Envy by Brown

Author:Brown [BROWN, SANDRA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
ISBN: 9781455546473
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2013-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“This is my favorite room.” Maris basked in the familiar comfort of her father’s home study, where they were having cocktails.

At the last minute Noah had needed to consult with the contracts manager over a disputed clause, so he had urged her to go to Daniel’s house ahead of him. She hadn’t minded his being detained. Since her return from Georgia, she hadn’t spent any time alone with her father.

“I’m rather partial to this room myself,” Daniel said. “I spend a lot of time in here, but I like it even more when you’re sharing it with me.”

She laughed. “You didn’t always feel that way. I remember times when I’d come in here hoping to coax you away from the work that you’d brought home with you. I made a pest of myself.” They smiled at the shared recollections, but Daniel’s expression turned somber.

“I wish I had those times to relive, Maris. If I did, I’d spend more time skating in the park or playing Monopoly with you. I regret passing up those opportunities.”

“I wasn’t deprived much, Dad. In fact, I wasn’t deprived of anything. Most of all you.”

“You’re being far too generous, but I thank you for saying that.”

Maris sensed a melancholia in him tonight. He’d been very glad to see her, but his jocularity didn’t quite ring true. His comic bickering with Maxine seemed forced. His smiles were good counterfeits of the real thing, but they were noticeably strained.

“Dad, aren’t you feeling well? Is something wrong?”

He cited Howard Bancroft’s funeral. “It’s tomorrow morning.”

She nodded sympathetically. “Howard wasn’t just your corporate lawyer, he was a good and trusted friend.”

“I’m going to miss him. He’ll be missed all over this city. For the life of me, I can’t understand what drove him to do such a terrible thing.”

He was grieving his loss, naturally, but Maris wasn’t entirely sure that Bancroft’s suicide was the only thing weighing heavily on Daniel’s mind. She reasoned that his mood might be in response to her own. She wasn’t exactly a barrel of laughs tonight, either. She could attribute her moodiness to two things. Well, actually two people. Noah and Parker.

Noah’s explanation for his meeting with WorldView had been plausible. Daniel had even verified it. Nevertheless, it rankled that they had kept her unaware of something so vitally important to the future of Matherly Press. She had never been that busy.

Had she been anyone else, her high ranking in the company would have demanded she be kept apprised. Their personal relationships should not have been a factor. As senior vice president of the corporation, she had deserved to be informed of Blume’s poaching. As a wife, she deserved her husband’s respect.

That’s what had really infuriated her—Noah’s nonchalant dismissal of her anger.

He’d treated her like a child who could be easily mollified with a candy stick, or a pet whose trust could be earned with a pat on the head. His peacemaking platitudes had been textbook standards. Marriage 101, lesson three: How to Fight Constructively.

The way in which he’d placated her had been more belittling than his original offense.

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