“Tonight.” He grinned and backed away. “Pick you up at six.”
She giggled. When was the last time she’d done that? “What are we doing?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
Sebastian got in his car, and she stepped away. There would be time to tell him about the ledger. Time to get to know each other, and he would be more apt to understand what she’d done. She waved as he drove off, and she headed toward the inn. Floated, actually.
When she walked inside, the inn was empty, and no one was manning the counter. She tapped the little metal bell and waited for someone to show up. Now that the hoedown and Memorial Day weekend were over, she might be able to extend her reservation. She reached for her purse.Oh no.She thought she’d put it over her shoulders, but she must have left it in Seb’s car. A moment of panic, then she remembered she’d be seeing him tonight. That made her smile.
“Jade!” Mabel appeared behind the counter, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re not going to believe this.”
It had been an unbelievable morning so far, that was for sure. “Try me.”
She put a briefcase on the counter and grinned.
Jade’s briefcase. She shot a shocked look at Mabel. “How did you find it?”
“That’s the unbelievable part.” Mabel still beamed. “One of our guests that stayed for the weekend saw it on the floor after they had checked in. She thought it was her husband’s. She was so mad at him for bringing work with him on vacation that she took the briefcase and hid it from him in the hotel room. When they were packing to leave this morning, she gave it back to him, and she was mortified to find out it wasn’t his. You weren’t here when she returned it, or I would have given it right back to you.”
Jade couldn’t believe it. She stared at the briefcase, making sure it was truly hers. This solved everything! Now that she was stayingin Clementine for a few days, she could sneak the ledger back in Seb’s office. He would never know what happened. She almost fainted with relief. “Thank you,” she said to Mabel. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m just glad someone didn’t steal it. Not on purpose anyway.”
The inn’s front door opened as Jade grabbed the handle.
“Jade, you forgot—”
She turned at the sound of Sebastian’s voice and saw he was carrying her purse. She grinned and picked up the briefcase. “Thank you—”
Suddenly the latch gave way, spilling everything onto the floor.
Including Sebastian’s ledger.
Chapter 19
Seb’s gaze landed on the ledger that fell out of Jade’s briefcase. His jaw dropped. He’d turned his office, house, and car upside down looking for it. All this time she had it, and he definitely, absolutely, without a doubt knew he wasn’t the one who gave it to her.
Jade fell to her knees, scrambling to pick up the papers. And his ledger. “I can explain,” she said, jumping to her feet.
His eyes narrowed. “You’d better.”
She paused, clutching the open case, loose papers and the ledger book pressed against her chest. “Can we talk somewhere else?” she squeaked.
He glanced at Mabel, who looked unsurprisingly confused. He and Jade were blocking the front entrance too. He gave Jade a sharp nod.
“We can go to my room—”
That was the last place he wanted to be right now, despite his yearning to have her alone and all to himself again the minute he drove away from the inn. When he heard a phone ring in his car shortly after he left the parking lot, he saw her purse on the floorboard and quickly turned around. Work could wait—it wasn’t going anywhere. They could start their date right now.
“No,” he said, then stalked off to the empty eating area. He heardpapers rustling behind him as she followed. When he reached the other side of the room, he turned around. “How did you get my ledger?”
Her porcelain skin turned ashen, and she laid the briefcase and papers on the table but still held the ledger. She glanced at it and gave it to him. “I took it.”
His jaw tightened.
“I know it was wrong, but it was kind of an accident.”
“How do youaccidentallysteal something, Jade?”
