“If there are no more trees, there won’t be any more oxygen. They take in carbon dioxide and return oxygen into the atmosphere. If we don’t preserve the wildlife habitats, there won’t be wildlife. If we kill off the predators, we’ll be overrun with rodents. If we let the seas die, every single living thing goes the way of them. Do, please, give me your views on the joys of pollution.”
“My God, another one,” he groaned.
“Merlyn! I’m delighted!” Lila said enthusiastically. “You must attend the next meeting of the conservation society with me.”
“I already belong to a dozen,” she replied, glaring across the table at Cameron. “And I’ve marched in rallies and written nasty letters, and once I organized a fund-raiser to help stop the spraying of a potentially dangerous insecticide.”
“A radical,” Cameron accused. “A card-carrying radical.”
“You bet,” she replied. “And proud of it.”
“You’d probably like to make all the wild off-limits to man. But you do enjoy your creature comforts, don’t you?” he persisted. “The lipstick you’re wearing has a petroleum base. So, probably, does that polyester and cotton top. Petroleum comes from off-shore drilling, which often causes pollution. The food you’re eating was cooked on an electric stove, and electricity comes from the harnessing and development of rivers. The chair you’re sitting on is made of wood, which means that a tree died to provide you with it. Now look smug.”
Merlyn tossed down her napkin and measured the distance between his head and her coffee cup.
He got to his feet with a mocking bow. “That’s why I don’t contribute to every preservation society that asks for a donation. Good evening.”
She slammed the table with her hand and let out an angry breath. “He’s incorrigible!” she told the coffee cup.
Lila laughed. “Yes. But despite his apparent opposition to environmental causes, he contributes heavily to the Cousteau Society and Greenpeace, among others,” she confided. “I happened to see the check stubs. He’d hidden them in the safe.”
“Daddy keeps his causes to himself,” Amanda added. “He was just leading you along, Merlyn. He’s a fanatic, too.”
***
The thought kept Merlyn awake half the night. Cameron was turning out to be so different from what she’d assumed. He was almost frighteningly intelligent. He was involved and he cared. But he kept all that hidden behind a mask of indifferent hauteur, which apparently no one but family was allowed close enough to penetrate. She doubted if Delle had ever been privileged to see the real man.
And yet he was contemplating marriage with the young woman. A merger, he’d said. Two companies. Nothing more. But he was obviously a passionate man. Did he desire Delle? Did he care for her? Merlyn seriously doubted it. But he’d as much as admitted that she herself could attract him that way. She flushed at the memory of his deep voice drawling it. He was dangerous, all right, and she had no intention of getting involved with him. But, physically, he made her tingle and burn. And she didn’t like that at all. She was tempted to give up the job and go home. But that wouldn’t be fair to Lila. And she couldn’t just let her father win. She sighed. Well, she’d just avoid Cameron. That would be the best way to cope.
***
On Monday Cameron went back to Charleston, and the women went back to work. By the end of the week, Merlyn got to read the first few chapters of Lila’s book as the writing started in earnest. She was fascinated by the amount of work the elderly woman could get through in a day, by the number of pages she produced.
“Ah, but it’s not as if I’m doing it by myself,” Lila said when they set to work. The morning was overcast so they were sitting in the library. “I just sit at the computer and inspiration comes. I can’t really take credit for what I do.”
Merlyn grinned at her. “It must be
“My God, another one,” he groaned.
“Merlyn! I’m delighted!” Lila said enthusiastically. “You must attend the next meeting of the conservation society with me.”
“I already belong to a dozen,” she replied, glaring across the table at Cameron. “And I’ve marched in rallies and written nasty letters, and once I organized a fund-raiser to help stop the spraying of a potentially dangerous insecticide.”
“A radical,” Cameron accused. “A card-carrying radical.”
“You bet,” she replied. “And proud of it.”
“You’d probably like to make all the wild off-limits to man. But you do enjoy your creature comforts, don’t you?” he persisted. “The lipstick you’re wearing has a petroleum base. So, probably, does that polyester and cotton top. Petroleum comes from off-shore drilling, which often causes pollution. The food you’re eating was cooked on an electric stove, and electricity comes from the harnessing and development of rivers. The chair you’re sitting on is made of wood, which means that a tree died to provide you with it. Now look smug.”
Merlyn tossed down her napkin and measured the distance between his head and her coffee cup.
He got to his feet with a mocking bow. “That’s why I don’t contribute to every preservation society that asks for a donation. Good evening.”
She slammed the table with her hand and let out an angry breath. “He’s incorrigible!” she told the coffee cup.
Lila laughed. “Yes. But despite his apparent opposition to environmental causes, he contributes heavily to the Cousteau Society and Greenpeace, among others,” she confided. “I happened to see the check stubs. He’d hidden them in the safe.”
“Daddy keeps his causes to himself,” Amanda added. “He was just leading you along, Merlyn. He’s a fanatic, too.”
***
The thought kept Merlyn awake half the night. Cameron was turning out to be so different from what she’d assumed. He was almost frighteningly intelligent. He was involved and he cared. But he kept all that hidden behind a mask of indifferent hauteur, which apparently no one but family was allowed close enough to penetrate. She doubted if Delle had ever been privileged to see the real man.
And yet he was contemplating marriage with the young woman. A merger, he’d said. Two companies. Nothing more. But he was obviously a passionate man. Did he desire Delle? Did he care for her? Merlyn seriously doubted it. But he’d as much as admitted that she herself could attract him that way. She flushed at the memory of his deep voice drawling it. He was dangerous, all right, and she had no intention of getting involved with him. But, physically, he made her tingle and burn. And she didn’t like that at all. She was tempted to give up the job and go home. But that wouldn’t be fair to Lila. And she couldn’t just let her father win. She sighed. Well, she’d just avoid Cameron. That would be the best way to cope.
***
On Monday Cameron went back to Charleston, and the women went back to work. By the end of the week, Merlyn got to read the first few chapters of Lila’s book as the writing started in earnest. She was fascinated by the amount of work the elderly woman could get through in a day, by the number of pages she produced.
“Ah, but it’s not as if I’m doing it by myself,” Lila said when they set to work. The morning was overcast so they were sitting in the library. “I just sit at the computer and inspiration comes. I can’t really take credit for what I do.”
Merlyn grinned at her. “It must be
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