Chapter 10

‘I had hoped I would have the pleasure of meeting your wife Bette,’ had been the words Peggy Peabody had spoken after she had greeted Bette at the dinner being held in celebration of her success with Provocations after she’d noticed she was alone. Bette simply flashed her smile and made excuses for Tina’s noted absence, an emergency at the centre that had called her away. That had seemed enough to placate Peggy for now, they would simply have to do this again with Bette’s next success, and that time she would take no excuses for anyone’s absence.

Bette was getting used to the lies now. She had lied to Candace about where she was tonight, saying that Franklin needed her to schmooze with some new artists and their agents. All work, no fun, and no need for her to come along. She had been lying to James for over a week now, telling him that Tina had been too busy to come and see the exhibit properly. She wasn’t sure how much he believed her, James had always been perceptive, and it was his attention to detail that Bette admired in him as a colleague and as a person.

James hadn’t believed her at all. Since he had come to work for Bette at the CAC Tina had always been there on the opening weekend of any exhibit unbeknownst to Bette. She would wonder through the main galleries and watch how people reacted to the art, sometimes engaging in conversations with strangers and their interpretation of the exhibits. It was how she had developed such a love and knowledge of art. Listening to people who loved the pieces they were looking at. Bette had always been that way, but whenever she spoke about art no matter how beautiful her words Tina had always found it difficult to believe that anything was lovelier than the woman standing before her.

Whatever Bette needed, that was what he did. If something was happening where Bette needed to pretend that everything was okay with her and Tina then he would not be the one to tell her he suspected otherwise. Tonight was just another exercise in how well Bette Porter would be able to dazzle people and show them the perfect picture of the person they expected her to be. When she left the office that afternoon James wished that he would have garnered an invitation, not only because he wanted to be there to celebrate Bette’s achievement, but as always he wanted to be there by her side should she need him.