Surprising Destiny Read online

  Surprising Destiny

  Danielle Stewart

  Random Acts Publishing

  Copyright © 2019 by Danielle Stewart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

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  Surprising Destiny

  Layla Kinross is next in line for the throne. Not real royalty, but the niece of the current CEO at the wildly successful Kinross Department Store empire. The only problem? She’s not ready. There was supposed to be a long transition time but her aunt’s illness has uprooted the plan. The perfectly plotted next few years now must be crammed into a few short months.

  * * *

  Kenan Conner has taken the leap. Boarded the plane and left his seaside home in Gallamare, Ireland. He intends to finally be part of the family he never knew he had in South Boston. Nothing goes as planned when he’s fired from his new job for playing knight in shining armor for a lovely old woman who’s lost in the city. When she offers him a new job, it seems too good to be true. If only he can survive the wrath of her beautiful and fiery niece, Layla.

  * * *

  When loss and sudden change become inevitable, Kenan and Layla find themselves clinging to each other. But their grip may not be tight enough to survive all the people trying to tear them apart.

  Chapter 1

  They call it “Southie.” Kenan had taken time to research his new home as best he could online, but the internet search results had not nearly captured South Boston. America was a place on the map he’d been determined to visit someday, but this was not what he’d imagined. After spending his whole life in one small fishing village in Ireland, this city was overload. Back home the hills were green. The houses all stone and gray. Ivy creeping up the edges. The sea was rough and wild, but if you paid enough attention, it was also predictable. The salt air was all he’d known his whole life.

  Now his nostrils filled with the smell of truck exhaust, and the sound of honking horns blasted in his ears. There was no grass besides a few overgrown front lawns that were more yellow straw than lush greenery. Everywhere else was asphalt. Paved, torn up, and then paved over again.

  Buildings and houses were mashed together, leaning on each other, looking as though if one were plucked out the rest would domino to the ground. The sea wasn’t far in distance from his new place, but it was nothing like the shores of Gallamare. It had been less than three days and he already wondered if he’d made a mistake. Leaving Ireland had always been his dream. But sometimes a dream realized is a curse. A letdown. Running toward the finish line only to realize you missed all you had at the start.

  He was too old to be homesick. Too determined to let this apprehension stop him. He put his headphones on, brought some music to life, and tucked his hands into his pockets as he increased his resolve. He was lucky to have a job. A place to stay. A whole family he never knew about was now his. Luck of the Irish. It was all going to swing his way.

  He’d gained six younger siblings. A mystery solved. His mother loved a man who moved to South Boston and, not knowing of his existence or her fate back in Ireland, started another family. Unnamed parts that had been missing in Kenan’s life for so long were now his.

  Five brothers and a sister. It was time to get to know them. Get to know himself away from the bubble he’d grown up in. He would become more than the cook at the local hotel; he’d host parties and flirt with the daughters of old dignitaries and socialites who visited. His job would be more than just making the meals. He could make people feel something. Heard. Noticed. Adored. And that job he’d always been good at.

  “Excuse me.” An older woman tapped his shoulder and smiled a vibrant, perfect smile at him.

  “Yes?” he answered warmly, tugging one earphone out of his ears to hear her better. She reminded him of family back in Gallamare, something he was missing right now. She brought to mind his aunt who’d forced him to come even though she still needed him so much.

  “Do you know where the library is?” Her voice quaked with age and her wet gray eyes seemed to look through him, unable to focus. But there was also something trendy about her. The cut of her hair, the designer label on her shoes.

  “Uh, I’m a bit new here.” Like most everyone he’d met since arriving, the woman grinned at the sound of his thick accent.

  “Irish.” She clapped her hands together. “Are you single?”

  The question made him laugh. “Uh, well I am, but I’m not sure I’m your type. Not all that worldly I’m afraid. I bet you like your men well-traveled.”

  “Not for me,” she scolded, batting him gently with her purse. “My niece, Layla. You’d be just perfect for her.” She eyed him from head to toe.

  “How can you tell?” He stood up a little straighter, trying to get a good grade on whatever test she was giving.

  “You seem nice. Tall. Handsome. The accent is pleasant. Your clothes are clean. You smell all right.” She ticked the items off on her fingers and Kenan took note of her glossy manicure. Her clothes weren’t suited for the cold weather, and she seemed slightly frazzled but otherwise well put together. “It’s more of what you aren’t than what you are.”

  “Oh, I see.” He laughed a breathy chuckle. This was as close to being home as he had been so far. Back in Gallamare he was the most eligible bachelor and in a constant state of being set up. He knew exactly how this worked. And in the end, it never really worked out at all.

  “You aren’t a bum who lets her work her tail off while you sit at home and pretend to be a musician. Are you?”

