The stars shine down by Sidney Sheldon

Author:Sidney Sheldon [Sheldon, Sidney]
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: General, Suspense, FICTION, Mystery, Mystery & Detective, Fiction - General, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Women Sleuths
ISBN: 9780446364768
Publisher: New York : Warner, 1992.
Published: 2010-05-19T04:00:00+00:00

"It's not the board so much. It's their chairman. A lady named Edith Benson."

"Set up another meeting with her. I'll go there myself."

Lara took her chief construction supervisor, Bill Whitman, to the meeting.

Lara said, "Frankly, I was stunned when I heard that your board turned us down. We're going to put up over a hundred million dollars to improve this neighborhood, and yet you refuse to..."

Edith Benson cut her short. "Let's be honest, Miss Cameron. You're not putting up the money to improve the neighborhood. You're putting up the money so Cam- I eron Enterprises can make more money."

"Of course, we expect to make money," Lara said.

"But the only way we can do that is to help you people.

We're going to make the living conditions in your area better, and..."

"Sorry. I don't agree. Right now, we're a quiet little neighborhood.

If we let you in, we're going to become a higher-density area-more traffic, more automobiles, more pollution. We don't want any of that."

"Neither do I," Lara said. "We don't intend to put up dingbats that "Dingbats?"

"Yes, those ugly, stripped-down, three-story stucco boxes. We're interested in designs that won't increase the noise level or reduce the light or change the feel of the neighborhood. We're not interested in hot dog, show-off architecture. I've already hired Stanton Fielding, the top architect in the country, to design this project, and Andrew Burton from Washington to do the landscaping."

Edith Benson shrugged. "I'm sorry. It's no use. I don't think there's anything more to discuss." She started to rise.

I can't lose this, Lara thought desperately. Can't they see it's for the good of their neighborhood? I'm trying to do something for them and they won't let me. And suddenly she had a wild idea.

"Wait a minute," Lara said. "I understand that the other members of the board are willing to make the deal but you are the one blocking it."

"That's correct."

Lara took a deep breath. "There is something to discuss." She hesitated. "It's very personal." She was fidgeting now. "You say I'm not worried about pollution and what happens to the environment in this neighborhood if we move in? I'm going to tell you something that I hope you will keep in confidence. I have a ten-year-old daughter that I'm crazy about, and she's going to live in the new building with her father. lIe has custody of her."

Edith Benson was looking at her in surprise. "I... I didn't know you had a daughter."

"No one does," Lara said quietly. "I've never been married. That's why I'm asking you to keep this confidential. If it gets out, it could be very damaging to me.

I'm sure you understand that."

"I do understand."

"I love my daughter very much, and I assure you that I would never do anything in the world that would hurt her. I intend to do everything I can to make this project wonderful for all the people who live here.

And she'll be one of them."

There was a sympathetic silence. "I must say, this ... this puts quite a different complexion on things, Miss Cameron.

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