Chapter 12
O n Saturday afternoon Jade pulled onto a grassy parking space at Wilson farm and turned off the Nissan’s engine.
The Memorial Day Hoedown was in full swing, and it looked bigger and grander than she thought it would be.
Mabel explained that it wasn’t just the hoedown that attracted visitors to the area on Memorial Day weekend.
There were plenty of other things to do in the Ozarks on the first official weekend of summer—hiking, camping, canoeing and kayaking, antique shopping, fishing.
.. The list was endless. From the size of the crowd, it seemed like this year’s hoedown was the main attraction.
After leaving Sebastian yesterday, she went back to her room at the Clementine Inn to look for her briefcase, which was still missing, and she was starting to lose hope, although she wasn’t going to give up her search. Mabel had promised to keep an eye out for it.
For the rest of that afternoon, she did something she’d never done before.
She walked the hiking trail behind the inn.
Her preferred form of exercise—when she had time to exercise—was aerobics, along with taking an occasional spinning class at her local gym.
Walking had always been a boring activity, especially if there wasn’t a specific destination in mind.
Meandering through a neighborhood or in the woods seemed pointless.
But she couldn’t just fritter time away in her room, and while she had her laptop with her, she wasn’t in the mood to go over Harrington Media spreadsheets and financial statements.
So she took a walk. A long one, making two circuits of the hiking trail, breathing in the mountain air, working up a decent sweat, and managing to set aside her problems enough that she could experience the sights, scents, and woodland activity surrounding her.
It didn’t give her the same type of peace she had in a car wash, but it was soothing enough that when she returned to Atlanta, she was going to search for a nearby hiking trail.
When she returned to her room, she took a shower and ordered a small mushroom pizza from the pizzeria up the street Mabel had recommended.
Then she tackled what she’d put off all afternoon— calling Miles to give him an update.
When she told him Sebastian wouldn’t discuss the deal until Tuesday, he exploded.
“Seriously?”
“He’s busy—”
“How busy can he be? It’s just a simple conversation.”
Nothing was simple when it came to Sebastian, despite him being a straightforward, unpretentious man. “It’s also a holiday weekend. There’s lots of activity in Clementine.”
“Oh yeah,” he sneered. “It’s a regular boom town.”
Jade frowned. She didn’t like Miles’s tone or how he kept putting down Clementine. He was turning into an exceedingly unpleasant man. “What do you want me to do?”
“Stay until Tuesday,” he grumbled. “But I expect you to work on him in the meantime. Go where he goes. Hang where he hangs. Be a thorn—or a rose—in his side. Whatever you have to do so he talks to me.”
His metaphor was weak, but she understood the mission.
That was why she was here. The Clementine Times would have someone reporting on the hoedown, and chances were high that Sebastian would be here.
Even if he wasn’t in an official capacity, Mabel said almost the entire town attended the event every year.
She flipped down the car visor and looked at the small mirror. Nose—empty. Teeth—clean. Hair... She draped a lock over her ear, then brushed down some flyways. Maybe she should have put on a little lipstick...
She snapped up the visor. She wasn’t trying to impress Sebastian or anyone else. Besides, he wouldn’t notice if she wore lipstick. She doubted he paid attention to her physical appearance at all. She grabbed her crossbody bag, got out of the car, and headed to the hoedown.
Country music blared through the speakers, and the smell of carnival food hung in the air. The farm was huge, the crowd even bigger. She wasn’t sure where to start.
Then she saw a group of teenagers with foot-long hot dogs on sticks.
Those looked kind of good actually. She started for the food stalls when Sebastian’s sister appeared in front of her, decked out in hoedown-appropriate attire—a knee-length blue jean skirt, black cowboy boots, and a white collared shirt tied at the waist.
“Hello,” she said, her high ponytail swinging as she smiled and held out her hand. “We haven’t been formally introduced yet. I’m Evelyn Margot, Seb’s sister.”
“Ah,” Jade said, pretending she didn’t already know that bit of info. If Evelyn Margot found out that Jade had been in Sebastian’s office while she’d been taking his computer, she would be sunk. “We met the other day, right?”
“Sure. He mentioned that you two used to work together.”
Jade stilled. He’d been talking about her? How much had he said? And exactly what did he say? This could be good, bad, or both.
Evelyn smiled. “Don’t worry, he didn’t tell me your deepest secrets.”
Thank goodness. Not that he knew her deepest secrets anyway. Well, he knew at least one—Logan. That was enough.
