Page 73 of To Steal a Heart

She huffed out a chuckle. “Garrett is an enigma. I wish he’d stop with the stupid mind games!” She spoke aloud as she jumped ahead a step. “Garrett has to be staying somewhere on the island.”

“He could be staying here at the hotel.”

Arden’s heart began to pound. “That’s risky.”

“Very,” Grandmother agreed. Arden couldn’t be sure but thought she saw a sparkle of admiration in her eyes. Surely Grandmother wasn’t rooting for a thief. Then again, Grandmother was almost as much of a wild card as Garrett.

Grandmother pushed her glasses up higher on her nose as her voice grew brisk. “Tell me everything Garrett said—word for word.”

In halting words, she did as Grandmother demanded. Despite Arden’s best effort to hold back tears, they trickled down her cheeks when she told how Garrett claimed what they had was real and that he loved her. After she’d finished, Grandmother sat in silence, her thin lips pressed into taut lines. Then she drummed her fingers on the desk. “What’s your take on the situation?”

Arden barked out a brittle laugh. “I don’t have a clue.” She balled her hand into a fist and brought it to her mouth. “I keep asking myself—Why did Garrett add the diamond to my bracelet?” She gritted her teeth. “Why did he come to the reading? Why did he show up at the gala tonight? Why is he so adamant about proclaiming his love?” A headache pulsed across the bridge of her nose. “He has to be playing me.” Hurt rose acid into her throat. “Maybe it’s like I said. He probably gets some sick thrill out of keeping me on the hook.”

“Or maybe he loves you.”

Arden jerked, a wave of scorching anger firing through her veins. Her words flew out like bullets. “Let’s just say for one second that you’re right. It doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters,” Grandmother countered.

Her voice shot up several octaves. “He’s a thief! Regardless of how Garrett feels about me, there’s no future for us.” Her heart squeezed to the size of a tangerine. She was weary of being on this roller coaster ride with Garrett. She had to find a way to get off.

“Tell me that last part again.”

Arden’s head burned like someone had lit a match to her brain. Her blood was pumping furiously against her temples. She sucked in a ragged breath, trying to get control of herself. “To which part are you referring?” Her mind was tumbling over and over itself to the point where she could hardly form a coherent thought. She had to sift through the murkiness and force herself to concentrate.

“The part where he said it wasn’t about the diamond. That was so peculiar. What were his exact words?”

Arden needed time to process the fact that Garrett was actually here. That he was going for the diamond.

“Focus,” Grandmother commanded.

Arden rewound the conversation through her mind. “He said that it was never about the diamond and that I needed to know that he’s trying to work.”

Grandmother leaned forward. “Work what?”

She threw up her hands. “Heck if I know! Wesley came back and interrupted us. Garrett took off.” She leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands. “This is a complete disaster,” she moaned. Her headache was worsening. She massaged her temples, trying to alleviate the pain.

“Stop being so dramatic,” Grandmother spat. “That might work in your books but not so much in real life.”

Arden sat back up as a shrill laugh clipped her throat. She pointed to herself. “This is my life we’re talking about here.” Her throat was raw and scratchy. “Can you show a little compassion?”

“Compassion is for the weak,” Grandmother grunted.

Arden couldn’t believe her ears. “What? How can you say that?” How had Grandmother turned into such a monster?

Grandmother waved a hand like she was shooing away a pesky fly. “Let’s not get off track here. We need to talk about phase two of our plan.”

“I didn’t realize there was a phase two,” Arden retorted. “All you said was that I needed to get Wesley to escort me to the gala and shower him with attention. I did that, and it worked. Congratulations.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “We smoked out the rat.” She barked out a cackle. “The only problem is that the rat outsmarted us and scampered off before we could trap him.”

The outburst didn’t faze Grandmother in the least. She just sat there with a deadpan expression as if to sayWhen you’re done with your little temper tantrum, we’ll move forward.

“What’s phase two?” Arden mumbled.

“We sit back and let Garrett make his play.”

Arden’s voice went shrill. “Have you lost your mind? We can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

“Of course we can.”