Page 29 of Don't Tell

“It’s nice to meet you, Hana,” Suzanne says.

Hana chuckles. “Same here.”

"Suzanne’s actually a painter. She’s really talented.” I can feel her burning a hole into the side of my head. I step back from them.

I sit on the edge of the conference table, and I let them talk.

I can’t hear what they’re talking about, but I can see Suzanne’s body language. She clutches the side of her arm as she speaks. Then she gestures at one of Hana’s paintings against the wall. Hana nods, her mouth moves. Suzanne laughs.

The sound fills the room. When will she ever laugh with me?

They move around the room together. Suzanne’s stance is more confident. She’s gesturing with both of her hands as she speaks. I’ve never seen her do that before. I’m desperate to know what they’re talking about, but I have to give Suzanne her space. This is her moment.

I get to my feet when they start approaching. Suzanne is smiling from ear to ear. My chest swells. Bringing her here was the right decision. Hana being here was a happy coincidence.

“It was nice meeting you, Suzanne,” Hana says. She turns to me. “Thanks, Mr. Nightingale.”

I nod and gesture toward the door. Suzanne doesn’t even hesitate before following me out. That must have been a very good conversation.

“So…” I begin as soon as we get into the car. “What did you two talk about?”

The corners of her lips twitch slightly. “Nothing that’s any of your business.”

“Oh?” I start the engine and drive north out of the valley to my property. I’m not ready to let Suzanne go yet. “You’re not going to tell me?”

“Definitely not. That was a conversation between girls. And I’ve seen you naked, Cade. You’re not a girl.”

I laugh. “Now you see, when it comes to the two of us, you have the advantage.” I risk a glance at her. “Want to even things out?”

She gasps. “Drive! And stop looking at me.”

I do as she says and continue the drive. Thirty minutes later, Theo's Ferrari is in the drive when I crest the hill. Theo has the calendar for my stable manager, and Theo does what he wants. I didn’t know he was back in California. Well, Theo has always been one for surprises.

We pull into the property. There’s a stable, a cottage, and a lake with a wooden dock. I bought it four years ago when my mother told me about it. I wasn’t quite sure about it at first until I heard that my father, Jonathan Barnes, was interested in the property.

That was all I needed to know the property was meant to be mine.

I bring Beau and Theo here on the rare occasion I can get both of them in the same week. Theo is racing in a couple of countries this year, and we have not had him in California in two months.

“What are we doing here?”

I don't answer. I climb out of the car. I come around to her side, open her door, and offer her my hand. She steps out without taking it.

That’s when I spot Lila’s car next to Theo’s.

I take this in without surprise. Lila has a sense of where I will be. I don’t know whether Theo told her, she has a contact in the stable office, or she simply got in her car, drove, and intended to find me by the law of averages.

It doesn’t matter. She would have found me anyway.

Theo is already coming down off the porch with both arms open. "You absolutebastard."

"Theo!"

He claps me on the shoulder firmly. “Boy, am I glad to see your ugly face.”

Theo Bellamy is 6 ft. 3 in. He is lean the way race-car drivers are, and the same boy I have known since we were eleven. He has a tan he did not earn in California. His sandy hair is in a ponytail. His dark eyes are filled with mischief.

“Pipe down, Theo. There’s a lady here with us.”