I nod. I’m so relieved Stan stopped me from making a fool of myself.
I walk into the kitchen to find Tinsley sitting at the table. She’s so focused you could probably throw a party in here, and she wouldn’t even notice. That explains so much. She likely has no idea where her phone even is.
What an idiot I am.
I reach out and touch her arm, and she jumps. “Where did you come from?”
“I’ve been texting all afternoon, and you didn’t respond. I was worried when I went over to SHN’s office and you weren’t there.”
“Oh! There was some sort of celebration going on at SHN, and it made it hard to talk,” she tells me. “So, Cameron suggested here. We couldn’t go back to your place with your parents there.” Her eyes sparkle with excitement. “I think Cameron figured out our issue.”
“You figured it out on your own,” Cameron remarks with a grin. “I only helped you formulate a plan.”
“I’m going to have to rewrite most of the code, but this is going to work. Plus, Vanessa can design a smaller device.”
Cameron hands us both a beer. “Let’s talk about what we did today and what we need to do to move forward.”
Tinsley starts talking so fast I struggle to understand what she’s saying.
Then I catch enough to make sense. She’s designed her software in Python, which is considered cutting edge for these kinds of uses, but it isn’t fast enough to deal with the translations. She’ll rewrite everything in Java, which is older, but nimbler.
Her enthusiasm is infectious. Shit! This is big. “How long is this going to take?” I ask. “You’ve been working on this for months. Is this going to take months?”
She shakes her head. “Cameron and one of his team members are going to help. And you’re a decent Java developer. We might be delayed a few weeks, but with four or five of us pushing through, we should be able to get caught up and move ahead.”
I nod, and my blood pressure calms.
Cameron’s phone rings, and he steps out of the room to take it.
“Why are you here, Landon?” Tinsley studies me.
“You weren’t responding to my texts.”
“I was working. But you went looking for me at SHN. Why?”
“I already told you why. I was frustrated about how things were going at Disruptive. I couldn’t get ahold of you, and I got worried. They still can’t figure out the routers and—”
“Landon, were you worried about me and Cameron alone together?”
“No! But—”
“Because Cameron’s happily married to a beautiful redhead.”
“Yes, I know Hadlee. You don’t understand—”
“So, explain it to me,” she demands.
“You’re mine, and—”
“The hell I am.” Tinsley stands up and begins shoving her belongings into her bag. “I belong to no one but me. If you can’t approach this like an adult and treat me with any kind of respect, I don’t want anything to do with you outside of work.”
“Too bad. You live in my guest room. We need to have better communication.”
I can see Tinsley getting angrier as each moment passes. “Don’t exchange your lack of trust in yourself for a lack of trust in me.”
I take a deep breath. Why won’t she understand?
“I have too much work to do tonight to join you for dinner,” she says. “Please apologize to your parents for me.”
With that, she picks up her bag and walks out the door.
I start to follow her, but see Cameron standing behind me.
“I might let her cool down a bit,” he says as I turn.
“How much of that did you overhear?”
“More than you’d probably like.”
I sit down hard in his living room chair. “I’ve never been like this. I know you’re a complete professional, but when Tinsley wasn’t responding, my head went to the wrong place. I was worried something might have happened, and you were too busy to call, or that her phone died... But I don’t know why. I don’t usually move directly into freak-out mode, especially for no reason.”
Cameron laughs a deep belly laugh. “You’re in for it now. Ask Jackson Graham, Mason, or Dillon Healy from my office. We’ve all hit that cliff. We all jumped and have settled down. Good luck. I’d be lost without Hadlee.”
I’m late to the Fish House, and my parents, sister, and—oddly enough—Tinsley are waiting when I arrive. I sit between my sister and my dad.
“Can you believe Tinsley planned on working through dinner tonight?” my mom asks.
I look over at Tinsley, and if her eyes could shoot lasers, I’d be dead.
“It’s my fault,” I tell them. “I interrupted her mojo while she was working this afternoon.”
“She tells me she and Cameron had a breakthrough. You’d better stay away from them so they can get it figured out,” Claire warns.
“He’s going to help, too,” Tinsley says. “I should have it divided up between Cameron and his team and the two of us later tonight. Tomorrow we’ll need to be at Cameron’s about nine, if that works for you.” She looks at me coldly.
“Of course.”
As dinner progresses, the angrier I get. So, I overreacted to her disappearing today and not answering her phone—but I was worried about her. That’s not a crime.
After we’re done with dinner, Claire pulls me aside. “You’d better check yourself there, mister.”
“What are you referring to?”
“You know damn well you’re all upset because Tinsley didn’t respond to you today. Sure, she should have, but you’re getting wound up, and that’s not going to go over well with her. Take my word
