26
Joel paced around the library, not convinced he should have agreed to the meeting with Don. Meeting at the house instead of having to face the DMI staff was the only decision Joel wasn’t regretting. He’d handed the keys over to Don less than two weeks ago, but it felt like a millennium. Joel should have taken his mother’s advice and held off overnight before making a fatal decision. He was pretty sure the outcome would have been different. DMI was struggling but not doomed, as the press pretended. As smart as he was, the recovery would have been rapid. As quickly as DMI rose in his first three years, the bottom had fallen out in a short three months. There were no barriers to building the dynasty again. Joel pounded his fist into the palm of his hand, repeatedly feeling strength multiplying in his bones. The yearning to return to the corporate grind wasn’t to be denied.
The doorbell rang. Joel didn’t wait for the staff to answer. He went to the door, prepared for a short meeting with Don. Zarah came into the foyer. He opened the door and his heartbeat sped up. Don he was expecting, Abigail he was not. The term “awkward” was too minuscule for the gravity of their moment. She avoided eye contact and he did too. Zarah locked her arm into his as they backed from the door and invited the team in.
“Thanks for fitting us into your schedule,” Don said.
Joel couldn’t stop staring at the other woman with them. “Yeah, no problem, come in,” he said, waving in the entourage. He and the other woman peered at each other; it had to be his sister. “Tamara?” Joel asked with reservation.
“In the flesh.”
It was Tamara. Joel wasn’t sure how to react. The reunion was emotionless, which wasn’t surprising. They didn’t know each other, given the nine-year age difference. She’d left town when he was twelve. Constant fighting between their mothers didn’t foster or necessitate a loving relationship among Dave Mitchell’s two sets of children. Last time he’d seen her was several months ago as she ran past him, tearing out of the DMI lobby. He hadn’t recognized her then and not much had changed. Standing in his foyer, she was no more than a stranger.
“Welcome to my house. This is my wife.” Sterile greetings ensued.
Zarah clung to him. Joel had to look away from Abigail. He didn’t thrive on cruelty. He realized how painful it must have been for Abigail to stand in the house she designed and watch him hold another woman. He got that and didn’t intentionally flaunt his marriage in front of her. Joel wanted to pull away from his wife but couldn’t jeopardize the security and trust Zarah was building in their relationship. He needed her to fulfill his budding plan. Casualties were inevitable.
“Is this where we’re going to meet?” Don asked.
“No, let’s go to my office. We’ll have more privacy there.” Joel considered letting Zarah join the group. Most of the conversation would center on her family’s company. Quick thinking brought him down on the side of caution. She was showing significant progress in her recovery. Adding stress in an area where she wasn’t equipped to handle it didn’t make sense. “Excuse me,” Joel said, stepping to the side with Zarah. “Why don’t you get a cup of tea and take a rest in the library?” Zarah didn’t loosen her grip. He had to gently peel her fingers from his arm.
“I’d like to stay with you and meet more of your family.”
Joel turned to the group. “If you don’t mind, you can follow the walkway to my office, which is in the rear of the house. I’ll be there shortly.” Abigail led the way. Joel wouldn’t have asked her to go first. It was her choice. Since she understood the layout better than anyone, it freed him to talk privately with Zarah. Shifting his attention to his wife, he said, “We’ll be talking about business matters. You won’t be interested.”
“I don’t mind. If you’re going to be there, I’d like to be with you.” She couldn’t be in the meeting. Joel had no idea exactly what was going to be discussed. He wasn’t dictating the agenda. Better to keep Zarah out.
“Please, for me, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” She began to speak, but he talked over her. “And I will not be able to focus if you’re in the room. You will have my attention and not the group who has come to take care of important business. Can I count on your help in letting me go into the meeting alone?”
“You can.”
Joel got her situated and proceeded to his office. When he arrived, Don, Abigail, and Tamara were seated and waiting. He closed the door and braced for the discussion. “How can I help you?” he asked, carving a path to his desk chair.
“I figured we’d jump right into the reason we came, Harmonious Energy and the West Coast division. Is your wife joining us?” Don said.
“No, she’s not feeling well. We thought it best that she rest.”
“Oh, how unfortunate. I was hoping to strike up a deal where she can take control of her father’s company and DMI can regain ownership of the West Coast division, just like you and I discussed a few weeks ago.”
“I can have the discussion with you.”
“But she’s the sole owner of the division. At some point she has to be the one who accepts or declines the offer,” Don said.
“Let me worry about the details. Why don’t you just present the offer and let me take care of the rest?”
“If you say so, as long as we agree that any deal established here is contingent upon final sign-off from Zarah,” Don stated for the record.
