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“Did he deserve it, at least? Or did you lose your mind just because you’re jealous?”
He shot a sharp look in his youngest sister’s direction. “What do you think?”
She glanced toward the barn and sighed. “I thought so. Caught him looking at some stuff in Pop’s office when you were gone.”
Wade’s whole body reacted again, going hot and stiff all at once. “What?” he growled.
“Yeah. He said he was looking for some paper to write on, so I gave it to him and he left.”
“Did he go through anything specific?”
She shrugged.
Dagnabit. This had just gotten personal. It was one thing to violate the privacy of the person who was partially responsible for Tad’s arrival—via Shane’s cousin. It was something completely different to find out Tad was also disturbing the sanctity of his own home. “Have you noticed anything else out of the ordinary?”
Charlotte shrugged. “You mean like how he puts on an act around Elijah and Lucas?”
“Yeah,” he muttered, “like that.”
“Not really. He just seems super fake.”
Tad emerged from the barn, Brielle’s arm around his waist. They moved slowly, but it was clear Tad was just fine by the brief smirk he wore when he caught Wade’s eye.
“Did you see that?” Wade murmured.
“Yeah. What a jerk.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
Charlotte faced Wade, her brow creasing with concern. “What are you going to do?”
“I guess I’m going to hope he doesn’t press charges.”
“No,” she muttered with exasperation. “What are you going to do if he wins Brielle over? If he wins, he’s gonna take her with him.”
Once again, all of the warning bells in Wade’s head went off. “Where did you hear that?”
“I didn’t. But it makes sense, doesn’t it? If Tad gets her to marry him, he’s not gonna want to stick around here. This place is hard. He can’t cut it on a horse.”
Wade watched with rapt interest as Brielle walked Tad to the house and then disappeared inside. “I guess you make a good point.”
“And if they leave, she’s never going to come back.” The sadness in her voice tugged on him in ways that shouldn’t have been possible.
Wade slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He gave her an awkward hug—one she immediately squirmed away from, and he chuckled. “I’m not going to let that happen.”
“You can’t promise that.” Charlotte faced him again. “You have to figure out what’s wrong with him and tell Bri. That’s the only way to fix this.”
His heart twisted angrily. That was the one thing he was certain would destroy his chance with her. Brielle didn’t like to be told what to do. If he brought her evidence that Tad wasn’t good for her, then her walls would come back up. It was safer for him to make her fall in love with him and havehermake the choice.
“Wade,” Charlotte insisted, “you can’t let him win. Whatever it takes, you have to make Brielle see.”
She was right. Deep down he knew it, but it didn’t stop him from hating what he had to do next. They needed to go on the offensive. Shane needed to hire his own sleuths to get to the bottom of who Tad really was.
15
Brielle
Brielle burst from Wade’s house and settled beside Tad on the porch step. She held a bag of frozen peas to Tad’s cheekbone, still reeling from what had just happened though even that was hard to figure out. From the bruising already appearing on Tad’s face, it was clear Wade got the better of him.
