1. Isabel #3
"I had barely set up my desk," Baxter said, his eyes narrowing as he recalled the moment, "when Thompson Wineberg Junior, Debbi's brother and the man currently running for a governor's seat, showed up at my temporary office.
He was absolutely delighted to see the Wayne Group executing a regional push, and he immediately suggested we discuss a highly lucrative joint venture between our firms."
Owen instantly stiffened beside her, his breathing turning shallow. His eyes flew to Gill, and Isabel noticed the sudden, sharp focus in his gaze.
"Your Thompson?" Owen asked Gill, his voice tight.
"Owen..." Gill said, her tone pleading. "You know he's not my Thompson. We ended things long before..." She swallowed hard and shook her head, unable to finish the sentence.
"Wait!" Isabel lifted her hand, cutting through the heavy silence that had settled over the table. "What exactly do you mean by Gill's Thompson?"
"Gill was engaged to Thompson Wineberg," Owen told her. He turned his head to look at Isabel, his features softening as he met her gaze. "I'm not sure if I ever told you the whole story. But..." He swallowed, his chest rising as he braced himself. "I was married. I was married to Debbi Wineberg."
Isabel's brows shot up. "Oh!" she stated. Then she swallowed as well, a sudden, heavy wave of guilt hitting her in the chest. "I know," she blurted out in confession.
"Oh!" It was Owen's turn to look surprised.
He smiled, his expression warm and entirely free of annoyance.
"It was not a love match, Isabel. It was an arranged marriage orchestrated between our families.
" He turned his head and looked at Gill.
His eyes softened, and Isabel held her breath, a cold knot tightening in her stomach.
But then he turned back to her, and the raw, intense devotion shining in his eyes nearly knocked her off her chair.
"Gill and I fell in love on an archaeological dig organized by Anna.
I ended my marriage before we even so much as held hands, but... "
"But Debbi Wineberg is not one for allowing others to touch, or so much as look at, what she deems is hers," Gill's gentle voice came across the table.
Her kind eyes met Isabel's, and Isabel sucked in a sharp breath.
She had spent the last twenty minutes imagining this woman looking at her with academic malice, but instead, there was nothing but warmth in Gill's expression.
Isabel suddenly felt a deep pang of regret for the hostile thoughts she had harbored the moment she learned Owen had once been in love with her.
What on earth is wrong with you, Isabel?
she scolded herself. You're acting like an insecure teenager.
No, even as a teenager experiencing love for the very first time, she had never allowed herself to act this way. She gave herself a firm mental shake.
"What happened?" Isabel forced herself to ask, pushing her wild thoughts away to focus on the technical history.
"Dr. Wineberg tried to destroy us all," Anna told her, her voice flat and grim as the dark history of the Charleston dig finally began to unravel.
Isabel looked down at her hands, a sudden wave of self-consciousness softening the sharp edge of her posture.
"I didn't know anything about this whole elaborate trap," she admitted as her eyes drifted across the table toward Linda.
"I did find out about Dr. Wineberg, though.
It was right after Penny, and I overheard Darius on the phone to Baxter. "
Darius watched as a sudden, telltale pink flushed his younger sister's cheeks.
"We... uh... Penny and I, that is, also might have gone over to the diner and spied on Darius when he went to meet with Baxter and Dr. Wineberg for the very first time," Isabel confessed, her sheepish tone making Owen offer a quiet, amused cough beside her.
"Well, well. Now who is keeping people in the dark?" Darius teased, leaning forward on his elbows in a deliberate attempt to soften her defensive mood.
"That is absolutely not the same thing!" Isabel hissed, her eyes narrowing as she glared back at him.
"From what we overheard on that phone call with Baxter, to you meeting them in the diner...
all we knew was that you had lied to us about this trip being a simple vacation.
And worse, you were lying to Linda by not letting her know who you really were.
" Her expression softened instantly as she turned to give Linda a deeply apologetic look.
"I'm so sorry, Linda. I really was going to tell you. "
"She really was," Darius backed her up, turning his head to offer Linda a warm, reassuring look. "Issy was furious with me."
"I can back that up, too," Penny chimed in from her seat, nodding in agreement.
"Isabel gave me exactly twenty-four hours to lay everything out and let you know the truth," Darius told Linda, his voice soft. "Or she was going to tell you herself."
"But he came to us not too long after our big blowup," Isabel continued, her gaze shifting back to Linda as she explained the timeline. "He told us he'd already made an appointment to meet with you and tell you everything that lunchtime."
"But then everything blew up in the hotel lobby with Baxter and Dr. Wineberg," Owen added, his calm, level voice pulling the focus back to the immediate crisis. "Which we still need a clear explanation for."