Daughters of Fortune: A Novel by Tara Hyland

Author:Tara Hyland
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2010-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

26

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A week before the Tokyo store was due to open, Elizabeth called her father with a progress report. It was a short conversation, even by their standards. He sounded distracted, and after a while she gave up.

“Are you still coming out next week?” she asked.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it.” He didn’t sound in the least apologetic. “I’m far too tied up here.”

She was disappointed but not surprised. She’d almost been expecting him to cancel.

“So who’s taking your place? Uncle Piers?”

“No. I’m sending Cole.”

Elizabeth sat up straighter. “Oh, right.” She instinctively pulled a hand through her blonde hair. “So when is he coming out?” she asked as casually as possible.

Five minutes later, Elizabeth put down the phone. She came out of her office humming. Chihiro, her secretary, looked up in surprise. Elizabeth-san was usually in a dreadful mood after speaking to her father. She wondered what was different this time.

Cole called her later that day. “Did your dad tell you I’m coming over to check up on you?” he asked.

“He did,” she replied, adding boldly, “and I’m sure you’ll be impressed.”

Her confidence made him laugh, as she’d known it would. “You know, it takes a lot to impress me,” he drawled.

“Well, I’m up for the challenge.”

“I’m sure you are.”

The comment hung there for a moment, neither of them quite sure what to do with it.

“So,” Elizabeth broke the silence before it became uncomfortable, “what else is going on in London?”

They talked for a while longer, bantering back and forth. When they finally put the phone down forty minutes later, they were both smiling. They were also both looking forward to the following weekend.

The next seven days were the most frantic and exhilarating of Elizabeth’s life. Seeing something she had created come into being trumped every other event, every other achievement.

It helped that Melville’s Tokyo store was an instant hit. Elizabeth stuck with her English theme, eschewing the usual champagne-and-canapé reception for the grand opening and opting instead for a traditional afternoon tea—cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off, freshly baked scones, clotted cream, and pots of Twinings tea. The Japanese loved it. There were rave reviews in every influential newspaper and magazine and the foot traffic was ten times as high as even her most optimistic estimates. If trade continued at that pace, the cost of opening the store would be recouped in ten months.

It was good having Cole there to witness her success. After all those months when he’d given her a hard time, payback felt good. And once the initial furor surrounding the store opening died down, they got to spend some time together.

The night of the opening, they stayed late—just the two of them—overseeing the accounting and going through the first sales figures. By the time they finished, they were both starving. Elizabeth suggested walking down the street to a nearby izakaya, the Japanese equivalent of a tapas bar, where she often went with the store managers.

“I didn’t think this would be your kind of place,” Cole remarked, casting an eye around the crowded room.

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