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“Oh, great, I’ll go with you. We can talk more,” Theresa said.
“No!” Jennie shot out before realizing how her response sounded. “I mean, I have a lunch meeting I have to get to.”
Just then Chad walked by. Jennie hoped Chad would understand her signal when she reached out and grabbed his bicep as he walked past.
“Chad, are you ready for our lunch meeting?” she asked. She felt Chad’s arm tense under her hand, but he didn’t miss a beat.
“You bet. If you’re ready now, that works for me,” Chad said. He put a protective hand on Jennie’s lower back and walked with her to the elevator.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Chad turned to Jennie. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms as he studied her face.
“You okay?” Chad asked softly.
Jennie nodded, unable to speak.
Any other time, his attention would have her heart speeding up. But today, nothing could puncture the unease she was feeling.
“Gonna tell me what that was about?” He raised an eyebrow and waited, his voice soft, reassuring.
“Something’s wrong with that woman, Chad. She’s scary. And really, really focused on Andrew.”
Now Chad was all business. “What woman?”
Jennie recounted the odd way Theresa talked about Andrew. The weird questions about Jill and his engagement. The creepy feeling she got whenever she was around Theresa.
Jennie didn’t mention the way Theresa had grabbed her or the fact that she suspected her arm was already bruising. She kept her sleeves down and her mouth shut.
If Chad heard that, he’d likely fire Theresa on the spot and Jennie knew firing someone had to be well documented and done carefully to avoid repercussions. Jennie didn’t want her creepy feelings about Theresa to come back to haunt Sutton Capital if she said something to make Chad act too rashly.
“Are you going out on assignment this week, Jen?” Chad asked when she had finished telling him about Theresa.
“No. I’m in house for the rest of the month,” she said.
“Good. Consider Theresa your assignment. When we get back, I want you to write down what just happened. See if you can get close to her. Let me know if you see or hear anything unusual. And document everything. I’ll fill Jack and the head of Human Resources in on your assignment but other than the four of us, let’s keep it quiet.”
Jennie nodded.
“Come to me with any concern. If she has you at all worried, if you don’t feel safe, you come to me. Got it?” Chad instructed.
“Got it, Boss.”
“Good.” Chad grinned as they stepped out into the lobby. “Now let’s get that lunch.”
Chapter Thirty
The next few weeks passed in a whirlwind for Jill. Andrew surprised her with a stunning ring. The thin band was inlaid with diamonds and a large round yellow diamond was set in the center and surrounded by more white diamonds. Jill didn’t think she would have been able to pick a ring more suited to her sense of style if she had tried. The fact that Andrew chose something so perfect for her took her breath away.
His attorney had, in fact, written up a prenuptial agreement with the ‘penalty clause’ written in. It had taken quite a bit of insistence to get his lawyer not only to do it, but also make it ironclad, but in the end Andrew had gotten what he wanted. He also asked Jill to have her lawyer look over it to be sure it was done right.
Andrew and Jill announced their engagement to friends and family. Nora wanted to host an engagement party but they convinced her they wanted the affair to be more quiet and private. For once, Nora backed down.
They set the date for spring. Since it was nearly Thanksgiving now, that gave Jill plenty of time to plan things. She wanted a small wedding, with both the ceremony and the reception at Nora’s house. Andrew still needed to sell his downtown condo and find a house they both liked, but there was time for that, too. And, with the way their tastes so often meshed, Jill had no concerns on that front – she was certain she and Andrew would find something easily.
They began to spend their weekends at the ski cabin that Andrew, Jack, Chad and some of their other friends from grad school all owned together in Vermont. The group had bought the cabin back when they were still in school.
Even though most of the group had plenty of family money and easily could have bought the cabin through their families, the friends had insisted on using their own money on it and sharing the expense.
