At a charity dinner the following winter, Diane discovered she had been seated beside the service corridor.
She looked at the place card, then at Chloe across the room.
Chloe was trying not to smile.
Diane sat down.
A server apologized for the noise.
"Don't," Diane said. "I've been told the kitchen view builds character."
Chloe laughed so loudly three tables turned.
Harold heard about it later from Martha.
"You created a monster," Martha told him.
"I did nothing."
"Exactly. That's your favorite way to create problems."
Harold smiled.
There was one piece of unfinished business he had not forgotten.
The original Whitfield meeting had been completed, the contract awarded, and the families had found a new equilibrium. But Richard had never answered one question to Harold's satisfaction.
Not the business question.
The marriage question.
A year after the wedding, Harold asked Richard to meet him again at Brookstone headquarters.
Richard arrived without a proposal this time.
No leather presentation binder. No financial models. No sales team.
Just himself.
Harold was already in the conference room with two coffees.
Richard sat across from him.
"What is this about?"
Harold pushed one cup toward him.
"Diane."
Richard almost laughed. "Again?"
"Again."
"She's better."
"I know."
"Chloe's better with her."
"I know."
"Then what are we doing here?"
Harold looked at him for a long moment.
"Making sure you changed too."
Richard's smile disappeared.
Harold leaned back.
"Saturday night at the wedding, everyone focused on Diane because she was loud. You're quieter. Quiet men can hide from accountability longer."
Richard nodded slowly.
"Fair."
"So tell me what you do now when she crosses a line."
Richard thought before answering.
"I don't tell Chloe to manage her. I don't wait for the moment to pass. I say something."
"And when Diane gets angry?"
"I let her be angry."
Harold smiled.
"Hard, isn't it?"
"Terrible."
"Worth it?"
Richard looked toward the window.