Felicity tried a bite of her sandwich, giving herself time to respond. An experienced event planner would know she couldn’t provide access to the guest list without first clearing it with her client. “I’m not sure of your role here,” she said finally.
Nadia shrugged. “Friend more than anything else, I guess. I specialize in customer development, but I helped plan retreats for Gabe when he had his company. I’m familiar with his preferences.”
It was an admission, more-or-less, that she wasn’t particularly experienced. She’d likely worked with the event planners on staff at the various retreat venues. “I can’t send you the guest list,” Felicity said. “If there’s anything you think Gabe needs, just let me know, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“What’s the final head count for tomorrow?” Nadia asked. “Can you tell me that much?”
“Around fifty.”
“Is that inclusive of workshop leaders and staff?”
Felicity nodded. She pried loose another triangle of her sandwich. If this meeting was heading south, she wanted to get some food in her.
“Gabe’s a great public speaker, but he doesn’t like it,” Nadia said. “He doesn’t have a phobia or anything, although a lot of people do. I might be one of them. Given the choice between speaking in front of fifty people or getting a root canal, I’d pick the root canal.”
Felicity took a break from her turkey club and drank some of her iced tea. Nadia was nibbling at her lunch. She wasn’t the sort of liaison Felicity usually dealt with. She often coordinated with venue and client staff, but she wasn’t even sure Nadia actually worked for Gabe. She seemed anxious and uptight, brimming with nervous energy.
She gave a self-conscious laugh. “As I said, my main job isn’t event planning, in case you couldn’t tell. You have to stay nimble and versatile these days. I’m sorry Gabe’s involvement in Dylan McCaffrey’s boot camp came at the eleventh hour.”
“It’s all in hand,” Felicity said.
“That’s great. No surprise, now that I’ve met you. The retreats we did were planned months in advance. That was very manageable, although it would get intense the closer we got to the actual date. The last one was in Aspen. Ever been?”
“Once, when I was between jobs.”
“Take those vacations when you can, I guess. I’d probably have been afraid to spend the money.” Nadia sank against the cushioned back of the bench. “I’ll miss the retreats. I imagine everyone who worked for Gabe will. He’s an important client, and he’s a dream to work with. We’re all waiting to see what he does next, I’m sure.”
“Did you come out here to meet with him?” Felicity asked.
“I’m settling my grandmother’s estate. She died over the winter. She lived in Groton. That’s not that far from here. I figured I might as well stop in town and meet you, take a look at this barn where the boot camp’s being held. It’s on Carriage Hill Road. I think I’ll be able to find my way there. I plugged the address into my rental car’s GPS.”
“The road dead-ends. You’ll know if you’ve gone too far.”
“Nothing subtle about a dead end.”
Felicity laughed, finding herself less suspicious of Nadia’s involvement. Maybe she was overstepping, but that was Gabe’s problem—and possibly a result of miscommunications. “We have a few dead ends around here,” she said.
“It must be nice to be able to work in your hometown. I lived within walking distance when I was a kid. Then my parents up and moved my two younger brothers and me to California. My dad had a new job in LA. We all hated leaving Grandma behind.”
“Was she ever tempted to move to California with you?”
Nadia shook her head, her affection for her grandmother evident. “She said she didn’t want to get settled in California and have my dad get a job in Chicago or somewhere else. I visited as often as I could. She was eighty-seven when she died. The last time I saw her, she told me she’d had a good run. I think she knew we wouldn’t see each other again. Anyway.” Nadia sat up straight, obviously making an effort to stay cheerful. “Did you always want to move back to Knights Bridge?”
“Yes and yes-and-no.” Felicity debated how forthcoming to be with a woman she’d only just met. “I’m glad I made the decision to move back, though. My parents love having me here, so I can feed the cats while they travel.”
Nadia laughed. “Life could be worse.”
“Look, there’s nothing to worry about with the boot camp. You can leave it to me and focus on your personal reasons for being on the East Coast.” Felicity got her wallet out of her handbag and left enough cash to cover lunch. “My treat. I hope everything goes well with your grandmother’s estate. Sorry I have to run, but it’s been nice to meet you.”
“What, you’re skipping pie?”
“I recommend the peach pie this time of year. They get peaches from Elly O’Dunn’s farm. Take your time so you have enough room after the club to enjoy every morsel.” Felicity slid out of the booth and got to her feet. “I’ll let Gabe know we chatted.”
Felicity left Nadia in the booth, looking a bit stunned—but better to be abrupt to the point of rude than to get in too deep with this situation. Whatever was going on, it clearly had to do with Nadia and Gabe and nothing to do with her, the party, the boot camp or his presence in her guest room. Whether he or his assistant had anything to do with Nadia coming to Knights Bridge or she was acting entirely on her own initiative, she was on a find-out-about-Gabe-and-Felicity-MacGregor mission. She hadn’t even been that subtle.
Felicity jumped back in her Land Rover and checked her phone, saw
