Charming You

Nick drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he turned onto the street housing the small, quiet sushi restaurant where they were meeting. The older man called a few days before and summoned him to dinner. Tom Moran said he wanted to talk business. No doubt that also included a discussion of Nick and Vivienne's engagement.

People like Vivienne's parents saw their children's love lives as potential mergers. That was a hazard of circulating in the high-toned set living in the enclaves of the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, and swaths of north Dallas. Vivienne resented it, but Nick always felt like their relationship was of their mutual choosing.

It's not like Nick was the ideal candidate. He didn't grow up with the elite of the elite. His young, widowed mother had struggled to keep a roof over her children's heads, working as a housekeeper and a hotel maid before starting her own business cleaning office buildings. Nick and his sister joined the family business as soon as they were old enough. He'd spent his early life scrubbing up after people like Tom Moran.