Chapter 1

The charity fund reports were giving me a headache.

I rubbed my temples and stared at the computer screen. Numbers everywhere. Donations, grants, scholarship payments. Most of it made sense. The Beaumont Foundation had been supporting local students for decades.

But one line item caught my eye.

Private disbursement - T. Ashford - $2,500

Thornton's name in our charity accounts? My fiancé usually kept his charity work separate from mine. Part of maintaining our "independent identities," or so he claimed.

I clicked through to the details. Monthly payments. Six months running. All approved by Thornton himself using his board member access.

Daisy Mae Campbell. Whitmore High School.

I'd never heard the name before.

My wheelchair rolled smoothly across the hardwood as I moved to the filing cabinet. Old habits. I always kept paper backups of everything important. Mama had taught me that much.

The file was thin. Just a basic scholarship application. But the photo clipped to the front made me pause.

Golden hair. Blue eyes. Seventeen years old. Pretty in that fresh-faced, small-town way.

She really does look like a daisy.

But there was another photo. Candid shot, probably taken without her knowledge. The girl wasn't alone.

She was laughing with someone. A boy. Tall, broad shoulders, wearing a faded work shirt. His face was turned slightly away, but I could see the easy way he smiled at her. The comfortable way she leaned into his space.

Intimate. Familiar.

The kind of connection I'd never had with anyone.

I heard Jasper's footsteps in the hallway before his knock. Thirty years of working together meant I knew his rhythms better than most people knew their own families.

"Come in."

He entered with his usual quiet efficiency. Gray hair perfectly combed, navy suit pressed to perfection. If you didn't know about his military background, you might mistake him for any other house manager. But I'd seen what those hands could do when they needed to protect this family.

"Miss Cordelia. The quarterly reports you requested."

I held up the photo. "Tell me about this girl."

Jasper moved closer, adjusting his glasses to look at the image. His expression didn't change, but I caught the slight tightening around his eyes.

"Ah."

"Ah?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's not very informative."

"Mr. Thornton has been... taking an interest in several local students recently."

"What kind of interest?"

Jasper hesitated. Which meant he knew something I wouldn't like.

"The educational kind, apparently. Miss Campbell is from Whitmore. Her father works seasonal jobs. Mother's in the canning factory. They wouldn't normally qualify for our standard scholarships."

I tapped the photo. "And the boy?"

"Caspian Rivers. Twenty years old. University of Georgia, agricultural sciences. Full academic scholarship."

Caspian.

The name had a nice sound to it. Strong. Unusual.

"They're close?"

"Childhood friends, from what I understand. He's from the same area. Mountain family. Lost his parents young. Lives with his grandmother."

I studied the photo more carefully. The way the boy's hand rested on the girl's shoulder. Protective. Gentle. The way she looked up at him like he'd hung the stars.

Sweet.

Nauseating.

"Jasper, in your opinion, what exactly is Thornton's interest in Miss Campbell?"

Another hesitation. Longer this time.

"I believe Mr. Thornton finds her... refreshing."

The careful way he said it told me everything I needed to know.

Thornton thought he was being clever. Thought he was cultivating something pure and innocent. A charity case he could mold. A pretty little flower he could tend in his spare time.

How predictable.

But looking at the photo again, my attention kept drifting to the boy. Something about the set of his shoulders. The confident way he stood despite his obviously secondhand clothes. The fact that he was looking at the girl like she was the only person in the world.

What would it feel like to be looked at like that?

I pushed the thought away. That kind of wondering was pointless. I'd learned that lesson years ago.

But still.

"This Caspian," I said slowly. "Tell me more about him."

Jasper reached into his jacket and pulled out a tablet. Of course he'd already researched this. Jasper researched everything.

"Caspian Rivers. Age twenty. Dean's list every semester. Works three part-time jobs to support himself and help with his grandmother's medical bills. She has late-stage lung cancer."

He swiped to show me more photos. School ID. A candid shot from campus. Another of him working at what looked like a plant nursery.

Oh.

The school photos hadn't done him justice.

Dark brown hair that looked soft to the touch. Green eyes the color of lake water in summer. Tall and lean but with the kind of muscle that came from actual work, not gym memberships.

And there was something in his face. Intelligence. Determination. The look of someone who'd had to fight for everything he'd ever gotten.

Interesting.

"His field of study?"

"Agricultural sciences with a focus on sustainable farming. Also taking courses in botanical research."

Very interesting.

I set the photos down and leaned back in my wheelchair. Thornton thought he was playing a game. Thought he was the only one who could appreciate something beautiful and shape it to his liking.

How wrong he was.

"Jasper, I want you to do something for me."

"Of course, Miss Cordelia."

I looked out the window toward the stables. The afternoon sun was slanting through the magnolia trees, casting long shadows across the grounds. Beautiful. Peaceful. Empty.

I'd been alone in this house for too long. Surrounded by staff and visitors and board members, but alone in every way that mattered.

Maybe it was time to change that.

"I want complete background information on Caspian Rivers. Everything. Family, finances, academic records, work history. And I want to know his class schedule."

"May I ask why?"

I turned back to face him, and I knew my smile was the same one Mama used to wear when she was planning something that would shock the neighbors.

"Because Thornton thinks he's discovered something special. A project. A little flower to tend and shape."

I picked up the photo of Caspian again. Those green eyes seemed to look right back at me.

"But I've always preferred partnerships that require real trust. Real connection." I set the photo down carefully. "I'm going to need a riding partner, Jasper. Someone I can train properly."

Understanding dawned in his eyes. "I see."

"Do you?"

"You want to make Mr. Thornton an offer he can't refuse."

Not quite right, but close enough.

"I want to show him how it's really done." I turned my wheelchair toward the window again. The stables were waiting. Empty stalls that could be filled. Horses that needed proper care. A lonely house that could use some life in it.

"Tomorrow morning, Jasper. Ten o'clock. Bring him to the stables to meet me."

I could practically feel Jasper's raised eyebrow behind me.

"And if he refuses?"

I smiled at my reflection in the window glass.

"He won't."