Wild Nashville Ways

by Sheri WhiteFeather

  Finally, he processed her words. Then he frowned. “Appointment?” Suddenly things began to make sense. “You’re—”

  She interrupted him. “Frances Wickersham.”

  Frances Wickersham? “All of your correspondence said F. Wickersham.” He frowned at her.

  One feminine shoulder lifted and fell in a casual shrug. “In my line of work, it’s better if clients don’t have preconceptions.”

  “Ah.” He felt off his game, and that annoyed him even more. “Let’s go to my office,” he said. He ushered her down the hall and into the suite he had inherited at his father’s death. When the senior Mr. Stone had been alive, all decisions flowed through here. The decor had leaned heavily on dark cherry woodwork and traditional furnishings.

  Zachary had ripped everything down to the studs and rebuilt. Now, the lighter colors and Danish furniture pleased him, as did the pale hardwood floors. He waited for his guest to sit, then took his place behind the CFO’s desk.

  “Thank you for coming,” he said, trying to regain control of the situation.

  “Of course.” Frances Wickersham laid her soft leather briefcase on the chair beside her and shrugged out of her rain jacket with graceful movements. The outer garment was a black trench coat. Classic. Expensive.

  Underneath, she wore black wool pants and a thin gray cashmere turtleneck. Her hands were long-fingered and bare except for a single band on her right ring finger. The braided gold circlet looked Celtic in design.

  Without the rain jacket, he could see her feminine curves.

  “So,” he said. “Have we agreed to all the terms?”

  A smile twitched her lips. “I’m here, aren’t I?” She reached into her briefcase and extracted a contract. “Everything we discussed via email is included. I’d like for you and your siblings to look it over with each other and your lawyer. Assuming everything is satisfactory, I’m prepared to start on Monday.”

  Zachary took the contract and glanced at it absentmindedly before laying it aside. He had studied all the whys and wherefores. For a rather large amount of money, Stone River Outdoors, his family’s adventure gear business, was about to hire a professional hacker to comb through the company’s computers and see if someone was stealing money and/or proprietary designs. In the light of day, the whole prospect seemed vaguely ridiculous. But then again, something was going on.

  F. Wickersham sat quietly, her gaze cataloging his office. “This is nice,” she said. “Modern, but not cold. Kudos for thinking outside the box.”

  He smiled, pleased by her praise, though he didn’t know why. “What makes you assume it was my idea? My work?”

  She finished perusing her surroundings and settled that blue-violet gaze on him again. “You always said the Scandinavians were geniuses. And your senior thesis paper was about the founder of IKEA. At one time, you wanted to create the same kind of business for the luxury market. But I guess your family commitments got in the way.”

  His eyes widened. His fingers clenched the arms of his chair. “Excuse me?”

  Her lips twisted in a wry smile. “You don’t remember me at all, do you, Zachary? I suppose I should be glad. I was a teenage mess back in those days.”

  He gaped at her. “Frannie? Is it you?”

  * * *

  Two hours later, Zachary pulled up in front of his brother Quinten’s classically beautiful two-story house with the warm brick and the white columns and told himself he wasn’t nervous. Of course he wasn’t.

  He had offered to pick up Frances at her hotel and transport her to this dinner meeting, but she had preferred to hire a ride. Zachary was glad. He needed to wrap his head around the fact that Frances Wickersham was actually Frannie. His teenage nemesis.

  A quick glance at his watch told him he couldn’t dither in the driveway like an idiot. Fortunately, there would be four other adults to help carry the conversation. Zachary didn’t know what to say to Frannie now that she was all grown-up.

  Come to think of it, he’d seldom been able to win a battle of wits with her when they were both fourteen, much less thirty, almost thirty-one in his case. They hadn’t seen each other in over a decade...not since the day they each graduated from the prestigious Connecticut boarding school for gifted students where Zachary had been incarcerated for the longest four years of his life.

