Page 48 of The Fragile Truth
“Hogwash,” Callie blurted as she leaned forward and slapped her palm down on his desk. “The truth is a fragile thing … as elusive as it is persnickety.” She pushed out a long breath as she settled back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Look at this from Sadie’s perspective. For all she knew, you were the one who killed Brent. She had to check you out to uncover the truth.” She emphasized the wordtruth.
“I still can’t believe Brent suspected me of beingThe Shadow,” Ian muttered. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
Callie arched an eyebrow. “Is it?”
He jerked. “You know I’m no thief,” he hissed.
“Yes, I do. You’re a good man. One of the best I know.” She homed in on him with those laser eyes that could cut through steel as she held up a finger. “But you did go a bit bonkers when Lina dumped you.” Before he could articulate a rebuttal, she continued, “And you do have some kick-butt climbing skills.”
“How do you know?” Ian grumbled. “You’ve never seen me climb.”Good grief, he didn’t want to go into this right now. When Callie jumped on his case, he felt like he was getting a scolding from his mother. No, this was worse. Ian’s mom would back down much easier and quicker than Callie. When Callie wanted to drive a point home, she was more relentless than a bulldog holding onto a bone.
“Remember when you went climbing with Stew?”
He nodded. Stew was one of Callie’s sons.
A grin tugged at a corner of her lips. “Stew said you can climb like Spiderman.”
Even though he was mildly flattered by the compliment, he rolled his eyes. “I would hardly think that having good climbing skills would qualify me as a thief.”
“I hear ya,” she drawled. “All I’m saying here is that I get where Brent was coming from. I looked at the information on the flash drive. Brent suspected you because of your climbing skills and your close association with Lina.” Her tone was methodical, like she was laying out the facts to establish the foundation for a case. “His suspicion was plausible, especially when you consider the aspect of you being out of your head with anger over your broken heart. Sadie looks at the evidence Brent collected and comes here to try and find out what happened.” Admiration flicked in Callie’s eyes. “She was smart to go to you first. According to what you’ve told me, she realized right away that you weren’t guilty. She fell in love with you the same as you did with her.”
Ian’s eyes flew open. “No one’s talking about love here,” he blustered, heat crawling like fire ants up his neck.
A cheeky smile filled Callie’s face. “Uh, huh,” she drawled. “You keep telling yourself that.” Her expression turned serious. “Look, you’ve been hurt. It’s understandable that you would be overly sensitive and paranoid.”
“You make me sound like a head case.”
She chuckled. “When it comes down to it, I suppose we’re all a little crazy.” She gave him a searching look filled with such tenderness that it caused a tidal wave of emotion to rise in his chest. “The time you’ve spent with Sadie is the happiest and most content that I’ve ever seen you.”
He frowned. “I was happy with Lina … at first.”
The corners of her lips turned down. “No, you were never content with Lina.” She began talking with her hands as they flew into the air. “You had this feverish energy about you that had me worried from the start. It was like Lina had you in some spell. None of it felt real.” She paused, looking him in the eye. “What you have with Sadie is different.”
“You haven’t even met her,” he argued. “How do you even know that she’s a good person?”
“Because I can see the change in you,” she said firmly. Her voice grew fervent. “Don’t throw away your chance for happiness because you’ve had a few hard knocks.”
Her words jolted him, reminding him of what Sadie had said. Maybe he was rolling Sadie and Lina into one … blaming Sadie for everything that Lina had done to him. Could he forgive himself for being such a fool when it came to Lina? Sadie had hit the nail on the head. Ian was disgusted with himself, not only for falling for Lina but also for blaming her disappearance on an innocent man.
“You need to fix things with Sadie.” Callie’s eyes lit up. “Hey, I have an idea. You should invite Sadie to go to church with you tomorrow.”
“Have you been talking to my mother or my uncle Davis?”
She gave him a girlish grin as she made a zipping motion over her lips.
He wagged a finger. “I’ve got your number, Missy.”
“So? Will you ask her?”
Her expression was so hopeful that he couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll think about it.”
“If you bring Sadie, I can meet her,” she said eagerly.
He shook his head, feeling a rush of gratitude for his spunky office manager, who was in actuality his right-hand man … err woman. “I see how you operate.”
“Someone has to keep you in line, Boss.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. I’m not sure who the real boss is here … me or you.” He could tell from the look in her eyes that she knew he was right on the money. “At least you have the good grace to let me pretend to be in charge,” he winked.