Chapter 1 - The Quarter-Turn
Nolan Hale had Maren's hair wrapped around his fist before Judith reached the end of the table. He forced her face toward the soup bowl and said, "You bow when my mother speaks." Maren's red dress pulled tight across her shoulders. Across from her, Blythe lifted her wineglass. "That's how you discipline a wife." Twenty guests stared at their plates beneath the chandeliers of Hale House, the Milwaukee restaurant Nolan's family treated like a church. Judith saw her daughter turn her water glass one careful quarter-turn, the old signal from childhood: stay close. Then Judith noticed something stranger. Blythe wasn't watching Maren. She was watching Tessa, the banquet captain, as if waiting for a cue. Judith stood anyway. "Take your hand off her." Nolan laughed, but his fingers loosened. Maren raised her head, eyes wet and furious. Judith had expected fear. What she saw was recognition, almost relief, and that unsettled her more than Nolan's grip. She had been waiting for someone to stand.
