Rough Love (Tannen Boys 1)

In the conference room, I adjust the chairs, removing the one at the head of the table. I want this to be as hospitable as possible without creating an unneeded power differential. Most importantly because I don’t want Mr. Jacobs to feel that he has any undue dominance here.

“Allyson? Ms. Jacobs is here,” Debra says from the doorway.

Gloria comes in, her back ramrod straight and her hands clasped in front of her. Her bottom lip looks a little raw where she’s chewing it. “Gloria, relax,” I say kindly, welcoming her in. “Today’s going to be the first step in the next phase of your life.”

She follows my guidance and comes around to the far side of the table, perching on the edge of the chair. “I know. I just never thought this would be my retirement plan. Hell, I thought we’d be going on that trip to Greece we’d always talked about.” Her laugh is sour, verging on bitter, as she shakes her head.

She’s still shell-shocked by the course her life has taken, but that’s understandable. The important thing is that she finds some joy in her newfound freedom. “Was Greece your idea or David’s?”

Her eyes, which had drifted off, most likely to Greece, refocus on me. “Oh, well, both of ours, I guess, or at least it has been for years, but initially? It was David’s, I think.”

“Well, then you get to pick. Do you go to Greece or do you go to Spain? Or Italy? Or anywhere in the world you’d like to go. It’s your choice now. Research and plan or throw a dart at a map. Take a friend or go alone and make some.” I inject as much excitement as I can into the idea, hoping she feels the infinite possibilities.

She smiles and it almost reaches her eyes. “You sound like you’ve made that speech before. To other clients or to yourself? If you don’t mind my asking?” She looks at my bare finger curiously.

I shrug one shoulder, not wanting to divulge too much about my own personal life. “Both, maybe?”

Truth be told, I did have the same pep talk with myself once upon a time. I’d chosen to come home to Great Falls, even knowing that it wasn’t really home anymore. The town grew, I’d changed, and my parents had moved, but the familiarity that remained was comfortable and it felt like the right place to raise Cooper. So Great Falls was where my dart landed.

Gloria pats my hand comfortingly, though I’m supposed to be doing that for her. “Okay, let’s do this.”

We go over the plans, what she’s asking for and what she wants, what’s negotiable and what’s a deal breaker. When Debra calls back to announce Mr. Jacobs’s arrival with his lawyer, we’re ready.

The conversation goes on for hours, just as we expected. Gloria and David are pretty close to agreement on virtually every point, but there’s a lifetime of items to divide. We’ve split the household items fifty-fifty, with only a minor sticking point about a vase they bought at a charity art gala.

“Doesn’t Denice have children? It’d be a shame for such a beautiful piece to get broken accidentally. It’s irreplaceable.” Gloria’s scalpel-precise bomb is a direct hit, though she delivered it so eloquently and with such deft concern, you’d think she was actually worried about the vase. David agrees with a sigh and a wave of his hand.

I’m impressed with Gloria, who looks clear-eyed without a trace of the uncertainty from before. It’s a front, it always is, but she’s pulling it off with spectacular believability.

We’re making excellent progress until we get to the company ownership. Gloria wants half and it’s a deal breaker, but David wants a seventy-thirty split.

“Are you actually serious right now?” Gloria asks him incredulously.

David leans forward, digging a thick finger into the tabletop. “It’s my company. I worked morning, noon, and night to grow it. I’ve made every business decision since day one and it’s mine. You should be thankful I’m considering giving you any of it.” At that, the lawyer places a strong hand over David’s, forcing his palm to the tabletop. He opens his mouth in an attempt to mitigate whatever damage his client might’ve done, but Gloria’s fired up now.

“You worked morning, noon, and night? And who was taking care of the house and kids so you could be absent all those times? Who was right there next to you when you took out that first business loan and told you we’d make good on it? Who was beside you in those early days, working just as damn hard as you were? Who listened to you discuss ‘should we do this or that’ over dinner and again at night, when you couldn’t sleep?”

She pauses, letting all that sink in. I keep my mouth shut this time because she’s doing a better job of stating her case than I ever could and David looks to be responding to her. He’s slouching in his chair, defeated. “To be clear, you’re not giving me anything. I earned fifty percent of that company the same way you did—with hard work, faith in what we were doing, and the balls to take some big risks.”