Chapter 2

At six the next morning, with the sky barely light, I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I rinsed the red dates, soaked the white fungus, and stood over the stove nursing a low flame for two full hours.

Then I poured the finished soup into the custom thermos.

The moment I twisted the lid shut, someone appeared in the kitchen doorway.

Cole.

"Jane Fox, are you deaf?"

"I told you yesterday. Black coffee this morning."

"And whole wheat toast. Where's my breakfast?"

I took my time tucking the thermos into the canvas bag, then turned to the fridge and pulled out a single shriveled slice of leftover bread.

I held it out to him.

"This is all there is."

"You expect me to eat this?"

"Jane Fox, is your brain waterlogged?"

"Is this how you look after your husband?"

I zipped the canvas bag closed, careful about it.

"Mom's stomach's been acting up lately. I have to get up early to make her soup."

"Taking care of her health is the most important thing to me now."

"As for your breakfast, you've got hands. Make it yourself."

"Or if that's too much, go out and buy something."

Cole stared for a second, then let out a laugh of pure disbelief and knocked the dry slice out of my hand.

The bread hit the tile.

He lifted one of his expensive custom slippers and ground his heel down, mashing the crumbs into smaller pieces.

"Jane Fox, feeling brave, are you?"

"My mother takes your side one night and you think you can walk all over me?"

He stepped in closer, his finger almost jabbing the tip of my nose.

"Don't forget, you eat my food, wear my clothes, live in my house!"

"Want to bet I cut off your allowance?"

"Then you can go out and live on air!"

I pulled a tissue, crouched down, and gathered up the crushed bread bit by bit before dropping it in the trash by my feet.

Seeing me turn back into someone easy to push around, Cole pushed three words out through his nose.

"Spineless dog."

"You've got ten minutes. Get the coffee to the table."

With that, he turned to leave.

"The soup smells good."

Cole stopped.

Veronica came down the stairs leaning on her rosewood cane, dressed in her tai chi clothes.

She didn't so much as glance at her own son. She walked straight to the counter and reached for the canvas bag I'd packed.

"Smells done right. Come on, keep me company for my tai chi."

I stepped up and took her arm.

"Of course, Mom. I brought a warm towel too."

Left standing there, Cole couldn't hold it in. He hurried a couple of steps to block our way.

"Mom! She won't even make me breakfast and you're still taking her side?"

Veronica stopped. Her gaze raked once across his face.

"Can't the Hensons afford a housekeeper, or are you crippled?"

"Jane married into this family. She's not a maid you hired."

"You've got two hands and two feet. If you want to eat, make it yourself."

"If you don't want to, then go hungry."

Cole's face went gray with the shutdown. He looked at Veronica, then jerked his head around to glare at me.

I kept my eyes down and stayed at Veronica's side, not even sparing him a sideways look.

And of course, that was the exact moment the doorbell rang.

The housekeeper ran to answer it.

Soon enough, Chloe Fox came clicking in on her heels, sweeping into the Henson house under the excuse of delivering documents.

She wore a fitted business suit and ten-centimeter red-soled heels, her makeup flawless, every lash curled to just the right angle.

"Mr. Henson, there's an urgent file that needs your signature right away."

Chloe ignored me and Veronica completely. She swayed over to Cole and pushed a blue folder against his chest.

As she handed it over, her fingertips trailed lightly down the front of his shirt.

Cole, whose face had been gray with anger a moment ago, softened at once, a flicker of smugness even coming into his eyes.

"Now that's a secretary who knows how things are done."

"Not like some people, who can't even manage a decent breakfast."

He said it loudly on purpose, his eyes never leaving Chloe.

The two of them traded looks right in front of me and Veronica, not bothering to hide a thing.

I gave a small smile.

I walked over, took the folder straight out of Chloe's hand, and with the other hand picked up the freshly poured cup of hot tea from the counter, holding it out to her, steady.

"Secretary Fox, running over first thing in the morning to bring a file. That's a lot of trouble."

"Have some hot tea. Warm yourself up."

The cup was scalding.

Chloe reached for it on reflex, and the instant her fingertips touched the glass she shrieked.

"Ah!"

The cup tipped, and the hot water splashed all over her.

I stepped back half a pace and put on a face full of innocence.

"Oh dear, Secretary Fox, how can you not even hold a cup steady?"