  “No?” He stared down at her curiously. “I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

  “You aren’t a deadbeat who has multiple girlfriends at a time. Are you?”

  “Never.” He kept his face stoic as he answered her questions concisely. They’d stopped in the middle of the sidewalk as though they were old friends who’d just bumped into each other and were catching up. The exchange was odd, but Kenan had begun to understand that people in America don’t mince words. They don’t hold back their emotions the way they do back home. Sure, tempers could run high around the pub, but here every emotion came out. Not just anger. It was Joy. Love. Disappointment. Fear. They talked so openly. Nothing was taboo. His brothers he’d been living with the last couple of days certainly knew how to talk.

  Kenan wondered if the secrets of his life would have remained buried so long if he’d been born here instead of Ireland. Someone would have spilled the beans early on.

  “Do you know where the library is?” The woman’s far-off look crept back in and seemed distracted and distant. Enough to make the exchange suddenly awkward.

  “Uh, I don’t.” The woman’s bobbed gray hair bounced as she nodded and started to walk off. A cold breeze blew straight through Kenan’s jacket, and he watched her shiver.

  “Maybe we can find it together,” Kenan offered, extending his arm and smiling warmly. “I could use a new book myself.” He had the urge to check his watch and see if he could get her to the library and still make it to his job on time.

  “Oh, what a gentleman. You’d be perfect for my niece, Layla.”

  “Tell me more about her.” Kenan probed for information he might be able to use to help the woman find her way back to some family. Something was not right.

  “She’s a handful. You may not be able to put up with her.”

  “Then maybe tell me about yourself. I’m Kenan Conner.”

  “Irish!” She grinned just as she had the first time.

  “Indeed. What’s your name?”

  “Gloria Kinross.”

  “And we’re heading to the library?” Kenan’s voice was gentle. Friendly. His great aunt Aileen had begun having moments of spotty memory in the last year and he worried for her. The minutes were ticking away but he tried to beat back the nagging worry about his job. Surely this was more important. He’d want someone kind to stop and help his aunt if she needed it.

  He decided finding the library might be a good start. Maybe someone there would know her. After a few people snapped angrily at them as if they were silly tourists, someone finally took a minute to point them in the right direction. The library was six blocks away and the crisp morning air was blustery. Kenan looked at Gloria’s wool sweater, thin dress pants, and flat dress shoes and knew instantly the walk would be too much.

  “It’s quite a long way. Do you normally walk to the library?” He hesitated, looking up
and down the road and hoping some kind of answer would appear.

  “Normally?” Her question hung between them as she blinked hard. “I don’t go to the library. I never have time.”

  “So you’ve never walked there?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Maybe we should call someone. Your niece?”

  Gloria nodded and patted her purse. “I should maybe call her. She’s not going to be happy. I think I was supposed to stay in the house.”

  “I can smooth things over with her if you need me to.”

  “I bet that accent works good for that.”

  He winked and patted her hand gently. “It’s kind of cold out. Should we maybe get a coffee while you call her?” Kenan knew he had a call of his own to make. He’d only been working at the hotel for two days. It wouldn’t do to be a no-show come day three. Especially since he’d been assigned the morning prep for the buffet station.

  Once they settled into the corner booth in a trendy coffee shop they each pulled out their phones. They looked completely out of place with the morning crowd of business people getting their caffeine fix. Ordering all kinds of drinks he’d never heard of. Things that didn’t sound at all like coffee.

  “I’m going to call Layla.” Gloria pulled out her phone and pressed a few keys. It chirped with the familiar low battery alarm.

  “Oh shoot. It’s dying.”

  “Here let me get her number off it, then we’ll call from my phone.” She handed it over and hurried through the contacts. The phone was the latest model. Not something you might imagine an older woman would carry around. He’d half expected a flip phone.

  “I’m being such a bother.” Gloria’s bottom lip pouted as she bowed her head. Kenan quickly keyed the number into his phone.

  “Are you kidding me? I’ve only been in the states a few days, and I’d been hoping a beautiful woman might stop me in the street and ask me for coffee.”

  “You asked me,” she corrected with a hardy laugh.

  The call connected and Kenan felt a bit of relief that he might have a resolution for Gloria soon.

  “Hello?” The voice was annoyed, probably like most people who get calls from an unfamiliar number, if they bother to pick it up.

  “Hello, is this Layla?”

  “Who is this?” The bite was unmistakable this time.

  His accent made him sound like more of a stranger. “My name is Kenan Conner. I’m here with your aunt Gloria.”

  “What? Why? Who are you?” Her voice was sharp, and even through the phone he could sense her protectiveness and the lengths she might go if he tested her.