  Frannie had lived there, too, but unlike Zachary, she hadn’t spent the whole time trying to escape. Honestly, he had a hunch that Frannie had actually liked boarding school.

  He opened the car door and made a dash for the porch. November in Portland, Maine, had started out wet and miserable. Katie, Quin’s wife, opened the door before Zachary could ring the bell. “There you are,” she said. “Come on in.”

  “Am I late?” He followed her down the hall toward the formal dining room.

  “The caterer has a sick kid. I told her we didn’t mind eating right away.”

  “Ah.” They rounded the corner, and Zachary sucked in a breath. Frannie was already there. Chatting with his family as if she had known them for years.

  She looked up and met his gaze across the room. Was he imagining the weird connection? He glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed. Apparently not. Maybe he was working too hard.

  They all took their places, and the salad course was served. Zachary waved a hand. “I suppose you’ve each introduced yourself to Frances?”

  Farrell nodded. “Indeed. But we were just getting started, so feel free to fill in any blanks. Like for instance, the fact that you’re actually friends with a professional hacker.”

  “That’s stretching a point,” Zachary said. “Frannie and I knew each other in high school. I had no idea who she was when we hired her.”

  Frannie gave him a wry smile. “You called me Frances a moment ago.”

  “I’m sorry,” he drawled. “Would you prefer F. Wickersham?”

  She made a face. “Actually, I don’t mind being Frannie with people I know,” she said. “It feels comfortable.”

  Farrell’s fiancée, Ivy, lifted an eyebrow. “There’s nothing wrong with Frances using an initial. Women in male-dominated fields have to fight for recognition. I would have done the same in her shoes.”

  Quin reached for more salad dressing. “I’m impressed as hell, Frannie. You must be freakishly smart. How did Zachary find you, anyway?”

  “I didn’t find her specifically,” Zachary protested. “I talked to my buddy in DC, and he said that F. Wickersham was the best in the business. Stealthy. Discreet. And always successful. Why wouldn’t I hire such a paragon?”

  Frances’s smile was a tad smug. “I have to admit. It was fun surprising Zachary. I’ve seen the tabloid stories over the years. The middle Stone brother, with an unending supply of gorgeous women on his arm and in his bed. Even in our high school, where the geek quotient was high, Zachary Stone was king. All the girls loved him, and all the boys wanted to be him.”

  Zachary felt his neck get hot. “Not all the girls,” he muttered.

  “Wait a minute,” Farrell said, an arrested look on his face. “Wasn’t Frannie the one who beat you out for that scholarship to Oxford? You were pissed as hell.”

  Frannie winced. “I never understood why it bothered him so much.” She pinned Zachary with a questioning gaze. “Did you even want to study abroad?”

  “No,” he said, trying not to sound sullen. “I wanted to go to a party school. But I did want to win that damn scholarship.”

  Everyone laughed but Zachary. He managed a smile, yet inside, he remembered what it felt like to be a seventeen-year-old boy who had been beaten by a girl...yet again. And the same girl, at that. The world might see him as a confident, macho, eligible bachelor, but with Frannie, he’d always doubted himself.

  “Poor Zachary,” Farrell said. “He never wanted to be part of that school. But our father was insistent. He was so impressed t
hat he had fathered a kid with an IQ of one-seventy, he was determined to see that Zachary was challenged.”

  Quinten snorted. “And all our brother wanted to do was play football and date his way through all the girls in Portland.”

  Zachary desperately hoped the conversation would veer in another direction when the caterer brought in the main course of baked chicken and sautéed squash, but he was doomed to disappointment.

  Katie continued the embarrassing inquisition. “So how big was this high school, Frannie?”

  “Not that big.” Frannie shot Zachary a rueful glance. “We were lab partners, project buddies. You name it.”

  “Enough reminiscing,” Zachary said firmly. “Frannie. Frances. Why don’t you tell all of us how you’ll go about your investigation at Stone River Outdoors?”

