“It’s… it’s… ”
He smiled. “I know what it is. I was asking as an ice-breaker. You found your mate.”
Did he think it was a mate mark? No. He couldn’t know about mates, could he? But then again, it seemed that the more I got to know Frank, the less I knew Frank. The man was unusual, to say the least.
“Did you not hear all the other things I just said?”
“Yeah, you want to postpone, and ethics, and blah, blah, blah.”
“I basically told you I might’ve wasted all your money.” Or more accurately, I did.
“Eh, money’s nothing but dirty paper. Or is it dirty plastic now? Whatever. You...”
“I’m really confused about this entire conversation.” I wanted to school my face and be professional, but it was impossible.
“Yeah.” He tapped his nose. “I suppose I’m leaving out chunks. Stevenson’s always telling me I have half my conversations in my head, and he has to fill in the blanks.”
Stevenson did that, too.
“First, congratulations, you found your mate. I’m assuming he’s a local based on where you are, not being what you’d call a tourist destination.”
“My what?” This wasn’t the first time he said mate. To think I thought he was asking about my sex life the first time. “You know?—”
“I know about shifters, yes.”
Well, that changed my perspective on this entire conversation. “Are you one?”
Is my bestie?
“No. But my brother had a shifter mate. He disappeared not too far from where you are.”
“Is that why you sent me here? You think I can find the answers to his disappearance?”
“No, forcing answers doesn’t bring loved ones back. But I thought… I thought maybe having you there, you might open a door or a window for me to be connected to him again? I didn’t have a full plan, but Stevenson loves you like a brother, and the location was perfect, and your study would mean being nearshifters. Honestly, I knew that I wanted to put my money behind you. That and my gut said that you were supposed to be there.”
“Really? Why do you think that is?” Mine had said the same thing, though, so I wasn’t questioning him. I was simply curious.
“You have a polar bear stuffie, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It doesn’t look new.”
“How do you know that?”
“It was in some of the pictures Stevenson has from your college days. Sometimes we get hints about what our future holds, even when we’re young. And call me romantic, but that’s what it felt like to me.”
“I’m going to pretend to understand this conversation, and I probably will after I overthink it all night long, but if I don’t, can I call you, but not as an investor, as a confidant?”
“I’d like that. And for the record, you’re every bit the person Stevenson says you are,” he said, and there was such affection in his voice.
“And to be clear, I might not be able to start up the project again. Or I might be able to start up a new one, I’m still working on that, but some of the money is gone.”
“Still not worried about the dirty paper. Make sure you pay your people and any accommodations you already booked. And maybe one day, after things settle down and you’re situated in your new home, I can tell you my brother’s story.”
“Yeah, I’d like that. And what do you mean about my new home?”
“Well, I assumed you’re going to move there.”
