Chapter 15
L ater that evening, Jade sat in her room, nursing a cup of chamomile tea courtesy of Mabel.
Her closed laptop lay on her bed, her phone still in her purse.
This morning on a whim—and she almost never, ever did anything whimsical—she grabbed one of the free maps of the Ozarks in the rack near the inn’s front desk, got in her little rental, and took off.
She’d spent the day driving around Clementine and the adjoining communities, partly to pass the time, partly for the distraction.
She rejected the idea of reaching out to Sebastian again and would just be patient and wait for their meeting on Tuesday.
At this point, she was sure he was just humoring her, but at least she could tell Miles she’d done all she could.
The drive had some unexpected benefits, other than saving her from staring at the four walls of her motel room.
This area of Arkansas was gorgeous. The temperature was milder than the day before, and she kept the windows rolled down as she drove, enjoying every minute.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something so random and seemingly pointless.
Jade glanced at the half-eaten apple pastry on the bedside table, then at the three small bags she put on top of her closed suitcase.
During her journey, she’d stopped at a few surrounding towns.
Most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday, but she found a couple that were open due to Memorial Day weekend.
She purchased a glass paperweight in the shape of a cat for Charlotte, who owned a very loved and spoiled feline named Sir Meow.
She found two lovely silk scarves for herself and purchased a small trinket for Mabel to thank her for being a good host and dealing with Jade’s constant questioning about her lost briefcase.
Her stomach soured. The briefcase was gone, and she had to accept it.
She also had to tell Sebastian about the ledger.
Great, now she felt nauseous. But it was her own fault for being stupid and deceitful.
He’d find out eventually that it was missing, and even though she could go back to Atlanta and not say anything, her conscience wouldn’t allow it.
She had to face the consequences of her actions, whatever Sebastian decided they would be.
She was also concerned about her job. Miles had given her a break by not calling her today, but even without hearing his voice, she figuratively felt him breathing down her neck.
Could he fire her for failing her assignment?
She didn’t see how, but because he was related to the CEO of the company, anything could happen.
Jade grabbed her laptop and flipped up the lid.
Gone was the peaceful, content feeling she allowed herself to experience today, and she was right back where she started since her arrival in Arkansas—tense and keyed up.
Oh, and resentful too, because she hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place.
Her life in Atlanta was far from perfect, but it was better than feeling like an anxious failure nonstop.
She opened an Excel sheet. Other than a car wash, work had always been her prime diversion.
Not this time. The numbers on the grid blended together as she tried to concentrate.
After several attempts to make sense of what was on the screen, she moved the computer back on her bed and got up, put on her tennis shoes, and grabbed her purse.
Cherry Hill Car Wash, here I come. Then she opened the door. .. to Sebastian.
“Oh, hey,” he said, his fist in the air as if he were about to knock. He dropped his hand to his side. His other hand was behind his back.
She stilled. Never would she have expected him to be standing at her door. “Uh, hi.”
He ungainly shifted on his feet, something she’d never seen him do. Actually, she’d never seen Sebastian Hudson anything other than confident.
“Can I come in? Or we can go to the lobby and talk?”
Her optimism returned. Was he here to talk about Harrington?
She couldn’t fathom what else he’d want to discuss, although she was surprised he wasn’t waiting until Tuesday to tell her no, like he’d insisted.
Did this mean he’d changed his mind and actually wanted to hear her out?
“Here’s fine,” she said, moving to the side for him to come in.
“Thanks. Oh, here.” He brought his hand from behind his back.
“My polar bear!” She took it from him. “You found it.”
“You left it on the stage.” His expression relaxed a little.
How sweet. She smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “I’d forgotten about it.”
He entered and scanned the room as she closed the door behind him. “Nice place. Especially that longhorn over there.”
Jade smiled at the steer head above her bed and set the bear on the small desk near the window. “You mean Frank?”
Sebastian faced her. “That’s his name?”
“That’s the one I gave him. Seemed the appropriate thing to do, considering how much time we spend together. It took a little while, but we’ve gotten used to each other.”
He grinned, and she smiled back, some of her apprehension slipping away. Whether that had to do with Sebastian changing his mind about discussing the buyout or just being in his steady presence, she didn’t know. It felt good not to be so uptight.
