“Afraid so.” Lillian hunched around the phone in her hand. “But I prefer the phrase ‘seeing each other socially’ to ‘shacking up together.’ ”

“Men of Mitchell’s and Sullivan’s age have a different view of these matters. And a different vocabulary to describe them.”

“Guess so.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, how does Gabe describe your, uh, relationship?”

We’re all adults here.

“I haven’t actually asked him that question. Not in so many words. Look, Mom, I know you mean well, but this conversation is getting a bit personal. I’m perfectly capable of handling my own private life.”

“When Hartes and Madisons get together in Eclipse Bay, there is no such thing as a private life,” Elaine said.

“Okay, I’ll give you that. But I’m still capable of dealing with things here.”

“You’re sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure. Mom, I’m not in high school anymore. Or even college, for that matter. I’ve been getting by out there in the big bad world all on my own for quite a while now.”

“You haven’t had to deal with the complications of having a Madison in your life.”

“Gabe is a different kind of Madison, remember? He’s the one who made it through college and built a very successful business. When I was a kid, I recall Dad saying that Gabe was the one Madison who proved the exception to the rule that all Madisons were bound to come to a bad end.”

“Yes, dear, I know.” Another short silence hummed on the line. “But between you and me, Gabe was the one I worried about the most.”

That stopped Lillian cold. “You did?”

Elaine was quiet for a moment. Lillian could almost hear her thinking about the past.

“I wasn’t the only one who was concerned about him,” Elaine said eventually. “Isabel and I discussed him often. Even as a little boy, Gabe always seemed too self-contained, too controlled. He never lost his temper, never got in trouble at school. Always got good grades. It just wasn’t natural.”

“You mean for a Madison?”.

“No, I mean for a little boy. Any little boy.”

“Oh.”

“It was as if he always had his own private agenda. Looking back, I can see that he must have been driven, even then, by his vision of building a business empire.”

“I think you’re right,” Lillian said. “He needed to prove something to himself. But he accomplished his goal.”

“People who are compelled by a lifelong ambition do not change, even after it appears to everyone else around them that they have achieved that ambition. In my experience they remain driven. It’s a deeply imbedded characteristic.”

A Madison and his passion.

“Mom, listen, I really don’t-”

“I don’t want to intrude on your personal life, but Iam your mother.”

“I know.” Lillian sighed. “You gotta do what a mom’s gotta do.”

“I think you should assume that nothing has changed with Gabe.”

“What?”

“Madison Commercial was always the most important thing in his life. It still is. If anything, all that single-minded determination and willpower he used to get to where he is today has only become more honed through the years.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning,” Elaine said bluntly, “that if he has decided to see you socially, as you call it, he very likely has a reason.”

She felt her stomach tighten. “Is this where you tell me that the only thing Gabe wants from me is sex?”

“No.” Elaine paused. “To be frank, I expect that, given his money and position, Gabe can get as much of that as he wants.”

Lillian winced. She had a feeling her mother was right. “Please don’t tell me that you think he’s getting some sort of perverse satisfaction out of having an intimate relationship with a Harte. I refuse to believe that he’s so warped or so immature that he sees seducing me as a form of one-upsmanship.”

“No.”

She felt her stomach unknot. “He wouldn’t stoop to such a thing just to score points off a Harte. Heck, his brother is married to one now. Even Granddad couldn’t possibly believe-”

“No,” Elaine said again, soothing now but firm. “I don’t think Gabe would seduce you just to score points in that ridiculous old feud. He’s a long-term strategist, not a short-term opportunist.”

She let herself relax a little more. “So, what are you trying to say, Mom?”

“I just want you to be careful, dear. Your father and I have been talking a lot lately. It is clear that Harte Investments will have to be sold or merged when Hampton retires in a couple of years. None of you three kids wants to take over the company, nor does your father want you to feel that you must.”

“I know. He’s been great about not pressuring us.”

“Lord knows he experienced enough pressure when he was your age. He refuses to put any of you through it, regardless of what Sullivan wants.”

“What?” Lillian froze. “Are you telling me that the only reason Dad took over Harte Investments was because Granddad pressured him to do it?”

“In the years following the breakup of Harte-Madison, your grandfather put everything he had into building Harte Investments. It was always understood that Hampton would be his heir apparent. Your father went along with Sullivan’s dreams but they were never really his dreams.”

“I see.”

Lillian got to her feet and stood in front of the window, the phone clutched very tightly in her hand. She looked out at the white ripples on the bay and knew a strange sense of sudden understanding. It was as if a veil had been pulled back. She had just gotten a fleeting glimpse of a piece of family history that she had never even suspected existed.

“Hampton did not want any of you three to feel you had to live someone else’s dreams,” Elaine said. “He made that clear to your grandfather years ago.”

“Dad took the heat for us? I always wondered why Granddad didn’t make a bigger issue out of the fact that none of us showed much interest in Harte Investments. We all thought that Sullivan had just mellowed with the years.”

“Fat chance.” Elaine gave a soft, ladylike snort. “Your father went toe-to-toe with Sullivan more than once over that issue. He warned your grandfather that he would not permit any of you three to be coerced into turning the company into a family dynasty. Hampton wanted each of you to feel free to choose your own paths in life.”

“But Dad never felt that he, himself, had that option?”

“Not in the early days,” Elaine said. “But things have changed. Hampton and I agree now that life is simply too short to spend it maintaining someone else’s vision. Your father has plans for his future and he’s going after it with both hands. Sullivan has called the shots in this family long enough. He can do whatever he wants with Harte Investments. Hampton and I are cutting loose.”

There was no mistaking the steely satisfaction and determination in her mother’s voice. This was, Lillian thought, a whole new side of Elaine.

“You’re talking about the charitable foundation you two plan to set up, aren’t you?” Lillian asked.

“Yes. Your father can’t wait to get started on it.”

“I see.” Lillian blinked away the moisture that was blurring her view of the bay. “Guess Hannah and Nick and I all owe Dad big-time for keeping Sullivan off our backs, huh?”

“Yes, you do,” Elaine said pointedly. “But that’s not the issue here. What I want you to understand is that Gabe Madison is one very smart, very savvy CEO. Rumors travel like wildfire in his world. He has to be aware of the situation at Harte Investments. He must know very well that the company probably won’t continue as a privately held family business much longer.”

“So what?”

“I suspect he’s working on the assumption that H.I. will either be merged or sold soon. But if he marries you-”

“Stop.”Lillian could hardly breathe. “Stop right there. Don’t say it, Mom. Please don’t tell me that he’s sleeping with me just because he thinks he can get his hands on a third of Harte Investments that way.”