“Are you speaking for the board of directors?” Joel asked. He hated being discounted. Don was sitting there smug, dictating the state of Joel’s world. Zarah was sequestered in the kitchen or the library, holding the keys to his future. He wasn’t going to let either bend him until he broke. Regaining control was his top priority.
“I don’t need the board of directors to tell me the contract basics. The owner of the company has to sign off on the deal, plain and simple.”
Joel had no power. Don was right, but Joel refused to be treated as powerless.
“I don’t know what to tell you. If you want Zarah’s approval, you’ll need to sell the idea to me first. My wife trusts me.” As soon as the words were airborne Joel took a quick glance at Abigail and looked away. “I’ll speak on her behalf for now. If we reach a deal, and that’s an awful big ‘if,’ she’ll be more than willing to sign the papers.” Joel wasn’t relinquishing power over the negotiations with Don and DMI. He’d almost let the division slip through his hands once before when Madeline tried to secretly cut a deal with Zarah. Thank goodness he found out in time to halt the transaction. He was more resolute about controlling the process now than he was then. Zarah’s money and holdings were the primary assets that could get him back into the corporate game. They were his ticket to freedom. If she came with the assets as a package, fair enough. Sacrifices were to be expected.
“Let’s table the discussion about Harmonious Energy and the West Coast division. What can you tell me about the Southern division?” Don asked.
Joel winced. The topic was expected but not welcome. “I told you Uncle Frank is the one you need to see about the division. I’m not involved and can’t offer any details.”
“Come on, Joel, you must know how that sounds,” Abigail said, finally opening her mouth. He was beginning to wonder why Abigail and Tamara had come. Don was doing all the talking.
“Like I said, if you want information about the Southern division, Uncle Frank is your man.”
“That’s all you’re going to tell us?” Don said, clearly agitated.
“You got it.”
Don slammed his portfolio shut. “Let’s go,” he told the ladies. “This was a waste of time.”
If tension hadn’t been so prevalent, he would have chuckled thinking about Madeline. She would have never sat in his office and remained as calm as the three sitting in front of him. She probably would have lunged over the table, grabbed him by the throat, and demanded answers. He wouldn’t have told her what she wanted to know but the image was electrifying. There was an undeniable charge that came with battling the alpha lioness. She wasn’t at the meeting, but he was certain they’d cross paths again and secretly looked forward to it.
The three were ready to leave. Joel stopped Abigail at the front door, breaking her away from the pack. “Abigail, do you have some time? I’d like to speak with you.” Don and Tamara stopped too. “Privately.”
She wriggled from his psychological grip. Her gaze danced from Don to Joel, back to Don. “I can’t stay. I rode over with Don, and I don’t have my car.”
“I’ll make sure you get a ride back.”
“I don’t think so. My schedule is packed today, and I just don’t see squeezing another meeting in.”
Joel could have pushed but opted not to. He understood, although her rejection sliced at him. He recalled the time when there wasn’t another commitment on earth that would have kept her from rushing to his side. Her support had been constant. Realizing she was no longer his Abigail felt surreal, a fact he hadn’t fully digested or anticipated. He opened the door and leaned against it. “I will see the three of you around,” he said, not having much more to offer.
Joel continued leaning against the open door. He wasn’t lingering there to extend sweet good-byes to his sister, brother, and close friend. Relations were strained before they arrived with no sizable change after they left.
“Did your family go already?” Zarah emerged from the kitchen and asked. “I was looking forward to chatting with your sister. I’ve not met her before today.” Join the club, Joel thought. Zarah had as much knowledge about Tamara as he did. She was a wild card in the Mitchell game. He’d have to figure out her agenda. Certainly she had one. Why else would she be in Detroit? She hadn’t lived in town for ten or twenty years.
“We finished our business sooner than we expected.” He didn’t need to elaborate on the details. She wasn’t a businesswoman.
“Will they return soon?”
“Doubt it,” he said, easing the door shut, leaving the two of them standing in the foyer.
“How would you like to spend the day?”
He couldn’t truthfully tell her where he wanted to be. She wouldn’t understand his insatiable hunger for Chicago, and not just the city, although it was a cool place to be. His favorite five-letter word, Sheba, was the source of his hunger. He had stayed away; it wasn’t easy, but he had. One day at a time was the most he could promise.
“Let’s go for a ride,” she said.
Fine with him. A break was going to be refreshing and allow him to clear the cobwebs lurking in his takeover plan. His edge hadn’t dissipated. His naysayers would soon be marveling at his miraculous comeback. He ushered Zarah toward the garage. He was intent on keeping her happy. His return to glory hinged on her, a fact she wasn’t aware of. Best to keep her unaware.