PJ and her mother had gone out for a hike and spent hours talking about things. About Asa and her paint business, about her mother’s growing realization that her father was turning into a bitter, hostile stranger who said and did the unforgivable. She’d told PJ it had been like a switch had been thrown and all that intensity of feeling she had for him had just gone dark.

“She deserves this chance,” Shawn murmured.

She did. They just had to hope their mom wouldn’t lose her nerve once she got face-to-face with their dad.

“Let’s go.”

To say Howard Colman Jr. was surprised by the sight of his youngest child and his estranged wife walking into his boardroom would have been an understatement.

But he took in the sight of all five of them and got it soon enough. His surprise went hard and so did PJ’s resolve.

Jay folded his hands in front of him on the table and took their father and uncle in. “So as not to waste time, let’s just get straight to the point. The five of us are claiming our rightful voting seats on the board of Colman Enterprises.”

“Nice try. You’re fired. Get out.” Fee sneered.

Shawn waved a hand. “If you’d been paying attention instead of avoiding work all these years, you’d know there’s a whole set of governing documents for Colman Enterprises. Grandpa had them in with all the legal stuff back when he first set up shop. In those documents, it designates full voting seats for each member of the immediate family running Colman. That’s you, Dad, Mom, and all four of their children. Seven votes total.”

“Six. One of my children quit her job,” Howard interrupted.

Jay sighed. “Seven. We offered Penelope her job back and a division of her own. She started this morning. First order of business is to officially recognize and thank Howard Colman Jr. and his brother, Fee, for their years of service to Colman Enterprises. Yours will be tough shoes to fill, but we’ll do our best.”

“I’m not going anywhere, boy.” Fee pointed a bony finger at Jay.

“Oh, but you are. And so is Dad. You’ll each retain an office here and your salary until you begin to pull your retirement benefits. We will of course continue to provide your other benefits like health care and your gym membership, that sort of thing. But you’re out.”

Their father shook his head at Jay. “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, Jay, but you don’t have the stones to pull this off.”

“You don’t know a thing about me, old man. I’m done trying to make you see me. We’ve already voted to name Julie CFO. I’ll be stepping in as CEO. Shawn will run the accounts, and PJ will have her custom design shop with a full roster of clients and a wait list.”

“You have no right!” Their father stood up.

Shawn stepped in. “We have every right, because Grandpa knew what useless fools you both were and made sure there was a way to get around all this foot dragging. We are Colman Enterprises too. In fact, Julie and Jay know more about this company than either of you do. You crossed the line, Dad. You and Fee would happily just let this company dwindle and die off as long as it happened after you left. It’s the CEO’s job to be a steward for the business. You had your time, and your heart isn’t in it. Go quietly and take your salary.”

“It’s more than you deserve.” Lenore finally spoke. “You should be ashamed of yourself. I don’t know who you are. Or what you think you’re doing. But you broke your place in the family. Step aside and be quiet. Be happy your children are kinder than you are.”

He pointed at PJ. “This is all your fault. You stirred everyone up.”

“For my entire life I wanted your approval, and you thought I was a whore. Do you know what it felt like to learn that? I’ll never forget that. I didn’t stir anyone up. I wanted to do something I’m good at. And I wanted to do it here, where I could bring in customers and contribute my own thing to Colman. You stirred up your own problems. Whatever your deal is with me, I can’t own it anymore. I can’t make you love me. But I can make my mark in this company whether you like it or not.”

Julie spoke up. “Just to let you both know, as of an hour ago, you’ve been removed from all accounts. You can keep your parking spots. Why don’t you go on vacation? Golf. Relax and think about how it is you might manage to salvage your relationship with your family.” She went to the door and opened it.

“He spent more time on you than he ever did his own children,” Howard said suddenly into the silence.

PJ looked to her father. “What?”

“My father, your precious grandpa. He took you to the track instead of me or Fee. Took you to car shows. Left you the Z28.”

“You’re talking about stuff I did with Grandpa when I was a kid and you never could be bothered to spend time with me? Then? This is some sort of tantrum from a fifty-five-year-old man aimed at his daughter because he has daddy issues? You gave me daddy issues because you had them? Good lord. Go. Take your brother and go golfing for a few months. Maybe think about how if you showed even half the courage and compassion your father did, you could have been a decent parent.”

He and Fee both tried more bluster. Jay showed them the paperwork and in the end, after a lot of arguing, they finally left.

“Okay, kids, get to work. I’m not paying you all to lollygag.” Jay waved a hand at the door and PJ headed out to her shop, where they’d set up her office.