But even as he neared his little bungalow on his quiet street, he second-guessed himself. Maybe he should talk to Jade about Lydia sooner than later. If her mother was in crisis, she should know, right? Now that he understood the issues between Jade and Logan,there might be a chance she would listen to a neutral party. It didn’t sit right with him to say nothing when he knew what was going on, even if he was one hundred percent sure Jade wouldn’t appreciate it.
He groaned and pulled into his driveway, then backed right out, turned around, and headed for the Clementine Inn.So much for not getting involved.
Chapter 15
Later 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 thecomputer 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 apprehensionslipping 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.”
