“She was kidding, right?” he whispered.
“Huh?” Shelby turned toward him, and then leaned back when her face came close to his, her cheeks flushing. She kept her voice low. “What do you mean?”
“About the chip she mentioned. They wouldn’t really do that to you, would they?” Wade asked, feeling a little stupid.
Shelby didn’t answer right away, like she had to give it some thought first. “I don’tthinkso,” she finally said.
He straightened, not sure if she was teasing him. When they’d dated in college, she hadn’t been very forthcoming about her family situation. Never any mention of siblings and only an occasional negative comment about either of her parents. All that time he’d assumed her folks were still married but in an unhappy relationship.
Believing that to be the situation, Wade had thought he understood Shelby’s hesitation whenever he’d mentioned making a permanent commitment. He had an intact family, his parents both alive and in love with each other. He had a close relationship with both his older brother and younger sister. In spite of the financial setback his father had experienced when the children were young, they had lived a comfortable life. Wade had thought he would share a life like that with Shelby.
Beside him, she had opened her laptop and turned it on, but she didn’t seem to be working. The tight muscles in her shoulders and the way she kept fidgeting with her hair told him a lot. So much about this job had him on his toes, playing catch-up. She must feel the pressure too. He had done some work on the Wales village design since he had once visited that country for another project and had first-hand knowledge.
The development itself had enough challenges with four distinct villages. He looked forward to seeing it in person, to experience them firsthand. They still had logistical issues to solve. Guests who had paid for an immersive vacation in a French village might not want to be pulled from that experience by seeing visiting staff from a village in China.
He knew there had been discussions about how best to handle the underpinnings of the resort, but he had not been privy to seeing any of the underground plans. He’d been told it was top secret, that his company had responsibility for what happened aboveground. Wade guessed that to be part of their security solution.
He glanced at Shelby from the corner of his eye. As if the project itself didn’t have enough complications ... His thought trailed off. Seeing her interact with Alan Bradley, Wade understood where she’d learned so much secretiveness. If he managed to heal things between them, there was a lot she’d have to share. Even now he didn’t understand the dynamics of her situation, and her stubbornness had always been her strongest personality trait.
“You seem distracted,” she said.
“Just thinking about the project.” He woke up his laptop. At least she hadn’t yelled at him, especially considering her first reaction to seeing him. Her demeanor had been very professional since. The thought gave him some hope.
“I don’t get it,” she said.
“What don’t you get?” he asked.
“Why did you come, Wade? You made it quite clear before how you feel about big businesses.” Shelby didn’t say “and their owners,” but he saw it in her eyes.
Wade couldn’t very well sayshewas the reason. “I’ve never been one to make decisions based only on the first information I receive.”
“Right.” She dragged out the word, shooting him a disbelieving look.
Wade rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t want to fight with her. They needed good memories to replace the bad ones. He had to have time to create those.
“I think we should compare notes.” Wade pointed to his laptop. “I’m curious to know what you’ve found out on your own.”
“Good idea.”
They spent the rest of the flight reviewing their notes. The thoroughness of Shelby’s didn’t surprise Wade. He hadn’t known her very long before he found she had a well-deserved reputation for bull-doggedness. About everything. She’d always been suspicious, and he’d often thought she’d have made a good investigative reporter.
Seeing how that Grantham attorney had kept her in the dark about the project—and how she had accepted that as the norm—bothered Wade more than anything else about the job. On so many levels. Least of all the development itself. It seemed so unnatural for Shelby to act complacent over something he’d expected her to rant about. Could she have changed that much?
