Chapter 4

Opal Hale met us in the foyer and pulled me into a hug.

"There she is. The only person in this family who actually gives me a straight answer when I call."

Opal was sixty-one, elegant, sharp, and perfectly capable of making affection feel like a business decision.

She had spent most of her marriage hosting board members, charity events, and political donors while Quentin's father treated fidelity as an inconvenience.

She rarely spoke about that part of her life. Instead, she'd turned being Mrs. Hale into a position of power and expected the title to make up for everything she'd sacrificed.

She had also been kind to me in ways that took real effort.

When my father had surgery, she had meals delivered to the hospital every day for a week. She never once asked whether the joint venture would be delayed.

During my first Christmas with the Hales, she noticed I hated sitting beside one of Quentin's drunken uncles and quietly changed the seating arrangements.

I'd never mistaken her for someone without her own interests. Still, I'd believed there was genuine warmth behind her gestures.

She seated me beside her at dinner.

The Hale family filled a table meant for twenty.

Quentin's parents, two uncles, three cousins, their spouses, and a rotating cast of grown children all watched the family's succession plans with keen interest.

Quentin had run the company for four years, but the family trust wouldn't confirm him as permanent chairman until the following spring.

"The battery project passed its final safety review," Opal said. "Zora, you brought that division back from the dead."

"Our teams did the work. Cole manufacturing handled the supplier delay."

"Still giving credit to everyone else." She looked across the table at Quentin. "You could learn something from your wife."

Quentin cut into his steak.

"You two seem to have plenty to talk about."

Opal's smile faded slightly.

"Speaking of which — I heard about your new assistant."

His hand stilled mid-cut.

I reached for my water.

"Nora Pike," Opal continued. "I spoke to Human Resources this afternoon. Her contract has been terminated. She'll receive a generous severance package."

Quentin put down his knife. The sound carried across the table.

"You fired my assistant without consulting me?"

"I removed an inexperienced employee who insulted your wife in front of senior executives and then took your wife's place in your car."

Several relatives suddenly found their plates very interesting.

"You don't run Cole Group anymore," Quentin said.

"No, but I still chair the family trust. And that trust decides who will."

His father quietly said Opal's name, warning her to calm down. She ignored him.

"Your marriage to Zora wasn't the only reason this family supported you," she said. "We also believed you had good judgment. You knew when personal indulgence could put the company's interests at risk. Don't make us question that judgment over an assistant you've known for eight weeks."

Quentin turned to me.

"Did you ask her to do this?"

"No."

"Did you tell her what happened?"

"No."

Opal answered before I could say anything else.

"People talk, Quentin. Drivers talk. Employees talk. Gossip columnists pay interns to find out what happens behind closed doors. If you want people to keep things private, start acting like you have something worth keeping private."

She placed a spoonful of roasted vegetables on my plate.

"Eat, Zora. You've gotten too thin."

The conversation moved on because Opal decided it would.

A cousin asked about our expansion plans. An uncle complained about interest rates. Quentin spoke only when someone addressed him directly.

I wasn't celebrating Nora's dismissal. Opal had removed an immediate nuisance, but she hadn't fixed the problem in my marriage.

If Quentin respected my boundaries only when his mother threatened his future, then he didn't respect them at all.

After dessert, Opal walked me to the powder room.

"I hope you know I won't let some foolish girl damage this family," she said.

"I appreciate what you did."

"Quentin needs to remember that he has more to lose than most men."

There it was. The real reason behind her protection.

I looked at her in the mirror.

"If Nora had insulted another executive's wife, would you have fired her?"

Opal considered the question instead of giving me an easy answer.

"If it threatened an important relationship, yes."

"And if it didn't?"

"Then I'd expect the executive to handle his own office."

Her honesty made the answer worse. But it also made it easier to understand.

She hadn't removed Nora because women should stand up for one another. She'd removed a risk to a family structure she wanted to protect.

I met her eyes in the mirror.

"Quentin has more to lose than his position, too."

"Of course." She squeezed my hand. "He'll settle down. Men don't like being corrected, but they get over it."

I didn't reply.

On the drive home, Quentin kept both hands on the wheel.

He didn't mention his mother until we walked into our house and the door closed behind us.

I took off my coat.

He stayed by the console table.

"We need to talk."

"Then talk."

"Not while you're walking away from me."

I turned around.

The anger he'd hidden throughout dinner was finally out in the open.