  “We’re here at the Java Counter, just having a cup of coffee. She was having a stroll to the library and asked me for directions. Then thought maybe we should call you.”

  “If you think for a second you can exploit this, I swear I will go to the ends of the earth to make you regret it.” The hiss was low but her words clear.

  “Uh, I’m not sure what you mean?” Kenan glanced at Gloria for some help. She gestured for the phone and he handed it over.

  “Quit being so grumpy.” Gloria handed the phone back to Kenan and shrugged.

  “Aunty, I am not being—” The phone was back on Kenan’s ear as he cleared his throat.

  “Clearly I’m missing something. I thought it best she come out of the cold and not walk halfway across the city. Maybe you don’t care about that though?” Kenan was expecting a warmer welcome, and now as he became even later for work, Layla was going to get back what she was giving.

  She blew out a long breath. “I can be there in about a half hour. Would you be able to stay with her?”

  His stomach churned with regret for snapping at her. She wasn’t mean, she was overwhelmed and worried. “I can stay a bit.”

  “All right.” She hesitated. “Thank you.”

  The line cut off and Kenan placed his phone on the table. “You think we’d be perfect for each other? Layla doesn’t sound like she’d like me at all.”

  “She is the best kind of woman there is. She’s like an egg.”

  “An egg?”

  “Put her in hot water and she gets stronger.”

  Chapter 2

  Layla

  * * *

  She couldn’t believe she was about to lie again. It had only been a few days since the last incident. She swore she’d come up with a solution, but so far nothing seemed feasible.

  “Frank, I have to cancel our meeting.” She poked her head into the office and held her breath.

  “What? Our nine o’clock with the Board of Directors? I don’t think so. We’ve moved it twice in the last three weeks. We can’t bail again and certainly not this last-minute.”

  “It’s urgent.” She tried to move on but the urgency in his voice kept her in the doorway.

  “That’s what you said the last two times. We can’t cancel. Two members flew in this morning.” A vein in his head pulsed as his expression tightened. Frank’s nose was hooked and the bump at the bridge made him look like he’d had his share of street fights. Or maybe sports injuries. For all the years she’d known him, over five, she’d never seen him out of a suit. If he owned a silly Hawaiian shirt or even a pair of jeans it would be a shock to her. But that’s all they were: business associates. He was one of the longest employees at Kinross Inc. and had worked his way up to Vice President.

  “Frank if I could—”

  “You can and you will. No one else is going to tell you this. They don’t care about you the way I do.” He stood and moved toward her, his voice low. His teeth were crowded in his mouth and the slight smile he offered was crooked.

  Her throat strangled with worry. Was this the moment he’d tell her she was wholly unqualified for this job and needed to take a hike?

  “You have to be at this meeting. Your aunt is transitioning. She may not have announced it yet. But in the next year or two she’s going to be ready to move on. It’s no secret she’s been grooming you for years to lead the company. I’m rooting for you, you know that.”

  She wondered if he was really rooting for her. Didn’t he want to be the CEO? Didn’t he, like everyone else, know he was far more qualified than she to run the place? The only thing he lacked was the Kinross name. But this wasn’t a dynasty. Someone could come in and take over if the board felt it appropriate. She tuned back in, swatting away the doubt in her mind as Frank continued.

  “The work you’ve done in the last two years is impressive. I’ve never seen anyone your age work so hard and dedicate so much of their life to a company. Just like Gloria always did. But everyone on the board is going to be wondering if you have what it takes to be the future CEO.” He crinkled his face up as though it pained him to have to break it to her. But it wasn’t news. She’d known all along there would be doubts. He’d basically told her something as obvious as people need air to live.

  “Now if she makes her transition long enough, a full two years, I think you could close the gap easily. Especially if you keep the pace you’re going. But in the last month it’s been different. You’ve been distracted. I’m telling you, that is going to come back and bite you. People are constantly evaluating you.”

  “I haven’t been distracted,” she lied, pulling a stern look. She didn’t technically outrank him yet, but it was implied in the structure Gloria had created.

  Frank cleared his throat. “Layla, I believe you can do this job. You will be able to run this company someday. But it’s not me you have to convince. This is a publicly traded company now. In your aunt’s day it was still family run. Now we answer to the financial team and the board. The word is, they like the idea of keeping a family member at the head of the company. It suits the brand, and it’s what the public will want. Kinross Department Stores should be run by a Kinross. But you cannot give them reasons to doubt you. Not right now. We need a smooth transition from Gloria to you. This meeting is a large part of that. You have a proposal to make that will be a reflection on your style of leadership as well as the future direction of the company. You’re ready. Just go in there and do it.” He sounded like a coach giving his team a pep talk before the big game. But it was patronizing.