Page 1 of The Mad Marchams

CHAPTER ONE

San Jose, California

“Come on, Mabel. Just hear me out…”

Ignoring Joss and protecting her coffee, Mabel pushed her way through the people loitering at the coffeehouse’s counter and went out to the sidewalk. Bright sunlight shone down on the crowded street, and she wrinkled her nose until her sunglasses fell into place, dimming the glare.

“Mabe...”

He knew she hated being called that. “What?”

Right in front of her, a small table miraculously became vacant, and she claimed it before anyone else could, setting down her coffee before offloading her backpack and sitting on one of the chairs.

“This is a great opportunity.” Joss, not taking the hint that she wanted to enjoy her coffee by herself, sat down across from her.

The noise of the almost stationary traffic and the roar of lunchtime conversation made it difficult to hear exactly what Joss was saying—although that didn’t really matter. In money-hungry, tech-devouring Silicon Valley, all the conversations were the same.

She raised her voice above the insistent honking of a nearby car. “We’ve just wrapped up the Grove Investments project. I need a break.”

Joss frowned. “You can take one next year. This is important.”

“It always is, Joss.” She looked him right in the eye. “I’m close to burnout. If I don’t stop now, I’ll go crazy.”

He reached across the table and grabbed her hand, his thumb caressing the inside of her wrist. “Is it that you don’t want to work with me? Or is it because I broke up with you?”

“No, not everything’s about you, and I broke up with you, remember?” She tried to ease her hand away. “Sammy is much better for you anyway.”

He let go of her hand, his smile complacent. “She’s such a girly girl. I kind of like it after—” He glanced quickly at her. “I mean, no offense, but⁠—”

“That’s okay. I have other strengths.” She sipped her coffee. “I’m sure you’ll find someone with the necessary tech skills to fill my shoes.”

“I doubt that.” He grimaced. “I kind of promised Iko and Deepak that you’d be onboard.” His brown eyes narrowed. “Have you started developing something else? You know we all agreed not to work for competitors.”

“I am not working for, or with, anyone else. I am going to take some time off.” Mabel said the words slowly and hoped this time they registered.

“To do what?” Joss stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles. “You’ve done nothing but work twenty-four-seven since we left college.”

“Which is why I need a break.” She studied his skeptical expression. “Don’t you ever feel like you want to do something other than this?”

“Hell, no. This is the most exciting and innovative place in the world.” Joss shook his head. “You’ve been acting weird. What happened? You never used to talk like this.”

She sighed. “Maybe I’ve grown up. I’m twenty-eight. Maybe I don’t want to spend twenty hours a day living and sleeping in my office, staring at a screen.”

“But what about the money? The possibility that you might be part of the next big startup or⁠—”

“I’m taking a few weeks off to recharge,” she interrupted. “When I’ve cleared my head, I’ll think about what I want to do next, okay?”

He pouted, glanced down at his phone, and started texting, leaving her to enjoy her coffee in peace. Tonight, the team was going out to celebrate the successful launch of the Grove project, and after that? She was free. The idea was both exhilarating and disturbing. There had to be more to life than writing beautiful code…

Not much more, but surely something.

She loved writing code. But unlike most people her age, she had the ability to take a sabbatical and find out what else the world might have to offer, and she was determined to do just that.

“Who the hell handwrites a letter these days? There isn’t even an email address.”

Colin Marcham knew that talking to himself was the first sign of madness, but at this point in his life he was way beyond worrying about that. He studied the embossed header of his family solicitor’s thick notepaper. He’d stuffed the letter in his coat pocket while preparing for his trip to California and forgotten all about it. Apparently, Edward Deville wanted him to meet with his father to discuss “the future”.

“Words to strike terror into any man’s heart,” Colin muttered. “Especially mine.”