  “Of course.” She finished chewing a bite of chicken and dabbed her beautiful lips. “I’ll start with the places least likely to harbor a problem. The sales department. The entry-level positions. I can whip through those fairly quickly.”

  Ivy leaned forward. “And no one will know you’re poking around?”

  “They won’t,” Frannie said. “Your offices shut down at five. I’ll show up at seven each evening and work until midnight.”

  Zachary nodded. “The only employee who has to be brought in on the secret is our night watchman. But he’s worked at SRO twenty-five years. And we ran a thorough background check on him. Stanley’s cool.”

  Farrell leaned back in his chair. “What happens if we’re wrong?”

  Frannie frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we have no actual proof that anybody has done anything, really. A couple of my designs showed up in the marketplace while I was still working on them. The products weren’t very good. And it’s possible for two people to come up with the same idea at the same time. But it made me worry. I’ve moved my lab to my place on the northern coast until we can know for sure.”

  Zachary shot Frannie a sideways glance. “Farrell is our research and development guru. Katie has run his department for years, but more recently, she married Quinten.”

  Frannie chuckled. “That’s not confusing at all. So, I’m only looking for stolen ideas?”

  Zachary shook his head. “No. It’s worse than that. Our father was killed in a suspicious car crash. Quinten was with him.”

  Frannie’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

  “Yep.” Quinten shrugged. “The crash jacked up my leg pretty badly. But I’m doing great now, and Katie, my sweet wife, makes sure I don’t backslide.”

  “So you think the car crash might have been deliberate?” Frannie seemed puzzled. “Why?”

  Zachary spoke up. “I’ll field that one. We don’t know what to think. But the timing alongside the stuff with Farrell’s stolen ideas has made us jumpy. We’ll be perfectly happy if you don’t find a single thing wrong. Honestly. Hiring you is an insurance policy. We’re hedging our bets. Covering every eventuality.”

  “I’m not cheap,” Frannie said bluntly. “I don’t want to take your money under false pretenses. We haven’t signed anything yet. Everything you’ve described to me could be nothing more than mere coincidence.”

  Ivy laughed softly. “I’m sure the Stone brothers appreciate your transparency, but it will be money well spent for our peace of mind. Farrell and I are planning a Christmas wedding. I’d feel a lot better about taking a honeymoon if everything here at home is going well.”

  Frannie nodded. “And the rest of you?”

  Farrell gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m in.”

  Katie raised her wineglass. “Me, too.”

  “And me.” Quinten grinned as he snatched another roll.

  Frances Wickersham turned in her seat and gave Zachary a cool, steady glance. “And you, Zachary?”

  * * *

  Frannie stared at Zachary calmly, hiding the fact that his mere presence in the room turned her back into a hormonal, overly emotional teenage girl. Her pulse fluttered, and her mouth was dry. Zachary Stone was both the same and yet different from the boy she had known so long ago.

  His stunning good looks had matured, but the perfect features and flashing smile were no less jaw-dropping now than they had been when he was sixteen. The fact that he’d earned a reputation over the years as a playboy didn’t surprise her. He was a man who liked women. And they liked him.

  Frannie, herself, would have to be on her guard. She couldn’t get sucked into his orbit. The residual fondness she felt for Zach was dangerous.

  There was a reason she was a loner. It was easier that way. Less chance of getting her soft heart stomped on or her feelings bruised.

  Zachary’s thick chestnut hair gleamed beneath the warm light of the chandelier. His skin was perpetually golden, either because of all his time spent outdoors or because he had a dollop of Mediterranean genes somewhere in his DNA. Like his brothers, he was tall and lean and athletic. In high school, he had wanted desperately to play sports with Farrell and Quinten back in Portland.

  Unfortunately, the gifted school in Connecticut had budgeted for microscopes and computers rather than football equipment and soccer fields. Zachary had been forced to find an outlet for his energy in intramural athletics.

