“Girl, I owe Cole a lot. He’s been there for me whenever I needed him, and I like to think of him as my adopted son. You’re his wife so that makes you family. And I stand behind my family. Now quit putting me off. Where do you want to meet?”

Darci kicked her heels off and collapsed on the couch. After an endless round of planning, of lengthy meetings and detailed negotiations, she’d done it. With a loan from Todd, she’d bought up Uncle John’s shares of stock in Blackmore’s. And Uncle John had been more than happy to take his money and escape from the escalating family tensions.

With the extra votes the purchase had given her, she’d had the power to force out the old board of directors. Within two days, there was a new board in place who shared some of her visions for the future, who would allow Blackmore’s Gourmet Chocolates to move forward instead of wallow in the past. A special board meeting was set up for tomorrow, and she was determined to bring to the table another vote on the position of president.

She prowled the condo restlessly. It all hinged on tomorrow. If she couldn’t offer Cole some sort of future, she was fairly certain he’d refuse to take her seriously. His damnable pride would keep him from loving her; his fears wouldn’t allow him to take a chance.

When she finally crawled out of bed in the morning, she dressed carefully. Makeup once again covered the dark circles under her eyes, and she smiled ruefully when she realized how much of a habit it had become to operate on very little sleep. With Cole by her side again, she hoped that would end.

The meeting went well, the new board of directors voted Jeffrey out, and Darci in. After a howl of protest, Jeffrey and Anita left the boardroom, probably to begin another round of plotting against her. But Darci knew she was in a much stronger position now. And the successful expansion she envisioned would strengthen her position with the board even further.

Nameplate in hand, she sailed back into her office, threw Jeffrey’s nameplate into the wastebasket, and began to clear his files from the desk.

Alex came in behind her, a big smile on his face. “Welcome back. Does this mean I should cancel the new furniture Jeffrey ordered?”

Darci winced. “The company’s on the verge of bankruptcy and he orders furniture. Makes perfect sense to me. Yes, cancel it. I’ve always liked what was here.” She stroked her fingers across the heavy oak desk her stepfather had used and knew a deep sense of pride. She was being given another chance.

Todd opened the door and grinned at her. “Congratulations, honey. I knew you could do it.”