AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Winterbourne had to have known our exact offering price, and that narrowed the list of possible traitors in my company. Not everyone knew the specifics of each offer.
I smiled. “Thanks, Hue. I appreciate the heads up.”
“Nothing personal, Liam, but I can’t ignore the difference in the offers.”
“I understand,” I assured him.
I appreciated his honesty, and his narrowing down my pool of suspects. But I was still left with the problem of how to satisfy Syd if I gave up on this deal.
I gritted my teeth. The problem seemed intractable. I pushed my food away; I’d lost my appetite.
“How do you think the Dolphins will stack up against our Patriots this year?” Hue asked.
With that simple question, he indicated our business discussion was over. All I could do now was go back and discuss our options, or lack of them, with Josh on Monday.
My life was turning to utter crap.
“Don’t look glum, Liam. You have the love of a good woman,” Hue added. “In the long run, that makes all the difference.”
* * *
Amy
Liam assuredme he’d had a good time on his shooting expedition with Hue, but I knew him well enough now to know something was troubling him.
“Liar,” I whispered when the Schmulians were far enough away.
The four of us spent the afternoon on the Schmulian’s deck before walking the beach again. Zeke failed to catch any of the birds he chased.
The walk didn’t allow any time alone with Liam to pry loose what was troubling him.
Back at the house the Schmulians kept calling a cottage, we took our shoes off on the deck.
I turned mine upside down to empty the sand out before reentering.
“That’s always a problem,” Felicia said as she knocked her shoes together, loosening the sand from inside.
After I followed her example, the insides of mine were largely sand free, but I couldn’t say the same for my socks.
Dinner time arrived quickly, and I offered to help Felicia in the kitchen.
She was chopping tomatoes for the salad when the men opted to drink their wine on the deck.
“You have a good man there,” she said once the door closed.
I finished rinsing the lettuce. “Thank you. I think so too.”
She put her knife down. “Don’t let him get down about the news. It’s nothing personal.” She scooped the tomato pieces into the salad bowl.
“I’ll do my best,” I said, wondering what the bad news was, but too afraid to ask outright.
It had to be bad if it had gotten to Liam. He was always so positive with his “look forward, not back,” no apologies motto.
* * *
Dinner went quite well,delicious food, and relaxed conversation; none of the angst of our first dinner with the Schmulians. And hearing Hue had known Wendell Covington, Liam’s dad, had been particularly encouraging news.
“And then we turned around to see the girls throwing our clothes in the fire,” Hue told us all, breaking into a huge belly laugh. “And our wallets were in the jeans.”
