Page 12 of Almost True
CHAPTERSEVEN
Maddie
“You two know each other? How?” Chad asked, goggling his giant, thick skull back and forth like my knowing Aidan was the most unbelievable thing he’d ever heard.
Aidan didn’t speak. He was still looking at me with an unreadable expression, though I did detect some surprise. Not shock, exactly, but definitely surprise.
Welcome to the club.
Seeing him again so soon, so unexpectedly, sent my heart racing. It took every bit of composure to hide the way my hands shook, and I said a prayer of thanks that I’d long mastered the vocal quaver that used to hit when I got nervous.
I kept my eyes locked with Aidan’s even though it was well past time I got rid of Chad. “We do. We met last time I was in Silverton.”
My heart kicked as I said it—the only sign our meeting had been monumental and what I’d often thought of as life-changing. Simple and straightforward, ourmeetinghad traveled with me across the country, had slept next to me in the dark as I worried over what I couldn’t control, had held my hand when I didn’t know what to do. Of course, he’d never know it, and yet…
Chad’s head swiveled so dramatically, it pulled my focus.
“You’ve been here before? When? I don’t remember that.” He glanced at Anthony, like my beloved assistant would tell this mananything.
“It’s been a while,” I said, uninterested in him knowing details. Why was he still here? He hadn’t been invited, and my tolerance for his unwelcomed visit had run out. His barging into my life like he owned it? Hell no. He didn’t get anything from me. Of me.Anything. Especially when there was a man here who I’d often thought about giving everything.
“Eighteen months.”
Those words came from Aidan, who still stood stock-still and transfixed, until Chad slapped him on the back aggressively hard.
“Sample some local flavor, huh? Good for you, Mads. But I can’t blame you for leveling up.” Chad winked at me and gave Anthony anAm I right?grin.
My stomach rolled and nausea hit.Local flavor? Leveling up?As inhewas the level-up in question? Who in the? What? Who would even say something like that? It was all I could do not to give Anthony the look that said,Get Brad to toss him to the curb. If holding Aidan’s attention and wading through this awkwardness hadn’t taken first priority, I would’ve. And in a few minutes, I absolutely would invite Chad to meet with the street.
Anthony attempted to save me, likely reading my face, when he said, “Ms. Reynolds, I believe Mr. Wallace was explaining some of his plans, if you wanted to join the meeting. I’m sure Mr. Brantley has other things to… attend to.”
If my heart hadn’t been pumping with so much adrenaline, I might’ve laughed at the disgust lacing Anthony’s words. He made no secret of his opinion of Chad, and I couldn’t deny I agreed with him.
“It’s no trouble for me to stay. I’ll help you decide.” Chad pulled out the chair next to him as Anthony gestured to the one at the head of the table.
My skin crawled at his proximity, and how little I wantedhimnear me, and I happily took the seat at the end where Anthony stood. But my brain had locked up at Aidan’s presence. Everything was happening so quickly. I’d acquiesced and let Chad come to the house rather than having him cause a scene with security at the gate, but then my frustration escalated with the call to my mother and the utter lack of acknowledgment that she’d overstepped by a mile in sending Chad here, and now this.This man.
“So Wallace here was saying grass will drive up your water bill, and I was just letting him know, if he couldn’t tell by the house itself, that paying that little tab won’t be an issue.” He leaned onto the table with one arm and ducked his head like he was whispering to Aidan. “You’re in one of the wealthiest women in America’s homes, bud. Not sure if you missed that last time you were with Mads, but girl can pay her own bills.”
Inhaling and counting to ten as I did, calm descended. It required persistent summoning with jerkface Chad around, and his subtle-as-an-asteroid approach to telling Aidan about my financial circumstances made the challenge burn brighter.
Not that it wouldn’t have been obvious by the house, the meeting, the entire circumstance, but something aboutChadbeing the one to blow the top off the reality that I was… me… lit a simmer of fury on the back burner of my mind.
Before I could speak and put an end to Chad’s presence altogether, Aidan spoke up and all my mental energy returned to him
“I was less concerned with the water bill and more with the natural resource itself during an unprecedented drought.” Aidan’s voice held notes of calm and confidence and betrayed no irritation, which was, frankly, remarkable.
And also, for some stupid reason, insanely appealing. A man who could hold his own against the Chads of the world? Win in my book.
“Sure, sure, sure, but when you’re living in a place like this, do you really need to think like that?” Chad directed this question and a satisfied little smirk in my direction.
“I would hope so. I assume that’s part of the reason Ms. Reynolds hired me.”
Aidan’s staunch position only made me like him more. Julian had raved about his company—little did I know it wasmyAidan’s company. And yet seeing him unbendable, unwilling to cow to a man so blasé, made me want to applaud.
It shouldn’t have sent heat and longing through me, but it did. Every little thing about him did, even in the midst of knowing this was just shy of a train wreck.
Anthony spoke up from where he stood a few feet from the table. “Mr. Wallace has a reputation for designing sustainable, responsibly-sourced gardens and outdoor spaces. He comes highly recommended by many, including Julian Grenier.”
