AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He lifted a hand. “Goodnight.”
The door opened and closed, leaving Wade alone.
“That was weird,” a voice said from behind him.
Oh, wait. Shane was still here.
Wade didn’t turn around. His eyes remained locked on the door. “Yeah.”
“No. I mean the part about you having a cousin here. I didn’t know you had other family.”
He faced Shane and stifled a groan. “That’s all you have to say to me?”
Shane rested his forearm on the railing. There wasn’t even a degree of amusement on his face. This wasn’t a joke to him. Well, it wasn’t a joke to Wade either.
Wade hurried down the steps and came face to face with Shane. He lowered his voice to a hiss and pointed at the house. “When were you going to tell me that your cousin knew Brielle wasmarried?”
To Shane’s credit, he looked surprised. His gaze darted toward the house, and then he grabbed Wade’s shirt and yanked him toward the car. “What happened?”
“Why don’t you tell me? You seem to be the one deciding what kinds of secrets are okay to keep and which ones aren’t.”
“Don’t play around with me, Wade. If Madeline—”
“Of course it was Madeline. She offered to pay off the guy if he would be willing to come out here and confront Bri. She was blindsided!”
Shane paced in front of the car. “I can’t believe it. What were you thinking, letting him stay here?”
“Me?” Wade snorted. “I didn’t exactly have a choice. I didn’t know what was going on until it was too late. You could have given me a heads-up.”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell.” Shane’s voice rose a few decibels, but when Wade shot him a sharp look, he dropped it again. “Okay. So now it’s out. Get a lawyer to draw up some paperwork and—”
“Don’t you think I’ve thought of that already? Brielle won’t do it.”
“What?”
“Yeah. The guy insisted he could get her to fall in love with him if he stayed for a month.”
“Amonth!” Shane ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “This doesn’t sound right. Something’s up. Madeline wouldn’t just—”
Wade cut him off. “We’ve considered that too. He seems legit. He said he didn’t even want the money. Finding Brielle was enough. We’re just stuck with him for now.”
“And you’re telling everyone he’s yourcousin.”
“Brielle’s idea.”
Shane worked his jaw back and forth. “I don’t like it.”
“That makes two of us. But he’s staying at my place so I can keep an eye on him. I’ll let you know if I see anything that doesn’t add up—more so than we’re dealing with now.” As much as he hated being in this situation, Wade was glad to finally have someone in his corner. He held out his hand, and Shane took it into his. They shook firmly then Shane got into his car.
Wade tossed one last fleeting look at the house. He’d made progress with Brielle, and he refused to lose ground. Tomorrow was a fresh start. And he was finally looking forward to it.
9
Brielle
Brielle tightened the belt of the saddle and secured it. The sun was inching higher in the sky and the guys were scheduled to arrive at any moment. She’d been surprised to find her father so willing to allow Wade to do the work on his own ranch before coming to Slate Rock each morning. Then again, those who’d want a tour of the property wouldn’t likely want to do so in the early morning hours.
That’s what tourists did. They slept in, then they showed up and expected to be wowed.
