Joanna leaned back and eyed the woman again. She knew Millie well enough to know she didn’t lie, and that was enough to get Joanna to her feet. Going into the kitchen, she opened a cabinet above the stove and pulled out a dusty bottle of whiskey. Grabbing two glasses, she returned to the table and offered one to Millie.

“No, thank you,” Millie said, holding up her hand. “But feel free. I don’t mind.”

“Good,” Joanna said, pouring a splash of the blended malt into a glass. Taking a quick swig, she hissed at the burn and sat back down. “Now, what’s this all about?”

“When Addison’s father, Oliver, died, she inherited Kane Holdings, but there was quite a rift between father and daughter, so Oliver attached some conditions to his will. Unless his stipulations are met, Addison has to give up her right to her family’s company. Since it’s privately held, her stock will be divided up among the minority stockholders, and rumor has it, most of them want to sell. Basically, they’re going to take the money and run, and the company will cease to exist.”

“And she’ll be broke?”

“No, not at all,” Millie said, shaking her head. “This doesn’t have anything to do with money. She could very easily start another business and be quite successful, but this company is the only connection she has to her family and to her name, and to lose it would be devastating for her.”

“And her father’s conditions?”

“They’re actually based on the bylaws of the original Kane Holdings when it was started in the early seventeen hundreds. The founders believed that those who inherited the company needed to be solid, upstanding citizens, and in their minds, it meant that the men had to be married by the age of thirty-six.”

“The men?”

“Well, yes, back then women didn’t have any rights.”

“Of course. Silly me,” Joanna said, rolling her eyes.

Tickled by what seemed to be Joanna’s never-ending playful spirit, Millie cleared her throat before continuing. “Anyway, because of his will and the way it was written, Addison can’t lose the company because she’s not a man, but she can lose it…and will lose it, if she’s not married by her thirty-sixth birthday.”

“And apparently she’s gay?”

“Why yes, I thought everyone knew that.”

“Millie, I don’t know what the woman looks like, let alone her sexual preference,” Joanna said, before taking another gulp of whiskey. “And why me?”

“For this to work and keep Addison’s privacy intact, we need to find someone we can trust. Someone who won’t take advantage of the situation or want to dance in the spotlight just because her last name is now Kane.”

“And because of some glib remark I made at church last week, you think that’s me?”