“I’ve got to run, but I wanted to make sure I formally met you. Are you going to be in town long?”
“A couple more days.”
“Maybe we can get coffee sometime.” She backed away.
“Uh, sure.”
“Great, see you around!” She waved and hurried off, only to spin around again. “Seb’s over by the bouncy castle.”
A little stunned by Evelyn Margot’s surprise invitation and her eagerness to tell Jade Sebastian’s whereabouts, she turned to the kid’s area. The giant hot dog would have to wait. As she neared the play area, she heard a man’s voice through a loudspeaker.
“Square dancin’ time! Our dauntless dance instructor, Ms. Eugenia Pickles, is here to guide you along. Even if you don’t know your do-si-do from your promenade, come join the fun. She’ll whip you into shape!”
The woman took over and soon the band was playing while she was calling out different dance moves. Or so Jade guessed. She’d never square-danced before. She hadn’t danced much, period.
Jade made her way through dozens of kids and parents and walked toward the bouncy castle. Teens and adults were manning different stations—face painting, beanbag toss, knock the cans—
Pop, pop, pop, pop!
She jumped and saw a group of young children jumping rear-end-first on balloons, giggling as they popped them with varying success. Cute. She searched around for Sebastian, expecting him to be hanging around the perimeter of the area, talking to people and taking notes.
“Higher, Mr. Hudson!”
She turned to see him by a large swing set, pushing a laughing little girl on a swing.
“My turn!” shouted the boy in the next swing. There were two other boys in the remaining swings, and Sebastian dashed by, giving each one a firm but gentle push.
Jade watched as he continued to swing the kids. She hadn’t spent enough time around children to guess their ages, but these had to be early elementary. Clearly they were having a great time, and she didn’t blame them. It looked like fun.
After a couple more pushes, he helped each kid slow down. The boys ran off while he lifted the little girl off the swing. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He planted a quick kiss on her cheek and set her down.
Something in Jade’s heart moved. He had his hand on his hips, grinning as he watched the little girl dash away. Unexpected warmth spread through her body. She couldn’t help but smile, just as he turned toward her.
Their eyes locked, like they had in his office during their reunion. This time, though, it was different. There were no mixed feelings or apprehension or regret. Not on her part. Her smile grew.
He ambled over to her, his cobalt-blue-and-red plaid shirt hugging his fit torso, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing strong forearms. Her gaze traveled to the rest of him. Oh. My. Word. Just jeans and hiking boots but... swoon.
“Didn’t expect to see you at the hoedown,” he said, moving to stand in front of her.
Me neither. And that was the reminder she needed. She was here on business, not to swoon.
“Did Mabel convince you to come?” he asked. “She’s the unofficial hoedown ambassador.”
“No. I, um, just wanted to see what the fuss was about.”
“Mr. Hudson?” A young boy tugged on Sebastian’s pants leg.
“Oh, hey, Jason.” He crouched so they were at eye level. “What can I do for you?”
“I want to swing too—”
“Jason!” A harried-looking woman hurried over, holding a baby on her hip. “Mr. Hudson’s busy right now.” She put her hand on top of the child’s mop of blond hair. “Sorry about that,” she said to Sebastian.
“I don’t mind.” He glanced at Jade. “I can swing him for a little bit.”
“Thanks, but David should be here soon. He got off work about half an hour ago.” She gave him a weary smile, then looked at her son. “Daddy’s almost here. He’ll push you on the swing.”
“Okay!”
After they walked way, Sebastian turned to her. “Between you and me, I’m glad for the break. Swinging kids is hard work.”
“Are any of them yours?” Jade blurted, then winced at the slipup. “Sorry. That was...”
“Straightforward?”
More like dumb. “Yeah. Let’s go with that.”
He chuckled. “No kids. No wife either. You?”
“Neither. I mean, no kids or husband.” As per usual, this was going swimmingly. “I’m starving,” she said quickly, needing a distraction. Or escape, if she continued her absurdity.
“I could eat,” he said. “Time for a work break anyway.”
“You were working?” she asked as they left the kiddie area.
“Up until the swing kids held me hostage.”
She side-eyed him. “You’re blaming the children?”
“You have to admit they’re pretty cute. That’s how they disarm you.” They took a few steps and he asked, “So, were you lost?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just wondering why you were in the kids’ area.”
Good question. How should she answer it? “I ran into your sister. She said you were over here.”