The Millionaire's Christmas Wish

Chance arrived at the bistro nearly half an hour early. He secured a quiet table in a corner of the cocktail lounge and ordered a beer. It had been a bad day all around, starting with the insistent ringing of his phone as he arrived home from the flower mart.

The phone call had been from Hank Varney, apprising him that one of his students had gotten into trouble again. He had to admit that he was not surprised about Jeff being picked up for car theft, but it still upset him more than he wanted to admit. He knew he could not expect to have a one hundred percent success rate with the program, but when one of his students turned to criminal ways, Chance always took it personally.

Which brought him to another point of contention between Chance and his father. When he’d first come up with the plan to take school dropouts, disadvantaged older teens, and those who were having a difficult time of it because of an arrest record for minor offenses, and teach them a trade so they could make it in the world, his father had been vehemently against it.

“Can’t trust these punks... They’ll rob you blind... There will be no sponsorship from any of my companies.” His father’s words rang loud and clear in his ears, even five years later. That had been the last time he had attempted to talk to his father about it. Chance had gone ahead on his own and implemented his ideas, only on a smaller scale. He had formed a nonprofit organization, then established a working relationship with two contractors, one in San Diego and the other in San Francisco, where Chance maintained a second home.

It had taken all his charm and persuasive powers to convince the city and state officials whose agencies could recommend candidates for his program that he was sincere about wanting to help. It had been the largest hurdle for him—getting them to see him as something other than a spoiled son of a wealthy and powerful man, who was only playing at having a social conscience.

Chance bought fixer-upper houses and his students, under the supervision of a licensed contractor, did the repairs and remodeling. Once the property was sold, the profits were used to finance the next project, including wages for the students. The contractors would then work the graduating students into their respective construction crews as fully paid employees.

For the past five years everything had gone pretty much according to plan. But every now and then one of his students made a grab for what seemed like easy money rather than perform hard work. He had had such high hopes for Jeff, so it was with a heavy heart that he had left the jail that afternoon after talking to him. There had been no remorse on Jeff’s part, only arrogance and defiance. Chance’s failures were few and far between, but this particular one had upset him more than the others.

He continued to ponder the unfortunate turn of circumstances as he sipped his beer. Jeff’s arrest was not the only upsetting news of the day. He had received an e-mail just before leaving home to meet Marcie for dinner. He unfolded the printout and stared at it again.

Marcie arrived at the Bistro promptly at seven o’clock. She had barely found enough time to go home, take a quick turn through the shower, and change clothes. She spotted Chance seated by himself in the corner of the cocktail lounge. He seemed to be studying a piece of paper. The pensive expression on his face said he was troubled about something. She watched him for a moment before crossing the room to his table.

“Good evening.”

Chance looked up at the intrusion into his thoughts. As soon as he saw Marcie he rose to his feet and extended a warm smile. “Hello.” He took in the way the soft fabric of her blouse caressed her breasts, how her skirt accentuated her slim waist and the sleek curve of her calf. He glanced at his watch. “I didn’t realize it was seven o’clock already. I’ll get us a table for dinner.”

They were seated in the dining room at a nice table next to a window with an ocean view. Chance looked at the wine list while Marcie studied the menu. He gave their selections to the waiter, then settled back in his chair. He studied her for a moment. She appeared nervous, continually glancing around the room and out the window.

“You look very nice. Your blouse is a good color for you. It really brings out your eyes.” He leaned forward. “And you have lovely eyes.”

She could feel the flush of embarrassment spread across her cheeks and the butterflies dance in her stomach. She hoped her voice did not sound as unsettled as she felt. “You’re very good at this...knowing just the right thing to say at just the proper moment. But then, I imagine you get lots of practice.”

An amused grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “There you go again...maidng assumptions. I think you have lovely eyes, so I told you so. It was a simple compliment, nothing devious or subversive about it.”

The waiter brought the bottle of wine Chance had ordered, poured each of them a glass, then left. Marcie took a sip of her wine, then toyed with the stem of the wineglass and ran her finger around the rim. The lull in the conversation felt awkward to her. Agreeing to have dinner with him had been a bad idea. They obviously had nothing in common.

She nervously cleared her throat. She felt pressured to say something—anything—to break the uncomfortable silence. “When I arrived, you had such an intense look on your face I was reluctant to interrupt your concentration. I hope it wasn’t some sort of problem or bad news.”

“Well...” He took a drink from his glass. “I guess you could call it the perfect capper to a day of problems.”

She allowed a bit of a chuckle. “Starting with getting up at such a horrible hour this morning?”

He extended a sincere smile. “Not at all.” He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. His gaze settled on her face, then delved into her eyes. His voice was low, his words cloaked in honesty. “That was the best part of my entire day... until now.”

Her gaze shifted away from him as she eased her hand out from beneath his. She picked up her wineglass and took another sip, then feigned an interest in something out the window.

“It’s certainly a nice evening.” She heard the strain in her voice as she attempted to make polite conversation. When he did not respond to what she had said, she turned her gaze back to him. He had the same pensive expression on his face as he’d had when she’d first spotted him in the cocktail lounge. He seemed a million miles away in thought. Again, she was not sure if she should disturb him or not.

“Uh, Chance...is something wrong? You seem troubled.”

His head snapped up to attention at the sound of his name. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he had neglected to hear what she had been saying. He let out a sigh of exasperation as he leaned back in his chair. “Sorry... As I said earlier, it’s been a really lousy day.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” A sudden wave of shy embarrassment swept over her. “I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. It’s obviously none of my business.”

“That’s all right.” A hint of weariness clouded his features for a second. He did not want to talk about Jeff’s arrest. His activities with his “training school,” as he referred to it, were something he kept to himself. But the e-mail he had received from his father was an entirely different matter. He pulled the printout from his pocket and handed it to her. “I’m sure it will be in the newspapers in the morning anyway.”

She unfolded and read the piece of paper. It was a message from Douglas Fowler to his son stating that he had gotten married the day before and had left that morning and would be honeymooning on the French Riviera for the next ten days. She handed it back to him.

The look of confusion on her face told Chance that she did not understand the significance of the message.

“It’s not that dear ol’ Dad has decided to get married again without even bothering to invite his one and only son to the wedding, it’s that this is his sixth trip down the aisle. The fifth Mrs. Douglas Fowler lasted less than a year.”

“You’re kidding!” She could not hide her surprise. “Your father has been married six times?”

A chuckle escaped his throat. It was not a sound of amusement, but one of bittersweet irony. “This one is younger than I am. Care to make any bets on how long she’ll last?”

“Why in the world would anyone want to get married six times?”

“That’s an excellent question. Unfortunately I don’t have even a mediocre answer let alone a good one.” His brow furrowed for a moment, then he flashed an easy smile. “I guess everyone has to have a hobby, and getting married is his.” He tried to sound casual, but somehow it did not quite come out that way. “You see, my family is more akin to life mirroring satire rather than the other way around.”