  Frannie unwittingly zoned out for a moment, but she finally realized that Zachary had not answered her question. “Zachary?” she said. “Do you want to do this?”

  He seemed conflicted, and that was bad. Spending this kind of money when one of the business partners wasn’t a hundred percent on board could spark conflict. His hesitation hurt.

  Finally, he gave her a terse nod. “I don’t think we have a choice. The past couple of years have been tough. Quinten’s injuries. Our father’s death. The three of us learning how to run the company. We can’t afford to lose what we’ve worked so hard to preserve.”

  “Well, then,” she said. “I’ll turn over every tiny pebble until we know for sure. Either Stone River Outdoors is in danger, or you have nothing to worry about. I’ll have answers for you one way or another.”

  The conversation shifted then, allowing Frannie to finish her meal and witness the byplay between the other adults in the room. Watching the family dynamics in person helped her, but she already knew a great deal about the parties involved. She never undertook a job unless she was confident that she understood what she’d be dealing with. And whom. One of the perks of her skill set was uncovering secrets. She made no apology for the digging she did.

  So far, her research told her the Stones were much like any wealthy family. They’d had their good times and bad. She had read about Quinten’s competitive skiing accolades and the subsequent injuries that forced him to give up the life he loved. His wife, Katie, was an extremely loyal longtime employee who had fallen for the youngest Stone brother and married him earlier this year.

  Frannie also knew that Farrell had been widowed tragically in his midtwenties and spent the next eight years alone. Petite Ivy Danby had come into Farrell’s life recently—with her baby—and by all accounts, had coaxed the gruff, withdrawn inventor into taking a second chance on love.

  Oddly, Zachary was not quite so easy to profile, despite the reams of material Frannie had found online and the fact that she had known him fairly well before.

  Zachary was an enigma. In school, he had been brilliant though reluctant to apply himself, as the report cards used to say. His brain was razor sharp, but he preferred to be known for his hijinks and his sense of fun. Zachary was never happier than when he was in the midst of a crowd, usually serving as the ringleader.

  Though he did go on to get an advanced degree at Harvard, he had stopped short of a doctorate, either in defiance of his father’s wishes or because Zachary was simply done with academia.

  It made perfect sense that he was now the chief financial officer for Stone River Outdoors. His brothers would trust him to han
dle the money coming in and going out. She suspected, though, that the job was not one he found particularly fulfilling.

  Since leaving school, Zachary had traveled the world. Extensively. His exploits were well documented. Though he could most likely have excelled in an individual athletic pursuit as Quinten had with skiing, Zachary was more often than not found with a gaggle of companions. Exploring remote sections of the Amazonian rain forest. Racing camels for the hell of it across sections of the Sahara. Dabbling with the idea of commercial space exploration.

  Zachary Stone was brilliant, and brilliance required stimulation.

  Frannie knew that firsthand. It was why she did what she did.

  And then there were the women. Legions of them. Zachary Stone’s name had been linked with any number of high-profile females. But he’d never come close to the altar. Though his older brother and his younger brother had found love, the middle Stone sibling continued to sail through life, noticeably alone.

  Frannie didn’t know what to make of that.

  Once the caterer had served coffee and hot apple cobbler for dessert, Katie insisted the young woman head home to her sick child. Ivy stood and began gathering plates. “I’ll help with cleanup, Katie.”

  Frannie joined them. “Me, too.”

  Katie shook her head. “Oh no. You’re our guest this evening.”

  “Please.” Frannie cocked her head at the three brothers, who had gathered at one end of the table and were arguing football statistics. “Save me.”

  The other two women laughed and agreed to let Frannie participate in what seemed to be a female ritual for this family. But Frannie had no quarrel with the status quo. She was eager to learn more from these women about the man who had once been her teenage crush.

  When the kitchen was spotless and the dishwasher running, Frannie leaned against the counter and grinned. “So, tell me. What’s it like to tame one of the Stone brothers?”