two full-time gardeners, and a chauffeur. There’s an Olympic-size pool, a tennis court, and a guest house with eight rooms. “Not too shabby, Pete,” she’d concluded, smiling.
    Not too shabby at all. But was he going to fit in? Would Leo care about him, or was he simply doing his duty? Everything worked two ways, both parties had to make an effort, and he was prepared to make the ultimate effort by accepting Leo’s help. He was prepared to give up engineering and do what his uncle wanted. So many people had gone to bat for him, and all of them thought Leo’s offer was just what he needed. His eyelid twitched when he thought about words like indebtedness, obligation, and loyalty. But he couldn’t say no to Harriet Wardlaw, Nathaniel, and Duke. Even Josh Philbin and Skeeter said they thought he’d be a hell of a Harvard man.
    This was supposed to be a good day. A wonderful day. The kind of day he’d dreamed about for years when he was shuffled from one place to another. It was supposed to be right up there with the day Barney would come and get him. He knew now Barney was never going to appear. He accepted it, but it