The Hamilton Heir by Valerie Hansen Page A

world. In the daytime, the park seemed warm and welcoming with its green lawns, shady knolls and clusters of fall flowers. Looking at it at night seemed to bring out its more somber side, a side he had never before noticed.
    “What’s the matter with me,” he muttered. “This place is exactly what I’ve always wanted. It’s got everything. I’ve got everything.”
    Except…? his heart asked.
    Except, nothing, he answered flatly. I’m just overtired. The stress of work and Dad’s illness is getting to me, that’s all.
    Deciding that what he needed was useful distraction, he went back inside, took his briefcase into the den and opened it on his desk. There was plenty to do if a man put his mind to it. Hard work would fix whatever ailed him. It always had before.
     
    Dawn telephoned her best friend, Gabi Valencia, as soon as she got home. “Hi. I hope I’m not calling too late. I didn’t want to wake the girls.”
    Gabi stifled a yawn. “Too late? Naw, those kids could sleep through a hurricane. I’m glad you woke me. I’d fallen asleep in my chair and it’s time I went to bed like normal people.”
    “I’m sorry. I just needed to hear a friendlyvoice. Would it be better if I called back another time?”
    Gabi chuckled softly. “No. No hay problema, as my mamacita always says. What makes you need a buddy at this time of night?” She yawned. “What time is it, anyway?”
    “Just after ten. Listen, remember the writing job for the Dispatch I told you about?”
    “The feature? Sure. What about it?”
    “I went over to Stuart Meyers’s house and interviewed him tonight.”
    “Okay. So?”
    “So, Tim—Mr. Hamilton was there.”
    “Whoa. Start over. I don’t think I understood. Your boss was where? ”
    “At Stuart’s. I couldn’t believe it, either. Not only was he there, on his own, he’d brought a pizza for them to share and had presented Stuart with the cutest set of toy soldiers. On horseback.”
    “Tim rode a horse? ”
    “No, silly.” Dawn laughed. “The toys were cavalrymen. You know. The guys they used to call horse soldiers?”
    “Let me get this straight. Tim Hamilton— your Tim Hamilton—was playing war with Stuart Meyers and there was no profit in it? Amazing!”
    “That’s what I thought,” Dawn said. “He couldn’t have known I was planning to stop by. Even I didn’t know it when I left work. I’d been thinking about phoning Stuart to ask if I could do the piece on his life when it occurred to me that it would be better to askhim in person. When I showed up over there, he and Tim were already playing like a couple of kids.” She paused and sighed. “Actually, it was kind of cute.”
    Beau was leaning against her leg, begging for affection, so she reached down and ruffled his ears.
    Gabi snorted. “Repeat after me, ‘Tim Hamilton is not cute.’”
    “Can’t do it,” Dawn said. “He was adorable.”
    “The closest that man ever got to being adorable was probably while he was still sleeping in a crib and living on baby formula.”
    “Yeah, well…”
    “Listen amiga, ” Gabi said, “this whole conversation is absurd. You know it and I know it. Get your head back on straight and forget about liking your boss. An attitude like that will bring you nothing but grief.”
    “What if I can’t help it?” Dawn asked.
    “Then you obviously need your head examined and that’s far beyond my expertise. Just promise me you won’t go and do anything stupid.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like fall in love when there’s no hope of a happy ending.”
    “Hey! I just said I was starting to like Tim, not that I was falling in love with him.”
    “That’s how it starts,” Gabi warned. “I ought to know. I never saw anything but a rosy future when I married Ostin Valencia and now look at me.”
    “You’re doing a wonderful job raising your girls by yourself,” Dawn offered. “Roni and Talia aregreat kids. If it hadn’t been for Octavio, whatever his faults, you