Damon didn't realize just how bad matters were going to get until Samantha arrived shortly before six o'clock. Things might have been tense around John and Christopher in the morning, but Elena didn't encounter real hostility until she confronted Samantha Gilbert.
Christopher and his wife were a pair of handsome couple. Christopher shared Grayson's dark eyes and thick hair, but he lacked the muscular build of Grayson and John. Instead, he was slim and dynamic, with a clean-cut, well-dressed, California-executive manner.
Melissa was a lovely blue-eyed redhead. Under normal circumstances, Elena was certain she would have been slender and well-proportioned. Melissa was, however, quite pregnant. Her designer maternity dress shaped a body that had to be very close to nine months along. Her face was wreathed in a genuine smile as she crossed to Elena and extended her hand, "I'm Melissa. You must be Elena."
Elena shook the hand presented her and stared at Melissa, overcome by her open friendliness. "Nice to meet you, Melissa."
"My first child," Melissa gushed as passed her hand over that mound of baby, a small smile on her mouth. "My little boy is due any day now. And I think he is just a big guy like his daddy."
Elena liked her immediately. "Congratulations. I can't wait to meet the baby."
Samantha Gilbert, on the other hand, was completely different. She was an attractive, athletic-looking woman with stylishly cut honey-brown hair. She wore a pair of expensively tailored trousers and a pale silk shirt. Silver gleamed discreetly in her ears. A designer scarf in a subdued mauve print framed her long neck.
There was an invisible aura of authority and importance about her. When she walked into a room, you knew it. Elena could see the anger and resentment in Samantha's eyes. She was superficially polite, but there was no welcome for the new member of the family.
She hates me, Elena thought in shock. I don't even know her and already she hates me.
"Since everyone is here," Isobel said quickly, casting an anxious glance at her husband. "Let's go inside the family room. The butler was just about to pour drinks."
Everyone seemed grateful for the small social ritual of the pre-dinner cocktail hour. Isobel and Melissa gamely tried to keep the conversation going while the butlers handed out the drinks.
"How long you going to be here, Elena?" Samantha asked.
Christopher turned around at that. "What business is it of yours how long she intends to stay here?"
Samantha glowered. "Just trying to make polite conversation."
"Sure," Melissa said. "That's you, all right. Polite."
Samantha glared at her brother and sister-in-law.
Damon cleared his throat. "As a matter of fact, Elena is going to be here for quite a while."
Samantha's attention snapped back to Damon. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Elena will be the new head of the Ridge's PR department," Damon answered.
When Samantha looked startled, he added, "Once Elena has settled down and familiarised with the resort, she will step up as the CEO and president of the Ridge. This is term of Grayson's will."
Everyone was staring at Damon. Samantha was watching Elena with a distinctly suspicious glare. Melissa seemed politely interested. Christopher was looking quizzical. John appeared startled by Damon's words. Elena didn't know what to say. It was Isobel who responded first.
"So you are the one," she said.
Elena looked confused. "I beg your pardon?"
Isobel shrugged. "The one Grayson was going to groom to take over the Gilbert Ridge. Well, makes sense, when you think about it. You are Grayson's only child."
"The board of directors made John vice president a few months ago," Samantha informed Isobel. "Your husband is Grayson's right-hand man."
"But John has never intended to take over the Gilbert Ridge," Isobel explained.
"Grayson had worked in the business his whole life," Damon said. "It is reasonable for his kid to take over and manage it."
"I agree," John spoke for the first time.
"I have been helping Grayson for several years." Samantha put in with a militant gleam in her eye. "The projects I had put together since I joined are considerably larger and more profitable." She turned to Elena. "How do we know whether Elena has a flair for corporate management?"
Damon narrowed his eyes. "What makes you say that, Samantha?"
"I understand Elena has worked in a PR firm," Samantha said easily. "But it doesn't mean she has any experience in corporate management. It is quite obvious it would be a mistake for her to have stayed in that role."
Samantha was right, Elena thought. But she didn't need this discouragement at this moment.
"I'm willing to give it a try," Elena said.
Samantha snorted. "You are used to writing news releases, working with the press, arranging interviews for company spokespeople and organising marketing activities like brand awareness and event management. You would be bored and restless playing corporate officer in a high-rise office building, sweetheart."
"I trust Elena. She has a natural talent for leadership," Damon said with a reflective look at Elena. "As a PR officer, she always had a knack for being able to put together a team and get every member working toward a common goal. This is what you need for a CEO and president of a company."
Samantha's gaze went to Elena. "You seem to have found a one-man cheerleading squad, Elena."
Elena flushed at the sarcasm, but Damon merely smiled enigmatically. "I trust Grayson. Like father like daughter, I'm sure Elena will do a good job."
There was an appalled silence as everyone in the room appeared to take the remark personally.
"Quite a little treasure," Samantha muttered with a narrow glance at Elena.
Even her brother was somewhat embarrassed by Samantha's comment. He cleared his throat, as though trying to find a new topic of conversation.
Damon ignored Christopher's efforts. Instead, he raised his glass in a small, intimate salute to Elena. "I believe Elena will do her best because I know she won't disappoint Grayson or anyone in the family."
Elena's embarrassed flush turned to a glowing warmth. She stared at Damon, who was silhouetted against a flaming sunset His gaze was dark and deep and brilliant. In that moment it was quite easy to believe he meant what he had said.
Elena managed to avoid Samantha until after dinner when she found herself alone with her for a few minutes shortly before everyone left. It had been a mistake to come out alone onto the veranda for a breath of the fresh air. That much was obvious the moment Elena heard the other woman behind her. She didn't turn around. She had a hunch what was coming.
"Well, well, well," Samantha said coldly. "Getting a little tired from playing the role of the long lost daughter for the Gilbert family?"
Elena leaned on the railing and gazed at the sky. "This family could use some peace," she said quietly.
"This family was doing just fine until you entered the picture. How in the world did you seduce Damon into siding you? You don't look like his type."
Elena spun around, incensed. "I did not seduce him. That is a horrible thing to say."
"You don't fool me for one minute, Elena," Samantha's voice was a tight, angry hiss. "I know exactly why you are here. You would never have returned if you hadn't found out what Grayson had…" She broke off hastily.
"Found out what?" But Elena was fairly certain she already knew.
"You have found out just how much money and power this family has and you figure you deserve a slice of it because Grayson was your biological father. Your father didn't want your mother years ago. What makes you think he wanted you now? Now you are desperately trying to find a way to fix that little problem, aren't you? It must be terrible standing on the outside in the cold, looking in on all this money. But you are smart. So you are going to use your charm to get your hands into our money."
"Samantha, you have got this all wrong."
"The hell I have. But I will tell you one thing, Elena, you'd better live up to your name and exercise a little caution. Because I see right through you. I know what you are up to and I'm not going to let you do it. I won't let you find a way to get in charge of the Ridge. I have been running things along with Grayson these past few years. I'm brilliant at it. The Ridge is richer now than it has ever been. I deserve to go on running the resort. I won't let you wreck everything I have built up during the past few years!"
Stunned, Elena stared after her distraught family as Samantha hurried back into the living room.