“What about her grandmother’s estate?” Felicity asked.
“Something came up at home, and she has an offer on her grandmother’s house.” Gabe patted Buster, who’d stirred from his spot in the shade. “She must have dropped off the package on her way to the airport. If she calls again, find me. I don’t care if I’m speaking.”
Russ shook his head. “Find me, Felicity. I’ll handle Nadia. Gabe, you’re here to share your wisdom with aspiring entrepreneurs. I’m here to make sure someone like Nadia doesn’t cause trouble.”
Gabe stood straight, Buster flopping back into the shade. “Fair enough. Thanks.” He paused, nothing about him suggesting he’d relaxed. He turned to Felicity. “Don’t let Nadia get inside your head.”
“No problem.”
“Right.” He gave her the faintest of smiles. “Not saying you can’t handle yourself. I’m doing my best not to let Nadia get inside my head, too.”
“I think she’s already there, don’t you?”
“That’s part of her game right now,” Russ said. “She’s messing with you to keep herself from thinking about her own life.”
“I think she wants something from Gabe,” Felicity added.
He picked a stray dog hair off his expensive suit coat, but there was nothing casual about him. “She hasn’t said anything to me.”
“Sometimes people don’t say so outright.”
“I’m not good at mind-reading,” he said.
“I’ll head up to the barn,” Russ said. “See you two later.”
He was off, down through the garden and the gap in the stone wall to the path up to the barn. Felicity watched him, trying to ignore a twinge of irritation with Gabe—his take-charge attitude, his crack about mind-reading, his impossible-to-miss physical presence. The rush of pure physical awareness got to her more than the rest of it. It wasn’t helpful, this rekindled attraction to him. She wasn’t eighteen anymore.
She hit the pass code on her phone and handed it to him. “That’s Nadia’s number, right?”
Gabe glanced at the screen. “Yes.”
“Then it wasn’t someone pretending to be her. She’s never done anything scary, has she? Threatened to hurt you, someone else—in theory, even. For example, the girl you slept with in high school who’s now a successful event manager in your hometown.”
“No. Nothing like that.”
“Good. I didn’t think so. If she’s on her way to the airport, she isn’t going to crash today’s boot camp. She’s just...” Felicity paused, wondering how frank she should be. “She wants your attention. Why, I don’t know. Does she think you have any influence with her ex-husband? Could she want you to intervene on her behalf?”
He tapped her temple. “Can’t read minds, remember?”
“I’m talking about interpreting cues, Gabe.”
“Cues such as when you were camped out on my couch eating cold pizza and pad thai and I was supposed to know you didn’t want advice? Never mind. We have work to do right now. I don’t know what Nadia is thinking or why she left you a towel.”
“Do you suspect she’s lied to you about her reasons for coming out here?”
“Probably, but she did lose her grandmother a few months ago.” He sighed, looking less tense. “I’m sorry she zeroed in on you.”
“It’s okay, Gabe. I’ve dealt with worse.” Felicity took her phone and slipped it in her tote bag. “You can have the towel. Put it in your condo powder room or something. It can remind you of Knights Bridge. You and Mark used to fish off that bridge, didn’t you?”
“First time was with Gramps. I must have been four or five.”
“And you remember?”
“Yeah. Mark and I got after him for throwing his cigarette in the river.” Gabe grinned suddenly, winking at her. “The Flanagans are an incorrigible lot. That’s what my mother used to say.”
“I remember,” Felicity said with a smile.
“Gramps did quit smoking.”
“Good for him. Gabe...” She considered her words. “You just sold a company for a lot of money. You’re not an unattractive guy. Do you think Nadia has set her sights on you now that she’s divorced? She’s—what, ten or twelve years older than you? That’s not unheard of.”
“Nadia was married the entire time she did work for me, and I hardly ever saw her. We were never together, and we’re never going to be together. Whatever her reasons for pestering you, that’s not one of them.”
“Got it. Right. None of my business, anyway.”
Gabe studied her. “Are you sure Nadia didn’t say anything else?”
“I’m sure. I just hope she gets on her flight—for her sake, too. Don’t worry, okay? I’m fine. Russ is on the case. We all have work to do today.”
“I speak for an hour. You work behind the scenes for hours and hours. Doesn’t seem fair.” Gabe grinned at her. “I’ve got it a lot rougher.”
She laughed, genuinely amused at his teasing. She waited, watching as he made his way through the garden and out to the pebbled path. No question the man was good-looking, sexy and damn near irresistible—but resist she would.
She returned to the kitchen and acknowledged a surge of relief when she found Maggie Sloan bustling around, preparing for her part of today’s inaugural entrepreneurial boot camp.
On with the day’s work.
* * *
Once he arrived at the barn, Gabe conferred with Russ on Nadia as the two of them grabbed a quick cup of coffee before attendees started arriving. “We don’t know where she is now,” Russ said. “We don’t know what flight she’s on. It’ll take her a couple of hours to get to the airport, and she’ll need to arrive early to get through security. I would guess she’s on her way to Boston, but I don’t like to guess.”
“Do you want me to call her?” Gabe asked.
Russ shook his head. “Don’t stir the pot. Do you have a photo of her in case she turns up here?”
“I don’t. She’s always been a pro, Russ. She’s going through a hard transition right now, but she’s never