“This won’t take long,” he said, turning serious.
Her spirits dipped. That wasn’t a good sign. “You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”
His brow furrowed. “What?”
“Harrington. It’s still no, isn’t it?”
He paused. “I promised to hear you out—”
“Wonderful!” She swooped up her laptop. “It will just take me a second to bring up the file with the deal points.”
“You don’t have a paper copy in your briefcase?”
She froze. Oh no, she forgot she told him she found the briefcase.
“This is faster,” she blurted, although holding a heavy laptop with one hand while moving her finger on the trackpad was awkward.
She was so flustered she couldn’t find her cursor, so she pressed harder on the pad, which made the laptop tip.
“Hey.” He took the computer from her and closed the lid. “I don’t want to talk about Harrington. I’ll listen to your pitch on Tuesday, like I said I would.”
Jade frowned, confused. “Then why are you here?”
He scooped his hand through his hair but didn’t respond right away.
Good thing, because the gesture seized any possible words out of her mouth. Sebastian had the casual, mussy-sexy look down. Emphasis on sexy. Once again she was struck by how much more attractive he was now than ten years ago. Even the faint crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes were fetching.
And here she was looking dumpy and frumpy in gray athletic shorts, a plain white oversize T-shirt, and hair piled on her head in a messy pony.
A few minutes ago she didn’t care about her appearance when she was going to the car wash.
Now she was acutely aware that she looked like she’d just woken up. What a fabulous impression.
He shoved his hands in his pockets, which didn’t help either. Her gaze followed his movement. He made those jeans look so good—
“Lydia.”
Her eyes snapped to his. “What?”
“I’m here to talk about Lydia.”
Every cell in her body turned cold. “How do you know about her... Logan. You talked to Logan.”
Sebastian nodded. “He’s still at my cabin.”
“I don’t believe this.” She backed away. “What did he tell you?”
“That she’s your mother—”
“She was never my mother.” Not in the way it counted. Her chest hurt. “How could he do this to me?”
“He loves you, Jade.”
She shook her head. This didn’t feel like love. It felt like betrayal. Sebastian had no business knowing about her past—Lydia in particular. Logan and Lydia were cooking up something. She was sure of that now. “He put you up to this.”
“No, he didn’t.” Sebastian moved toward her. “I offered to help. I don’t know what’s going on with your mother, but it’s serious enough to have Logan worried, and not just about her. He doesn’t want you to have any regrets.”
“Too late for that.” She was regretting ever allowing Logan back in her life, even if it was just for a conversation. She regretted listening to him, believing he had truly changed. Most of all, she regretted letting Sebastian in her room. Her hands shook so hard she thought they’d fall off.
“Jade.”
His deep, comforting voice washed over her, and for a split second she allowed herself to feel its soothing effect. Then just as fast, she threw up her walls. “This is none of your business, Sebastian. You don’t have the right .”
He stilled. Nodded. Backed off. “I just...” He shook his head and moved past her. “Sorry.”
“Wait.” She couldn’t afford to be angry with him or let her personal life get in the way of business. It was one thing if she didn’t have the skills or tactics to convince him to talk to Miles and quite another if he refused because of Logan or Lydia.
She wasn’t sure how her professional brain kicked in through her pain.
Then again, she had years, decades of practice shoving down her emotions until she didn’t feel them anymore.
She turned and went to him. “I apologize,” she said, barely aware she’d straightened her posture as if she had on her suit and heels instead of gym wear.
“Thank you for being so considerate. I will take your advice under consideration.”
His frown deepened. “I—” A ringing sound came from his jeans pocket.
“Go ahead,” she said. The interruption would give her time to collect what was left of her sanity.
Sebastian dug into his pocket and pulled out a simple black flip phone and lifted the lid.
“Hudson here. Where? How bad is it? Uh-huh. Oh... whoa.” His frown deepened. “I’ll head there now. Thanks.” He hung up and jammed the cell back into his pocket.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s a fire. In Chester.”
She saw concern in his eyes and tone, but also something else, something she’d seen before when he was chasing down a story. “Go,” she said.