Grandmother Eileen accepted it without thanking her and took a long sip.

When they were alone, she asked, “What did you think about Trevor Simmens’s proposal?”

What proposal and who was this guy? It doesn’t matter. They were all talking about the same crap. Trying her luck, she asked, “You mean the expansion plans?”

Surprise flashed across Grandmother Eileen’s features. “So you were listening after all.” She took another sip of her scotch and hummed approvingly. “Yeah, I meant the opening of the manufacturing plant in China.”

Self-confident. I have to appear self-confident. “Sounds good to me.”

With a thoughtful expression on her face, Grandmother Eileen nodded and downed her scotch. “I’ve decided that you can start working for the firm.”

Madison’s jaw dropped.

“You have one week to get a handle of things. You’ll start Monday next week, as one of four vice presidents working in Operations. Your supervisor will be John Billings. I’ve arranged that he’ll send you a folder with all the necessary information you’ll need regarding your position.” Her grandmother held the glass to her mouth before compressing her lips when she seemed to realize it was empty already. With a thud, the glass landed on the desk. “I’ll give you one month to prove yourself. Until then, I expect you to be familiar with all procedures and to have some positive results to present.”

“Yes, Grandmother.” The folded hands in her lap trembled. No way in hell was she qualified for this job. But even though she knew nothing about her future position, she had no doubt that it came with a lot of overtime. Her shoulders dropped. I want the damn inheritance, so I have to work for it. But the saying was obviously true: you should be careful what you wished for.

Groaning, Sherry rubbed her tense neck while entering the bedroom.

Madison was reading one of many pages stapled together. A stack of even more paperwork about three inches high lay on Madison’s nightstand.

Sherry closed the door and went to the bed. Slipping under the sheets, she asked, “Are these the information the courier brought earlier? Rita Mae mentioned there had been someone at the door.”

Madison looked up. “Yeah.” She rubbed across her face with one hand before putting down her paperwork on the nightstand. “If I have to read just one more paragraph about allocation of tasks within my department, I will—”

“Isn’t that exactly what you wanted?”

“I want the damn inheritance, not a job in management.”

“But if you inherit the company, it will be up to you to lead it, won’t it?”

“Nah. That’s what you pay people for.”

“Your grandmother leads the company so—”