Woman on the Edge(44)

Nicole nodded and sat on one of the kitchen chairs, one eye on her daughter, who stared alertly at the monkey that hung from the handle above her.

Tessa sat next to her. “So how was it with Ben?”

“It was pretty bad. I don’t want him back in my life, and I told him as much. But with Greg gone, I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing. He’s Quinn’s only family.” Even with her best friend beside her, Nicole had never felt lonelier. There were so many secrets to keep. She remembered seeing an article about Ben’s hospital having financial trouble. “I think he wanted to ask me for money for his hospital. It might close.” It was a total lie, and something in her burned as she said it.

Tessa curled her legs under her. “He came for a donation and not to see Quinn and you?”

“I don’t know. Anyhow, I’m not going to see him again. We’ve never really gotten along. Don’t see how it’ll be different now.”

“You’re better off without men.” She paused. “Greg still hasn’t called?”

“Not once. I don’t get it, Tess. I was everything to him, and now it’s like he’s cut me, cut us, out of his life completely.” Nicole looked sharply at Tessa. “Have you spoken to him?”

“No. Of course not.”

Nicole felt contrite. “Sorry. You’re not the enemy. I didn’t mean to snap.”

“It’s fine. You don’t need him anyway. You have me.” She took her phone out of her tote. “Nicki, I really need to talk to you about work.”

The room was spinning, but Nicole managed to hang on.

“I have to fill you in on what’s been going on. You need to come into the office tomorrow. I’m told there’s been discussions behind closed doors. Key investors are selling. It’s bad. I’m worried.”

Nicole heard only white noise. Her personal attorney, Rick Looms, had called countless times, and so had all the board members, but she never answered those calls. She’d ignored every one of Lucinda’s increasingly terse emails and messages. She massaged her head to clear the fuzz, but without enough food and sleep, she simply couldn’t focus.

Tessa handed her phone to Nicole. She had pulled up an article from Page Six:

An anonymous source confirms that Markham is housebound and unwell, struggling to care for her newborn daughter. She has not been seen in public since she left on a six-week, unpaid leave, negotiated with the board of directors. Should Markham not return to Breathe as CEO on July 31, she is at risk of being ousted from the company she founded.



So this was the piece Lucinda had referred to. “Did Lucinda do this?”

Tessa took a breath. “Do you think Lucinda would sell you out?”

“Why not? This way she can take what she’s always wanted. She can hire her own CEO or become CEO herself.”

She and Lucinda had butted heads for years. She’d tried to vote Nicole out just a year before, when Nicole had refused to launch a line of gingham leggings that looked far too similar to their biggest competitor’s. Nicole would never be a follower. She was a leader. An innovator.

Tessa looked thoughtful. “It’s bad, Nicki. The board will have legal grounds to force you out if you’re not back at your desk tomorrow. We can’t let that happen. They can’t take Breathe from you.”

Exhaustion and helplessness engulfed her. She closed her eyes. It drained her to even imagine getting dressed for work. She couldn’t do it. She could not go into Breathe right now. But how could she sit back and let her company, the empire she had built from the ground up, be snatched from her and Quinn?

If Lucinda was spearheading her removal, Nicole had to fight back. She staved off her tears. She now regretted taking her company public. She’d let the prestige and the self-worth gained by going public control her logic. In exchange for remaining CEO of the company she’d founded, she’d signed a buyback clause for her 16 percent shares of Breathe. If the board fired her, Nicole could lose everything.

“The employees don’t want to see you replaced. I don’t want to see you replaced,” Tessa said. “No one’s ever going to be a better boss to me than you.”

Nicole suddenly realized that her breakdown didn’t just affect Quinn, herself, and Breathe. It affected Tessa, too. Tessa had no voting power. Like all Breathe employees, she was entitled only to 10 percent shares. Nicole had a single day to stop Lucinda, and the board, from terminating her.

She had to do something. She didn’t want to live like this, straitjacketed by the terror, bone-crushing fatigue, and visions. And still she wondered if she was imagining all of it. She put the thought out of her mind. What women needed was balance. What Nicole needed was balance. She had reinvented herself once and she could do it again. She’d given that company her all. Surely, the board couldn’t begrudge her some vacation days. It was her right.

“Tess, can you do something for me?”

“Anything,” Tessa said, her voice sounding happier than a moment ago.

“Can you tell Lucinda I’m taking my accrued vacation time?”

Tessa was quiet. “How much time?”

“A week.”

“You promise you’ll be back in a week? On the Monday? August seventh?”

Of course. August 7. That date would always come back to haunt her. But Tessa wouldn’t remember its significance.