Page 38 of Breadwinner
“Nell,” Angela drawled, a champagne flute dangling from manicured fingers. “Always a pleasure, sweetheart. You’ve been a hard one to catch recently.”
“Maybe you’ve been looking in the wrong places,” she replied smoothly, knowing exactly what Angela was trying to do.Fine, Nell thought.I’ll entertain Angela’s game.
Angela let out a long laugh. “You’ve always been a funny one. Ever since that day you showed up in my office demanding an internship.”
She tilted her head, appraising Nell with that same cutting focus that had the power to make entire state legislatures squirm, but had long lost its effect on her.
“You’ve been busy,” Angela said, taking a sip of her champagne. “And I hear you’ve been diversifying your investments, into health-tech, no less. That new investment of yours is causing quite the buzz these days.”
“It’s overdue,” Nell said, giving Angela one of her best placating smiles. “VYSE has already surpassed all the projected outcomes. The work they are doing is vital to the future of women’s sports. Did you know that female athletes tear theirACLs at a higher rate than men? Take a wild guess who all the research for ACL recovery was done on? And don’t even get me started on what we could do with training plans formulated around hormonal fluctuations.” She felt that rise of heat in her, passion lacing her words. “Research done explicitly on factors that impact female athletes is undervalued and underfunded. Just think of the advancements that could be made. It’s a smart bet.”
Angela’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “You never make bets, Nell. You stack the deck first. Just like I taught you.”
“I learned from the best,” Nell said.
An echo of the old admiration for Angela passed through Nell. Angela had given her a chance when no one else had. She had been the first person to look at a scowling, twenty-year-old version of her and see something worth putting weight behind when no one else would. She saw something worth believing in.
Angela softened, but only for a moment, leaning in slightly. “So, are we going to talk about Ms. Gallagher?”
Nell didn’t flinch, but she stilled just enough that she knew Angela would notice. Sarah’s name slid between them like a dropped match on dry brush.
“I enjoyed meeting her in the Hamptons at the end of the summer,” Angela went on, casual in tone, but she knew better. Nothing Angela said ever lacked purpose. “She’s bright. Curious. A little bit idealistic, but in the way that makes you want to believe in people again. I can see why you’re drawn to her. But I will say, knowing you, I was interested to see you two together again at the Women in the Arts Gala. And wouldn’t you know my surprise to see that photo of you two at the WNBA championship game.”
Nell gave a nod of polite acknowledgment as she formulated her response. None of this was Angela’s business, and they bothknew that. But besides Nate, Angela was the only person in her life with whom she allowed such a free interrogation.
She sighed, not out of defeat, but because she hadn’t planned on the photo of her and Sarah. Someone had snapped a quick one of the two of them, mid-celebration, both donning the now-iconic “Invest in Women’s Sports” shirts for Empwr Ventures. “Sarah is very good at what she does. I enjoy the way her mind works.”
Angela snorted as she sipped her drink. “That’s a nonanswer if I’ve ever heard one.”
Nell’s lips curled at the edge. “You used to say brevity was a strength.”
“Only when it isn’t covering something up.”
Nell said nothing.
Angela let her sit in her silence, smiling incisively. “I’m surprised she’s not here today. You know I’ve never been one to pry”—not true; Angela always had been—“but I am curious, as someone who knows you pretty well. From where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve already bent a few of your rules for her... and I find that interesting, don’t you?”
She froze, Angela’s words landing on her.What does that even mean?A wave of defensiveness stirred within her, the need to justify, to explain. Angela was observant; there was no denying that. She had always had a way of seeing right through Nell. But she was seeing something that wasn’t there. Her rules and control were still, without a doubt, firmly in place when it came to Sarah.
“I really need to stop hanging around lawyers; you all have too many questions,” Nell said, slipping her hands into the pockets of her blazer, purposefully not answering Angela’s question.
Angela shrugged, with a look that managed to be both approving and challenging. “It’s part of the job.”
She was just about to say something else when Rowan reappeared. “The meet and greet is about to start. You’re needed over here.”
Perfect timing.
“Apologies, Angela. I need to go. I’ll have Rowan get some time for us to grab dinner soon.”
“Take care of yourself,” Angela said, squeezing her forearm gently before turning on her heel, leaving Nell with only her observation looping through her mind.
The next day, she found herself cocooned in a fluffy white robe, skin still dewy from the sauna she had just exited. The biting urgency that usually fluttered in her chest was, for the first time in weeks, quiet. She was finally starting to feel something closer to human again.
The spa itself was beautiful. Nestled away on a sleepy lavender farm, just like Rowan had said.
It was serene, with polished stone floors, the scents of eucalyptus and lavender hanging in the air. Nell was thirty minutes into her facial and nearly asleep when Rowan’s spa concierge plan hit its peak: a hot stone massage that left her muscles feeling warm and slack. She made a mental note to give Rowan a raise. This had definitely been the right call today.
Nell settled into one of the oversized lounge chairs tucked into the far corner of the spa’s tranquil atrium, a glass-enclosed room with a sweeping view of the property. She sipped gingerly from her teacup, looking out at the rows of lavender beyond the rain-streaked glass. Nell had ended up going with lavender mint, a difficult choice given the extensive tea menu.