Saturday, 22 November 2014

Saturday, November 22, 2014 -

Destiny Takes a Hand

by Leigh Smith
Published: Sep 10, 2014
Words: 39,196
Category: romance
Orientation: M/F
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OPENING EXTRACT
Destiny, that predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events, which changes the path you travel. Has it happened to you? If you had asked that question of Chris Chambers or Samantha Fremont on that cold crisp late September morning, the answer probably would have been something like, we make our own destiny. On that day, however, destiny took a hand and this is the story of how nature stepped in on a snowy road in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

---oOo---

Chapter One

Christopher Matthew Chambers grew up in upstate New York, along with a brother and one sister. His family was wealthy, the kind of wealth that was passed on down through the generations. He attended the best prep schools and graduated from Princeton University and the Wharton School of Business. His manners were impeccable and his charm well known to all the mothers in his parents' social set. He was always at the top of every invitation list and was the most fantasized husband of many of the daughters of his parents' friends.

With his brains and degrees, Matthew Chambers always imagined his son Christopher joining him in the family business. Matthew had taken over the business from his father, and he assumed his oldest son would do the same. His father had died at his desk, something Matthew didn't want for himself or his wife, Nancy. He planned on retiring and enjoying his later years. His marriage was one of those rare relationships in that he actually loved Nancy and enjoyed spending time with her, even after forty years of marriage. He wanted them to be able to travel the world together and enjoy the fruits of their labors. He thought Chris would come in and take over after graduating from Wharton. He was mistaken. Chris wanted nothing of the sort. It shouldn't have come as a complete shock to Matthew as Chris had been telling him for years that wasn't his plan, but Matthew refused to believe that he wouldn't change his mind once he had graduated from business school.

Chris realized how lucky he was and appreciated the opportunities but sitting in some stuffy office building, amassing another fortune to add to the already amassed fortunes of his family didn't fit into his life plan. He felt life should be lived, and he was going to enjoy all the time given to him. He knew his brother, Paul, was more suited to that corporate lifestyle than he and this gave Paul his chance to shine. After graduation from Wharton, he packed up and said good-bye to the East Coast. It was not where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. He hated leaving his family, but that life was much too steeped in protocol and the expectations of someone with his name and credentials. He wanted to strike out on his own. Thanks to a small trust fund he came into at twenty-one, he could do just that.