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“I’m ready.”
Wade jumped, glancing up at where Tad stood in the doorway. His hair had been pulled back into a tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck, presumably to keep it from getting in his way. Without it framing his face, the guy looked more rugged than before. He wore a white button-up shirt he’d only done up halfway, which showed off more than Wade would have thought respectable. The man looked like one of those guys on the covers of romance novels that lined the checkout stands at the grocery stores.
Tad nodded toward Elijah as he held up the white hat in his hand. “I found one that fit, thanks.”
“No problem.” Elijah was clearly fighting off a smile which only made Wade’s irritation grow. Even his brother could see the resemblance to a western romance character.
Wade grabbed his hat from the table and strode out the door with Tad close on his heels. “I think we started off on the wrong foot,” Tad said.
“I don’t think so,” Wade muttered.
“I get that you have a thing for Brielle. That makes two of us.”
“Wrong.” Wade stopped suddenly. “Youcan’thave a thing for her because you don’t know anything about her. You had one night—”
“It was actually a week.”
Wade clamped his mouth shut. From what he’d heard from both Tad and Brielle, he’d assumed it was just a day of intense crushing. But if she’d been down there for a whole week… and what did that say about her that she couldn’t even remember him? He shook off the thought, forcing his attention back to the problem at hand. “Regardless. You think you can fall for someone that fast? It doesn’t happen.”
“I don’t really believe that’s the way you see it. Haven’t you heard about love at first sight?”
His jaw tightened so hard that a sharp pain sliced through his head. Of course he believed in love at first sight. But that didn’t mean he’d admit it. He also firmly believed that the love he felt for Brielle was more substantial than how he felt about her the day they met.
“All I’msuggesting,” Tad continued, “is that we’re probably more alike than you care to admit.”
“I’ll never admit to being like you.” Wade’s hands balled up. “I’d never leave a woman hanging like you did. I don’t care what you claimed happened. There are ways to find a person if you really want to. Showing up now is not what a gentleman would have done.”
“You’re right.”
Wade stopped short.
“I should have done more to find her. I should have tracked down her friends. But I didn’t. I kept thinking I’d hear from her—that she’d come to me with papers to sign. I thought at least she’d come back to find me so we could discuss what happened. Believe me. If I could change how things went down, I would have. Right now, I’ve been given a second chance. If that woman hadn’t tracked me down and asked me about Elle—Bri—I would have never found her.”
Eyes narrowing, Wade stepped closer to Tad. “What woman?”
“I don’t know. Some woman offered to pay me a thousand dollars to answer some questions and then an extra fifty thousand dollars to track Bri down.”
It took more strength than Wade was capable of to not react. He knew exactly what woman Tad was talking about. Shane’s cousin had wanted to mess with Shane so bad, she ended up going after the people he cared about. This was that secret he was keeping.
Wade dragged a hand down his face and let out a curse. “And you did it.”
“No, of course not.”
He peeked at Tad in disbelief. “You didn’t answer her questions?”
“Well, yeah. I didthat,but I didn’t take any of her money. All I wanted to know was how I could find Bri. That woman had to have real good connections or a great deal of money to track me down. Heaven knows I put down a good amount of cash over the years to try to figure this all out on my own.”
Without realizing what he was doing, Wade charged for Tad and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “And you didn’t think that whole scenario wasn’t the least bit strange? Why would some random person be willing topayyou to come find Bri? Honestly. I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you’d be capable of such idiocy. That woman is bent on destroying people in this town.”
Something flickered too quickly across Tad’s face for Wade to be able to read. It could have been surprise, regret, or something else.
Whatever, it didn’t matter. The guy had arrived, and he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. If Tad didn’t care about the money, then he likely didn’t care about the Callahan fortune either. Which meant only one thing.
Wade shoved Tad away and then dusted off his hands. “I’m not letting you win.”
Tad laughed, straightening his shirt. “You don’t seem to get it. I’m not doing this towinanything. I want to see if I have a future with Bri. That’s all. If she turns me down, then I’ll be on my way.
“That’s fine. But you don’t know what you’re up against. I love Brielle, and I’m not going to just let her slip through my fingers. She’s mine.”
